From the In My Backyard Desk, via the Rockville Centre website: Most Reverend John O. Barres, Bishop, Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre ordained five men to the Permanent Diaconate on Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 11 a.m., in Saint Agnes Cathedral. A deacon is a member of the clergy and an ordained minister of the Catholic Church. There are three groups, or “orders,” of ordained ministers in the Church: bishops, presbyters and deacons. Deacons are ordained as a sacramental... Read more
From Aleteia: Cardinal Robert Sarah has become the “proto-deacon”: that is to say that in case of conclave, he will be responsible for announcing the name of the future new pope, and will thus pronounce the famous “Habemus papam” from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, noted the newspaper La Croix on May 21, 2018. That, of course, is presuming that there would be a conclave before his tenure as proto-deacon ends … and also presuming that he himself wouldn’t... Read more
From Australia: They say practice makes perfect, and the saying couldn’t be truer for Brisbane’s newest Catholic. British and Australian army veteran Stanley Everett turns 96 in July, and will spend the rest of his life practicing the tenets of the Catholic faith after receiving the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Holy Communion last week. “I’m feeling there’s still a lot to learn because to start with, I start to form the Sign of the Cross after everyone else is... Read more
That’s the central point that canonist Ed Peters makes in his post today, but he goes on: Whether it makes practical sense, however, to ordain married men is quite another matter, and whether such ordinations would detract from the appreciation of celibacy itself as “a special gift of God” that has finally, Deo gratias, made its way into codified law (Canon 277), is also quite a different matter. Both of these concerns require searching consideration, this, especially in times not given... Read more
Judging from this trailer, the new CBS series “God Friended Me” looks really promising. Who’da thunk? Faith, belief and God on network television in 2018? One TV executive at a rival network even told The Hollywood Reporter this was the one show he wished he was carrying. “It feels like a fresher version of Joan of Arcadia,” he said. “I would love to be creatively involved in that.” Another exec added: “It’s proof that you can do a hopeful, affirming show on... Read more
Details: An Australian archbishop was convicted on Tuesday of covering up a claim of sexual abuse dating back decades, and now faces a prison sentence of up to two years. Philip Wilson, the archbishop of Adelaide, is the highest-ranking Catholic official in the world to be convicted of concealing such crimes. The decision comes in the midst of a global reckoning for the Roman Catholic Church, as it grapples with a history of child sexual abuse and cover-ups. Cardinal George... Read more
The popular Catholic radio host — I’ve been on his show a couple times — spent part of last Thursday’s show chatting with a deacon candidate, Phil McCarty (from the Diocese of San Jose), two days before his ordination. Some highlights: “Father Jim, does it annoy you that a man like this gets to say he’s ordained when really he’s just becoming a deacon?” “When you get ‘fake ordained,’ like the diaconate, do you have a party? Is it really ordination?”... Read more
From The Catholic Anchor Facebook page: Five years of discernment, formation, and study culminated with the May 18 ordination of Alaskans as permanent deacons for the Archdiocese of Anchorage. Anchorage Archbishop Paul Etienne ordained the men at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Anchorage. They now join dozens of other deacons who serve across the 138,000 square mile archdiocese. Daniel Winters, the first deacon to be ordained from St. Christopher by the Sea in Unalaska (Dutch Harbor), was joined by... Read more
Amazing. Check out the video below. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you…” — Jeremiah 1:5 Details: Embryo 3D, headquartered in Russia, allows waiting parents to get a close-up look at their future progeny, and hold the results in their hands. After medical professionals are able to obtain a full scan of an embryo, it is converted into a 3D print. And thanks to... Read more
A priest posed that question to a friend several weeks ago, at the start of the Easter season. My friend wasn’t sure, so he asked me. I said, “Sure. I do it every year.” The celebrant does the initial sprinkling, and I then fan out into the congregation with him or other priests to spread holy water throughout the church. Some background, from Pray Tell: The Roman Missal allows for the substitution of the sprinkling rite for the Penitential Act on... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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