A great story from CatholicPhilly.com: If 30 years ago anyone told Steve Javie he would become a permanent deacon, he probably would have said, “no way.” Sure, he came from a solid Catholic family with Mass every Sunday, confession every two weeks need it or not, and his uncle Msgr. Anthony Jaworowski was one of the most respected priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, but all of that was ancient history as far as Javie was concerned. Sports was really in... Read more
This was posted today on the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston website. Read more
There’s been a lot of ink devoted to the controversial tweet of Father Kevin Cusick, regarding bare shoulders during Mass. He’s now he’s taken to The Wanderer to explain himself and condemn the “Twitter mob”: So, what was the tweet about? I touched upon a subject uncomfortable for many — modesty of dress for Mass, and my intention was to address only that: the decorum proper to praying together in the liturgy. However, regardless of my intentions otherwise, the tweet... Read more
Pray for this church and its people: Catholic parishioners expected to attend their evening Mass at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Tallahassee, but instead were subjected to news of a probable arson attack to their beloved church. Officers arrived on the scene Wednesday around 4:30 p.m. to witness Darha Nixon, the church’s business manager, inform them of the news. Nixon had already fought the fire with a chemical fire extinguisher that scorched much of the wall. According to... Read more
Of course, the crowd chose Barabbas, too. Details: Three-quarters of Americans say they want to keep in place the landmark Supreme Court ruling, Roe v. Wade, that made abortion legal in the United States, but a strong majority would like to see restrictions on abortion rights, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll. What the survey found is a great deal of complexity — and sometimes contradiction among Americans — that goes well beyond the talking points of the loudest voices in the... Read more
If anyone is wondering how lay Catholics are feeling these days, I give you Exhibit A, Elizabeth Scalia, who has had just about enough: One gets the sense that certain leaders are not only corrupt, vain, and selfish, but clueless beyond permission. They apparently do not understand that whatever “statement” they put out addressing the unending scandals being exposed around them—what the laity is seeing, hearing, and digesting—is a despicable “don’t do as we do, do as we say” hypocrisy.... Read more
From CNS: A weekly news program about the pope and the Vatican will now be offered in Latin, the official language of the Holy See. The five-minute news flash “will be an actual, real news broadcast with news and news reports,” said Andrea Tornielli, editorial director for the Dicastery for Communication. The program is not meant as “a nostalgic look at the past, but as a challenge toward the future,” giving new life to the Catholic Church’s official language, he... Read more
It was the speech President Reagan gave at Pointe du Hoc 35 years ago, and The Washington Post has the story behind it: The task of writing Reagan’s address was given to a precocious 33-year-old speechwriter named Peggy Noonan, one of seven children of an Irish Catholic family from Brooklyn. Her father was a furniture salesman. The family later lived above a candy store in New Jersey. She had once worked as a waitress. She also had a degree in literature,... Read more
Among other things, the former bishop enjoyed chartered flights and luxury hotels, according this bombshell from The Washington Post: In the years before he was ousted for alleged sexual harassment and financial abuses, the leader of the Catholic Church in West Virginia gave cash gifts totaling $350,000 to fellow clergymen, including young priests he is accused of mistreating and more than a dozen cardinals in the United States and at the Vatican, according to church records obtained by The Washington... Read more
It happened just six months after the 32-year-old priest was ordained. Details: A Catholic priest was killed in Kenya. Father Eutycas Murangiri Muthur, of the parish of Limbine, diocese of Meru, county of Tigania, was stabbed to death by one or more individuals at about 1:30 am on June 4th, in Makutano, at about 200 km from the capital, Nairobi. The circumstances of the killing are not clear but the police arrested a man and a woman who apparently were with... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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