The Deacon's Bench
If you want to know the meaning of loyalty, and the depths that drive one to seek a place called home…take a look at this story, about a dog who miraculously survived a tornado. Read more
If you want to know the meaning of loyalty, and the depths that drive one to seek a place called home…take a look at this story, about a dog who miraculously survived a tornado. Read more
The star of “Taxi” and “Grease” died today at 60, after a lengthy battle with drugs. Details: The actor was taken off life support Thursday and died Friday morning at Encino Tarzana Medical Center, according to one of his managers, Kathryn Boole. “It’s sad that people remember his struggle with drugs. … He has touched so many people,” she said, calling Conaway a kind and intelligent man who was well read and “always so interesting to talk to. We respected... Read more
The more you read about this case, the more it defies credulity. First, the headline yesterday from the National Catholic Reporter: Diocese warned of priest’s aberrant behavior one year before arrest. Details: The principal of a Catholic elementary school warned the Kansas City-St. Joseph chancery office that a local priest “fit the profile of a child predator” six months before the diocese took any action to remove him from ministries dealing with children. Fr. Shawn Ratigan, 45, was arrested May... Read more
Sad news from the world of Catholic media: Joseph A. Feuerherd, whose journalism career began as a college intern in the Washington Bureau of the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) and concluded with his service as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of that award-winning publication, died Thursday morning (May 26) at Casey House, a hospice facility in Rockville, Md. Feuerherd died of metastasized soft tissue sarcoma, a cancer diagnosed in Oct. 2009. “I made the coffee, sorted mail, answered phones, clipped newspapers —... Read more
From the New Jersey Turnpike bureau comes this heartening report: On Saturday, May 21, in Glassboro, 10 men in the Camden Diocese were ordained as deacons, after completing six years of formation and readying themselves to be of service to God and the Catholic community. Bishop Joseph A. Galante performed the Rite of Ordination to the Order of Deacon, at the 10:30 a.m. celebration at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Glassboro, calling on the new deacons to “help... Read more
“Our call is truly to service of God’s people, and our presence on the altar represents the service of the whole parish community. We have one foot on the altar and one in the pew…We [deacons] have this special ability to talk about the Gospel from the view of parents, husbands, managers, home-buyers and workers out in the community. It’s humbling and it’s a privilege.” — James O’Rourke, set to be ordained a deacon this Saturday. Read more of his story... Read more
From the New Jersey Turnpike bureau comes this heartening report: On Saturday, May 21, in Glassboro, 10 men in the Camden Diocese were ordained as deacons, after completing six years of formation and readying themselves to be of service to God and the Catholic community. Bishop Joseph A. Galante performed the Rite of Ordination to the Order of Deacon, at the 10:30 a.m. celebration at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Glassboro, calling on the new deacons to “help the... Read more
A small but significant step forward for the cause of the man who (I hope) will one day be the patron saint of television (alongside St. Claire, of course). Details: When Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria, Ill., presented Pope Benedict XVI with two thick volumes about the life of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, the pope surprised him by saying he had worked with the late archbishop. Pope Benedict “told me something I hadn’t known: he worked on the commission... Read more
Dear media writer/religion reporter/journalist… I know you have a busy life. I know you are under deadline. I know it’s easy to stumble and make mistakes. Believe me, I’ve been there. But please, try to avoid making the blunder that this writer made, in an otherwise fine piece: referring to Catholic deacons as “lay deacons.” There ain’t no such animal. For future reference — and please, pass this along to any of your colleagues — Catholic deacons are clergy. Many... Read more
Last week marked the end of an era — okay, a mini-era — with the final sign-off of Katie Couric as anchor of “The CBS Evening News.” The marriage of Katie and CBS was rocky from the start. What went wrong? Some thoughts from someone who was there at the beginning (that would be, um, me): People have spent the last five years scratching their heads and wondering: what went wrong? One who will have none of that, though, is New York Times... Read more
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