Last night, St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson was in Ferguson, to lead a prayer service at St. Teresa of Calcutta parish and pray with the people as the grand jury decision was announced. From The St. Louis Review: “I implore each of you: Choose peace!” said Archbishop Carlson, who prayed at the memorial site for Brown in the days after the shooting and led a Rosary on Nov. 5 in January-Wabash Park. “Reject any false and empty hope that violence... Read more
Details: It’s long been accused of adopting an at best ambiguous role in the fight against organised crime in Sicily, but the Catholic Church has now taken a symbolic stand against the Mafia in its Palermo heartland by refusing to give sacrament to the son of a notorious Cosa Nostra crime lord. Despite protests from the boy’s family, Cardinal Paolo Romeo, the Archbishop of Palermo, banned the confirmation of the 17-year-old son of jailed killer Giuseppe Graviano in the city’s... Read more
This arrived in my in-box this morning, from Rich Herbst, Episcopal Master of Ceremonies in San Bernardino: Six new permanent deacons ordained for the Diocese of San Bernardino this past Saturday, November 22. Pictured with Bishop Gerald Barnes are (left to right) Deacons Andrew Orosco, Brooke Wagner, Mark Padilla, Manuel Rivas, Porfirio Diaz, and Mark Lopez. Congratulations, brothers and welcome! Ad multos annos! Read more
It’s all about grace. This essay is not particularly religious—the author admits she was raised Catholic but now numbers herself among those who are “spiritual but not religious”—but it strikes me as having the seeds of a compelling Thanksgiving Day homily. Take a look: Most nights of my childhood, my parents and my siblings and I sat down to dinner together, and my father said the Catholic version of the prayer before meals: “Bless us, Oh Lord, and these thy... Read more
From The Vatican: On Sunday, 23 November 2014, the Holy Father named Cardinal Robert Sarah as Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Cardinal Sarah has been serving as President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum. Cardinal Robert Sarah, President of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”, Archbishop emeritus of Conakry (Guinea), was born on 15 June 1945 in Ourous, Guinea. After middle school, he was obliged to leave home in order to continue his... Read more
Spotted on Yellowstone Blvd. in Forest Hills, Queens: November 23, 2014. 8 p.m. Merry Christmas. Read more
This slays me. From a UK department store, John Lewis. I have a soft spot for penguins anyway—well, penguins and anything remotely pumpkin—but this ad is something else. Read more
From The Independent: The disturbing face of French “jihadism” has been revealed by a statistical survey and by the most recent, horrific video clip from Isis. The “face” is French or European, rather than Arab or North African. It belongs to a young man from a loving, non-religious family who has “self-converted” to extremist Islam through the internet. Two members of a column of killers seen cutting the throats of 12 captured Syrian pilots in the Isis video released this... Read more
Happy Solemnity of Christ the King! Everybody dance! Read more
Can you guess who won? Details: There were no 1980s Rocky Balboa training montages and no official weigh-in for contenders during the inaugural Man Alive arm-wresting challenge. But in the title fight, the “Melee on Main Street,” Bishop Gary Gordon of Victoria squared off against Deacon Paul Goo in an epic bout.Before the match, I cornered Bishop Gordon. He said Father Bryan Duggan, the associate vocations director of the archdiocese, had blind-sided him with the request. “He said to me,... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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