On “60 Minutes,” the FOX News host talks about his new book—published just in time for holiday giving!—called “Killing Jesus.” (Which follows hot on the heels of his other books, “Killing Kennedy” and “Killing Lincoln.” It’s fair to say Mr. O’Reilly is making a killing off of killing.) Here, he talks about his inspiration. (H/T Kathy Schiffer) Read more
From Religion News Service: The Christian mission field “is a magnet” for sex abusers, Boz Tchividjian, a Liberty University law professor who investigates abuse said Thursday (Sept. 26) to a room of journalists. While comparing evangelicals to Catholics on abuse response, ”I think we are worse,” he said at the Religion Newswriters Association conference. But it’s harder to track. “Protestants can be very arrogant when pointing to Catholics,” said Tchividjian, a grandson of evangelist Billy Graham and executive director of Godly Response to Abuse... Read more
You might think, from various excited postings around the Interwebs, that Pope Francis is about to name a woman cardinal. Andrea Tornielli at Vatican Insider unpacks this notion: The idea of appointing women to the College of Cardinals is not new…It was mentioned during the Synod of Bishops for Africa held on 10 October 1994, attended by John Paul II, when Mgr. Ernest Kombo, the Congo’s Jesuit bishop proposed the following: “Women must be able to rise to the highest... Read more
Behold: singer Sam Robson who, in multiple takes, created this stunningly beautiful a capella rendition of the hymn “I Need Thee, O I Need Thee.” Read more
It’s our own Leah Libresco, writing about priests and vestments: When an actor puts on costuming and grease- paint, she does it to become someone else, both to the audience and to herself. A director I worked with once told me to start working on a show by getting different shoes, or, failing that, by putting a pebble in mine during rehearsals—anything to set this space off from ordinary life. A priest doesn’t vest to draw attention to himself, but... Read more
Details: A parish employee shot himself twice inside St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church early Thursday in an attempt to kill himself, prompting officials to close an adjacent K-12 private school for a police investigation. The employee, who was not identified, shot himself in the face and in his chest sometime after 6 a.m., according to Altamonte Springs police and a spokeswoman for Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando. He survived and was transported to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, said Rob Pelton, Altamonte... Read more
From AFP: Jesus Christ was the world’s first tweeter because his pronouncements were “brief and full of meaning,” Vatican cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi said Wednesday. Christ “used tweets before everyone else, with elementary phrases made up of fewer than 45 characters like ‘Love one another’,” said Ravasi, the Vatican’s equivalent of a culture minister. “A bit like in television today, he delivered a message through a story or a symbol,” Ravasi said at a conference with Italy’s leading newspaper editors. The... Read more
In the Los Angeles Times, writer Meghan Daum made a compelling observation, I thought, about the times in which we live—and one moment on television that has captured the country’s attention: Louis C.K., once merely a gifted comedian, is now a holy man. Last week, C.K. told Conan O’Brien that he doesn’t let his daughters have smartphones. Children who communicate primarily through social media, he explained, don’t learn basic interpersonal skills because they don’t experience the facial reactions that build... Read more
A few words from someone in a position to know, from the next edition of Our Sunday Visitor: On an otherwise unremarkable Sunday in July 2007, I found myself face-to-face with a bewitching young Irish lass, Margaret Flanagan, who would forever change my life. I remember gazing down at her pink cheeks and laughing eyes. I recall fondly that gaping toothless grin and her scream that could shatter stained glass. How could I forget her? Margaret Flanagan was the first... Read more
Details: The Mater Hospital in Dublin’s north inner city is one of 25 named in controversial legislation where a pregnancy can be terminated if the woman’s life is in danger. In a statement today, hospital chiefs said they had carefully considered the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act and would abide by the law. “The hospital’s priority is to be at the frontier of compassion, concern and clinical care for all our patients,” the statement said. “Having regard to that duty, the hospital will... Read more
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