Buckingham Palace confirms: The Queen is will visit Pope Francis at the Vatican on April 3, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. The Queen will be accompanied by Prince Philip and the Royal visit will be her first overseas trip for three years. The Queen will visit with Pope at the Vatican after meeting the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, at the presidential palace in Rome. A spokesperson for the Palace told The Catholic Herald that the Queen was “very keen” to meet... Read more
Details: Germany’s Catholic bishops, responding to a worldwide Vatican survey, said on Monday that many Church teachings on sexual morality were either unknown to the faithful there or rejected as unrealistic and heartless. They said the survey, drawn up for a synod on possible reforms in October, showed most German Catholics disputed Church bans on birth control and premarital or gay sex and criticized rules barring the divorced from remarriage in church. The results will not be news to many... Read more
Hot on the heels of last night’s less-than-cliffhanger Super Bowl, a much-too-gleeful Washingtonian (Mark Shea) captures the essence of his hometown with a sentence that will bedazzle and bewilder. This will infuriate Broncovians, delight Seattle-ites, and leave in a stupor anyone who even attempts to diagram it. Behold: Here in the land of gentle whale watchers, granola-eating earthy crunchies, metrosexual jammie clad health care discussers, soppy gay wedding sentimentalists, intense Janeane Garofalo lookalikes in hornrim glasses, passionate advocates for polymorphous... Read more
Hearing about Pete Seeger’s death, those shrewd detectives over at CNS went ferreting through their files last week and found an unusual interview with the iconic singer from over 40 years ago. Carol Zimmerman explains: The story was part of a series titled “Dateline: U.S.A.” the news service was doing in those years. Seeger wasn’t a Catholic but he was in town as part of the Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival, which then and now offers a look at the many ethnicities, folkways and... Read more
Photo: Robert Kirkham / Buffalo News From The Buffalo News: It’s Sunday morning and, beneath a fluffy blanket of snow, the slopes are beckoning. What’s a good Catholic to do? Attend morning Mass at your hometown parish and sacrifice the heavenly thrill of carving first tracks? Or head straight for the hills, promising yourself that you’ll get to church later? Kissing Bridge in Glenwood offers another option. You can hit the slopes early, then glide down one of the North... Read more
It happened in Philadelphia: A local organization opened its doors Sunday for homeless people across Philadelphia to come in and watch the Super Bowl and have a few snacks. The 11th annual Super Bowl party for the homeless is a project of the Chosen 300 Ministries in the city’s Spring Garden neighborhood. People who attended the morning church service were invited back to participate in the evening’s festivities. “We have a double meal where we have a pregame lunch,” says... Read more
No, it wasn’t the Budweiser commercial with the puppy. It’s this, from Coca-Cola. This is the longer, extended version, with a 30-second prelude that I think is worth every second. Check it out below. UPDATE: A friend pointed out that not everybody loved it, and sent me this piece from Business Insider: Coca-Cola kept one of its Super Bowl ads a surprise, and it ended up being a polarizing one. In the spot — titled “It’s Beautiful” — “America The... Read more
R.I.P. The 46-year-old actor, arguably one of the finest of his generation, was found dead today in his Manhattan apartment, reportedly with a needle in his arm. He’d waged a long battle against drug addiction. Here, watch greatness at work in two astonishingly diverse works: playing an accused priest in “Doubt” and the legendary writer in “Capote,” the role which earned him his Oscar. There is nothing I can add. The work speaks for itself. Read more
Details: Mosques across Egypt have witnessed the first Friday sermon on a set theme chosen by the government as part of newly introduced controls on Muslim places of worship. The policy is controversial in a country that is deeply polarised after the army overthrew President Mohammad Morsi last year after mass protests, amid deep resentment against his single year in power. The Ministry of Religious Endowments is the official Egyptian body which will decide what imams or preachers should tell... Read more
If you want a deeper appreciation of what it means to exchange the “sign of peace,” take a look at this document, describing how this ancient custom will be reintroduced next month in one Eastern Rite diocese. (In the Eastern tradition, in many places clergy have been the only ones exchanging the “kiss of peace.” This explains how to instruct and include the laity in the practice.) This offers, I think, a beautiful catechesis for all of us in the West,... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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