Photo: Charles Lewis/Buffalo News Technically, she’s a “pastoral administrator.” But her leadership role is essentially the same. From The Buffalo News: Members of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Lackawanna know exactly who’s in charge of their small parish. And the person’s name is not preceded by the title “Father.” A priest has not run this ethnically mixed church in the city’s gritty 1st Ward for more than five years. Instead, the parish relies on Sister Barbara Riter.... Read more
From The Boston Globe: One freezing winter day when he was a child, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley told a congregation of Catholics and Methodists Sunday afternoon, the pipes in his house burst and his father opened the phone book to find a plumber. O’Malley’s mother sang out, “Be sure you call a Catholic!” These days, O’Malley said, the split between Catholics and Protestants has been replaced with a “new polarity . . . between believer and nonbeliever,” a shift that should spur... Read more
The picture below appeared in our diocesan newspaper, The Tablet: The caption: Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church, Forest Hills, boasts more than 100 members of its Altar Server Society. College and high school members were among the 50 servers who joined with Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez, pastor, and the parish priests and deacons at Christmas Midnight Mass. Also shown are Fathers Francis J. Passenant and Antonin Kocurek, O. Praem., and Deacon Greg Kandra. The head of our Altar Server... Read more
My parish has undertaken a novena to St. Pio—popularly known as “Padre Pio.” We’ve moved a large statue of the saint from its place in a side chapel, to a prominent position in the sanctuary. A number of people were drawn to him after Mass today. Oh blessed Saint Padre Pio, you were a priest after the Heart of Jesus, seeking always to love and please Him in all things. We ask you to place this request before the Sacred... Read more
This is something altogether different, from the Buffalo News: Sam Kolodziej Jr. had a few more people than normal in his pew on Sunday morning. In fact, there were a couple hundred extra members of the faithful inside Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. And they had the Buffalo ‘Mass Mob’ – the latest iteration of Internet flash mobs – to thank. The church on O’Connell Avenue in the Old First Ward was packed with about 300 people for the... Read more
From the full text of Bishop Matano’s installation homily in Rochester on January 3: Let us remember that without the priesthood there is no Eucharist and without the Eucharist the Catholic Church loses its foundation, its purpose, identity and mission. The ministry of the priesthood in the history of the Church has been so beautifully supported by the countless numbers of religious sisters and brothers who have served the Church in consecrated life with a dedication that is indescribable. I... Read more
From the Vatican news site: After the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis announced the names of those who will be created Cardinals at the upcoming situation. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s announcement: As was previously announced, on February 22, the Feast of the Chair of Peter, I will have the joy of holding a Consistory, during which I will name 16 new Cardinals, who, coming from 12 countries from every part of the world, represent... Read more
Elizabeth Scalia has just posted the response from U.S. News & World Report to mounting criticism over Jamie Stiehm’s anti-Catholic hit piece: We are committed to publishing a diversity of views on a variety of topics. Jamie Stiehm’s piece is within the bounds of fair commentary. We have run letters rebutting the piece and will continue to feature a diversity of opinions on this topic and others. Oh. Glad they cleared that up. We will eagerly await, then, thoughtful and... Read more
Check out this featurette below, on the upcoming film “The Monuments Men.” It looks terrific. Googling around, I discovered a website devoted to a foundation the supports the real-life work behind the movie, and another site about the Monuments Men. Who knew? Read more
The story: Coleman is essentially deaf. He’s been that way since being diagnosed with a genetic and incurable hearing impairment as a toddler. The disability could have stopped Coleman. Instead, he adapted, starring as a running back in high school and at UCLA before catching on as fullback with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent. The team was confident enough in Coleman’s abilities to cut starting fullback Michael Robinson during training camp. Robinson was later brought back, but Coleman has retained a... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In