From The Day in New London: A former deacon at Sacred Heart Church in Groton has alleged that the current pastor of St. Agnes Church in Niantic, the Rev. Gregory Mullaney, repeatedly propositioned him for sex while on a 2006 trip to Rome and tried to sexually assault him in the street after he fled from a restaurant where the two had been dining. In addition, Deacon Mark King alleges in a sworn statement he made in 2006 that during the trip Mullaney... Read more
Friday, the Feast of St. Andrew, the Diocese of Bismarck’s Bishop David Kagan ordained five men to the permanent diaconate: Ben Auch, Robert Bohn, Leonard Krebs, John Paul Martin and Bob Nutsch. While I wait to get some pictures of that blessed event, enjoy this reflection by the bishop from last week. Kudos! Read more
It happened on the feast of Christ the King: Hundreds of Catholics processed through Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in a special Eucharistic procession for the poor this month. The event was organized by the Beloved Movement, a forum that promotes discipleship and spiritual community. An estimated 700 people attended the Hollywood Beloved Procession after Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church on Nov. 17. As part of the event, volunteers on the walk sat and listened to some of the city’s homeless... Read more
Hearing this Sunday’s Gospel, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a mistake. It is all gloom and doom, fire and brimstone. It is apocalyptic: there signs in the heavens…roaring seas…people dying of fright. You might be thinking: that doesn’t sound very Christmas-y. Yet there is more at work here — and this season we are starting makes it clear. As we begin Advent, we look to the coming of Christ in two obvious ways —as child in Bethlehem,... Read more
The 41st President of the United States died Friday night at his home in Houston at the age of 94. Last year, historian Gary Scott Smith noted that, above all, he was for all his life a man of quiet but persistent faith: Bush was raised by devout Episcopalian parents and remained affiliated with this denomination almost his entire life. His father Prescott, a Republican senator from Connecticut, and his mother Dorothy led family worship every morning, using readings from... Read more
From Catholic News Agency: In a book-length interview to be published next week, Pope Francis addressed gifts and challenges for clerical and religious vocations, among them the challenge of homosexuality in the clergy. “The issue of homosexuality is a very serious issue that must be adequately discerned from the beginning with the candidates, if that is the case. We have to be exacting. In our societies it even seems that homosexuality is fashionable and that mentality, in some way, also... Read more
It’s all the rage, evidently. Check out the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPzNPDxUChE The story: A discount supermarket chain is making it a little easier to offer a toast to every day of Advent this year. Aldi, one of the world’s largest grocery store chains, will start selling a set of 24 miniature bottles of wine for the first time in its U.S. stores for those observing the religious days leading up to Christmas. The bottles – two of each of 12... Read more
In case you missed it, here are some highlights from last night’s big event in Washington, featuring the singing Dominican nuns, courtesy Catholic News Service: Some background: After being introduced as our “very own caroling angels,” the 14 sisters assembled in Washington sang the Christmas classic “Carol of the Bells.” What they had planned to sing was being kept a secret until the day of the ceremony, [publicist Monica] Fitzgibbons told Catholic News Service in a Nov. 27 telephone interview... Read more
From the always-wise Elizabeth Scalia, words of consolation and Advent encouragement during this difficult time: Some people can only handle as much as they believe they can handle, and it is no easy thing to stand where we are and watch darkness grow where the light is fading. It is unsettling, disorienting. Despite the risk of injury, we want to run, get away from the dark, because we can’t bear to stay within it. But that is what Advent is... Read more
From The National Catholic Register: Some of the seminarians and transitional deacons at the center of an investigation into homosexual behavior and activity at a small Catholic seminary in Connecticut apparently were ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Hartford and the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey — despite the revelations outlined in a six-year-old report obtained by the Register. According to the 2012 report’s disturbing conclusions, the homosexual activity at Holy Apostles took place in the context of... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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