It’s rare to find a secular newspaper offering this kind of tribute to a Catholic teacher. But this week, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer penned a poignant and inspiring piece that demands wider circulation. Take a look: Jim Skerl’s squad had more members than Chuck Kyle’s football team at St. Ignatius High School — and it also had a better record. Skerl’s view of life was that you never lose when you help someone else. He was the... Read more
How about “The Shining” in an IKEA store? Check out this inspired bit of advertising genius, created for Halloween. The only thing missing is Jack Nicholson. Read more
From VIS: Today, the Holy Father received delegates from the International Association of Penal Law (AIDP), addressing them with a speech focusing on the issues in their subject area that have recourse to the Church in her mission of evangelization and the promotion of the human person. The Pope began by recalling the need for legal and political methods that are not characterized by the mythological “scapegoat” logic, that is, of an individual unjustly accused of the misfortunes that befall... Read more
From USA TODAY: “What is more offensive — a little girl saying (expletive) or the (expletive) unequal and sexist way society treats girls and women?” That’s the question five little girls in princess dresses and tiaras ask in a video that is going viral and sparking controversy online both because of the R-rated content and because its origin is a for-profit T-shirt company. In the video, called “F-Bombs for Feminism: Potty-Mouthed Princess Use Bad Word for Good Cause,” precocious girls ages... Read more
Details, from The Chicago Sun-Times: Archbishop Blase J. Cupich is eschewing opulence. He has decided to live at Holy Name Cathedral rectory, more modest than the North State Parkway mansion [shown above] where previous Chicago archbishops have resided, the Archdiocese of Chicago revealed Wednesday. The rectory living quarters are “very modest…not extravagant in any way,” said Monsignor Dan Mayall, pastor of Holy Name Cathedral. “The story here is he’s living more modestly than anybody anticipated. I think he sees living... Read more
As I mentioned yesterday, I spent tonight with the Little Sisters of the Poor in Queens Village, leading their monthly Holy Hour for Vocations. They were warm and welcoming, despite the steady autumn drizzle that I suspect kept a lot of people at home tonight. I’m also told that the house was a little emptier; the mother superior and her novices were all on retreat this week in New Jersey. But a number of the sisters and the residents at... Read more
Remarkable and moving witness, from the Diocese of Raleigh website: Philip Johnson, a 30-year-old Catholic seminarian from the Diocese of Raleigh who has terminal brain cancer, has written an article responding to Brittany Maynard, the 29-year-old woman who has publicly stated her plan to commit suicide due to the fact that she has a terminal brain cancer. Johnson is vocal about his disagreement that suicide would preserve one’s dignity in the face of a debilitating illness. His article is below:... Read more
Once again, the pope has delivered a message that, in light of recent events, might be seen not only as timely but also pointed: The Church as the Body of Christ was the focus of Pope Francis general audience this Wednesday morning, attended by tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists in an autumnal St. Peter’s Square. Referring to the Apostle Paul’s advice to the quarreling community in Corinth the Pope noted that many of our Christian communities, our parishes... Read more
Theology professor Massimo Faggioli has a compelling analysis of the recently-completed synod—one that is based not just on ideology, but also on geography. Take a look: What took place over the two weeks of the Synod was a genuine debate between competing ideas of what the church’s relationship ought to be with modern culture, the sexual revolution, and gender identity. But above all what these two weeks have revealed, for the first time, is a tectonic shift – a movement... Read more
Details: A Catholic boys’ school has reversed its permission to allow civil rights drama Freeheld, starring Julianne Moore and Ellen Page as a lesbian couple, to shoot on location in New York State. Salesian high school in New Rochelle, New York, had been expected to double for a town hall in Ocean County, New Jersey, where Moore’s dying police detective and her car mechanic partner (Page) apply for a domestic partnership so that pension funds can be passed on, post-mortem. But after... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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