Feathers are being ruffled around the Interwebs over what sounds like a surprising piece of news: ‘FRANCIS PERMITS LAY PEOPLE TO PRESIDE OVER CATHOLIC WEDDINGS?’ blares one headline. Except: This is not new. It’s been part of canon law for quite some time, long before Francis. But the circumstances are strictly limited. From the Code of Canon Law: Can. 1112 §1. Where there is a lack of priests and deacons, the diocesan bishop can delegate lay persons to assist at marriages, with... Read more
He’s said it before, and today he said it again: In a speech Thursday at the University of Notre Dame, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput called presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton “very bad news for our country.” Chaput said that since he first voted in 1966, “the major parties have never, at the same time, offered two such deeply flawed candidates.” He said he believes each candidate is detrimental to the nation in different ways. “One candidate, in the... Read more
From CNS: In a change to church law, Latin-rite Catholic deacons may not preside at a wedding when one or both of the new spouses are members of an Eastern Catholic church. The new rule is one of the changes to 11 canons in the Latin-rite Code of Canon law that Pope Francis approved in order to harmonize the laws of the Latin and Eastern Catholic churches on several issues involving the sacraments of baptism and marriage. After more than... Read more
From Rome Reports: It was a Mass full of emotions, initiated by the memory of Fr. Jacques Hamel. Monsignor Dominique Lebrun, archbishop of Fr. Hamel’s diocese, explained some of the details of his meeting with Pope Francis. He stressed the encounter occurred precisely on a day designated to Catholics. MSGR. DOMINIQUE LEBRUN Archbishop of Rouen (France) “He signed the photo before Mass and quickly asked that it was placed on the altar. We celebrated the Mass with Fr. Jacques’ photo... Read more
I was surprised to see something like this pop up in the secular press, but The New York Post featured a column today that explored this question: In a new book called “Great Catholic Parishes,” William E. Simon Jr. looks at the question of what makes a vibrant parish. Simon and his team asked the pastors of 244 thriving churches what made their parishes work. According to Simon, “They excel on Sundays.” Which means not only that they focus a great deal... Read more
From CNS: Clergy who use their position for personal gain rather than to help those in need do not follow the spirit of Jesus who took upon himself the sufferings of others, Pope Francis said. Jesus often would rebuke such leaders and warned his followers to “do what they say but not what they do,” the pope said Sept. 14 at his weekly general audience. “Jesus was not a prince,” the pope said. “It is awful for the church when... Read more
Tim Kaine’s bishop issued a statement yesterday, and today two committee chairs of the USCCB have also weighed in. The release: Two USCCB committee chairmen have issued a joint statement reaffirming the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage “as exclusively the permanent, faithful, and fruitful union of one man and one woman [and] cannot change.” Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Doctrine and Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo, New York, chairman of the USCCB Committee on... Read more
It’s the candidate’s sister. From AP: Fairfield University in Connecticut has received a $4 million donation from the sister of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Maryanne Trump Barry is a federal judge who sits on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania. The press release: Fairfield University announced today that a $4M gift in honor of Rev. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S. J., the President of Fairfield, has been made by long-time University supporter and 2011 honorary degree... Read more
I believe this is the first time the pope’s daily Mass has been televised live. Details: To demand apostasy and “to kill in the name of God is satanic,” Pope Francis said on Wednesday morning at a Mass offered for the repose of the soul of a French priest of Rouen, Father Jacques Hamel, who was slain by two Islamic terrorists in July as he was celebrating morning Mass. “Today there are Christians murdered, tortured, imprisoned, and slaughtered because they do not... Read more
A reader in Virginia just sent me this statement, from Richmond Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, responding to recent comments by a member of his flock, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine: More than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage, and despite recent statements from the campaign trail, the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year-old teaching to the truth about what constitutes marriage remains unchanged and resolute. As Catholics, we believe, all humans warrant dignity and deserve love and respect, and... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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