Details: Pope Francis has got a real mess on his hands. In just a few days he will gather the presidents of the all the world’s episcopal conferences in Rome to make them understand there must be “zero tolerance” for priests who sexually abuse minors. But on the eve of this important meeting, yet another long-serving Vatican official has been revealed as a perpetrator. Msgr. Joseph Punderson, who has worked at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura since 1993... Read more
RNS noticed something others may have missed: As Julián Castro officially launched his candidacy for president over the past few weeks, he invoked a certain female figure so frequently she might as well have been his running mate. On Dec. 12, as he declared that he was forming an exploratory committee, Castro, 44, a Texan who served as U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development during President Obama’s second term, stood in front of a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the... Read more
In an unusual twist, one of the men began formation for the permanent diaconate, and eventually discerned a call to the priesthood—but he wanted to be ordained a deacon with his former classmates. Details from The Miscellany: Sixteen new permanent deacons will be serving the Diocese of Charleston, and one man is now closer to the priesthood after being ordained to the transitional diaconate. Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone ordained the men at St. Michael Church on Feb. 9. The liturgy... Read more
The good people at Rome Reports yesterday interviewed the new camerlengo, American Cardinal Kevin Farrell. Check out the video below. Read more
Elizabeth Scalia dissects a trend that is now being normalized, thanks to American television: Fans of “reality TV,” willing to be entertained by stories of exhibitionists behaving badly (and willingly) for a camera, some cash, and the most vulgar sort of celebrity notice, are being promised a new diversion, this time in the form of one husband’s decision to openly bring his mistress into his marriage because his wife suffers from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease: B. Smith, 69, was a millionaire, a top model,... Read more
From The Christian Post: A new book to be released Friday takes a look at the lives of the 21 Christian men the world saw being beheaded on a Libyan beach in 2015 and how their deaths at the hands of the Islamic State only strengthened the faith of believers in their hometown. …Although Christians in Upper Egypt are always under the threat of persecution, as Egypt has been under Islamic rule for 1,400 years, the faith of the Coptic Church as... Read more
The news dropped in the Vatican bulletin this morning: The Pope has nominated Cardinal Jerin [Kevin] Joseph Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, as the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church. What is the camerlengo? Glad you asked. Wikipedia describes the job: The camerlengo is responsible for the formal determination of the death of the reigning pope; the traditional procedure – abandoned centuries ago – was to call his baptismal name (e.g. “Albine, dormisne?”,... Read more
Details, from “Kresta in the Afternoon” at Ave Maria Radio: On January 22, Greater Cincinnati Investigation was retained on behalf of the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School to investigate the incident at the Lincoln Memorial after the March for Life. The GCI team devoted more than 240 man-hours to the investigation. They interviewed 43 students, nine faculty chaperones and four parent chaperones. They also reviewed approximately fifty hours of internet activity and video. The team made multiple... Read more
From Crux: In moves that advance the sainthood causes of two of the most celebrated, and, at times, controversial Catholic figures of the 19th and 20thcenturies, the Vatican announced Wednesday that a miracle has been attributed to Cardinal John Henry Newman and “heroic virtue” has been attributed to Cardinal József Mindszenty. Newman, an Englishman who died in 1890, is perhaps the most renowned Anglican convert to Catholicism of all time. A theologian, poet and essayist, Newman was beatified in 2010, meaning... Read more
Great pro-life story: An unborn baby has been removed from its mother’s womb for treatment then put back, in a groundbreaking operation. The procedure was carried out on Bethan Simpson’s child after tests revealed it had spina bifida. The 26-year-old nurse from Burnham, Essex, in the UK, and her husband Kieron had been given the option to terminate the pregnancy before they learned of the procedure. Mrs Simpson became one of only a handful of British mothers to have the... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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