UPDATE: Statement from the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School

Last updated on: January 22, 2019 at 4:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Posted this afternoon on their website: A statement from the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School On Monday afternoon the Covington Police alerted us that they had intelligence concerning a planned protest, Jan. 22, at Covington Catholic High School and a vigil at the Diocesan Curia. Due to threats of violence and the possibility of large crowds the Diocese was advised to close Covington Catholic High School, the Diocesan Curia and neighboring Covington Latin School. We thank law... Read more

Alabama church gives grocery gift cards to furloughed workers

Last updated on: January 22, 2019 at 7:46 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

The other day, I posted on how Catholic Charities in Washington is helping federal workers. Here’s what’s happening at a Baptist church in Huntsville: An evangelical church in Alabama handed out $16,500 in grocery store gift cards to local federal workers and contractors struggling to make ends meet during the ongoing partial government shutdown. The First Baptist Church of Huntsville’s grand gesture on Thursday was part of a wider community-led effort to help furloughed workers in Alabama’s third-largest city, which is home... Read more

Notre Dame to cover its murals of Christopher Columbus

Last updated on: January 21, 2019 at 9:25 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From CNA: A series of murals depicting Christopher Columbus’ life and exploration displayed at the University of Notre Dame will be covered up, the university’s president announced Sunday. “Painted in 1882-84 … they reflect the attitudes of the time and were intended as a didactic presentation, responding to cultural challenges for the school’s largely immigrant, Catholic population,” Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., wrote in his Jan. 20 letter announcing the decision. “In recent years, however, many have come to see the murals... Read more

‘To avoid rash judgment’: an important lesson in the wake of the Covington mess

Last updated on: January 22, 2019 at 12:35 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Every one of us who works in social media should bookmark this and read it every morning. I know I will. Emphasis below is my own. From the catechism, drawing on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola: 2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way: Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to... Read more

Cardinal O’Malley: ‘End the suffering of our citizenry’

Last updated on: January 21, 2019 at 8:21 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Boston’s Cardinal Seán O’Malley took the unusual step of issuing a statement Friday on the continuing government shutdown: Governing the democracy of the United States is always a challenging task. It requires not only intelligence, expertise and experience but also a capacity to collaborate, cooperate and the willingness to consider appropriate compromise at decisive moments. The present moment in our country is clearly decisive: the government is, at best, only partially functioning. This has caused multiple consequences: the safety of... Read more

More details emerge about that standoff at the March for Life — UPDATED

Last updated on: January 21, 2019 at 7:20 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Rod Dreher today offered this assessment of the one event that seems to be defining this year’s March for Life, the encounter between Native American Nathan Phillips and a group of high school boys from Covington, Kentucky: Last night before bed, having only seen those shorter videos, I retweeted a condemnation of these boys. Now I regret that, having seen the whole video, and observing how left-wing activists — some of them Christian — are seizing on this ugly incident... Read more

‘Do not build this Death Star’: Albany’s bishop writes to one of his flock, Governor Andrew Cuomo

Last updated on: January 19, 2019 at 7:15 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

A letter from Bishop Edward Scharfenberger to the governor of New York: Dear Governor Cuomo, Although in your recent State of the State address you cited your Catholic faith and said we should “stand with Pope Francis,” your advocacy of extreme abortion legislation is completely contrary to the teachings of our pope and our Church. Once truth is separated from fiction and people come to realize the impact of the bill, they will be shocked to their core. By that... Read more

Catholic school faces backlash over video at March for Life — UPDATED

Last updated on: January 22, 2019 at 3:59 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

UPDATE: Late today the Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School responded to the events below and released this statement: We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general, Jan. 18, after the March for Life, in Washington, D.C. We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips. This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person. The matter is being... Read more

Shock: Elderly nun in Detroit resigns, admitting ‘inappropriate conduct’

Last updated on: January 19, 2019 at 10:54 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: Theresa Camden remembers lying on the floor next to the nun supervising her training and feeling something was wrong. Another first-year novice in the small religious order of the Home Visitors of Mary was on the other side of the nun. They were alone in a house in a vacation area outside Detroit; the nun had brought them there on the first of many weekend retreats the three took together. “We would often lie close to her,” recalls Camden.... Read more

‘Deeply offensive’: students send out Nazi-themed dance invitation

Last updated on: January 19, 2019 at 8:50 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

The video below has the story and the offending image: Details: A pair of Minnesota high school students on Thursday were condemned by their school after an image surfaced of them doing Nazi salutes over a Hitler-themed invitation to a school dance. The teenage boy and girl were photographed with the invitation to Minnetonka High School’s annual Valentine’s Dance called Sweethearts, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. “Sweethearts would be a Hit(ler) w/you, and I could Nazi myself going w/anybody... Read more