Beautiful: Malena Catherine Jerge got her wish. She received first Communion at the nursing home where her grandmother has lived all of the 8-year-old girl’s life. As you might guess, Malena was the only first-timer on Sunday at St. Anne’s Salvatorian Campus. Pretty in her white dress and floral headpiece, she approached the chapel’s altar with her parents, John and Amanda, for a host and a sip of wine. Father Al Wagner then walked down to the front row and... Read more
Really: A Texas high school teacher who teaches French could have to bid adieu to his job — because he doesn’t know how to speak the language. Albert Moyer has been teaching French classes at the Houston Independent School District’s Energy Institute High School for about five months, but the only word he knows how to speak is “bonjour,” students told local TV station KHOU. “I thought it was a joke, I couldn’t believe this was happening,” said Sharonda White,... Read more
Details: Police in India on Monday arrested 14 people for the kidnapping and beating of a Catholic bishop on April 25, including three of the bishop’s own priests, at least one of whom is believed to have been upset that he was recently denied a requested position in the diocese. The main culprit charged in the arrest is Father Raja Reddy from Jammalamadugu, located in the diocese of Cuddapah in southern India, which is led by Bishop Prasad Gallela, 54, who... Read more
Details from Crux: Despite speculation that Cardinal George Pell might step down shortly after his 75th birthday on June 8, Pell’s office said Thursday that Pope Francis has confirmed the Australian prelate as the Vatican’s top financial official until at least 2019. The news came in a statement from Pell’s office in Rome, after a Thursday visit by Pope Francis to the offices of the Secretariat for the Economy, the body created by the pope in 2014 to be the... Read more
Check out the video from the Vatican below. Some context, from the Aleteia home page: In the month of May — the Month in which we especially honor Mary of Nazareth, by whose “fiat” the Christ came to Be — the Holy Father is inviting the whole world to consider the dignity of women, the intrinsic and co-creative worth of women, and the need to assure their contributive participation in every sphere of life. Pope Francis says, “If you think... Read more
From the Courthouse News Service: A Las Vegas water company gave raises only to employees who took Scientology courses, and fired a “brand ambassador” who wouldn’t do it, she claims in court. Grecia Echevarria-Hernandez grew up Roman Catholic and thought she had landed a good job, until she was fired for declining to watch Scientology video courses, she says in her April 26 federal lawsuit against Affinitylifestyles.com dba Real Alkalized Water. Echevarria says the company hired her to be a... Read more
This is something new to me, but apparently it’s been going on for a while. The report, from The New York Times: A bell tolled 17 times inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday. It echoed off the polished marble floors and the scrubbed limestone columns. It echoed off the hundreds of hard hats that were resting in laps, on pews and beside 16 roses on 16 empty seats at the altar. The bell, forged by ironworkers from two unions, hung... Read more
Details: In 2002, Eduardo Verástegui took a vow of abstinence after re-discovering his faith under the wing of his then voice coach, Jasmine O’Donnell. “She would ask me a lot of questions, without judging me, like ‘What’s your life’s purpose?’ ‘What motivates you to wake up every day?’ ‘Who do you live for and who do you die for?’ ‘What does God mean to you?’” Verástegui said during an interview in 2013. “That helped me understand that I was full... Read more
The picture above really is worth a thousand words. The caption:Bishop Edward J. Burns lies prostrate on the floor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Juneau during the Ceremony of Sorrow held on April 29th, 2016. (Lucy Nelson photo) Look closely. Gone are all the trappings of the office. What remains is a man prostrate before his God. Worth noting: Bishop Burns is the chair of the USCCB Committee for the Protection of Children and Youth. From his homily at the ceremony:... Read more
From the diocese’s Facebook page, describing the picture above: Congratulations to 8 new permanent deacons, ordained for our diocese (L-R) Deacon Christopher Wickern, St. Patrick, Sedalia; Deacon Arvol Bartok, Sacred Heart, Sedalia; Deacon James Haaf, St. Francis Xavier, Taos; Deacon James Farnell, St. Brendan, Mexico (Bishop John R, Gaydos); Deacon Bruce Mobley, Immaculate Conception, Macon; Deacon Philip Ordonio, St. Joseph, Edina; Deacon Tyler McClay, Cathedral of St. Joseph, Jefferson City; Deacon Ric Telthorst, St. Peter, Jefferson City. Congratulations and welcome!... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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