This development may raise some eyebrows: For the first time in decades, the Catholic Diocese of Helena is allowing outdoor weddings. On Saturday, Jovlyn “Jovy” Link, 28, and Mike Satterthwaite, 46, made recent history as the first couple to marry in an outside Catholic ceremony in Butte. They gathered at Basin Creek Reservoir. “It’s been a really long time since our parish had an outdoor wedding,” said St. Patrick Church pastoral associate Seaneen Prendergast. In May, the couple was “ecstatic”... Read more

From a press release: The Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference (KCBC) on June 8 expressed concern about the uncertainty over the release of Father Tom Uzhunnalil, the Salesian who was abducted by a terrorist group in Yemen. KCBC, a permanent association of Catholic bishops in the state, urged both the central and state governments to ensure the safe release of the priest as early as possible. “KCBC is very much concerned about prolonged uncertainty in the release of Father Tom Uzhunnalil.... Read more

Details:  Mel Gibson and writer Randall Wallace are working on a sequel to The Passion of the Christthat will tell the story of the resurrection of Jesus, Wallace tells The Hollywood Reporter. Wallace, nominated for an Academy Award for scripting Gibson’s 1995 best picture Oscar winner Braveheart, on Thursday (reluctantly) confirmed rumors that he has begun to write a script for a story about the resurrection, tellingTHR that the project is becoming too difficult to keep under wraps. Wallace, who most... Read more

This is big:  For the first time in history in St. Peter’s Square, the Gospel Reading at a papal Mass will be dramatized by a group of intellectually disabled persons so the text can be understood by pilgrims with mental disabilities, the Vatican announced today. Speaking at a press conference on the Jubilee for the Sick and Disabled, which runs June 10 – June 12 in Rome, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization,... Read more

From the Opus Dei website, this press release:  The Prelature of Opus Dei has accepted Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s invitation to assume responsibility for the pastoral care and administration of Saint Agnes, the well-known parish serving the area around Grand Central Terminal. Founded in 1873, and located at 143 East 43rd Street, Saint Agnes is perhaps best known as the Church where the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen would often celebrate Mass. The original church was destroyed in a devastating fire in... Read more

How cool is this:  Deep in the heart of Texas, a campus chaplain is busy making his final spiritual and practical preparations for becoming a bishop. However, unlike many of his soon-to-be brother-bishops, Fr. David Konderla is carving his very own staff – or crosier – to signify his new position and duty as a teacher and head of a diocese. “Every Jedi has not completed his training until he’s made his own light saber that he uses to fight... Read more