Sherry Weddell posted this item on Facebook this morning, drawn from her reading of a biography of St. Vincent de Paul, “Vincent de Paul: The Lazarist MIssion and French Catholic Reform” by Alison Forrestal. This strikes me as some savvy insight for a lot of us: Early on, de Paul followed what was known as the “modern method” (dating back to the 12th century!). A decade later, he advocated the “little method” for simplicity in preaching. The Council of Trent... Read more
Details: Chief Justice John Roberts joined the Supreme Court’s liberal wing on Thursday in temporarily blocking a Louisiana law that would have placed restrictions on abortion clinics, in the high court’s first major ruling on abortion since the confirmation of Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The justices decided in a 5-4 vote that they will not allow the state to put into effect a law that requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The Supreme Court is set to issue a final ruling on the... Read more
Details: Central Catholic High School’s gymnasium in East Wheeling no longer bears the name of former bishop Michael J. Bransfield, as the school’s board of directors recently voted to have it removed. Bryan Minor, delegate for administrative affairs for the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, said the decision to remove Bransfield’s name also has the approval of Archbishop William E. Lori, who has been serving as apostolic administrator of the diocese since being appointed by Pope Francis in September. Lori is... Read more
From the Diocese of Richmond Facebook page: What an honor for one of our very own deacons! Yesterday, Pope Francis hands the Book of the Gospels to Deacon Don Fox, a deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, during the celebration of Mass at Zayed Sports City stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Deacon Fox and his wife, Therese, are members of St. Bede in Williamsburg. Look for more about this special assignment in an upcoming issue of The Catholic Virginian.... Read more
From an op-ed in today’s New York Times, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York takes on those who have condemned the state’s new abortion law—and the governor mentions prominently his own Catholicism: In his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Trump attacked the law that New York passed last month codifying a woman’s right to an abortion, and he proposed federal legislation to roll back the protections provided by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The president’s... Read more
Last night’s State of the Union speech was arguably the best-written, best-delivered speech President Trump has ever given. (However, it was way too long, by about 30 minutes. Everybody needs an editor. Did have to include that many heroes in the audience?) But this particular moment was a standout—probably the most vigorous defense of the unborn that has ever been spoken by a U.S. president: To defend the dignity of every person, I am asking the Congress to pass legislation... Read more
From The New York Times: Pope Francis said on Tuesday that the Roman Catholic Church had a persistent problem of sexual abuse of nuns by priests and even bishops, the first time he had publicly acknowledged the issue. Catholic nuns have accused clerics of sexual abuse in recent years in India, Africa and in Italy, and a Vatican magazine last week wrote about nuns having abortions or giving birth to the children of priests. But Francis had never mentioned it... Read more
Father John Hollowell posted this on his blog On This Rock, and it tackles some common issues and problems in a way I haven’t seen elsewhere: This is a compilation of some practical things you can do for the priests you know that might really help them avoid the situations that frequently contribute to priests finding themselves in the midst of scandal. 1) One of the top indicators that a priest is close to either falling away or doing something... Read more
Details: The “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” signed on Monday afternoon in Abu Dhabi by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad el-Tayeb, is not only a milestone in relations between Christianity and Islam but also represents a message with a strong impact on the international scene. In the preface, after affirming that “Faith leads a believer to see in the other a brother or sister to be supported and loved”, this text... Read more
From The Washington Post: The reporter who exposed the racist photo on Gov. Ralph Northam’s yearbook page said a “concerned citizen” led him to the story that has prompted widespread outrage and calls for the Democrat’s resignation. Patrick Howley, editor in chief of the website Big League Politics,first reported Friday the existence of a photo on Northam’s page of his medical school yearbook depicting a figure in blackface standing next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood. “It’s very easy to... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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