I’m opening up comments for this, to see what you parents out there have to say. A reader writes: Hi Deacon Greg, I am desperate to find answers to above question!!! When I politely ask the parent of a screaming child why they refuse to leave Mass so they don’t disrupt it for everyone else, they get angry at me! I really want to know what they think their screaming child is getting out of–or adding to–Mass! I have Meniere’s... Read more
Yikes: An unemployed man, who said he was only trying to teach his elderly priest a lesson, was charged Wednesday with murdering him. Antonio Incandela, 33, said he had had it with the homilies delivered by Michele Di Stefano, the priest in the small rural town of Ummari on the west coast of Sicily. Di Stefano was killed on February 27 after being beaten with the handle of a hoe. Prosecutors say Incandela told them that he could not bear... Read more
Details: The global economic crisis is hitting Vatican employees in their cassock pockets. The Vatican said Thursday that Pope Francis, known for his frugal ways, decided Vatican employees won’t be getting the bonus that traditionally comes with the election of a new pope. In the past, the Vatican’s 4,500-plus workers — both religious and lay — would receive an extra little something upon the death of one pope and another upon the election of his successor: In 2005, the total... Read more
Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s remarks from today’s interfaith memorial service at the cathedral in Boston. Read more
If the press isn’t responsible, the government will start trying to tell it what to do. And you will encounter things like this: Some 72 members of Congress have signed on to a letter demanding that the mainstream media provide coverage of the murder trial of abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell. Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) were joined by 70 of their House colleagues late Wednesday demanding national broadcast news channels ABC, NBC, and CBS stop blacking out coverage... Read more
I’m opening up comments for this, to see what you parents out there have to say. A reader writes: Hi Deacon Greg, I am desperate to find answers to above question!!! When I politely ask the parent of a screaming child why they refuse to leave Mass so they don’t disrupt it for everyone else, they get angry at me! I really want to know what they think their screaming child is getting out of–or adding to–Mass! I have Meniere’s... Read more
That comment, and more, is contained in a message the Holy Father sent to Argentine bishops. Details: Pastoral ministry should always be missionary and its ministers must be courageous evangelizers not afraid to go out ‘into the deep’, the outskirts of existence, to bring the ‘sweet and comforting joy’ of faith to people today. This is Pope Francis’ message to his brother Argentinian bishops who are gathered in the city of Pilar for their Plenary Assembly, an assembly he was... Read more
As the YouTube description puts it: Before the Bruins-Sabres game, Rene Rancourt starts singing, and then the TD Garden crowd takes it home as Boston returns to sports two days after the bombing at the Boston Marathon. God bless Boston. God bless America. Read more
Details: A gay physical-education teacher who was fired from a Catholic high school in Clintonville said the morality clause cited in her dismissal could easily be used to fire any number of staff members who fail to follow all the church’s rules. Carla Hale, who worked at Bishop Watterson High School for 19 years, was fired in March after an anonymous parent complained that the obituary for Hale’s mother listed the name of her female domestic partner. Hale, and her... Read more
Pat Summerall, the sportscasting legend who died yesterday, struggled with alcoholism for much of his life. He was also a born-again Christian. From his obit: After an intervention involving, among others, former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, former CBS Sports President Peter Lund and former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beaman, Summerall checked into the Betty Ford Clinic in April 1992. “I had no intention of quitting, I was having too good a time,” Summerall said in a 2000 Associated Press story.... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In