Big news this week out of the Diocese of San Bernardino: Bishop [Gerald R.] Barnes announced to the priests at the convocation Friday that he has established Blessed Oscar Romero Parish in Eastvale and has appointed Fr. Pat Kirsch as the first pastor of the Parish. Oscar Romero, of course, was beatified just this year. As far as I can tell, this is the first parish in the United States—and, maybe, in the world—to be named for the archbishop slain... Read more
From Vatican Radio: A Vatican statement on Friday (18th September) said a Syrian refugee family, is already being hosted by the Vatican with the help of the city state’s Santa Anna parish community. The family, consisting of a father, mother and their two children, come from Damascus and belong to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. In its statement, the Vatican said the family arrived in Italy on September the 6th, the very same day that Pope Francis made his appeal... Read more
Details from Philly.com: On Tuesday morning, atop the cinematic steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, officials will unveil a special loan, in honor of Pope Francis – a monumental bilingual version of Robert Indiana’s famous LOVE sculpture. AMOR will overlook the Benjamin Franklin Parkway where Pope Francis will conduct his papal Mass on Sunday, Sept. 27. Officials at the Art Museum and the Association for Public Art, who arranged a four-month loan of the colorful six-foot sculpture, noted that amor means love both in Latin, the... Read more
Roy Peter Clark, of the Poynter Institute, decided to ask his parish priest for advice on how to cover the visit of Pope Francis. His pastor happens to be Msgr. Robert Gibbons, of St. Petersburg, Florida, and he brings an unusual perspective: Monsignor Gibbons has been a Catholic priest in Florida since 1981. For the past 20 years, he has served as pastor of St. Paul’s Catholic Church in St. Petersburg. He has the reputation of being something of a... Read more
That’s the exact quote of an email I received from a family member the other day; she was offended that Pope Francis would be giving only a few of his speeches here next week in English. Most will be delivered in his native language, Spanish. Is he trying to make some sort of political statement? A friend of mine suggested recently that this was the pope’s way of advocating for open borders, and she added: “Every Pope in recent history has not... Read more
Well, this was a pleasant surprise. I got a nice fat manila envelope in the mail today and found two copies of this inside: “Goodness and Light” is a collection of reflections for Advent and Christmas, with writings by Pope Francis, Thomas Merton, Maya Angelou, Kathleen Norris, Harper Lee, James Martin “and many more.” I’m one of the “many more.” I’m humbled and more than a little astonished to find myself between the same covers as these people. It’s a handsome... Read more
A new study pinpoints how self-identified Catholics answer that question: A Pew Research Center survey released Sept. 2 …asked 1,016 self-identified U.S. adult Catholics about what is “essential” to their personal sense of “being Catholic.” The answers reveal that for most Americans, Catholic identity is rooted more in how they live and believe than in whether they check off the boxes for official Catholic measures: * 68 percent cited “having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ” as essential. * 67... Read more
From The Atlantic: Justin Welby was named archbishop of Canterbury with high hopes that he was the man who could save the Anglican Communion. Now it appears he may oversee its breakup—a calculated destruction intended, paradoxically, to save it. Welby heads the Church of England, making him also the titular head of the affiliated Anglican churches around the world, including the Episcopal Church in the U.S. The umbrella group, the worldwide Anglican Communion, has been shaken by conflicts over the... Read more
It’s a guest list that is, in a word, interesting. Thomas Williams calls it “a stunning show of political indecorum,” and takes note onBreitbart: One of the invitees, retired Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, made history by becoming the first openly gay episcopal bishop in 2003 and subsequently the first to divorce his gay partner in 2014, after having previously separated from his wife of 14 years. He has attended a number of religious events with the Obama administration, offering a prayer... Read more
The press release: The Archdiocese of Chicago today named Grant Gallicho as its director of publications and media, a new position, effective November 1, 2015. In his new role, Gallicho will review the Archdiocese’s publications strategy and manage its print and digital properties. A Chicago native, Gallicho is currently an associate editor of Commonweal, the oldest independent lay-run Catholic journal of opinion in the United States. “I welcome Grant back home to Chicago and look forward to working with him,” said Blase J. Cupich,... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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