While a few people have been writing about changes coming to the Rite of Marriage — becoming mandatory on December 30, 2016, the Feast of the Holy Family—not much attention has been given to how this will be impacting the deacon. A few changes are worth noting—beginning with the vestments. Describing the rite for celebrating marriage outside Mass, the old rubrics said: At the appointed time, the priest, wearing surplice and white stole (or white cope, if desired), proceeds with the... Read more
Remember this name: Ernest Simoni. Until this past week most Catholics, I suspect, had never heard of him. But his story needs to be told—and remembered. This Sunday’s scripture is about persistence and perseverance—about keeping faith, even when weary, and never giving up. And that is the story of Ernest Simoni. Ernest Simoni was born to a devout Catholic family in Albania in 1928. He attended a Franciscan minor seminary until it was shut down by the dictator Enver Hoxha.... Read more
Reaction is pouring in to those emails. Details: Catholic bishops and political campaigners alike have condemned emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign team which attack Catholicism. The emails, released by Wikileaks this week, are disparaging about Catholic “middle ages” teachings. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia called the emails “ugly” and “contemptuously anti-Catholic”. He was particularly angered by an exchange of emails between John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton campaign, and Sandy Newman, president and founder of the campaign group Voices for Progress. Newman... Read more
It may be Deacon Bill Necessary. From the Tyler Morning Telegraph: Deacon Bill Necessary has always wanted to save people. By day, he’s a mild-mannered theology teacher and assistant chaplain at Bishop T.K. Gorman Catholic School, but at night he brings classic superhero and serial characters to life as a cosplayer. “I want to show that people of faith can be everyday people,” he said. “They can be a nerd and a person of faith. They’re not mutually exclusive.” Necessary... Read more
It hasn’t come up in the debates. The candidates haven’t mentioned it on the stump. And now, less than a month to go before the election, the candidates and the press are talking about sex and emails instead of things like this: The Christian communities of Syria and Iraq are in the middle of a “cataclysmic crisis,” a report warns today. Their very existence is in peril as the world stands witness to one of the greatest threats to the Christian Church... Read more
From Elizabeth Scalia, who sums things up perfectly and pointedly: Podesta & Company’s words speak for themselves. Intelligent people understand them, and points needn’t be belabored. The Catholic Church is not a democracy, and cannot be a democracy, because its formation and function survives by the pleasure of the King, who is All-in-All — fully beyond any of his servants or administrators. The Church is Eternal because its founder is Eternal, and still alive within her, Present in every Tabernacle... Read more
From today’s general audience, words of wisdom from Francis. Watch here: Photo: Paul Haring / CNS Read more
This has been generating a lot of attention and discussion over the last 24 hours. Details: A newly exposed email exchange shows Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, Clinton campaign communications director Jen Palmieri, and Center for American Progress fellow John Halpin sharing their views on how they believe Catholicism is “backwards.” Released by WikiLeaks as part of the alleged cache of “Podesta emails,” the email chain, titled “Conservative Catholicism,” begins with Halpin sending an email to Podesta and Palmieri chastising News Corp... Read more
This statement was just released by the USCCB: Archbishop William E. Lori, Chairman of the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, and Bishop Gregory J. Mansour of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, joined leaders from diverse faiths in writing to President Barack Obama, Senate President Pro Tempore Orrin Hatch, and House Speaker Paul Ryan concerning a report released last month by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The letter calls upon these political leaders “to renounce publicly the... Read more
Yep: Call it a sign of the times. More couples these days want to avoid parenthood and embrace life without children. So some are marking the start of their childless families with ‘vasectomy parties.’ One couple posted a Reddit bulletin announcing that they were inviting friends to revel in the fun of being sterilized. The invitation calls on attendees to live it up in ‘a house filled with sharp furniture and exposed outlets,’ the Sun reported. Instead of the traditional... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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