I met Ben Bradlee once nearly 40 years ago, when I took a summer journalism seminar for high school students at the University of Maryland. The teacher was a junior editor at The Washington Post, and he scored the great coup of getting his boss, Bradlee, to come in one day to talk with us and stage an impromptu “press conference” for us. This was when newspaper reporters were like rock stars—or, maybe, movie stars. The film version of “All the... Read more
Strong words from the Archbishop of Philadelphia: Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput says he was “very disturbed” by the debate over church teachings on gays and remarried Catholics at this month’s Vatican summit, saying it sent a confusing message, and “confusion is of the devil.” In a lecture delivered Monday evening in Manhattan, Chaput also suggested that in the wake of the rapid series of court decisions legalizing same-sex marriage in more than 30 states, Catholic priests might consider opting out... Read more
This was, in her estimation, a glaring sin of omission—and I think she’s absolutely correct. What was missing? Single parents—perhaps the most neglected demographic in the Catholic Church, and one that is only growing. As Katrina notes: “Special attention should be given to the accompaniment of single-parent families, in a particular way to help women who have to carry alone the responsibility of the home and raising children.” That vague-sounding one line was all the consideration single parents saw in the... Read more
I got a very nice email a couple months back from The Little Sisters of the Poor, inviting me to take part in their monthly Holy Hour for vocations here in Queens. I was happy to accept. I’ll be there tomorrow, Wednesday October 22, at 6:30. I’ll offer a brief reflection on my own vocation and, I gather, we’ll have Adoration and Benediction, too. I’ll be praying for all my readers—and everyone who is discerning a vocation to the priesthood, diaconate or religious... Read more
A remarkable development that appears to show great promise—and, not insignificantly, involves using adult cells: Darek Fidyka, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a knife attack, can walk again after doctors used a new technique to construct a “nerve bridge” between two stumps of his damaged spinal column. The technique, described in the journal Cell Transplantation, involved transplanting olfactory ensheathing cells into Fidyka’s spinal cord. “I believe we have now opened the door to a treatment of spinal... Read more
“He who does not await Jesus, who closes his door to Jesus, does not allow him to go forward with his work of peace, of community, of citizenship. And he does more: he gives us a name. He renders us children of God. We need to adopt an attitude that contains Christian hope. A Christian is a man or a woman of hope. He or she knows the Lord will come. We do not know when, we do not know... Read more
Details from The Dallas Morning News: Bishop Kevin J. Farrell said he hesitated only briefly before offering up the Catholic Diocese’s conference center as housing for Louise Troh and her family. “I had to think of the consequences but it was in my heart all the time that I had to do something,” Farrell said Monday, as the fiancée of the Dallas Ebola victim and her family remained in seclusion behind an iron fence. “We help people because we’re Catholic, not... Read more
A priest reader brought this to my attention: a homily delivered by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in Germany a few days after the death of Pope Paul VI—now Blessed Paul VI. The homily is both eloquent and poignant, with one passage that seems almost prophetic: Paul VI increasingly accepted his papal service as a metamorphosis of faith into suffering. The last words the Risen Lord spoke to Peter after making him the shepherd of his flock were: “when you are old,... Read more
This is something. Italy’s fabled “Singing Nun” from “The Voice” has released her first video, and it is lightyears from what Madonna must have imagined. The original video, of course, featured the singer gliding through the canals of Venice as a bride. Well, here we have the singer as a bride of Christ. Singing in and around churches. In Venice. The songstress notes: “I chose [this song]. With no intention to provoke or scandalize. Reading the text, without being influenced by previous interpretations, you... Read more
The book “Rebuilt” has become something of a phenomenon of modern American Catholicism: the story of how a parish in Maryland almost literally “rebuilt” itself, rethinking everything from liturgy to lay participation and beyond. I’ve lost track of the number of priests, deacons and even bishops who have asked me “Have you read ‘Rebuilt’?” (One priest I know ordered 50 copies for every person on his parish staff and in ministry to read and study.) It’s clearly seen as a convincing... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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