There they go again. From The Christian Post: American Atheists is putting up a new billboard making fun of prayer outside Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, where the Super Bowl is scheduled to take place on Sunday. The 14 feet by 48 feet billboard features a man in a priest uniform with the text “A ‘Hail Mary’ only works in football. Enjoy the game!” referring to the Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary and also the name of a... Read more
The report is in German, but here’s a rough (very rough) Google translation: The Vatican wanted the papal Twitter account @Pontifex closed because of the barrage of insults at times. “We did not think that some reactions would be so rough,” the president of the Pontifical Media Council, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli said at a conference in Rome, according to Italian media. Some negative comments were expected, but what had made him suffer, was “the vulgarity, rudeness,” said Celli.... Read more
Details from The National Catholic Register: Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi has strongly criticised an article on Pope Francis that appears in the latest edition of Rolling Stone magazine. Although he acknowledged that the Holy Father’s appearance on the publication’s front cover shows a diverse interest in the Pope, the Jesuit spokesman denounced the article’s negative portrayal of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s pontificate, saying the piece disqualifies itself as serious journalism. “Unfortunately, the article disqualifies itself, falling into the usual mistake of... Read more
From Huffington Post: “God bless America” has become the expected way for U.S. presidents to end official speeches. But that wasn’t always the case, explain David Domke and Kevin Coe, authors of the book The God Strategy: How Religion Became a Political Weapon in America. The first president to say it was Richard Nixon, who dropped the phrase during an attempt at damage control for the burgeoning Watergate scandal on April 30, 1973.“Tonight, I ask for your prayers to help me in... Read more
This story has been getting a lot of attention this morning. It’s the response of Staten Island congressman Michael Grimm after an interview on local TV following the State of the Union: Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm physically threatened NY1 political reporter Michael Scotto at the conclusion of an interview in the Capitol Rotunda following Tuesday night’s State of the Union address. Grimm’s threats came at the end of a brief interview in which he discussed the president’s speech, calling... Read more
From the UK: A Catholic priest who juggles his job with property developing has landed a £20million deal – and will donate all the spare profits to church charity projects. Father Gregory Grant, 63, went into business with a parishioner in 1998 and now runs the PG Group from a converted office above his Bristol church. The company has built up a large portfolio by buying dilapidated city centre buildings and turning them into much-needed accommodation. But now they have... Read more
Purveyors of doom take note: donations to Boston’s annual appeal Catholic Appeal are way up. An archdiocese that was on the skids a decade ago is—by at least one meaningful measure—showing signs of life: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston collected $15.2 million during the annual Catholic Appeal in 2013, an increase of more than $1 million from 2012, according to a statement released by the archdiocese. The appeal is an annual effort to raise funds to support local parishes... Read more
It’s the latest thing: make ’em fun and funny. People will actually look forward to buckling up and turning off their electronic devices when it’s done like this. The best yet, from Virgin: But this one from Delta is fiendishly clever, too: Read more
Some may remember when this school principal from the Bronx made headlines a couple years ago. Now he’s back in the news again: A Bronx principal who was canned after being exposed as a bigot has been fired from another Catholic school in Pennsylvania after he was unmasked as a liar. Frank Borzellieri, the former head of Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, got the boot Friday after his new bosses at the Diocese of Erie, Pa., found out who... Read more
Rocco’s lead says it all: In the annals of American Catholicism, and indeed beyond, the shot there is without any sort of known precedent: a deacon proclaiming the Gospel at his son’s ordination as a bishop, the latter looking on from the background. Today in San Angelo marked the third time a deacon’s son has been raised to the episcopacy in the last five years. Unlike both instances before, though, this time the Reverend Dad was able to take part, and... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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