I just got back from a wonderful visit to Blessed Trinity Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, where I gave a parish mission for Lent. The pastor, Fr. Wayne Genereux, and his friendly staff treated me like royalty, and the two deacons, Bill Lovelace and Lionel Roberts, could not have been more welcoming. From the “It’s a small world” department”: Deacon Lionel, shown above, was in the very first class of deacons ordained for the Diocese of Brooklyn in 1977—and,... Read more
From The Wilton Bulletin: The Diocese of Bridgeport has launched a mobile phone app that will allow smart-phone users to download information and obtain the latest news about their faith. It is available free on the app store and on Google play for Android use. The app is also designed to engage young people in their faith in new ways and has a section designated “youth.” “People throughout the diocese have told us that they want to see the Church... Read more
From The St. Louis Review: Habitat for Humanity St. Louis will begin building The Pope Francis House next month in the Tiffany Neighborhood in south St. Louis for a family currently living in substandard housing. An anonymous donor sponsored The Pope Francis House with $60,000 gift, seeking to inspire the St. Louis community to raise at least $40,000 more for construction. “We have started to reach out to different (Catholic) churches in the community, and St. Louis University is also... Read more
From Crux: Pope Francis was not involved in an early January decision to bury a homeless man in a Vatican cemetery, a spokesman said Wednesday; however, he would likely be pleased because it corresponds with his desire to make the poor a priority. Known by Vatican personnel for spending his days approaching pilgrims around St. Peter’s Basilica to tell them to go to confession and to pray daily, Willy Herteller, who was Flemish, died in Rome on Dec. 12 at... Read more
Some intriguing details from NPR: In Washington, D.C., construction is underway on the Museum of the Bible, an eight-story, $400 million enterprise funded by Hobby Lobby president Steve Green. Green is a Pentecostal known for donating to conservative evangelical universities and developing a public school curriculum based on the Bible. After the craft store’s controversial victory in this summer’s Supreme Court ruling over contraception, some people worry the new museum will come across as evangelical propaganda. But organizers behind Green’s... Read more
Check this out, from the good people at CNS: a new video wherein Cardinal Raymond Burke discusses his work with the Knights of Malta, the Synod, and various writing projects he’s undertaking. Photo via Wikipedia Read more
From The San Francisco Chronicle: Under pressure from parents, students and staffers at the San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese’s schools, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said Tuesday that he is reexamining strict guidelines he proposed for teachers that would require them to reject homosexuality, use of contraception and other “evil” behavior. Cordileone also said he is dropping an effort to designate high school teachers as “ministers,” which, under a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, would have removed government-mandated employee protections by placing them... Read more
Details: At most churches, it’s embarrassing to show up late. But if you arrive early at Greg Stultz’s church, you might interrupt the hosts’ last-minute preparations as they put away homework or toss shoes up the stairs. Stultz and his family are part of a house church. They typically meet on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, though the week that I visited they were meeting in Dover, Del. Each week, their small group crowds into a private living room for... Read more
My blog neighbor Rebecca Hamilton first posted on this a couple days back, and I’m only now catching up. But all I can add is (as we say in Brooklyn): oy. From Rebecca’s blog: It seems that last November, Father Letourneau secretly got married. He then tried to hide it and continue his work as a priest. He succeeded in this until just recently, when the Archbishop found out about his marriage. The Oklahoman has details: Diane Clay, spokeswoman for the... Read more
A thorough and compelling answer from Deacon Bill Ditewig: Recently, a good friend and a priest whom I respect very much, asked me just WHY the deacon should be the person who chants the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil. “The rubrics permit someone other than the deacon to sing it, so why not just get the person with the best voice to do it? Tell me why the deacon should do it!” I think there is so much more than simply worrying... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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