Catholic Bishops in New Zealand: ‘We hold you in prayer…Peace, Salaam’

Last updated on: March 15, 2019 at 9:43 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

The horrifying attack on mosques in New Zealand has prompted a response from Catholic bishops and from Pope Francis. From CNS: Some three-and-a-half hours after the attacks began, the New Zealand bishops released a message, addressed to the nation’s Muslim community, via social media. “We hold you in prayer as we hear the terrible news of violence against Muslims at mosques in Christchurch,” the bishops wrote. “We are profoundly aware of the positive relationships we have with Islamic people in... Read more

‘Someday, We May Be Asked to Bow Before Something Other Than a Tabernacle…’

Last updated on: March 14, 2019 at 11:05 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Some of us think that day is already here. But Elizabeth Scalia this Thursday offers this timely reflection: In a few years, particularly in light of the failings of our own leadership and the Church’s weakened moral authority, we Catholics in the United States may be advised to abandon our troubled, “intolerant” Church for one that is more politically approved and correct—and if you think that thought is paranoid, such a move was tried in one state just a decade ago by... Read more

TBT: That time Beto O’Rourke Berated a Catholic Priest

Last updated on: March 14, 2019 at 10:38 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

With the former congressman now in the 2020 race, here’s an interesting ThrowBack Thursday clip for you, from 2011. The story: Candidate for U.S. Senate, Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) is seen on video disparaging the Catholic Church during his time as an El Paso City Councilman in 2011. The video begins with O’Rourke demeaning a Catholic priest about the “moral failings of the church you represent, especially as you try to take the moral high-ground in this debate.” The debate... Read more

New Gallup Poll Shows More U.S. Catholics Thinking of Leaving the Church

Last updated on: March 13, 2019 at 9:46 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The Washington Post: The percent of U.S. Catholics who say the clergy sex abuse crisis has them questioning whether to leave the faith has jumped 15 points since the last major crisis in the early 2000s, a poll released Wednesday finds. Thirty-seven percent of Catholics told Gallup that “recent news about sexual abuse of young people by priests” has them personally questioning whether to remain Catholic, compared with 62 percent who said it had not. Priest misconduct and its handling by... Read more

BREAKING: Cardinal Pell Sentenced to 6 Years

Last updated on: March 12, 2019 at 9:04 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

“I would characterize these breaches and abuses as grave.” From The New York Times: George Pell, an Australian cardinal who was the Vatican’s chief financial officer and an adviser to Pope Francis, was sentenced to six years in prison on Wednesday, with no chance for parole for three years and eight months, for molesting two boys after Sunday Mass in 1996. The cardinal was convicted on five counts in December, making him the most senior Catholic official — and the first... Read more

Covington Update: Sandmann and Family Sue CNN for $275 Million

Last updated on: March 12, 2019 at 8:43 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This, after a $250 million suit was filed against The Washington Post last month. Details: A lawsuit worth $275 million was filed against CNN on Tuesday over the network’s alleged “vicious” attack against Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann. The lawsuit, filed just after 3 p.m. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, claims that CNN “elevated false, heinous accusations of racist conduct” against Sandmann and failed to adhere to “well-established journalistic standards and ethics.” Sandmann and his family previously announced... Read more

Hail, Mary: Young Christians, Muslims to Celebrate Annunciation Together

Last updated on: March 12, 2019 at 1:24 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: About 1600 boys and girls from over 40 countries will take part in the World Ecumenical Youth Meeting, scheduled in Beirut from 22 to 26 March. The ecumenical meeting is organized and sponsored by the Churches of Lebanon, the Council of Middle Eastern Churches and the Community of Taizé. Most of the participants are young Christians belonging to the different communities scattered in the Countries of the Middle East. On March 25, on the occasion of the Feast of... Read more

A Deacon’s Pioneering Ministry: ‘My Oldest Daughter Has a Mental Illness. We Decided We Had to Do Something’

Last updated on: March 11, 2019 at 1:36 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Deacon Tom Lambert from the Archdiocese of Chicago tells his story in this month’s U.S. Catholic: Catholics have a responsibility to minister out of our gifts and experiences, says Deacon Tom Lambert, of the Archdiocese of Chicago. For him, that means responding to the lack of mental health resources in the church. “My oldest daughter has a mental illness,” Lambert says. “And after she was diagnosed one of the first things my wife and I did was look to the... Read more

Blessed Jacques? Diocese Concludes Inquiry Into French Priest’s Martyrdom

Last updated on: March 11, 2019 at 12:48 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From CNS: The Archdiocese of Rouen concluded its sainthood inquiry into the life and death of a French priest who was killed while celebrating Mass. Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen presided over the final session of the diocesan inquiry into the life and martyrdom of Father Jacques Hamel, Vatican News reported March 9. Father Hamel was killed July 26, 2016, when two men stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen while he celebrated Mass. After taking several hostages, the attackers... Read more

Senator Who Backed Abortion Law Disinvited from Irish Parade

Last updated on: March 11, 2019 at 6:30 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: Controversy over a New York abortion bill resulted in a rebuke for a state senator who has been disinvited from a Huntington, N.Y. Irish-American Catholic group’s St. Patrick’s Day festivities and asked to resign as a member due to his vote for the legislation. Monsignor Steven R. Camp, chaplain of the Ancient Order of Hibernians’ John F. Kennedy Division 4 of Suffolk County, wrote to State Sen. James Gaughran, saying his vote in favor of the bill had caused... Read more