A sensationally good idea, from St. Dominic Catholic Church in Panama, FL, which encourages its parish leaders to incorporate “intentional prayer” in a wonderful, generous way:  We used to begin our weekly leadership team meetings in the Adoration chapel for about 30 minutes, praying for the parish. We now start in the main church instead. We each sit in a different section of the church, praying specifically for those who sit in those seats during the Masses. For me, it has... Read more

Details:  A dozen Catholic churches in Manhattan and The Bronx could soon be sold now that the Archdiocese of New York officially declared they are no longer sacred sites for worship and can be used for “profane, but not sordid” uses. Some parishioners, however, are calling on the church to focus instead on using the shuttered buildings in the service of helping the poor. Most of of the sites on the list have been shuttered since 2015 or so when... Read more

From CNS:  Four theologians specializing in marriage and family life are studying Vatican archival material with a view of telling the whole story of how and why Blessed Paul VI wrote his encyclical Humanae Vitae on married love.   Msgr. Gilfredo Marengo, leader of the group and a professor of theological anthropology at Rome’s Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, spoke to Vatican Radio about the study July 25, the 49th anniversary of the encyclical’s publication. Some... Read more

Details:  “If God be for us, then who can be against us?” Generations of Knoxville Police Department officers have passed by a plaque with that bit of scripture as they headed out to fight crime. Now, the sign is being taken down after an atheist organization based in Madison, Wis., demanded it be removed, the USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee has learned. “I have walked through those doors for a lot of years and that sign has been there giving me strength, encouragement and... Read more

From Politico:  President Donald Trump has formally nominated Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to serve as the State Department’s ambassador at large for international religious freedom. Brownback has served as Kansas’ governor since 2011. His name has been in the mix for the post for weeks, before announced his pick. If confirmed, Brownback will serve effectively as the head of the Office of International Religious Freedom within the State Department. That office is charged with promoting religious freedom as a key... Read more

From the cathedral website:  Raleigh began the day with the smallest Catholic cathedral in the continental United States. But when the dedication of a new cathedral concluded, the diocese was home to one of the largest in the country. Bishop Michael F. Burbidge said of Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, “[People] are going to walk into this cathedral to gather around this altar … from which they will receive the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation. This is... Read more

This is noteworthy: the first I’ve heard of a clergyman being detained. Now posters bearing the image above are circulating around Los Angeles, asking for support. From the Los Angeles Daily News:   A North Hollywood woman and her two young children were grappling Monday with the news that her husband, a pastor, was detained by immigration authorities during an appointment at the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles. Victoria Carias said her 42-year-old husband, Noe Carias, pastor of the... Read more

Remarkable: This Aug. 15 will mark 90 years since the Sacramentine Sisters of Don Orione were founded to offer something very particular for the salvation of the world: their blindness. They are a community of blind nuns consecrated to perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and wear a distinctive white habit, a red scapular, and a white Host embroidered on the chest. “I intend to offer with this new branch of the religious family, as a flower before the throne... Read more

Details: The Vatican began turning off its fountains due to an ongoing drought in Italy, the BBC reported Tuesday. This spring has been Italy’s third-driest in 60 years, and the lack of rainfall has cost the Italian agriculture sector nearly 2.3 billion dollars. The Vatican has approximately 100 fountains, some of which are considered artistic masterpieces, and Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told the Reuters news agency that the move was the Vatican’s way of standing side by side with the... Read more

A curiosity, from the BBC:  The Orange Order has asked its members to stop using the term ‘RIP’ to express grief or sympathy after a death. It said the phrase is unbiblical, un-Protestant, and a form of superstition connected to Catholicism. RIP is an abbreviation of ‘rest in peace’ or in Latin, ‘requiescat in pace’. In a publication marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the order called on Protestants to stop using the phrase. Wallace Thompson, secretary of Evangelical... Read more