The Deacon's Bench
Short, simple and sincere—and with Matthew 25 included, too. When was the last time you saw the star of a late night talk show do something like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX5GmHResuM Read more
Short, simple and sincere—and with Matthew 25 included, too. When was the last time you saw the star of a late night talk show do something like this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX5GmHResuM Read more
This email arrived in my inbox this morning: I recently read on The Church Militant website that the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. is planning to extend employment benefits to spouses of same sex couples employed in the diocese. I would love to see your thoughts on this on the blog. First question is: Why is the Archdiocese of Washington D.C. employing same-sex couples? Do their policies not contain a morality clause confining eligibility for employment to those persons who are... Read more
…comes from the always-interesting Brandon Vogt. And it’s a good one: New research shows that 7% of Catholics contribute 80% of all donations and volunteer hours. It’s easy to cater everything to this group. We know they’ll sign-up, they’ll show up, they’ll subscribe, they’ll buy books, they’ll give. But every Catholic needs to ask this question: what am I doing to reach the other 93%? [getty src=”475365243?et=7oJQXqy2TEFqQL42McnhrQ&viewMoreLink=off&sig=zVkJEAhuurMHFd5SEOq__YwuUiU_Waq0BhMJOp8b_RY=&caption=true” width=”396″ height=”594″] View image | gettyimages.com In the press conference announcing Fr. Robert Barron... Read more
Some readers may recall the controversy surrounding the announcement last year that a parish serving New York’s deaf community was going to close. Now, an update, via Catholic New York: After three decades at St. Elizabeth’s parish, deaf Catholics are about to embark on a new chapter for worship and social gatherings at St. Thomas More parish. Both parishes are located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, approximately six blocks apart. And the faithful at St. Thomas More are more than ready... Read more
There’s been a lot of attention this week to work that’s been undertaken at New York City’s celebrated Church of Our Saviour parish on Park Avenue—for many years, pastored by Fr. George Rutler. Icons that have decorated the church walls for years were mysteriously removed and some feared a “wreckovation” was about to take place. My blog neighbor Katrina Fernandez has written about this at some length and has been following the story closely. Here’s a photo of the sanctuary... Read more
From the magazine’s cover story: “I really need to start making changes right now,” Francis told a half dozen Argentine friends one morning just two months after 115 cardinals in the Vatican conclave vaulted him from relative obscurity into the papacy. To many observers—some delighted, others discomfited—the new pope already had changed seemingly everything, seemingly overnight. He was the first Latin American pope, the first Jesuit pope, the first in more than a thousand years not to have been born in Europe,... Read more
From The New York Times: Armed guards, security patrols and surveillance cameras — at the Potter’s House of Denver, they are just another part of Sunday services, like prayer, psalms and sermons. Much of the security effort is hidden so it does not interfere with worship, but church leaders insist that the military-style protocols are necessary. “We now live in an America where you must be vigilant,” the Rev. E. Christopher Hill, the church’s senior pastor, said. The massacre last... Read more
From Gallup: Pope Francis’ favorability rating in the U.S. has returned to where it was when he was elected pope. It is now at 59%, down from 76% in early 2014. The pontiff’s rating is similar to the 58% he received from Americans in April 2013, soon after he was elected pope. After Pope Francis was elected the leader of the 1.2 billion-member Roman Catholic Church in March 2013, he attempted to focus the church on a renewed sense of... Read more
From Huffington Post, some news that should get wider circulation: Three Muslim organizations have raised over $100,000 to rebuild black churches in the South. In the days following the shooting of nine people inside Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, a string of church fires at black worship centers in the South raised alarm on social media. Authorities have not indicated that the fires are connected to Charleston, but the blazes made headlines in the wake of what many believe to have been... Read more
From CNS: The Catholic faith tradition “offers a unique perspective on crime and punishment, one grounded in mercy and healing, not punishment for its own sake,” two bishops said in a statement renewing the U.S. Catholic Church’s push to end the death penalty. “ No matter how heinous the crime, if society can protect itself without ending a human life, it should do so. Today, we have this capability,” wrote Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston and Archbishop Thomas G.... Read more
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