Baltimore’s Auxiliary Bishop Brennan named to replace Bransfield in West Virginia

Last updated on: July 23, 2019 at 6:37 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Some good news for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, via The Catholic Review: Pope Francis named Bishop Mark E. Brennan as bishop of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which encompasses the state of West Virginia. The July 23 announcement was publicized in Washington, D.C., by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Bishop Brennan, 72, had been a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington until his appointment in December 2016 as an auxiliary bishop of Baltimore. He was ordained a... Read more

A gay rabbi-in-residence at a Catholic university?

Last updated on: July 23, 2019 at 9:54 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

As we say in Queens: oy. From The Jewish News: “Let me be your rabbi!” declares Camille Shira Angel, the first rabbi-in-residence at the University of San Francisco, a Jesuit Catholic institution, where she has been a longtime adjunct professor in the Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice. In August, Angel will assume her new position with the Swig Program and University Ministry, officiating at Jewish lifecycle events and offering spiritual support to Jewish and non-Jewish students alike. The... Read more

Bishop mandates an ad orientem Mass at cathedral, encourages it across the diocese

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 8:45 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From the Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico, here’s part of a letter from Bishop James S. Wall: Let me say at the outset: I know this can be a contentious topic. To make changes to the way we pray can be difficult, especially when it comes to liturgical prayer. By explaining and advocating for this, I am in no way trying to disrupt the way the people of this Diocese pray. Rather, I am trying to open the treasury... Read more

This may be the best-kept secret in the Church

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 3:32 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Did you know this is NFP Awareness Week? Details: Natural Family Planning Awareness Week is a national educational campaign. The Natural Family Planning Program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops develops a poster each year with basic supportive materials. It is the individual dioceses however, that offer a variety of educational formats in the local church to focus attention on Natural Family Planning methods and Church teachings which support their use in marriage. The dates of Natural Family... Read more

Are there times when women can preach?

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 1:18 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This essay by Jean Molesky-Paz was published today — the feast of St. Mary Magdalene — and it offers us an interesting witness to a very different time: In our parish in Northern California, lay women began to preach the good news during the Sunday liturgy in 1996. The practice emerged from within the faith community. Several women had approached our pastor and spoke of the devastating lack of women’s spiritual wisdom and leadership in the church for 2,000 years.... Read more

Picture of the Week: A Blessing from a New Priest

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 11:13 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

H/T to my blogging colleague Tom McDonald. This comes from the Diocese of Bismark Facebook page: During the high school pilgrimage to Rome this summer, Fr. Jarad Wolf captured this moment when the newly ordained Father Gregory Crane gave his first blessing to Cardinal Raymond Burke following the Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29. While greeting the cardinal, Father Crane mentioned he was just ordained (on June 11). Cardinal Burke... Read more

With bishops retiring, ‘It’s as crucial a time for church leadership since the 16th century’

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 9:16 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

An important reminder, and some context, from NCR: Pope Francis will have a rare opportunity to revamp the leadership of a large segment of the U.S. Catholic Church in the coming year, as a high number of bishops in dioceses across the country are reaching the traditional retirement age of 75. In fact, nine residential American bishops are already 75 or older. Five more will turn that age by the end of June 2020. Although prelates can serve past retirement... Read more

Secretary of State Bergoglio?

Last updated on: July 22, 2019 at 6:28 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From Crux: An Argentine priest who knew Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires prior to his election as Pope Francis claims that in 2005, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI offered Bergoglio the position of Secretary of State, effectively the second most important position in the Vatican after the papacy itself, but the future pontiff turned it down. Benedict XVI reportedly wanted Bergoglio to be his Secretary of State to help him clean up the Catholic Church’s central government, known as... Read more

Steve Bannon: ‘If your phone’s ever been in a Catholic church, they got this data…’

Last updated on: July 21, 2019 at 10:37 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

This seems to have slipped under the radar: a report from Friday with some interesting details about how Steve Bannon and others used Catholic data to get out the vote last year: In 2018, former Trump strategist Steve Bannon used location data from smartphones to target church-goers with get-out-the vote advertisements, according to a new report fromThinkProgress Friday. “We’re sending a message from CatholicVote, not to go vote for a specific guy,” Bannon said. “But for all Catholics to go out and... Read more

Vatican Issues Disciplinary Measures Against Bransfield

Last updated on: July 20, 2019 at 1:05 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A big h/t to Rocco, who noted this on his Twitter feed last night. The announcement is posted on the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston web page, stating “the Holy Father has decided the following disciplinary measures for Bishop Emeritus [Michael] Bransfield”: the prohibition to reside in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston. the prohibition to preside or to participate anywhere in any public celebration of the Liturgy. the obligation to make personal amends for some of the harm he caused; the nature and... Read more