Ordination update: 6 new deacons for Sioux Falls

Last updated on: May 31, 2018 at 8:38 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

It was another combined ordination: four permanent and two transitional deacons. I received this email Wednesday from Deacon Roger R. Heidt, with the picture above: 4 Permanent Deacons and 2 Transitional Deacons were ordained on May 24, 2018 at St. Josephs’ Cathedral in Sioux Falls, SD by Bishop Paul J. Swain. The newly ordained Permanent Deacons are : right to left, Deacon Glenn Ridder, Deacon Maurice Barrett, Bishop Paul J. Swain, Deacon Timothy Dickes, Deacon Thane Barnier and Deacon Roger Heidt... Read more

Ordination update: 8 new deacons for Belleville

Last updated on: May 31, 2018 at 6:53 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

In an unusual move, during the same liturgy, one man was also ordained to the priesthood. Details: On Saturday morning, May 19, 2018, the Vigil of the Feast of Pentecost, the Most Reverend Edward K. Braxton, Bishop of Belleville, ordained the Reverend Steven M. Pautler to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. In the same ordination Liturgy, the Bishop ordained eight new Permanent Deacons: Deacon Daniel R. Cozzi, Deacon Steven M. Eischens, Deacon John J. Gomez, Deacon Mark F. Kabat, Deacon... Read more

Ordination update: 5 new deacons for Rochester

Last updated on: May 30, 2018 at 2:05 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The good people at The Catholic Courier were kind enough to share some images and the details of the ordination: Five men were ordained as deacons during a May 26 ordination Mass at Rochester’s Sacred Heart Cathedral. Bishop Salvatore R. Matano ordained Deacons Michael Kristan, Binh-Yen Nguyen and James Pegoni to the permanent diaconate, while Deacon’s Matthew Walter and Daniel White were ordained as transitional deacons as they continue to prepare for the priesthood. The full ordination is available for... Read more

Baptist church to remove statue of Christ for being ‘too Catholic’

Last updated on: May 30, 2018 at 6:54 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Well, this is different. From The State in South Carolina: Jesus Christ is being removed from a South Carolina church. A statue of Jesus Christ and accompanying artwork that has been displayed at Red Bank Baptist Church for more than a decade will be taken down by Thursday, according to church officials. The art will be removed because a majority of the congregation voted that the 7-foot-tall statue and sculpted reliefs were “causing come confusion.” According to the church, many... Read more

Vatican repeats: All-male priesthood is ‘definitive’ and cannot change

Last updated on: May 29, 2018 at 11:29 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From CNS: That only men can be validly ordained to the priesthood is a truth that is part of the Catholic faith and will not and cannot change, said Cardinal-designate Luis Ladaria, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “It gives rise to serious concern to see that in some countries there still are voices that put in doubt the definitive nature of this doctrine,” the cardinal-designate wrote May 29 in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. St. Pope... Read more

WATCH: Church investigates weeping Virgin Mary statue in New Mexico

Last updated on: May 29, 2018 at 11:29 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

It’s happening at a Catholic church in Hobbs, New Mexico: The statue of the mother of Jesus appeared to begin shedding tears that smelt like “flowers” during a service last Sunday. Churchgoers were left stunned and have hailed the occurrence a miracle at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Hobbs, New Mexico. Catholic Church officials have now been scrambled to investigate the statue as hundreds of people turn up to view the “miracle.” Miracles require confirmation by church... Read more

Community found hundreds of graves desecrated with swastikas — and then they took action

Last updated on: May 28, 2018 at 12:29 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The New York Times, a reminder in Illinois of our better angels. The Sunset Hill Memorial Estates Cemetery in Glen Carbon was vandalized over the weekend. But then the community responded: On Saturday, groundskeepers made a shocking discovery: More than 200 monuments and headstones had been vandalized, each spray-painted with a swastika. Officials said volunteers swarmed the cemetery and quickly got to work scrubbing. Restaurants and businesses donated food and products, and people showed up asking what they could... Read more

Archbishop describes first deacons as ‘the first cardinals in the Church’

Last updated on: May 28, 2018 at 11:22 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

H/T to Deacon Joe Dant for alerting me to this: Crux has a terrific profile of Cardinal-designate Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, whose attachment to and love of the poor is remarkable and moving: His milieu is among those that don’t have anything: the poor, the homeless, the migrants. Krajewski, 54, invites the poor every day into his Vatican apartment for lunch. Around 15 needy people eat in his dining room, surrounded by the old furniture of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI.... Read more

Adios: More young Latinos are leaving the church. How do we keep them? — UPDATED

Last updated on: May 28, 2018 at 6:33 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This report from NBC News notes Hispanics represent roughly a third of the 70 million Catholics in the U.S., and the number is growing. But there are challenges to keeping them in the fold: The share of Catholic believers is dropping in the U.S. and in Latin America, and young people are the most likely to leave, according to Pew Research. To draw in millennial Latinos, some Catholic leaders are speaking out in support of immigrants and LGBTQ rights, and churches across... Read more

Hymn of the Week: ‘O God, Almighty Father’

Last updated on: May 26, 2018 at 9:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This classic remains a popular choice for this weekend’s feast: Trinity Sunday. While its authorship is murky and listed as “anonymous,” the music is credited to Gott Vater Sei Gepriesen, from the early 19th century. While each stanza references a different person of the Trinity, the refrain is familiar to any Catholic: O most Holy Trinity, Undivided Unity; Holy God, Mighty God, God Immortal, be adored. Enjoy. I bet you hear it at your parish this weekend. Read more