He’s #4. As the magazine puts it: The spiritual leader to one-sixth of the world’s population — 1.2 billion souls. Pope Francis has made it his mission to transform the longstanding conservative image of the Catholic Church. In October, the pontiff said the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are true, adding that God is not “a magician with a magic wand.” He also shocked the world last year when he said “Who am I to judge?” when discussing homosexuality.... Read more
Remember when a producer’s idea of “Reality TV” was a tour of the White House with Jackie Kennedy or a symphony conducted by Leonard Bernstein? Remember when the holiday season brought us Rudolph and Jimmy Stewart and “A Christmas Story”? Well, here’s a new treat for the holidays: This year, Discovery will air a special that consists of a man being eaten alive by an anaconda and making it back out again, all without killing the snake or himself. And... Read more
Oh brother: They had not planned on falling in love, but they did. They did not want to become the objects of malicious gossip, but they are. They had not imagined living a life of furtive affections and secret rendezvous, but that is what has happened since the woman and the priest defied a Roman Catholic Church taboo and became romantically involved. “Some people see me as a devil, something dirty,” said the woman, who, along with the priest she is involved... Read more
Damien Thompson unloads in The Spectator: ‘At this very critical moment, there is a strong sense that the church is like a ship without a rudder,’ said a prominent Catholic conservative last week. No big deal, you might think. Opponents of Pope Francis have been casting doubt on his leadership abilities for months — and especially since October’s Vatican Synod on the Family, at which liberal cardinals pre-emptively announced a softening of the church’s line on homosexuality and second marriages,... Read more
From The Washington Post: Roman Catholic leaders have sent e-mails of warning to dozens of Washington and Maryland priests after protesters with bullhorns yelling anti-Catholic slogans appeared at several parishes and in a couple of cases “stormed the inside of the church just before Mass,” a bishop-administrator wrote in the e-mail. A spokeswoman with the Archdiocese of Washington, which oversees 139 parishes in the District and suburban Maryland, said Wednesday that “really small” groups of protesters have appeared on the property of... Read more
As in years past, pretty much like everyone else. From RNS: According to yesterday’s exit polls, the religious layout of the electorate looks almost identical to the last midterm election in 2010, and not much different from the 2012 presidential election. In 2010, Protestants voted Republican 59 percent to 38 percent, this time it was 60-38. (White Protestants went from 69-28 to 71-27.) As for Catholics, it was 54-44 Republican in 2010, 53-45 this year, with white Catholics staying at exactly 59-39. For... Read more
Any of this look familiar? This comes from Protestant writer and theologian Thom S. Rainer, but I can’t help but think it has Catholic applications, as well. We live in an era of rampant church-shopping. How hard are parishes trying to make themselves appealing? Check it out: If you attend a church regularly, you’ve probably noticed the phenomenon. A guest shows up for a worship service, but he or she never returns. It is, unfortunately, a common issue in many... Read more
Details: Three men of faith were ordained as permanent deacons for the Diocese of La Crosse on Oct. 25 – but to tell by the size of the congregation, it could almost have been 30 men. Gathering at the Mass for Ordination to the Diaconate, more than 400 family and friends poured into the Cathedral of St. Joseph the Workman to be present as Bishop William Patrick Callahan ordained David Belland of Roncalli Newman Parish, La Crosse; John Bourke of... Read more
Details: Citing the seriousness of the Ebola epidemic and a concern for the faithful in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, Bishop Salvatore Matano has banned priests from traveling to West Africa, the epicenter of the outbreak. Any priest who defies the order by making a trip without permission from the bishop or the diocesan vicar general or chancellor will no longer be permitted to work in the diocese. The restrictions and penalty for defiance were outlined in an Oct.... Read more
This is remarkable, via The Anchoress, quoting one of my heroes, Thomas Merton: “It has been remarked with truth that conservatives and progressives in the Church are so concerned with total victory over each other that they are more and more closed to each other. If this is the case, one seriously wonders about the value and significance of the much-touted ‘openness’ to non-Catholics. An ecumenism that does not begin with charity within one’s own Church remains questionable.” Check out... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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