Somehow, I missed this when the news broke last week. Details:  Two days after hundreds of people — many of them Catholic — from around the US descended on Belle Plaine, Minnesota to protest the installation of a Satanic memorial in the city’s veterans park, the City Council voted unanimously July 17 to remove all religious symbols there. The council rescinded a designation that made a portion of the park available for monument commissions from any religious group. The decision... Read more

Details: Nine-year-old Andrea is an Italian boy who joined 130 children last month for a “Pilgrimage of Joy” to the Marian Shrine of Loreto, Italy. He was so moved by the experience that he wrote a letter about it to Pope Francis, inviting the Pope to accompany him and the other children for another pilgrimage next year. And the Pope offered a surprising response, leaving the door open to the possibility in a letter of reply. “Thanks for the invitation... Read more

This post appeared on Father Dwight Longenecker’s Facebook feed. It describes the experiences of a Protestant minister wearing a Roman collar—and finding himself mistaken for a Catholic priest. Fr. Dwight explained: That’s why, when I’m on the move I increasingly wear either mufti or my full cassock and collar. Here’s the post, from the blog TiberJudy:  I have a friend who is a Presbyterian minister. He’s the pastor of a large congregation and he’s always busy. Recently he travelled out... Read more

Well, what do you know? From The Irish Times:  The Rolling Stones may have had Sister Morphine but U2’s preference is for the altogether more savoury Sr Anne. A Medical Missionary of Mary, Sr Anne Carr, born in Dublin and raised in Cork, spent 32 years in Malawi caring for the very sick. She is subject of the band’s 2004 song Crumbs from Your Table and is looking forward to attending the band’s Croke Park concert on Saturday night as... Read more

You probably remember his story from a couple weeks back: The former Northern Ireland footballer Philip Mulryne has been ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the Dominican Order. Fr Mulryne, who is reported to have once earned £600,000 a year, has also taken a vow of poverty. Now, in a video he describes what led him to the priesthood. Check it out above. What a great witness for the world.  Ad multos annos!    Read more

An oldie but a goodie, with a nice Anglican flair. This was our entrance processional this week. Wikipedia notes: Its text, which draws from Psalm 103, was written by 19th century Anglican clergyman Henry Francis Lyte. The hymn is frequently sung in the United Kingdom and was used in the 1947 royal wedding of H.R.H. the Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The lyrics: Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven; To His feet... Read more

Wow:  Mohammad Lahham is a sculptor in Lebanon who fled the war in Syria five years ago with his wife, two children and his parents. Now based in a southern suburb of Beirut, he creates sculptures of Christian saints at a roadside studio 40km south of the city. He says people tell him his job is forbidden – referencing Islamic tradition that discourages depictions of deities in physical form. But he enjoys the work, saying that breaking taboos can help... Read more

This Sunday’s Gospel asks us to consider the question: why does God let weeds into the world? For one answer, I’d like turn to the story of Dan Ponder, Jr. He was a representative in the Georgia state legislature. Seventeen years ago, as the legislature prepared to vote on an historic hate crimes bill, he stood before his fellow representatives in the state capitol and he spoke about a woman who raised him, named Mary Ward: “She began working for... Read more

Something beautiful:  A Catholic charity has sent 15 statues of the Virgin Mary to the Middle East to replace ones destroyed by ISIS. The group Œuvre d’Orient, a French association dedicated to helping persecuted Christians, has sent the statues from Lourdes to Ankawa, a suburb of the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, which has a majority Catholic population. Aleteia reports that once they arrive, they will be carried in procession through the town by Chaldean and Syriac Catholics, before... Read more

This is courageous—and I know this will be a welcome gift to many. As his bio notes: The following is an Op-Ed piece from Sean Welsh, a senior offensive lineman for the Iowa Hawkeyes from Springboro, Ohio.  He has 35 career starts and has been recognized nationally for his efforts as a player and a student. The 2017 season will mark Welsh’s fourth year as a member of the Iowa Football Leadership Group. You can watch the video above, but please do... Read more