A teenager from the U.S. at World Youth Day tells all: The young woman who proclaimed a Scripture reading at the Papal Mass at World Youth Day said that it was an unforgettable experience that enabled her to encounter the Church in a unique way. “It was amazing to look out and see more than three million people, and to think that this is all due to 12 men who said ‘yes’ to God’s call 2,000 years ago,” said 19-year-old... Read more
Here: Blessed John XXIII National Seminary, located in Weston, Mass., is a unique institution helping to meet this need. Named after the soon-to-be canonized Holy Father who died 50 years ago, it was founded in 1964 by Cardinal Richard Cushing with the encouragement and explicit blessing of Pope Paul VI. It is the only seminary in the United States preparing men 30 to 60 years of age that is also administered by diocesan priests. A recent survey of new priests... Read more
That’s the excited headline on a blog post sent to me from a reader, who spotted in on a web page for World Youth Day pilgrims from the United Kingdom. The writer is referring to Bishop Frank Caggiano. The post: Today’s catechesis by Bishop Frank Caggiano from Diocese of Brooklyn, NY was interrupted several times… with spontaneous ovations and shouts of appreciation. On Thursday morning Pilgrims from English speaking countries gathered again in Basilica of Immaculae Concecion on Praia de... Read more
He filed this for the CNN Beliefs blog: Francis was elected at 76, so he doesn’t exude the animal magnetism of the early John Paul II, the last pope to command this kind of popular affection. Elected at 58, John Paul delivered dramatic gestures like the actor he once was. For instance, he would kiss the ground of whatever country he was visiting, something Francis didn’t do. John Paul would clap and stomp his feet during musical numbers, and at... Read more
Remarkably, this little satire has become one of the most popular posts at The Bench, ever. (Its appeal may be more universal than I ever imagined. It was recently picked up by a Buddhist blog, which thought it had humorous applications to Buddhist monks.) For some reason, the post is getting renewed attention and traffic this weekend. And a woman who stumbled upon it took the trouble to drop me a line: Hello. I read your post, 10 Reasons Men... Read more
This is simply beautiful: Francis was addressing the Brazilian Church but today’s lunch with the region’s cardinals and bishops in Rio’s Archbishopric was much more than this. The Pope laid out a plan for his pontificate. He presented the image of a Church which walks beside its faithful in order to be truly missionary and “is able to make sense of the “night” contained in the flight of so many of our brothers and sisters from Jerusalem.” In order to... Read more
Some traditions just have to endure… Blessed Pope John Paul II (soon to be saint) in Africa in 1980 Pope Francis in Brazil in 2013 Read more
Details: A man who was told by officials they couldn’t register his fourth child because he didn’t pay a penalty for breaking China’s family planning laws stabbed to death two government workers and injured four others, state media and an official said. Footage of police trying to subdue the man outside a family planning office in southern China’s Guangxi region while he still brandished a machete was widely available on Chinese news websites and shared on social media Wednesday. The... Read more
Vatican Radio’s Sean Patrick Lovett has the answer: One thing that really stands out in headlines across the media spectrum, is how the Argentine Pope is conquering everybody – even the Brazilians (!) – with his warm and simple attitude and with the direct way he uses words… Both local Rio papers, O Globo and O Estado de S.Paulo, publish articles that alternate between amazement at the number of people that participated in the Via Crucis at Copacabana (one a... Read more
The history-making congresswoman and former US ambassador to the Vatican—also the mother of Cokie Roberts—has died. Details: Lindy Boggs, who succeeded her husband in the House of Representatives after his plane crashed in Alaska and who went on to serve nine terms on Capitol Hill, notably as a champion of women’s rights, died on Saturday at her home in Chevy Chase, Md. She was 97. In 1976, Mrs. Boggs became the first woman to preside over a Democratic National Convention.... Read more
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