From Reuters: Churchgoers grumble that they always get hit with pleas for money. But congregants at a Chicago church this month got a surprise – they each received a check for $500, with instructions to go out and do something good with it. “I was just in disbelief,” said Valency Hastings, 42, when she got her check from the non-denominational LaSalle Street Church on the city’s near north side. “The enormity of the responsibility of it has begun to sink... Read more
From The New York Times: Of all the milestones on the road to adulthood, Americans are increasingly forgoing one of the biggest: marriage. Twenty percent of adults older than 25, about 42 million people, have never married, up from 9 percent in 1960, according to data in a Pew Research Center report published Wednesday. The trend has been consistent for decades. Since 1970, each group of young adults has been less likely to marry than the previous generation. Although part of the... Read more
Wearing the dalmatic for Midnight Mass a few years ago, with my late pastor, Msgr. Joseph Funaro. Periodically, people ask me about that “robe” I wear during Mass. How come it has sleeves? What’s up with that?? My blog neighbor Kathy Schiffer, thankfully, has found some interesting answers, courtesy Zenit and Fr. Edward McNamara. Kathy—herself the wife of a deacon—has a (cough) vested (cough) interest in the subject. Fr. McNamara notes: The proper vestment for a deacon at Mass... Read more
Details: The Vatican put its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic under house arrest Tuesday after opening a criminal trial against him, the first time a high-ranking Vatican official has ever faced criminal charges for sexually abusing youngsters. Josef Wesolowski had already been defrocked in June after the Vatican’s canon law court found him guilty of abuse and imposed its toughest penalty under church law: laicization, or returning to life as a layman. On Tuesday, the Vatican City State’s separate... Read more
From The New York Times: The Pew Research Center reported Monday that 72 percent of Americans believe religion is losing its influence on American life, a striking development in a nation where religious arguments, religious leaders and religious voting blocs have long played an important role. While the declining influence of religion is, perhaps, a natural side effect of the declining religiosity of Americans, more surprising is that as religion fades in American culture, many Americans regret its receding role in politics.... Read more
Details: Pope Francis has nominated new members of the International Theological Commission, in addition to renewing the five year mandate of several previously serving members. One of two Americans is Capuchin friar Fr. Thomas Weinandy, about whom Wikipedia notes: Father Weinandy assisted in the development of content for an iPhone app to guide Catholics through the act of confession, understood to be the first endorsed by the U.S. Catholic Church. “It has been approved by Bishop Kevin Rhoades,” said Fr. Weinandy. In... Read more
“And God saw that it was good” (Gen 1:12, 18, 21, 25). The biblical account of the beginning of the history of the world and of humanity speaks to us of a God who looks at creation, in a sense contemplating it, and declares: “It is good”. This, dear brothers and sisters, allows us to enter into God’s heart and, precisely from within him, to receive his message. We can ask ourselves: what does this message mean? What does it say... Read more
This is what we have come to. Details: Miss America Kira Kazantsev was reportedly kicked out of her Long Island college sorority for abusive hazing. According to Jezebel.com, the newly crowned pageant queen was kicked out of Hofstra University’s Alpha Phi sorority last year after allegedly hazing pledges. The report maintains that pledges were called names, criticized over their appearance and made to perform physically difficult tasks to the point of exhaustion. “Kira has been fully transparent with the MissAmerica Organization about... Read more
Tony Rossi picks up on a few great details in last night’s premiere of “Madame Secretary.” I caught the episode and thought it was fresh, funny, astute, brilliantly written—and sublimely, surprisingly Catholic. Tony notes: Outside of the Washingtonian intrigue, the show’s strongest feature is Elizabeth’s strong and happy marriage to her husband Henry (Tim Daly), a religion professor at Georgetown. Daly and Leoni bring an easygoing chemistry to their on-screen relationship, making their quippy banter and serious conversations completely believable. Theirs... Read more
NCR has an exclusive interview with him this morning. It sheds more light on his thinking, particularly his ideas about Pope Francis and challenges facing the Church today. Snip: I know Chicago, just like many other dioceses in the U.S., is facing a number of issues — downsizing, priest shortages, population changes. What lessons have you learned about those kinds of things in Spokane and Rapid City that you think might help you in Chicago? I would say that in... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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