Vatican caps cost for sainthood

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

From Associated Press: How much does it cost to become a saint? The Vatican said Tuesday it has put a cap of sorts on the often-spiraling budgets for sainthood cases, another nod to Pope Francis’ call for sobriety. Cardinal Angelo Amato, head of the Vatican’s saint-making office, announced the change during a meeting Monday of postulators, the officials who shepherd sainthood cases through the lengthy investigations of would-be saints’ lives and miracles. He said postulators must now abide by a... Read more

Questions to ask before posting to social media—UPDATED

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

This could serve as a handy companion piece to my Examination of Conscience for the Internet. It comes from Cara Joyner at Relevant magazine: In absence of guidelines for healthy and polite social media etiquette, we are left to determine our own boundaries for navigating the seemingly endless opportunities available to us. Joyner lists several points to ponder, then strikes a particularly resonant chord: Let’s return to Paul and his call to love. “Love is patient. Love is kind.” Our... Read more

“This is a renewal of a long-dormant slander against Catholics in America…”

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

Writer Ed Morrissey adds his voice to the chorus of critics taking issue—sometimes passionately—with Jamie Stiehm’s recent essay in U.S. News & World Report: Unfortunately, this is a renewal of a long-dormant slander against Catholics in America. When immigration shifted into high gear in the mid-19th century, especially from Catholic areas of Europe (led by the Irish migration after the Potato Famine), a political movement called the Know-Nothings arose to argue that Catholics should be denied civil rights. Otherwise, the... Read more

“My wife and I are atheists but our daughter wants to be baptized Catholic…”

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

With a H/T to Fr. Duffy, here’s a remarkable testimony, in London’s The Guardian: Our little girl…has made a life-defining decision by herself. I couldn’t be more proud of her. But I cannot deny that what she said to my wife and I stopped us briefly in our slightly smug, religiously disinterested, bleeding-heart liberal tracks. What courage had it taken for her to tell us what she wanted? It was clear that our brave, sweet daughter had thought about her... Read more

Thomas Aquinas on correcting bishops

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

Some insightful and important words from Diane over at Te Deum laudamas: If all of us spent as much time with our noses in the Summa as we do perusing Catholic commentary about current events, we might actually become holy witnesses for the faith. Some of what is out there is downright disturbing and a danger to any soul humbly pursuing holiness and virtue. There’s nothing like adding water in a gas tank to make it go nowhere fast. One such spiritual... Read more

Dolan meets with new mayor, vows to work with him to bring Pope Francis to NYC

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

Details: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cardinal Timothy Dolan today met for the first time since Mr. de Blasio’s election and vowed to join forces to try to bring Pope Francis to New York City. Emerging after a 45-minute meeting at the cardinal’s residence in Midtown, the ever-jolly Mr. Dolan and an excited Mr. de Blasio talked about how much they had in common, including a desire to bring the new pontiff to the city for a visit. “We have... Read more

NY Times: Some in Vatican are “like frustrated teenagers, closing the door and putting their headphones on”

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

The paper sizes up various headlines of the last few months, and gets some reaction: To some degree, Francis, 77, is simply bringing in his own team and equipping them to carry out his stated mission of creating a more inclusive and relevant church that is more sensitive to the needs of local parishes and the poor. But he is also breaking up the rival blocs of Italians with entrenched influence in the Roman Curia, the bureaucracy that runs the... Read more

Prague spring: Catholic churches sprout up in Europe’s “most atheist country”

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

Some promising news from the land of my forebears: the Czech Republic, e once described as the “most atheist country” in Europe, is showing new signs of faith: Some 50 new Catholic churches have been built in the Czech Republic since the 1989 collapse of the communist regime, mainly in Moravian regions with a higher share of believers, and another ten are being planned or under construction, daily Lidové noviny (LN) writes today. While in Bohemia, the western part of the country,... Read more

What can you do when your church service starts the same time as the kickoff for the big game?

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

Well, now here’s something different. (H/T to the great photog Greg Shemitz, who sent this my way.) As YouTube describes it: The very abbreviated worship service created by Pastor Tim Christensen of Gold Hill Lutheran Church (Butte, Montana) for the 11 AM service taking place at the exact same time as kickoff for the 49ers – Panthers NFL playoff game. Read more

The pope baptized a baby, and that’s really all we know—UPDATED

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

Some eyebrows (and some blood pressures) shot up on the news that Pope Francis had baptized a baby yesterday whose parents were reportedly married civilly, but not sacramentally. To wit: Among the baptized – according to the report in the daily “Il Tirreno” – there is also Giulia, caught of a couple married civilly but not in church. And this is certainly a novelty. Not for Bergoglio, who as a priest, bishop and cardinal baptized babies of teen mothers or... Read more