You may remember this story from last spring, about Timothy Schmalz’s sculpture of a homeless Jesus that, itself, was homeless. Now, an update: For two years, it was the sculpture nobody would take: a life-sized Jesus sleeping on a park bench with his bare feet, wounded from his crucifixion, poking out from under a blanket. But now Jesus the Homeless and its Canadian sculptor have a new fan in the Vatican: Pope Francis. Timothy Schmalz brought the original wooden model of his... Read more
From Religion News Service: Perhaps the Elephant & Castle pub here was a fitting locale for a visiting Brit to meet some mates. But other stereotypes were left at the bar as about 100 people trod down a flight of stairs — pints of beer and wine glasses in hand — and into the pub’s basement to attend Sunday Assembly, a gathering of nonbelievers that both supporters and detractors have dubbed “atheist church.” “Hellllllooooooooo San Francisco,” trilled Sanderson Jones, the... Read more
Details: A top Roman Catholic cardinal says he regrets that the church is portrayed as “anti-gay” for supporting traditional marriage between a man and a woman. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, told NBC News that the church has been “out-marketed” on the issue by an array of people, including politicians. “We’ve been caricatured as being anti-gay,” Dolan said in an interview airing Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. “And as much as we’d say, ‘Wait a minute, we’re pro... Read more
Really? Details: AFA is calling for a limited one-month boycott of Radio Shack over the company’s censorship of the word “Christmas.” For years, Radio Shack has refused to use the word Christmas on its website, in television commercials, newspaper ads and in-store promotions, despite tens of thousands of consumer requests to recognize Christmas and in spite of repeated requests from AFA to do the same. Sign the Boycott Radio Shack Pledge. Want proof? Go to www.radioshack.com and type “Christmas” in the search bar.... Read more
An overview from the Vatican news site: Speaking to the participants of the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Pope Francis underlined the importance of friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions.He noted that due to increasing movement of peoples because of phenomena such as migration, Christians are being challenged to be more open to different cultures, religions and traditions. Quoting from his recently published Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, the Pope said... Read more
This is simply great: Bikers strike fear into the hearts of many. They’re seen as rough thugs… but there is more to a biker than you think. This gang, for instance, is happy to intimidate people. However, they only intimidate people who dare hurt children. They are the Bikers Against Child Abuse International. And they mean business. These bikers stand out because of their soft spot: innocent victims of child abuse. You may be taken aback by their kind and... Read more
Some weeks back, I posted an item on this position’s unique diaconal dimension. Now, here’s more about the job, and the man carrying it out: When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was known to sneak out at night and break bread with the homeless, sit with them literally on the street and eat with them, as part of his aim to share the plight of the poor and let them know someone cared. That’s not so easy... Read more
Photo by Alissa Staley Details from The Columbus Dispatch: The only church Tammy Dieter has ever known, where her parents married, she married and her babies were baptized, burned to the ground early this morning. Sacred Hearts Parish, on Rt. 42 near Cardington in Morrow County, was destroyed in a fire called in just after 4 a.m. Fire officials haven’t said what the cause is yet and nobody was injured. While everything inside can be replaced, for Dieter, 54, it’s... Read more
Some great stuff here, in a Thanksgiving homily by David R. Henson, a Patheos blogger studying to become an Episcopal priest: Our anxieties about superficial things often mask deeper, more existential fears about ourselves or about God. We fear we will fail. We fear God will fail us, or worse, we fear God will abandon us if don’t work hard enough or if we aren’t holy enough. So when Jesus commands us not to worry and not to be anxious,... Read more
From Catholic News Service: Church officials in Germany defended plans by the country’s bishops’ conference to allow some divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion, insisting they have the pope’s endorsement. “We already have our own guidelines, and the pope has now clearly signaled that certain things can be decided locally,” said Robert Eberle, spokesman for the archdiocese of Freiburg. “We’re not the only archdiocese seeking helpful solutions to this problem, and we’ve had positive reactions from other dioceses in... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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