Tide commercial mocks Christians opposed to gay marriage—UPDATED

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 4:17 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

I’m sure someone thought this was clever. It’s not. Newsbusters pointed it out yesterday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrD1aVPySWc Whatever one thinks of the issue of gay marriage, we should agree on this: mocking someone’s religious convictions to sell soap is not cool. In fact, it’s repellent. UPDATE: Ad Week reports it’s not real; the ad done was done on spec: Tide has already made one commercial featuring a gay couple—it’s been airing in Canada, as Procter & Gamble considers bringing it to the U.S.. And now,... Read more

Tide commercial mocks Christians opposed to gay marriage—UPDATED

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 8:35 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

I’m sure someone thought this was clever. It’s not. Newsbusters pointed it out yesterday. Whatever one thinks of the issue of gay marriage, we should agree on this: mocking someone’s religious convictions to sell soap is not cool. In fact, it’s repellent. UPDATE: Ad Week reports it’s not real; the ad done was done on spec: Tide has already made one commercial featuring a gay couple—it’s been airing in Canada, as Procter & Gamble considers bringing it to the U.S.. And now, an... Read more

Pope appoints 18 married couples to attend Synod

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 12:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The list keeps getting longer: More than 360 participants, including 18 married couples from around the world, were expected to attend October’s Synod of Bishops on the family. In addition to the 166 synod members elected by their national bishops’ conferences, 22 heads of Eastern Catholic churches, 25 heads of Vatican congregations and councils and 10 heads of men’s religious orders, the pope appointed an additional 45 synod fathers to take part in the Oct. 4-25 gathering. The complete list... Read more

Pope names bishop to replace Finn in Kansas City-St. Joseph

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 11:43 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From the website of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph: The Holy See Press Office this morning reported Pope Francis has appointed Springfield – Cape Girardeau Bishop James V. Johnston, Jr. as 7th Bishop of Kansas City – St. Joseph. Bishop Johnston was Consecrated as Bishop for the Diocese of Springfield – Cape Girardeau on March 31, 2008. He will continue as Administrator of that diocese until his Installation as Bishop of Kansas City – St. Joseph on November 4.... Read more

Ordination update: 4 new deacons for Palm Beach

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 10:59 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

I got this email Tuesday morning from Deacon Martin Serraes, Episcopal Delegate for Permanent Deacons: “Bishop Gerald ordained four men to the Permanent Diaconate on Saturday September 12 at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola.” Congratulations, brothers, and welcome! Ad multos annos! Pictured left to right: Deacon Martin Serraes (Episcopal Delegate), Deacon Raymond Neubauer, Deacon John Bartalini Jr., Bishop Gerald Barbarito, Deacon Normand Etienne, Deacon Jose Guardiario,Jr., Deacon Dennis Demes ( Formation Director) . Photo: Florida Catholic Read more

“Long before I became a priest, I encouraged my girlfriend to have an abortion…”

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 9:57 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Here’s something you don’t read every day, from Aleteia: I write today as a priest who was guilty of an abortion decades ago. No sooner had I heard about Pope Francis’ letter giving universal faculties to priests to absolve the sin of abortion and lift any excommunication, did I find myself being interviewed on the radio and being asked curious questions about the Pope’s letter. Is this a new teaching? Is the Church finally forgiving people who have been guilty... Read more

Study: half of U.S. Catholics have left the Church “at some point”; but 70% say they could never imagine leaving

Last updated on: September 15, 2015 at 9:09 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: Some older American Catholics might remember a time when people thought of the Catholic Church like a family: hard to ignore and even harder to leave. But a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. Catholics shows that at least some of these perceptions may no longer be entirely true. Indeed, about half (52%) of all U.S. adults who were raised Catholic have left the church at some point in their lives. A significant minority of them returned, but most (four-in-ten of... Read more

“The ultimate dignity is whether you’re really present for other people”

Last updated on: September 14, 2015 at 6:09 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The New York Times this morning has a brief Q&A with Patty Stonesifer, who runsMartha’s Table, a charitable organization based in Washington, DC. While not strictly a Catholic charity—though it was co-founded by a priest—Martha’s Table is run by a woman with a deeply Catholic sensibility, and she brings that to her leadership style: Q. What were some early influences for you? A. I’m the sixth of nine children. The most notable things about my family were that my parents had... Read more

Changes in Catholic America: a snapshot of the country the Pope will be visiting

Last updated on: September 14, 2015 at 6:01 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The good folks at Pew offer this demographic snapshot of the country Pope Francis will be visiting next week: Today, immigrants make up a considerable share of Catholics, and many are Hispanic. At the same time, there has been a regional shift, from the Northeast (long home to a large percentage of the Catholic faithful) and Midwest to the Western and Southern parts of the U.S. Our research also has documented the decline of Catholics as a share of the U.S. population.... Read more

“At the cross her station keeping…”

Last updated on: September 14, 2015 at 5:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

My parish, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, traditionally celebrates its feast day tomorrow, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Fittingly, it follows today’s feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. From the vault, I found this homily from 2008, with some thoughts on those feasts. + This Sunday, marks the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. And like we do at every Sunday mass, we began this celebration with a procession down the aisle, following that cross. It leads... Read more