This is highly unusual. I’m not aware of any other bishops who have openly encouraged people to do this—let alone, issued a letter like this one. H/T to Creative Minority Report. From the Diocese of San Bernardino website, a letter from Bishop Gerald R. Barnes, which will be read at all the parishes this weekend: Brothers and Sisters in Christ, My greetings to you in this season of Lent. lt is my hope and prayer that you are able to grow... Read more
CNS has just reposted this video from last year, and it’s worth another look: Pope Francis meeting the media for the first time, shortly after his election, and explaining how he came to choose the name Francis. Post by Catholic News Service. Read more
This Lent marks the 10-year anniversary of his controversial (and record-shattering) “The Passion of the Christ.” A journalist who befriended Mel Gibson looks at what has happened since. During this season of penitence, the saga of Mel Gibson, I think, offers an opportunity for reflection on the choices we make, the struggles we confront, the demons we battle, and the forgiveness we all need —and, so often, withhold. Writer Allison Hope Weiner: It has been a decade since Mel Gibson made The Passion... Read more
From NBC: One in five Americans say religion does not play an important role in their lives, a new NBC/WSJ journal poll shows – the highest percentage since the poll began asking participants about their focus on faith in 1997. Twenty one percent of respondents said that religion is “not that important” to their lives, compared to 16 percent who said the same in 1999. In 1997, 14 percent of Americans said religion did not play an important role in... Read more
From CNN, a young priest studying in Rome—Father Joel Camaya from the Philippines—offers his impressions of the last year: St. Peter’s Square is always packed with huge crowds during general audiences and the Sunday Angelus. Like the candor in his first address, he ends every Sunday gathering with “Buon pranzo!” (“Have a good lunch!”) People are hanging on to what this pontiff says: the novelty in his words and deeds and how different groups would interpret them. I took advantage... Read more
CNS’s Robert Duncan produced this fine video, featuring seminarians from the North American College in Rome discussing their thoughts on celibacy. Take a look. Read more
Details: Germany’s Catholic bishops elected Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx their new leader on Wednesday, picking a close associate of Pope Francis already working on Vatican reform to also guide them at home. Marx’s election in Germany, one of the richest and most influential national churches in the 1.2-billion-strong Roman Catholic world, enhanced his status among the men the pope has called on to help him revitalise the Catholic Church. Known in Germany as a spokesman for social and economic justice,... Read more
This news broke while I was away this weekend. Ned O’Gorman represents part of a dying breed of social justice Catholics from the generation that counted among its heroes and contemporaries visionaries like Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. I learned this morning that his funeral will be held tonight at St. Paul the Apostle, the magnificent church of the Paulists near Manhattan’s Columbus Circle. From The New York Times: Ned O’Gorman, an award-winning poet who gained his widest attention for... Read more
Inspiring news, from CNS: Maria Delamonica spoke somewhat sourly of the state of affairs in Argentina, where the economy is teetering and politics are polarized. But her voice brightened when the topic turned to Pope Francis and the changes in the country since he was unexpectedly elected one year ago. “There’s been a revolution,” said Delamonica, a 20-something Catholic who works as a quality control manager in a food processing plant. She cited changes such as friends showing an interest... Read more
From The Catholic Herald: “Whoa!” That was the simple word of exclamation uttered by a young girl as she entered St. Mary Church in Fennimore on a recent Sunday morning. While the words used by others in the church may have been more sophisticated that day, the feelings were more than likely similar to those of the young girl’s. Upon entering the church that Sunday morning, parishioners and visitors got a chance to see the completed work of a restoration... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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