Glad you asked. The Washington Post reports: Pope Francis, age 78, has become one of the most desired group selfie participants on the planet. Everywhere he goes, it seems, the faithful want the pope to stop and smile for a photo with a cellphone camera perched at the end of an outstretched arm. Well, you guys, all those requests are making the pope feel old. A reporter asked Pope Francis about the selfie requests on a Sunday night flight back... Read more
This is something a little different: a new high school about to open in Illinois, named for G.K. Chesterton—and teaching students without the use of computers or iPads: A new high school focusing on classical education and the Catholic faith will open this fall in Downers Grove. The Chesterton Academy of the Holy Family will be in session as of Aug. 24 at the First Presbyterian Church, 339 Fourth St. The co-ed, private high school will offer an integrated classical curriculum... Read more
I’m hardly what you’d call a fashion plate. But there’s one item of clothing I own that consistently turns heads, sparks a reaction and earns comments and compliments. It’s this: I got this t-shirt last year at the Catholic Media Conference in Charlotte, N.C. They were giving them away at a booth set up by a group of Poor Clares who are raising money to build a monastery in North Carolina. I wore this shirt today around Walt Disney World.... Read more
Details: Preaching at Mass is the “best opportunity” most bishops, priests and deacons have on a regular basis to facilitate an encounter with Jesus, so it’s critical for preachers to make the most of every homily, said Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron. He made the comments in a new pastoral letter to clergy of the Archdiocese of Detroit titled “The Preacher – Servant of the Word of God.” It is his third pastoral as archbishop of Detroit, following 2012’s “Forward... Read more
Seton Hall University in New Jersey has posted on its website this profile of a newly ordained deacon, telling a story of perseverance, sacrifice and faith: As a two-time cancer survivor, Deacon Peter Barcellona knows that life doesn’t always go as planned. “You can’t control life sometimes, so I like to make the best of it,” he said. This year, Deacon Barcellona did just that as he graduated from Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology’s Center for Diaconal Formation in... Read more
I’m hardly what you’d call a fashion plate. But there’s one item of clothing I own that consistently turns heads, sparks a reaction and earns comments and compliments. It’s this: I got this t-shirt last year at the Catholic Media Conference in Charlotte, N.C. They were giving them away at a booth set up by a group of Poor Clares who are raising money to build a monastery in North Carolina. I wore this shirt today around Walt Disney World.... Read more
Details: Preaching at Mass is the “best opportunity” most bishops, priests and deacons have on a regular basis to facilitate an encounter with Jesus, so it’s critical for preachers to make the most of every homily, said Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron. He made the comments in a new pastoral letter to clergy of the Archdiocese of Detroit titled “The Preacher – Servant of the Word of God.” It is his third pastoral as archbishop of Detroit, following 2012’s “Forward... Read more
Seton Hall University in New Jersey has posted on its website this profile of a newly ordained deacon, telling a story of perseverance, sacrifice and faith: As a two-time cancer survivor, Deacon Peter Barcellona knows that life doesn’t always go as planned. “You can’t control life sometimes, so I like to make the best of it,” he said. This year, Deacon Barcellona did just that as he graduated from Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology’s Center for Diaconal Formation in... Read more
When Patheos first explored questions about the future of religion five years ago, I speculated that a Catholic priesthood made up of more married men was likely. Well, five years later, married men are continuing to be ordained—through the Pastoral Provision created by St. John Paul II and via the Anglican Ordinariate set up by Benedict XVI—but a bigger impact on the future of the church may lie, not in the priesthood, but in the church’s bishops. What a difference a pope makes.... Read more
A heartbreaking portrait of one man’s rise and fall, from Terence McCoy in The Washington Post: In a city with thousands of homeless people, [Alfred] Postell may be the District’s most academically distinguished. Diplomas, awards and certificates clutter a closet at his mother’s apartment, buried artifacts of a lost life. He holds three degrees: one in accounting, one in economics, and one in law. On a summer evening, he sits inside a McDonald’s on 17th Street NW, a white towel... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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