Fox developing series about the young Jesus

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

And that’s not all. Details: With popularity of Bible-themed projects showing no signs of subsiding, Fox has put in development Nazareth, an event series written/executive produced by David Franzoni (Gladiator) and executive produced by Bob Cooper. Nazareth is the first project under an overall deal for event series that Fox has signed with Cooper’s Landscape Entertainment. It follows the formative years of Jesus of Nazareth. There had been a lot of interest recently in Jesus’ so called “lost years,” a lesser known period in his life... Read more

NY Times: religious minorities still wait for a new day in Egypt

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Notable coverage of an issue that demands our attention, via The New York Times: The architects of the military takeover in Egypt promised a new era of tolerance and pluralism when they deposed President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood last summer. Nine months later, though, not much has changed for Egypt’s freethinkers and religious minorities, who are still waiting for the new leadership to deliver on that promise. Having suppressed Mr. Morsi’s Islamist supporters, the new military-supported government has... Read more

The Canonization Chronicles: A deacon’s view in Rome this week

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Deacon Bill Ditewig, in Rome for the canonizations, found the most important spot in the Eternal City: Bill will be blogging in the days ahead. His first impressions: I’m sitting at the base of one of Bernini’s great columns waiting for a deacon-friend to arrive from the Netherlands. Sitting near me, the next column over, is a group of young Polish students. For the last hour they have been sitting quietly writing in their journals about their experiences. Wouldn’t you... Read more

Cross purposes: an explanation of the Russian Orthodox cross

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

With events in Ukraine continuing to dominate the headlines, and crosses like the one above become more familiar, this item deserves some attention. An Eastern Rite friend posted this on Facebook, and I thought it was pretty interesting: an explanation of the “three-bar cross” used among the Orthodox. A lot of complex and beautiful imagery is involved, but here’s the explanation for the slanted lower bar: The slanted bottom bar is the foot-brace. In prayers for the Ninth Hour, the... Read more

Tweet of the day—maybe, the week

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The Boss: Read more

Teachers protest new Catholic teacher contract prohibiting gay “lifestyles,” IVF

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

You may remember when this made news a few weeks back. Now, some teachers are challenging the contract: About 60 people gathered Tuesday on Fountain Square to protest new language in the Cincinnati archdiocese’s teacher contract. They walked to the archdiocese offices on East Eighth Street, they said, to hand-deliver petitions – including an online version initiated locally – with more than 24,000 signatures. The contract, which all teachers in the 19-county archdiocesan school system are required to sign for... Read more

“As a Jew, my life…has been improved by the actions of these two individuals”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A different perspective on the impending canonizations, from a Jewish news service, JTA: Popes John XXIII and John Paul II are being declared saints of the Roman Catholic church on April 27, the day that is also the eve of Yom Hashoah. It’s a coincidence but a notable one. These two post-Holocaust pontiffs revolutionized relations between Catholics and Jews, fostering interfaith dialogue and embedding respect for Jews and Judaism in official Catholic dogma. “These two popes transformed not just the... Read more

Are chapel veils coming back?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

CNS has a very good video looking at the phenomenon of chapel veils coming back into fashion. Read more

TIME magazine lists Pope Francis among 100 most influential people, assigns Obama to write about him

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

And here’s some of what the president had to say about the pontiff: Rare is the leader who makes us want to be better people. Pope Francis is such a leader. His Holiness has moved us with his message of inclusion, especially for the poor, the marginalized and the outcast. But it has been his deeds, his bearing, the gestures at once simple and profound — embracing the sick, ministering to the homeless, washing the feet of young prisoners —... Read more

Maryland parish offers regular “White Mass” named for St. Lawrence, to support “people with different abilities”

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:56 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: There’s a quiet room at St. Aloysius Church in Leonardtown named after St. Lawrence. The story of St. Lawrence’s martyrdom helps underscore the reason for the room and the impetus for a growing community-based program in Southern Maryland that is touching the lives of people with “developmental differences.” The story of St. Lawrence will come shortly. But first we set the stage for the story about Southern Maryland Community Resources (SOMDCR) with the words of Cardinal Donald Wuerl: “Each... Read more