2016-09-30T16:02:05-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

This news may raise a few eyebrows:  Former President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara served as an official witnesses Saturday at the Maine wedding of Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen, co-owners of a Kennebunk general store. Thorgalsen posted a photo on Facebook of the 41st commander-in-chief signing a set of documents for them at an outdoor celebration: “Getting our marriage license witnessed!” No big statement from the ex-prez’s office. His rep Jim McGrath confirmed his and wife Barbara’s... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:05-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

A grateful diaconal bow to Joseph Susanka, who discovered this little masterpiece, from Improv Everywhere: For our latest mission, we put a Carnegie Hall orchestra in the middle of New York City and placed an empty podium in front of the musicians with a sign that read, “Conduct Us.” Random New Yorkers who accepted the challenge were given the opportunity to conduct this world-class orchestra. The orchestra responded to the conductors, altering their tempo and performance accordingly. Wonderful stuff, especially... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:05-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

This was very much on the pope’s mind this morning—along with some other challenging thoughts on unity, gossip and the “privatized” Church. From CNS:  Backstabbing and gossip hurt people and harm God’s desire for a united human family, Pope Francis said. Unity is a gift from God, “but often we struggle to live it out,” he said. “We are the ones who create lacerations.” The pope also asked people to pray for persecuted Christians in the world and to be... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:06-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

And what is happening in Newark may be telling.  Rocco has everything you need to know,with some wide-ranging analysis: For all the smiles at the cameras and talk of a smooth transition, the difference between Newark Catholicism’s present and future can be boiled down to this: while John Myers prefers to be addressed as “His Grace” – the British/Canadian style for archbishops – whatever title his successor might be saddled with, the next metropolitan of New Jersey will forever be known... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:06-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

It may be one of the great success stories—growing 300% in 20 years, to become the U.S.’s fifth largest diocese. Details:  There are nearly 1.6 million Catholics in the Diocese of San Bernardino, which encompasses Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the diocese estimates. That’s nearly triple the number as in 1993, when with just over 562,000 parishioners San Bernardino was the 24th biggest diocese, according to the 2013 Official Catholic Directory. “It’s heartening to see these numbers,” said John Andrews, spokesman... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:06-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

That’s the summary that kicks off this report:   I read an interesting summary of the state of Media and the Catholic Church by Greg Erlandson from OSV today.  It’s well worth a read with Greg providing a very good overview of media and the Catholic Church and where we need to go. One statement he made just caused me to stop in my tracks, “half of all Catholics have no idea that the Church has any presence at all on the web”. ... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:06-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

Elizabeth Scalia takes note of a searching soul she once knew:   I never met Sarah; ours was one of those modern online friendships defined by two people who never reside in the same time zone, yet–thanks to the combox and email–become intimate, devoted friends. She was a Lutheran, a scholar, a veteran who served twenty years in the military and then took up accounting, and she wrote the most fascinating, informative missives. When I mentioned that I was considering purchasing... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:06-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

From CNS:  In a letter to an atheist Italian mathematician, retired Pope Benedict XVI defended his own handling of allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy and politely criticized the logician’s total reliance on scientific facts for meaning. “I never sought to conceal these things,” the pope said of cases of clerical abuse, and lamented the scholar depicting the church as the only place where such “deviation” and “filth” occur. The publication of the retired pope’s comments Sept.... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:06-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

Willie H. Fowler (center), his daughter Tamara and wife Carol (right) socialize with Elisabeth Omilami.  Photo: Jonathan Phillips/Atlanta Journal-Constitution I love this story:  Hosts of a cancelled wedding donated an elaborate reception to Atlanta’s homeless last Sunday. Carol and Willie Fowler teamed up with Hosea Feed the Hungry, a local organization serving families in need, to turn the wedding-that-wasn’t into the first annual Fowler Family Celebration of Love, feeding 200 unexpected guests. “We’re very pleased that she’s handling it so well,” Carol Fowler told Here... Read more

2016-09-30T16:02:06-04:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 4:02 pm   By

Details:  Providence College, a Roman Catholic institution in Rhode Island, has canceled an event in which a gay philosophy professor had been invited to speak in support of same-sex marriage, The New York Times reported. The speaker, John Corvino, is chairman of the philosophy department at Wayne State University and the author of the new book What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? (Oxford University Press). He has often appeared in friendly debates with religious opponents of gay marriage, and the event at Providence, set for Thursday,... Read more

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