Fresh from the USCCB gathering in Baltimore: Change is rattling the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, and the bishops here say they now feel it even if they do not yet understand where Pope Francis is leading them. The change is reflected not only in appointments — with the Chicago seat the main indicator so far — but also in Francis’ call for the church to open discussion on sticky matters long considered settled, such as communion for the... Read more
You’ve seen her sensational new take on “Like A Virgin.” Now the rest of the album is available at Amazon. Details: The 12-track album, which Italy’s Excite News reports was produced by Elvezio Fortunato and recorded in Los Angeles, is available for purchase on Amazon and features covers of “Try” by Pink, “No One” by Alicia Keys and “Somewhere Only We Know” by Keane. Also included is the album’s single, the nun’s cover of Madonna’s “Like A Virgin.” Sister Cristina released the single in October, calling... Read more
From AP: A high-ranking Roman Catholic official has been exonerated of clergy sex abuse allegations by a Vatican tribunal after a decade of investigation and is once more considered a priest in good standing with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, church officials said Monday. The decision to reinstate Msgr. Richard Loomis is rare — particularly after so many years — and the move drew immediate condemnation from an attorney for the alleged victim and church critics who say the tribunal... Read more
From the pope’s homily this morning: We must resist temptations that distance us from our service to others. Instead, like Jesus, we must serve without asking for anything in return and avoid transforming our service “into a power structure”. This was the focus of Pope Francis’s reflections at Mass Tuesday morning in Casa Santa Marta. The Pope based his homily on the Gospel of the Day from St Luke which recounts Jess parable of the “unprofitable servant”. Pope Francis said... Read more
It’s these guys: the altar servers. Sunday, we installed 27 new servers—in the picture above, they’re lined up in the rectory, waiting for the processional—and that brings our number of servers to a grand total of 130. You read that right. 130. We are blessed beyond belief. Kids join in the 4th grade, and many stay all the way through high school, some even into college. We routinely have at least six kids at every Mass, including torchbearers, and there’s even... Read more
An email arrived last night: Yesterday, the Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, ordained eight men to the diaconate: Peter Richard Auriemma, Christopher Georges, Andrew Gilliland, Dennis Lambert, Frank Nevarez, Richard Nevins, Mark Veazie, Jose Angel Torres. Congratulations and welcome, brothers! Ad multos annos! You can read profiles of the new deacons at the Diocese of Phoenix website, which also has an exemplary page devoted to the diaconate. Hopefully, pictures and details of the bishop’s homily will be... Read more
Fr. Z unloads on Catholic blog commenters, and explains why he moderates the comments: I want to provide a space for open discussion, I really do. But I cannot allow the sort of savagery that anonymity and a lack of consequences seems to bring out from people. I am sure that were I to have an open combox again, as other sites do, my traffic here would skyrocket far beyond what it already is, which is pretty darn high. The... Read more
Details: Every Christian, whatever his or her vocation, must be able to always forgive and never cause scandal, because “scandal destroys the faith”, said Pope Francis at Monday morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta. The Pope was commenting on the Gospel of the Day in which Christ says to the Apostles “It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these... Read more
Thirty-five years ago, some people sighed and rolled their eyes when I told them I was majoring in English. I wonder what they’d think about a specialty in contemplation? From HuffPo: Three times last week, between classes in neuropharmacology, neural systems, and journalism, Brown University junior Henry Langton changed into sweatpants, joined dozens of classmates as they sat on cushions in a campus dance studio and meditated on his breath and his body for 25 uninterrupted minutes. One day, the focus was... Read more
Writer (and former Paulist priest) James Carroll offers his thoughts on what’s ailing the Catholic Church in Sunday’s New York Times: Sometimes, when I kneel alone in a pew in the far back shadows of a church, face buried in my hands, a forbidden thought intrudes: You should have left all this behind a long time ago. The joyful new pope has quickened the affection even of the disaffected, including me, but, oddly, I sense the coming of a strange reversal... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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