Details: Dialogue, discernment, and frontier: These were the three words that the Pope suggested to the personnel of the Jesuit journal La Civilta Cattolica (Catholic Civilization), which is published in Italian from Rome, whom he received in audience this morning. “Your fidelity to the Church still needs you to stand strong against the hypocrisies that result from a closed and sick heart. But your main task isn’t to build walls but bridges. It is to establish a dialogue with all... Read more
Details: A San Diego teacher was fired by Holy Trinity School following a domestic violence incident involving her ex-husband. Second-grade teacher Carie Charlesworth is out of a job, but not for anything she did in the classroom. Her school district considers her a liability and too unsafe to have around following a domestic violence dispute that happened earlier this year. A letter sent to Charlesworth said that school officials are concerned about her ex-husband’s “threatening and menacing behavior,” and as a... Read more
Below, the text of his remarks following the meeting: Your Grace, Dear Friends, On the happy occasion of our first meeting, I make my own the words of Pope Paul VI, when he addressed Archbishop Michael Ramsey during his historic visit in 1966: “Your steps have not brought you to a foreign dwelling … we are pleased to open the doors to you, and with the doors, our heart, pleased and honoured as we are … to welcome you ‘not... Read more
Details: Three Roman Catholic monks are fighting to keep alive a monastic cheese-making tradition in Bosnia that has been passed down by word of mouth for 130 years. The pale yellow Trappist cheese made by monks of the Marija Zvijezda monastery once graced the tables of royal courts in Vienna and Belgrade, survived two world wars, a ban on public sale by communist rulers and the break-up of Yugoslavia. But the recipe for the cheese nearly went to the grave... Read more
From Catholic New York: In an often-harsh world, one of the greatest charisms deacons can bring through their ministry is tenderness, said Cardinal Dolan at the Mass of Ordination for eight deacons who will serve in the archdiocese. “Perhaps, in a dramatic way, the deacon is called to the charism of tenderness in the life of the Church,” the cardinal said June 8 to the eight men he ordained as deacons. In their work as deacons, they are called to... Read more
Details, from ABC News: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi today bickered with a conservative reporter who asked her to explain the moral difference between live-birth murder and abortions executed during the final four months of pregnancy. Pelosi began her news conference today by criticizing a Republican-sponsored bill to ban all abortions after 20 weeks without exception. The bill, H.R. 1797, the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” passed out of the House Judiciary committee Wednesday behind GOP support. Today, Pelosi... Read more
It happened in Germany. Details: It wasn’t Darth Vader who gave the blessing to the first communion children. This was personally undertaken by Pastor Christoph Nobs with a bright green laser sword at the celebration of a Star Wars First Communion Mass. The idea for the stars-War Communion came from Nicolas Gkotses community director. Star Wars had been a theme for the children in their religious instruction and so he tried to communicate the gospel in this way in a... Read more
Details: The Catholic diocese of Sacramento has purchased a funeral home in Land Park, making it only the fifth diocese in the nation to offer mortuary services. The local Catholic Church’s purchase of the George Klumpp Chapel of Flowers on Riverside Boulevard followed more than 18 months of discussion and inquiries by the diocese, according to diocese spokesman Kevin Eckery. Eckery said that the purchase was spurred by the requests of local Catholics who wanted “forms of assurance or were... Read more
From today’s homily: May the Lord grant us the grace to watch our tongues and be careful of what we say of others, because through our weakness and sin, we often find it easier to insult and denigrate than say or do good. This was the lesson at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily Thursday morning at Mass, which he celebrated in his native Spanish. Greeting the men and women who work at Argentina’s embassies and consulates to Italy and... Read more
Details: Breitbart News reported last week that Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) passed an amendment in the House Armed Services Committee protecting religious speech of service members in the military. President Barack Obama has now threatened to veto the bill if it passes the full House and Senate. The White House released a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on H.R. 1960, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2014. Among other items, the SAP includes as an objection to the bill: Expansion and Implementation... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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