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The Deacon's Bench

Sound catchy? A group of atheists thinks so, and gave that phrase a prize: Blasphemy. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. And the T-shirt reads, “Faith is no reason.” The Center for Inquiry (CFI), an international advocacy group based in Amherst, N.Y., picked that brief phrase as the winner of its first-ever blasphemy contest.…

If this doesn’t give you pause, nothing will: a video game supposedly based on the mass. Judging from this article, some skeptics think it’s a joke. (Well, whether intended or not, it is a scream…) Personally, I have my doubts, but it’s just crazy enough to almost maybe possibly potentially be legit.  (Though my source for…

My gang at “Currents” got to chat with the legendary Rocco “Whispers in the Loggia” Palmo on Monday, to hear his take on the bishop’s confab that was then just starting in Baltimore. You can see and hear what he had to say right here.

I suspect this news will raise a few eyebrows — and spark some debate: A preliminary report commissioned by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops on the roots of the clergy sex abuse scandal found no evidence that gay priests are more likely than heterosexual clergy to molest children, the lead authors of the study said…

This just in, from Charm City: Despite the concern voiced by some bishops about the document’s pastoral tone and content, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a pastoral letter on marriage Nov. 17. Nearly 100 changes in two rounds of amendments preceded the 180-45 vote in favor of “Marriage: Love and Life in the…

We are all products of our mistakes, and this moving story offers one profound example: It was 21 years ago when Glenn Wise was shot in the head during an attempted armed robbery. He has been a quadriplegic ever since, and the 48-year-old has spent the past two decades in Cook County’s Oak Forest Hospital. But…

It turns out the U.S. bishops may soon be deciding the answer to that question. From David Gibson at Politics Daily: In remarks at the opening of the hierarchy’s annual meeting in Baltimore, Chicago Cardinal Francis George made it clear that after years of repeated questions about the bishops’ credibility, it was time for the…

This picture is destined to be a classic. Settling a World Series wager, Philly’s Cardinal Justin Rigali (right) hands off a big box of hometown Tastykakes to the Big Apple’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan. It’s a Kodak moment that is, in every sense, delicious. Details here. The photo comes from the USCCB’s very own Facebook page.…

Facebookers will recognize its meaning. And now it is officially entering the lexicon: “Unfriend” has been named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, chosen from a list of finalists with a tech-savvy bent. Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a “friend” on a social…

Just in time for National Bible Week (starting next Sunday) comes word of an ambitious project involving some high profile vocal talent: Once Jesus signed on, it was easy to enlist King Solomon and Moses. Jim Caviezel (Jesus), Malcolm McDowell (King Solomon) and Richard Dreyfuss (Moses) were among hundreds of actors who lined up to…
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