12-year-old McKenzie Carey suffers from mitochondrial disease, a close cousin of Parkinson’s and ALS. But she loves dancing. So her dad decided to lend a hand at a recent school pageant. Keep a tissue handy. This is just awesome. And check out the web page about her life. Read more
Details: A mother who was freed from death row for refusing to renounce Christianity has been re-arrested just one day later while trying to leave Sudan, her lawyer told NBC News on Tuesday. Meriam Ibrahim, 27, was “very happy” after an appeals court on Monday overturned a death sentence imposed because she married a Christian man and allegedly turned her back on Islam. But lawyer Elshareef Ali Mohammed said a group of 50 security force personnel arrested her and family members during... Read more
From the In My Backyard Desk, some sensational news, via The Brooklyn Eagle: The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, will ordain 13 men to the priesthood on Saturday, June 28. This group of men, who have served for the past year as transitional deacons, composes the largest class of new priests in the United States. The diocese is thus helping to reverse a long decline in vocations that has led to... Read more
Scenes from my parish’s Corpus Christi procession on Sunday, with our pastor, Bishop Paul Sanchez. We had a beautiful day, and a wonderful turnout: about 300 people who joined us after the 1 p.m. Mass. The Blessed Sacrament was venerated at three separate outside altars along a route that took us around the parish block. Read more
This is pretty encouraging, from Tim Muldoon via Elizabeth Scalia: Today Boston College has released the results of a report on the influence that college experiences had on young men in the United States who decided to begin studying for the priesthood. That report highlights a number of interesting points: • Some 350,000 never-married men have “seriously” considered priesthood • A large number of those who entered the seminary had at least three people encourage them to do so. • Most... Read more
Awful: A homeless man sleeping on church steps was kicked in the face and stomped into unconsciousness in a Bronx attack caught on video, cops said on Monday. The man was snoozing in front of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Church at West Fordham Road and University Avenue when three men approached him around 10 p.m. Thursday. Surveillance camera footage captured the attackers kicking and stomping him. Cops say the 41-year-old victim was rushed to Saint Barnabas Hospital, where he is... Read more
U.S. Exchange Student Gets Stuck in Vagina Statue at German University Read more
Details: A Roman Catholic priest convicted of killing a nun at a hospital chapel in 1980 wants a federal judge to let him out of prison so he can spend his final days at an Ohio nursing home run by nuns. The Rev. Gerald Robinson has been in a prison hospice unit in Columbus since the end of May after suffering a heart attack and now wants to die in his hometown of Toledo, his attorney said in a motion... Read more
Details from AP: A Sudanese woman on death row for apostasy had her sentence canceled and was ordered released by a Khartoum court on Monday, the country’s official news agency reported. SUNA said the Court of Cassation canceled the death sentence against 27-year-old Meriam Ibrahim after defense lawyers presented their case. The court ordered her release. Ibrahim, whose father was Muslim but who was raised by her Christian mother, was convicted of apostasy for marrying a Christian. Sudan’s penal code... Read more
From Vatican Radio: “I have very much desired this meeting with you who bear the daily burden of parish work” Pope Francis said on Saturday, greeting the priests of the Diocese of Cassano all’Jonio. In his address, the Holy Father spoke to the assembled clerics about “the joy of being a priest.” There is nothing more beautiful for a man than to be called to the priesthood, he said… called to follow Jesus, to be with Him, to bring Jesus... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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