Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln—legendary for its thriving vocations—spoke recently with Catholic World Report. He had a few things to say about the priesthood, and even fewer to say about the diaconate: CWR: The Diocese of Lincoln does well for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. What is the secret to your success? Bishop James Conley: We have 43 seminarians this year, including 10 new ones. We go back and forth with the Diocese of Wichita as... Read more
From Robert Moynihan’s blog at Inside the Vatican: This earthquake occurred 1,937 years to the day since Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum — one of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in European history. In order to be prudent, the monks of Norcia have decided to move from the time being from Norcia to Rome, where they will be hosted in the Monastery of Sant’Anselmo on the Aventine Hill. They are leaving because the aftershocks... Read more
Horrifying: Two Catholic nuns were found slain in a Mississippi home where they lived when the women, both nurse practitioners, didn’t report to work at a nearby hospital, authorities said Thursday. Durant Assistant Police Chief James Lee said it was too early to say how the nuns died, but it appears they were not shot. There were signs of a break-in and the nuns’ vehicle is missing, said Maureen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Catholic Diocese of Jackson. Both women... Read more
From the In My Backyard Desk, a terrific video from CNS (kudos to Katie Breidenbach and Chaz Muth) that gives a glimpse of Franciscans engaging in a little hip evangelization. First thing you do? Put in glass doors. Really. The story: The gray robes worn by the Conventual Franciscan friars may not be fashionable in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, but the religious men appear to be fitting in just fine in the heart of “hipster” country. This... Read more
From Crux: Ever since February 28, 2013, when emeritus Pope Benedict XVI unexpectedly, and in Latin, announced his resignation, theories regarding why became too numerous to count: scandals over leaked confidential documents, his health, an alleged “gay lobby” in the Vatican, and so on. Benedict said at the time he was stepping down because he was 86 and lacked the strength to continue with his mission of leading an institution present in every corner of the world, with over 1.2 billion... Read more
From Pew: As part of a new survey connected to our broader Religious Landscape Study, we asked these people to explain, in their own words,why they no longer identify with a religious group. This resulted in hundreds of different responses (after all, everyone’s religious experience is a bit different), but many of them shared one of a few common themes. About half of current religious “nones” who were raised in a religion (49%) indicate that a lack of belief led them to... Read more
An interesting question over at The Catholic Telegraph, newspaper for Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The answer is provided by the Rev. David Endres: Q: Are the homilies of priests and deacons critiqued? The homily quality among preachers varies considerably. Some are outstanding; others are poor. Are continuing education classes available and/or required for clergy especially in the area of homily development and presentation? A: Yes, the homilies of priests and deacons, are always critiqued – at least informally – by those... Read more
Photo from Captain Grammar Pants, via Tom Zampino. Read more
King Mohammed VI, leader of Morocco, made the following remarks Saturday as part of a longer speech on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People: Our community abroad also suffers from the backlash of terrorist activities and from accusations levelled against them, by some, because of their faith. Naturally, I strongly condemn the killing of innocent people. Killing a priest is forbidden by religion; murdering him inside a church is unforgivable madness,... Read more
Details: The Bowling Green woman accused of desecrating and defacing the St. Clement Catholic Church in July 2016 was found dead in her apartment on Monday, Aug. 22. Pike County Coroner Jim Turner said in a Monday afternoon phone interview with the Bowling Green Times that he is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Linda Marie Howard, 54, of Bowling Green. According to Turner, Howard appears to have died in an apparent suicide. Fr. Bill Peckman, the pastor of... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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