The Deacon's Bench
Another compelling video from Robert Duncan at Catholic News Service. This crystallizes the Kermit Gosnell case in less than three minutes. Read more
Another compelling video from Robert Duncan at Catholic News Service. This crystallizes the Kermit Gosnell case in less than three minutes. Read more
The latest brainstorm in Argentina uses one of the pontiff’s favorite forms of transportation to tour high points of his life. From the AP: The tour leaves out the gritty slums where Bergoglio’s church was a frequent benefactor, but there’s a nod to his reputation for ministering to society’s outcasts: a swing past the Devoto prison where he often said Mass on the Thursday before Easter. The bus finally stops at the parish of San Jose del Talar, where visitors... Read more
He’s evidently having an impact, according to CNS: The head of the Vatican office promoting new evangelization said that while he does not like the terms “Francis effect” or “Francis bump,” it is true that “Pope Francis has touched the hearts and minds of many people.” Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, said he does not care for the term “Francis effect,” since Pope Francis has not changed church teaching. But speaking to reporters... Read more
A report on today’s homily: Saint Paul was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at Mass Thursday morning, and in particular his talent at ‘being a nuisance’, at unsettling people who had grown too comfortable in their faith and imbuing within them that Apostolic zeal that is necessary for the Church to move forward. Pope Francis said that Apostolic zeal, implies “an element of madness, but of spiritual madness, of healthy madness” and proclaiming Christ has its consequences, which can... Read more
I posted a first look at the new clergy of Bal’mer over the weekend. Now, here’s the write-up from the Catholic Review: A weekend retreat Mark Loepker attended a decade ago was a turning point in his faith journey. “That took the hidden veiled call away and I came face to face with the call that weekend, that Jesus wanted a little bit more out of me,” said Loepker, 59, director of the national information assurance partnership for the National... Read more
That was the subject line on an e-mail I received tonight. The author: the woman who initiated the lively discussion we had a few weeks back about children crying in church. (You can read about it here and here.) Her e-mail: Hi Deacon Greg, I thought I should let you & your readers know that I’ve been forced by my hearing problem to leave the Church. After talking with a priest yesterday, I told him that I realize that the... Read more
Details: Scientists have successfully changed skin cells into embryonic stem cells, marking the first time human stem cells were cloned by transferring the nucleus of another cell. Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) were able to create embryonic stem cells, which are valuable for research because they can be turned into any other cell type found in the body. Stem cells provide a way for scientists to look into replacing cells... Read more
It’s a trend worth spotting: In the waves of turbulence that rippled throughout the Catholic Church in the 1970s, the nuns of St. Dominic’s Monastery found themselves forced to leave their longtime home in Wisconsin in search of a new one. The nuns moved to a temporary residence in Washington, D.C., while looking for a permanent setting conducive to the cloistered, contemplative life they sought to lead. It would be more than two decades before they found one. When they did, it... Read more
That signature phrase from my old colleague Charles Osgood has suddenly come in handy. I’m scheduled to be interviewed on “The Drew Mariani Show” on Relevant Radio at about 5:30 p.m., ET. I’ll be talking about this little news item, among other things. (I’ll do my best not to disgrace the channel by being IR-relevant.) So, if you’re in the nabe, drop by. And I’ll see you on the radio…! Read more
I posted a first look at the new clergy of Bal’mer over the weekend. Now, here’s the write-up from the Catholic Review: A weekend retreat Mark Loepker attended a decade ago was a turning point in his faith journey. “That took the hidden veiled call away and I came face to face with the call that weekend, that Jesus wanted a little bit more out of me,” said Loepker, 59, director of the national information assurance partnership for the National... Read more
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