From RNS: The Blood of Christ will not be offered during Mass. The Host will be placed in the hands, not on the tongue. And the faithful should not hold hands while reciting the “Our Father.” These are but a few of the guidelines the Diocese of Fort Worth — not far from the Dallas hospital where three Ebola cases have been diagnosed — has sent to its parishes to calm fears about the deadly disease and to prevent the spread of flu. While the... Read more
If anyone is interested, I’ll be visiting St. James Catholic Church in Setauket this Sunday on behalf of CNEWA. I’ll be preaching at the 11:30 am Mass about the work we’re undertaking in the Middle East—and, specifically, ways to support persecuted Christians in Iraq and Syria. Come by and say hello ! Read more
From CNS: Cardinal George Pell said working-group reports from the Synod of Bishops on the family finally give a true picture of the assembly’s views, counteracting what he characterized as a misleading midterm report. “We wanted the Catholic people around the world to know actually what was going on in talking about marriage and the family and, by and large, I think people will be immensely reassured,” Cardinal Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, said. “We’re not giving... Read more
Details: Pope Francis has for the first time allowed the Sistine Chapel to be rented out for a private corporate event, with the proceeds to go to charities working with the poor and homeless. The concert, to be performed amid the splendour of Michelangelo’s frescoes on Saturday, will be attended by a select group of about 40 high-paying tourists who have signed up to an exclusive tour of Italy organised by Porsche. But as the unprecedented deal was announced, the... Read more
This story sparked a lot of discussion earlier in the week. Now, the mayor appears to be backing away from it. Details: The city initially defended the demand. Houston’s Chief Policy Officer and Director of Communications Janice Evans told LifeSiteNews that “the subpoenas were issued to pastors who have been involved in the political campaign to organize a repeal of Houston’s new [LGBT] rights ordinance. It is part of the discovery process in a lawsuit brought by opponents of the... Read more
The Pew Research Center finds a link between their latest survey and what they perceive as the Catholic Church’s shifting stance on gays as reported in the synod now underway in Rome. Details: Fully 85% of self-identified Catholics ages 18-29 said in a 2014 Pew Research Center survey that homosexuality should be accepted by society, compared with just 13% who said it should be discouraged. Older age groups are less likely to favor acceptance. But even among Catholics ages 65 and older,... Read more
A lot of people have sought to make comparisons between the current synod and Vatican II. (We’ll put aside, for a moment, the simple fact that a synod and a council are two very different creatures.) But a student of the Second Vatican Council, Deacon Bill Ditewig, has an interesting glimpse into some of the melodrama that surrounded Vatican II—and it all sounds very familiar: In interviews I conducted with several bishops who attended the sessions of the Council, they remarked that... Read more
This story caused a storm yesterday, and now German media report the cardinal’s response (translation by a deacon friend): Cardinal emeritus Walter Kasper in a conversation with Kath.net has strongly denied the alleged statements made about African Bishops. “I am shocked. I have never spoken like this about Africans, and I would never do so. Zenit has, in the past days and weeks, never reached out to me, nor has it had an interview with me,” he is quoted as saying. He... Read more
From the Catholic World Report: Two minutes into the press briefing at the Vatican press office today, Fr. Lombardi announced that Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said he did not state that the Relatio was “shameful” as has been reported widely. He said the newspaper report was in error, because he does not “speak in that style.” We await more clarification as to how such an error happened. The second major development: Fr. Lombardi reported that “the... Read more
For those who missed it…New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan spoke with CNS about the church in Africa this week. Whether intended this way or not, it makes for an interesting counterpoint to yesterday’s published remarks of Cardinal Kasper. Let’s go to the videotape: Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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