And now for something completely different: He’s been called Muslim, Jewish, a Zen master, even Osama bin Laden. Oftentimes people are just puzzled: What is that guy? Michael Wilson, who has worked at Lawrence’s Liberty Hall for more than two decades, has a long beard that grays the further it grows away from his face and dusted dreadlocks left over from his days as a Rastafarian. Now he keeps the hair and beard to present himself in the image of... Read more
Details: In an unprecedented move, the Archdiocese of New York is trying to save six cash-strapped elementary schools by allowing an outside organization to run them. The Partnership for Inner-City Education — which has a history of working with city Catholic schools — is contracting with the archdiocese to manage the finances and oversee the academic curriculums of the schools in the Bronx and Harlem starting this fall. “We want to have full enrollment and sustainability for the very long... Read more
Longtime readers of The Deacon’s Bench may remember that I posted a story about Joseph Cella back in the early days of my blog, in 2007. He was the “deacon with a badge,” the only Catholic deacon in Philadelphia who was also working as a cop. I’ve just gotten some sad news from Philadelphia, from one of his brother deacons. Joe died unexpectedly yesterday. This afternoon, I got more details from an Episcopal deacon candidate who is also a police... Read more
That’s one of the questions Michael Sean Winters poses in this rejoinder to Archbishop Chaput’s comments yesterday in the National Catholic Reporter. An excerpt: Pastors around the world are reporting increased levels of Mass attendance and more frequent reception of the sacrament of reconciliation. Is this not what conservative Catholics have been calling for these past few decades? There are numerous reports from Brazil this week, man- and woman-on-the-street interviews with people, especially young people, who were previously alienated from... Read more
A fascinating insight, via Vatican Insider: The Church needs to “rid itself from all expired structures that do not favour the transmission of the faith.” This is what point 365 in the concluding document of the last general assembly of Latin American bishops at Aparecida, Brazil’s most important Marian shrine. The meeting set in stone Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s leadership and transformed the document into a manifesto for his pontifical programme. It is significant that Francis wanted to add this trip... Read more
Philadelphia’s archbishop made his remarks in Rio, during an interview with NCR’s John Allen. Snip: What do you pick up back home about the new pope? My sense is that practicing Catholics love him and have a deep respect for him, but they’re not actually the ones who really talk to me about the new pope. The ones who do are nonpracticing Catholics or people who aren’t Catholic or not even Christian. They go out of their way to tell... Read more
All day, my FB feed has been filling up with this particular quote, attributed to Pope Francis, discussing World Youth Day: We need saints without cassocks, without veils. We need saints with jeans and tennis shoes. We need saints that go to the movies, that listen to music, that hang out with friends. We need saints who put God in first place, ahead of succeeding in any career. We need saints who look for time to pray every day and... Read more
Redemptorist Father Cyril Axelrod of London, right, who is both deaf and blind, participates in a July 16 Mass in the crypt church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, assisted by David Day. (CNS photo/Michael Hoyt, Catholic Standard) Details, from the Catholic Standard: With hands moving quickly through the air, members of the International Catholic Deaf Association signed all the responses in unison for a July 16 Mass held at the Basilica of the National... Read more
Details, from Aleteia: Father Andrew O’Connor is perhaps almost as well known in New York’s fashion scene as in the Bronx parish he pastors. Taking a retreat in Guatemala years ago, he was impacted by the grinding poverty and hopelessness he saw. He found a way to get New Yorkers to share their wealth with Mayan Indians in the Central American country by creating Goods of Conscience. The idea is simple: a workshop based at the church employs working-class Bronxites... Read more
Over at the CNEWA blog, (where I toil as part of my day job) there’s a heartfelt remembrance of a Mercy Sister, Christian Molidor, who worked for the agency for many years. She died yesterday after a long illness. The piece quotes Sister Christian’s final e-mail, sent to her friends when she retired a couple years ago. Print it out and tape it to your refrigerator. This says it all, and in a way that embodies beautifully the merciful charism... Read more
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