From the Facebook page of Knoxville Bishop Rick Sticka, who is overseeing the construction of a new cathedral: Just an ordinary day in my life. I stood on top of the dome and enjoyed the view. With all proper safety equipment I stepped out of the basket and stood on the top and then inscribed on Latin Iesu Confido In Te which translates Jesus I Trust In You. Special word of thanks to my driver John. Nelson. Here’s the work-in-progress: [img... Read more

Details:  Archaeologists have conducted annual excavations at the synagogue in Huqoq, an ancient village in Israel’s lower Galilee region, every year since 2011. Last month, a team including students and staff from four North American universities unearthed what might be the most stunning find yet: two mosaic panels depicting the story of Noah’s Ark and the parting of the Red Sea. The panels, described as extremely rare for their content and quality, were found decorating the nave floor of the... Read more

Today marks the feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha. Four years ago, when she was canonized, I preached a homily about her, mentioning that the reredos behind our altar included a small statue of this new saint. I noted that it was dedicated decades before she was even beatified, and that her journey to sainthood was not exactly brief: St. Kateri was born to the Algonquin-Mohawk tribe in upstate New York in 1656. When she was a child, she suffered from smallpox, which left... Read more

This may have some significance; Catholics have voted for the winner of the popular vote in almost every presidential election since Roosevelt. Details:  Currently, Clinton also holds a 17-point advantage among Catholic registered voters, driven largely by overwhelming support for Clinton among Latino Catholics. By contrast, at a similar point in the 2012 campaign, Catholics were closely divided between support for Obama (49%) and Romney (47%). Exit polls conducted on Election Day in 2012 found that Catholics ultimately split their votes... Read more

This is something altogether different for the venerable evangelization outfit. From their press release: Catholics Come Home has announced its upcoming campaign to invite Millennial Catholics home to the Church, through new television commercials and an interactive website, called CatholicsComeHome.com, a companion website to its popular .org site. Four new evangomercials including “Something More” and “Epic 2.0”,  as well as a millennial-focused website, are in response to the growing number of Millennial Catholics  (young adults ages 18-34) abandoning their Catholic faith, as well... Read more

Here’s a demographic some pollsters and pundits might not have considered: It’s go time for the Amish PAC. With the presidential contest tightening in several swings states, including Pennsylvania, the Virginia-based political-action committee has launched its first advertisements intended to encourage Amish voters to hit the polls in November in support of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Designed to run in newspapers read by the Amish in Pennsylvania, Ohio and other states, the campaign shows an image of Trump... Read more

A poignant glimpse at The New York Times’ legendary Bill Cunningham, who died just last month: Father Kevin Madigan, pastor of Manhattan’s Church of St. Thomas More, said: “When deciding which galas to cover for the Times, what mattered more to Bill was the nature of the charity, than the celebrity guest list. Bill would always be respectful and appreciative of the person whose picture he was taking, whether it was some street kid or a society grand-dame.” …Since his death June... Read more

Details about recovering the remains of a man many pray will one day be declared a saint: The senior Pentagon analyst in charge of finding Korean War troops missing in action says there is a “better than even” chance that the body of Medal of Honor soldier Father Emil Kapaun will eventually be found buried in a national cemetery in Hawaii. Finding Kapaun’s remains would be big news, not only to the U.S. military – which awarded him the Medal... Read more

It’s the kind of question a lot of families are hearing these days, and here’s some helpful advice:  How can those of us in this situation try to convince our non-practicing spouse to attend church services? “The same way we get our spouse to do anything,” says author and therapist Dr. Gregory Popcak. “We explain how important it is, we insist that we be taken seriously, and we refuse to let it go.” Popcak is the executive director of the Pastoral... Read more