“Do I regret not being married? Well, I might miss it, but celibacy I find to be extraordinarily rewarding and liberating.” The subject came up during an interview on CBS This Morning, while discussing the Amazon Synod: Appearing on “CBS This Morning,” Cardinal Dolan said, “I’m glad they talked about it. We act like it’s a big secret, but heck, my barber asks me why priests can’t get married.” “Would you like there to be a Mrs. Dolan?” asked co-host... Read more
“This is unique — the religious and lay people mix. I don’t think there’s any one like this.” From The Catholic Register: The Presentation Manor dream caught Sr. Joan Missiaen of Our Lady’s Missionaries a bit by surprise. “This is not where we thought we would spend our final days,” Missiaen told The Catholic Register at the official grand opening of this unique retirement home for Catholic religious and lay people in east-end Toronto near Warden and St. Clair Avenues. “Yes, through... Read more
Ever have one of those days? via GIPHY Today is the feast day of this often overlooked saint: Life in second- and third-century Jerusalem couldn’t have been easy, but Saint Narcissus managed to live well beyond 100. Some even speculate he lived to 160. Details of his life are sketchy, but there are many reports of his miracles. The miracle for which Narcissus is most remembered was turning water into oil for use in the church lamps on Holy Saturday... Read more
“We are on call 24/7, we can’t walk through the local shopping center without being recognized.” Check this out, from the Archdiocese of Perth in Australia: For many decades Deborah Talbot, wife of Perth Deacon Bruce Talbot, has lived the rich and also spiritually challenging experience of being her husband’s helpmate in his ministry as a Permanent Deacon. Deborah was a key speaker at the 2019 Deacon’s Conference held at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, from 3 to 6... Read more
This is no small thing. (h/t Fr. Matthew Schneider!) It’s not uncommon for prominent politicians to be advised by bishops not to receive communion — I think it’s happened with Pelosi, Kaine and Cuomo — but I can’t recall reading of a figure of Joe Biden’s prominence actually being denied the sacrament. Details: Former Vice President Joe Biden, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential race, was denied Holy Communion on Sunday morning at a Florence church.... Read more
From NCR: San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy said he supports allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic Church, in what appears as the first such public disclosure of a U.S. prelate since Pope Francis reopened consideration of the history of women’s diaconal ordination in 2016. In an NCR interview Oct. 27, McElroy said he hoped the pope’s surprise decision at the end of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon to reconvene the Vatican’s study commission on women... Read more
Now for something different. Details: Puerto Rican priest Ricardo David Rivera Ortiz surprised the audience of Cardinal Gibbons Catholic High School in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, joining a choreography demonstrating that he has the rhythm in his veins. The religious, joined the group of cheerleaders of the school and his talent was evidenced in a video, shared on the Facebook account of Fidelity PR and that has gone viral. “Father Ricardo Rivera Ortiz, who can be seen taking his best... Read more
There’s an old joke: New York will be a great city — if they ever finish it. The city is constantly being dug up and paved over. Buildings are being torn down and rebuilt– and the older ones are always in a state of repair or renovation. You can’t walk down a city block without having to go under or around one of those green scaffoldings. You see them a lot here in Forest Hills – they had one up... Read more
From Vatican Media: The Holy See Press Office has provided a transcription of Pope Francis’s remarks concerning a number of indigenous statuettes, which were stolen earlier this week, and thrown into the Tiber River. The Holy Father spoke off-the-cuff following the liturgical prayer that opened the afternoon session of the 15th General Congregation of the Synod for the Amazon. REMARKS OF POPE FRANCIS Good afternoon. I want to say a word about the statues of the pachamama that were taken from the... Read more
Will the synod conclude with a proposal to ordain women to the diaconate? From The New York Times: The Tablet, a British Catholic news weekly, reported this week that a proposal to ordain women deacons was included in the final report that will be put to the vote on Saturday. The proposal will require a two-thirds majority of the participants to pass. Catholic activists working for greater gender equality in the church say that the bishops who are meeting to formally define women’s... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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