Today, my blogging neighbor Fr. Michael Duffy read over Fr. Dan Horan’s reflection on clericalism in the newest issue of America—wherein Fr. Dan notes: Most people are quick to remind me of how young a friar and priest I still am. That statement of fact is often, but not always, accompanied by some well-meaning remark by a parishioner after Mass or an audience member after a talk suggesting that I’m not like other “young priests” they know. What generally follows... Read more
This billboard is turning a few heads in Texas: A billboard showing a tattooed Jesus Christ has stirred up quite a bit of buzz in the heart of the Bible Belt. The ad, which is the work of the website Jesustattoo.org, popped up along a West Lubbock, Texas, highway, and it’s got people talking. It shows a man, ostensibly Jesus Christ, with outstretched arms tattooed with such words as “Outcast,” “Addicted, “Jealous.” “I don’t like the picture. I think it’s... Read more
“Every day, I hear from Catholics who, like me, are reconsidering their lives, their actions, their faith practice, all because of an Argentine priest who proclaims, ‘I am a sinner.’ The pope isn’t getting this reaction by outlining a list of do’s and don’ts. Instead, the world’s parish priest proclaims the message of God’s mercy in such human terms one cannot help but listen. He lives a life so obviously influenced by Jesus that one cannot remain unaffected. It is... Read more
From the Columbus Dispatch: When he delivered newspapers at the former St. Anthony Hospital on the Near East Side nearly a century ago, Melvin Harris would pass the chapel, stopping to watch Catholic faithful gathered in worship. He had been raised Baptist but was impressed by the solemnity of the Mass. He became hooked. “I said, ‘This is for me,’ ” Harris said. “I’ve been a staunch Catholic ever since I was 12 years old. I’ve never wavered.” Now 99, Harris... Read more
Hot on the heels of this item, on non-Catholics and Communion, a reader alerted me to this, from The Tablet in London: Restrictions on Christians from other denominations receiving communion in the Catholic Church could be relaxed, the Archbishop of Birmingham has said. Archbishop Bernard Longley, who is co-chairman of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (Arcic), said he foresaw a loosening of guidelines that already exist allowing baptised Christians to receive communion, although stressed he could not predict the... Read more
Oops: An official medal to commemorate the first year of Pope Francis’s reign has gone on sale with a spelling mistake in Jesus’s name. The medal, commissioned by the Vatican, spells the son of God’s name ‘Lesus’. Created by the Italian State Mint, the coin features the Pope’s motto as seen on his coat of arms. In Latin, it says: ‘Vidit ergo Jesus publicanum et quia miserando antque eligendo vidit, ait illi sequere me’. This means: ‘Jesus therefore sees the... Read more
Details: The percentage of multicultural Catholic parishes in the U.S. is on the increase, according to research by the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). The report also indicates that some 29.7 million U.S. residents who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino are estimated to be Catholic, representing about 59 percent of the 50.5 million people of this race in the country. Membership of Hispanics in the Catholic Church is growing, reaching to 38 percent, according to... Read more
A deacon from the midwest dropped me an e-mail this morning about a practice he’s witnessed frequently: priests at some Masses (notably weddings or funerals) who give strict instructions to the congregation about who may or may not come forward to receive Communion. I told him that, while I know this is done, in my 54 years in the pews I can’t recall ever personally hearing a priest (or any other figure) speak about that before Communion. But it’s evidently... Read more
America has the details: Pope Francis turned to pen and paper to respond to a letter from a group of gay and lesbian Italian Catholics sent in June, according to the Italian daily La Repubblica(Note: this account in English relies on a Google translation; it may be imperfect). The group had written to Pope Francis in a personal appeal to to be recognized as people and not as a “category.” A leader of the impromptu committee said as gay Catholics they had in... Read more
Sister Mary Ann Walsh from the USCCB blogs: As the government shutdown continues, it may be time to listen to another body – the U.S. bishops. Recent statements from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops offer significant points worth considering. They are neither Democratic nor Republican positions. They are simply principled. Consider, for example, an October 1 letter from Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration, Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, California, chair of... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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