View image | gettyimages.com From The Wall Street Journal: Amy Boyle grew up in the Roman Catholic Church, singing in choir and serving as an altar girl. But Ms. Boyle, now a 35-year-old L.A. resident and mother of twin baby boys, left the faith as a young adult—joining the ranks of Americans who don’t identify with any religion, many of them former Christians. The group is growing so rapidly, it now makes up a greater share of the U.S. population than... Read more
This is something called “The Real O’Neals,” and ABC has just picked it for the fall lineup. The description: A contemporary take on a seemingly perfect Catholic family, whose lives take an unexpected turn when surprising truths are revealed. Instead of ruining their family, the honesty triggers a new, messier chapter where everyone stops pretending to be perfect and actually starts being real. The trailer, below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngJWPK6YB_c UPDATE: One or two readers have wondered what I think about all this.... Read more
[getty src=”57651482?et=euLkskS0TS5rjdxJSGQ5bQ&viewMoreLink=on&sig=4UpCzwD3ckgkdEf721mdhup1TjrGMmX5NEYzvAGA1T8=&caption=true” width=”445″ height=”261″] View image | gettyimages.com Details: Dublin archdiocese is banning photographs being taken during religious ceremonies, in order to protect children from potential abusers. Each diocese in Ireland has been directed to have guidelines governing the filming and photography of children while they are on church grounds. The move derives from standards issued by the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland (NBSCCC) in 2008. “It’s to avoid a situation whereby photos get... Read more
The Anchoress has a guest blogger today, Sean Conolly, who describes a different man from the one so often depicted in the media (both Catholic and secular). In particular, as a bishop in the early 1990s, Francis George was actively engaged in helping establish a faith community that would be composed of both Catholics and Protestants. Check this out: In June of 1991 George attended a People of Praise prayer meeting in South Bend, Indiana, the community’s headquarters, where he... Read more
[getty src=”494327579?et=pmr1ATQzSWhkE6fu4CHsUQ&viewMoreLink=on&sig=GOFl1EXSNbnkVPr4Ty65BSCu4Om5sO-g_Xz0cDMlz9M=” width=”507″ height=”338″] View image | gettyimages.com From The Wall Street Journal: Amy Boyle grew up in the Roman Catholic Church, singing in choir and serving as an altar girl. But Ms. Boyle, now a 35-year-old L.A. resident and mother of twin baby boys, left the faith as a young adult—joining the ranks of Americans who don’t identify with any religion, many of them former Christians. The group is growing so rapidly, it now makes up a greater share of... Read more
This sentence has to win the prize for Best Lede of the Day: Salvatore “Sal” Circosta is Catholic, politically conservative, gay and running for mayor. The story, from MassLive.com goes on to describe the rather complicated background of the young man running for mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts: In the early weeks of his candidacy against three-term incumbent Mayor Domenic Sarno, Circosta, 29 – a former seminarian, military chaplain and business manager of a Catholic church – has nearly indoctrinated his campaign. He... Read more
When was the last time you heard an Academy Award-winning actor or actress deliver that message in a commencement speech? Details: Actor Denzel Washington gave graduates of Dillard University four pillars of advice on Saturday during his commencement address. Washington’s speech had heavy religious overtones, and was well-received among those in attendance at the historically black university in New Orleans. He broke his speech into four takeaways: Put God first: “Everything that I have is by the grace of God, understand... Read more
An astute observation from Sandro Magister: Until the synod of October 2014, Jorge Mario Bergoglio had repeatedly and in various ways shown encouragement for “openness” in matters of homosexuality and second marriages, each time with great fanfare in the media. Cardinal Kasper explicitly said that he had “agreed” with the pope on his explosive talk at the consistory.But during that synod the resistance to the new paradigms showed itself to be much more strong and widespread than expected, and determined... Read more
This sentence has to win the prize for Best Lede of the Day: Salvatore “Sal” Circosta is Catholic, politically conservative, gay and running for mayor. The story, from MassLive.com goes on to describe the rather complicated background of the young man running for mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts: In the early weeks of his candidacy against three-term incumbent Mayor Domenic Sarno, Circosta, 29 – a former seminarian, military chaplain and business manager of a Catholic church – has nearly indoctrinated his campaign. He... Read more
A couple months ago, FOTB (Friend of the Bench) Paul Morisi—Coordinator of Adolescent and Young Adult Faith Formation for the Diocese of Brooklyn—got hitched. He’s just posted a video of that happy event. And it’s glorious. This is a must-see. Full of romance, sentiment, joy and—really—faith. If this doesn’t brighten your Monday, nothing will. Congratulations, Paul and Alison—and thanks for letting me share this video with the world. Ad multos annos! Read more
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