Details: A teenage girl has been banned from her school in France after arriving in a long skirt that the headmistress decided appeared too religious. The 16-year-old, who converted to Islam a year ago, arrived at her school outside of Paris on May 2 and, like each day, took off her veil. However the skirt she was wearing that day, which reached below her knees and nearly to her shoes, was quickly spotted by the headmistress who allegedly decided it... Read more
Pope Francis on Friday was given the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, Germany, from Marcel Philipp, the Lord Mayor of the German city. The prize is awarded for work done in the service of European unification. The pope gave a speech on accepting the award, and it is impassioned and persuasive. From the conclusion: God desires to dwell in our midst, but he can only do so through men and women who, like the great evangelizers of this continent, have been... Read more
From The Catholic Globe: A week’s worth of rainy days could not dampen the joy at the Mass for the conferral of Holy Orders for the ordination of deacons on April 30. “If April showers bring May flowers, then we are blessed with these gifts in the garden of the church with the ordination of four men as permanent deacons,” Bishop Walker Nickless, the ordaining prelate, told the standing-room only crowd at the Cathedral of the Epiphany, Sioux City. Edward... Read more
The funeral Mass for Father Daniel Berrigan will be celebrated Friday morning. Here’s a personal look at how the celebrated pacifist lived, from the great Jim Dwyer of The New York Times: On his last day alive, the Rev. Daniel J. Berrigan wore pajama bottoms that had belonged to an older brother who died last year. In Father Berrigan’s closet was a thin navy blue backpack, “light as a feather,” his niece Frida Berrigan said. He brought it everywhere. “Dan... Read more
UPDATE From the Diocese of Brooklyn: The Sacred Heart of Jesus statue stolen from outside the Saints Peter and Paul Rectory, located at 71 South 3rd St, 11249 in Williamsburg, has been found. A man spotted the statue in a trash can outside his Brooklyn apartment and gave it to his mother. After seeing media reports, the family realized where the statue belonged and contacted the rectory to return it. The statue is being restored. The original press release: A statue of Jesus... Read more
Catholics have been thriving at the CIA since its earliest days. Who knew? From The Catholic Herald: The CIA is the best known of the 17 agencies that comprise the American intelligence community. It has earned itself nicknames like “Catholic Intelligence Agency” and “Catholics In Action”. It’s worth exploring why. No official statistics exist on Catholics in the CIA or any other American intelligence agency. But one interesting clue is the relatively high number of Catholics who have served as... Read more
From Crux: Probably the most trusted adviser to Pope Francis, and a man who holds the position traditionally considered the Vatican’s “Prime Minister,” said Tuesday that in his view there’s no reason a woman one day couldn’t have his job. “A woman could become Secretary of State, in the sense that the role of the Secretary of State is evidently not bound to the sacraments or the priesthood,” Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in a brief session with reporters on... Read more
From Pakistan: In a show of generosity, Muslim farmers have contributed to the fundraising efforts of Catholics who are building a church in Khalsabad, a village (chak in Urdu), near Gojra, Punjab province. Eight Christian families live in the village, and their mud chapel was swept away in the last monsoon rains. Given the option of praying at home, they chose to build a church and asked their neighbours for help. “I learnt about the project in a community meeting last... Read more
In some parts of the country, it’s a holy day of obligation, Ascension Thursday. But all over the country, it’s the 65th annual National Day of Prayer. We could use a little prayer right about now, couldn’t we? (Actually, we could use a lot of prayer…) About this day: The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952... Read more
From the Vatican’s news site: Two months after the massacre perpetrated by a terrorist commando in the nursing home in Aden , where four Missionaries of Charity were killed along with 12 other people, there is still no certain news about father Tom Uzhunnalil. In the absence of verified information, rumors continue to circulate on the current negotiations to secure his release. “The last words, which are quite reassuring, I received indirectly about ten days ago. I was told that Father... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In