This picture has been around the world a few times now—and it’s continuing to spark debate. It shows the moment at an ecumenical service last Sunday when Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley asked Methodist minister Anne Robertson to make the sign of the cross on his forehead with holy water as a remembrance of baptism. Here’s The Boston Globe this morning: “What a disgrace to our Holy Mother Church,” wrote one commenter. “Is there no limit to this man’s heresies?” An... Read more
Last week, I came across the remarkable story of a doctor who makes house calls to people who don’t have houses. His name is Dr. Jim Withers, of Pittsburgh. Most nights, you won’t find him in the ER or in the operating room. You’ll find him on the streets, a stethoscope around his neck, hunting the back alleys of downtown Pittsburgh. His waiting room is McDonald’s, or a gutter, or a heating grate. His patients are the unemployed, the addicted,... Read more
From The New York Times: They came for prayer and fellowship, naturally. They gave confession to other priests, too. But mostly they came for lectures. Lectures on employment law. And on best practices in hiring and firing. And accounting and auditing. It was five days with hardly any theology. Beginning Jan. 5, during the cold spell whose icy fingers reached even to northern Florida, 37 priests gathered at the Marywood retreat center here — most having ditched their collars —... Read more
Details: A document obtained by The Associated Press on Friday shows Pope Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests over just two years for molesting children. The statistics for 2011-12 show a dramatic increase over the 171 priests removed in 2008 and 2009, when the Vatican first provided details on the number of priests who have been defrocked. Prior to that, it had only publicly revealed the number of alleged cases of sexual abuse it had received. The document was prepared... Read more
A deacon dropped me a note this morning with that question. I haven’t been able to find one, but a couple years back I posted a link to an mp3 recording. This is the one I’ve used. Someone who is media-savvy can download it and burn a CD from it. (Deacons: ask your kids!) I just downloaded it onto my iPod and listened and practiced that way. Here’s the link. But if anyone has any other ideas, let me... Read more
Deacon Bill Ditewig offers some history and some insight into Catholic theology surrounding which direction the priest faces during Mass: Catholic teaching and practice, from the very beginning, reflected great diversity and practice on all of this. In some ancient churches, there was an East-West orientation, and the priest and people would together face the East, where the sun would rise, analogous to God spreading light upon a darkened world. However, there is also significant architectural evidence that this was... Read more
I stumbled across this in a blog post by Diane Korzeniewski, about celebrated preacher Fr. Bill Casey, and it hit me between the eyes: Some mistakenly think that I am against pointing out problems facing Catholics, or among the members of the Church, or even confronting people with error. That’s not the case. What I have an aversion to, because I believe it to be damaging, is outward contempt for others, or mocking them and having fun at their expense,... Read more
This much. H/T to Jill Stanek, who posted this incredible video of Dennis and Carita Chen meeting their adopted son Jacob for the first time: Anytime I think about adoption, I think about my spiritual adoption, about how Jesus went to infinitely grater lengths to adopt me to the family of God. What a privilege it is in a smaller way, in a human way, live out some of the truth of the Gospel…The nurse showed us that even on... Read more
More than two years after the story first broke, a statement has been released that seems to put the case of Fr. Frank Pavone to rest: Bishop Patrick J. Zurek of Amarillo, Texas, sent a letter in December to the bishops of the United States informing them that all concerns he had raised in regard to Staten Island-based Priests for Life (PFL), led by Father Frank Pavone, a priest of the Diocese of Amarillo, “have been favorably received and addressed... Read more
Pope Francis conversing with members of the Jewish community of Argentina at the Santa Marta guesthouse today. (Source). The men shared a kosher lunch. Read the full story here. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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