After all the speculation, we have this:  Meghan Markle will be baptized into the Church of England to please the Queen, despite her Catholic schooling and ‘Jewish first wedding’. Miss Markle, from Los Angeles, will be both baptised and confirmed as she prepares for her church wedding with Prince Harry, in May. The bride-to-be is Christian, a member of the Protestant faith who went to a Catholic high school. Her mother Doria Ragland is Protestant while her father Thomas Markle... Read more

The announcement on the Archdiocese of Washington website: Today (November 28, 2017) the Archdiocese of Washington filed a legal action in federal court challenging the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) advertising guidelines and sought injunctive relief after WMATA rejected the advertisement (above) promoting the archdiocese’s annual “Find the Perfect Gift” initiative. “The rejected ad conveys a simple message of hope, and an invitation to participate in the Christmas season. Yet citing its guidelines, WMATA’s legal counsel said the ad... Read more

As many deacons may already know, the National Association of Diaconate Directors (NADD), in conjunction with the USCCB, is organizing a congress in New Orleans in July of 2018 to mark the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the diaconate as a permanent order. Few details of the event have been available. Until now. Yesterday, the NADD launched a website for the event, whose theme is “Christ the Servant: Yesterday, Today and Forever.” You can find the site here: Deacon2018.... Read more

The interwebs are abuzz with news about the engagement of Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle. TIME magazine notes some significant details: Not too long ago, it would have been difficult to imagine Prince Harry becoming engaged to marry Meghan Markle. Given that she is a mixed-race Catholic divorcee from the United States, royal protocol would have forbidden the match. But these are changed times — and Markle, who was born to an African-American mother and white father, captured the... Read more

Wow. A beautiful vocation story that would make St. Monica proud: For years, Louise would go to the St. Anthony Shrine in Boston to pray for her youngest son, who had drifted away from the Catholic teachings of his childhood. Today, an usher at the door of the church hands the 91-year-old woman a program that reads “Mass of Ordination to the Priesthood.” Inside is the name “Anthony T. Cipolle.” “My mother was going to St. Anthony Shrine in Boston... Read more

Bishop Joseph Bambera ordained the men yesterday at St. Peter’s Cathedral. From the Scranton Times-Tribune: As a newly ordained deacon, John Musyt feels blessed by the opportunity to help others lead a Catholic life. The process of becoming a deacon, however, may have saved his. The 64-year-old Olyphant man was one of 11 area men ordained Saturday as permanent deacons in the Diocese of Scranton, a role that allows them to perform ministerial functions, such as administering baptism, proclaiming the... Read more

This is a perennial at many parishes on this Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King; here it is sung as the recessional at the papal Mass in Philadelphia two years ago. Chances are, most parishes this weekend won’t hear it done quite like this! But it’s a grand, triumphant piece of music. The tune is “Ich Glob an Gott,” a German hymn from the 19th century. But the words are distinctly modern—and American. Most may not know that this... Read more

More evidence that the best advertisement for the priesthood is a happy priest. Here’s a nice profile in Crux of William Wack, bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee: In May, Pope Francis named Wack the sixth bishop of the diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. While less than five percent of the population of his diocese is Catholic, Wack’s missionary zeal makes him eager to change those statistics. Meanwhile, at age 50, he’s the nation’s youngest bishop and quite happy to have been tasked with heading... Read more

Details: For the past 500 years, beautiful sacred music has echoed up towards Michelangelo’s sublime ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, performed exclusively by male choirs. Until now. In a development that will delight both music lovers and reform-minded Catholics, one of the church’s gender taboos has finally been broken. Cecilia Bartoli, one of Italy’s most celebrated classical singers, has become the first woman to perform inside the chapel with the all-male Sistine Chapel Choir, as part of a unique... Read more

This adorable little girl couldn’t help herself. She had to offer a hug to every single person filing up for Communion. This originally appeared on the Facebook page of Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Purcell, Oklahoma. “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Read more