2016-09-30T15:58:21-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:58 pm   By

Details from CBS in Sacramento:  Catholic Church leaders say a phony priest has been making the rounds in Northern California, going into people’s homes, celebrating mass and possibly asking for money. The Sacramento Diocese says Javier Posada is pretending to be someone he’s not—a Roman Catholic priest or bishop. He invites himself into homes of the faithful under false pretenses and celebrates mass. The Diocese believes he’s focusing on the Spanish-speaking community and has been in Vallejo, Gridley, and possibly the... Read more

2016-09-30T15:58:22-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:58 pm   By

From The Washington Post: For decades, the Catholic Church has struggled with a shortage of priests. But the problem is particularly acute in the U.S. military, where the overall shortfall has led to a shortage of Catholic chaplains within the Defense Department. What makes the problem particularly difficult for the military is that Catholic doctrine holds that only Catholic priests are allowed to perform the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, ordination, confession, Holy Communion and marriage. In addition, only Catholic priests... Read more

2015-03-13T16:33:30-04:00

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:33 pm   By

I found myself in Times Square Friday afternoon, and got quite a shock. It seems there’s a big football game this weekend. And a lot of people decided to come here to see it. The neighborhood Friday was absolutely mobbed. Tourists, media, vendors—it was incredible. The city has definitely caught Super Bowl fever. There have been a lot of stories in the press about this, and how the New York area is celebrating its first Super Bowl. But one story... Read more

2016-09-30T15:58:22-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:58 pm   By

It happened in Missouri, but this sounds strikingly similar to the story that made news in Maryland a couple years back. Details:  A couple who lives outside of Chillicothe say their priest denied them communion when he discovered they were in a same-sex relationship. Carol Parker and her partner of nearly 20 years, Josephine Martin, say they were good standing members of Saint Columban Catholic Church in Chillicothe for 12 years. They say that all changed when Parker had her mother’s... Read more

2016-09-30T15:58:22-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:58 pm   By

From Bill Ditewig’s blog:  Last night, I saw first-hand the “Francis Effect” in action, right here at a bar on Fisherman’s Wharf on Monterey Bay. “Theology on Tap” is a program that’s been around quite a while now across the country, and it’s proved a durable and popular way to talk about the faith and to answer questions and concerns people have.  That has certainly been the case in the Diocese of Monterey, where for more than four years, Deacon Warren... Read more

2016-09-30T15:58:22-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:58 pm   By

I found myself this morning in Times Square, which was teeming with pre-Super Bowl festivities. It seemed to have a lot more people than usual. These guys below caught my eye. It occurred to me that we work in the same business—though their idea of Christian communications and mass media is a little different from mine. But the highlight was the trip home, with the guys below. (For once, I actually had my camera with me and remembered to use... Read more

2015-08-06T10:39:08-04:00

Last updated on: August 6, 2015 at 10:39 am   By

Fr. Dan Horan notes that today would have been the great writer’s 99th birthday, and quotes from Merton’s journal on his last birthday, in 1968: Clear, thin new moon appearing and disappearing between slow slate blue clouds – and the living black skeletons of the trees against the evening sky. More artillery than usual whumping at [Fort] Knox. It is my fifty-third birthday. Merton noted his birth differently in The Seven Storey Mountain. He begins the story of his life this... Read more

2015-03-13T16:33:31-04:00

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:33 pm   By

From National Catholic Reporter:  Hoping to fill a gap in scholarly research about permanent deacons, Joseph Ferrari, a permanent deacon in the Joliet, Ill., diocese and a professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago, has designed a survey to collect data that when complete will provide a better understanding of the personal and spiritual lives of Catholic deacons. The survey is open to deacons, deacon candidates and applicants to a diaconate formation program in a U.S. or Canadian diocese.... Read more

2016-09-30T15:58:22-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:58 pm   By

Details: In a powerful statement encouraging fidelity and strong Catholic identity in Catholic higher education, Pope Francis today urged the University of Notre Dame to be an “uncompromising witness… to the Church’s moral teaching” and to resist “efforts, from whatever quarter, to dilute that indispensable witness,” according to a translation by Vatican Radio. The Holy Father’s words came today as he met with a Notre Dame delegation celebrating the University’s new Rome Center.  Although Vatican Radio does not report whether Notre... Read more

2016-09-30T15:58:22-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:58 pm   By

Details:  Archbishop Joachim Meisner of Cologne, a German cardinal of the Catholic Church, landed in hot water for a comment that offended many Muslims living in the diverse city. While speaking on Friday to members of a conservative Catholic group, Meisner praised the large size of many of the families present. He commented, “I always say, one of your families to me makes up for three Muslim families,” reports The Local. Muslim organizations and politicians from the Social Democrat and Green parties said that the... Read more

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