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The Deacon's Bench

This item crackled over the wire last week while I was on vacation, but it deserves a resounding cheer from The Bench: Training to become a Catholic deacon took William Hisker from theology classes at St. Vincent College and into hospitals, nursing homes and a prison. “I found it very fulfilling,” Hisker said. “I found…

From Denver comes this inspiring tale of a vocation that grew in rocky soil — literally. Take a look at this piece, in the Denver Post: Ron Cattany had a long, full career in natural resources. Next on his agenda are supernatural resources. After 35 years in Colorado state government shepherding minerals, fossil fuels, water…

From the “I Didn’t Know That” Desk comes this poignant news, via CNA: The Kenyan man named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest pupil, who enrolled in classes to learn to read the Bible and converted to Catholicism in the final years of his life, died in Nairobi on Friday…

Time magazine has what I think may be the first in-depth look at Newt Gingrich’s recent conversion. From the magazine: Visitors to the Basilica of the National Shrine in northeast Washington often do a double take when they see Newt Gingrich and his familiar shock of white hair slip into a pew for the noon…

The scandal swirling around one of college basketball’s most celebrated coaches — and a Catholic, at that — has raised questions about morality and forgiveness — along with more mundane things, like whether the man in question has violated the terms of his contract. This, from the AP: Rick Pitino’s personal failings should be forgiven…

Our long national nightmare is almost over. “Mad Men” returns tonight at 10. What started for me as a guilty pleasure two summers ago has become as addictive as nicotine and as intoxicating as a Bloody Mary. It also happens to be sensationally good TV, with a look and sensibility that are swanky and eerily…

I was contacted recently about possibly promoting this film, and I have to say: it looks remarkable. Thoughtful. Revealing. And utterly truthful. It will be shown on PBS later this year. See for yourself, and take a look at the trailer below. And you can visit the director’s website for more info.

This item moved on Thursday, but I haven’t seen much about it anywhere. Seems America’s Catholic religious are aging (duh!) but they’re also become more diverse: A new study of Catholic religious orders shows that their dwindling ranks are predominantly white and aging, but some groups are drawing interest from more diverse seekers. The new…

The curious, or the bored, can visit my Shutterfly site “The Deacon’s Camera” for a photo gallery from the last couple weeks. It’s mostly complete — I may want to add a few more pictures in the days ahead. Among other things, it shows that I spent more time taking pictures than I did having…

Several years ago, my wife and I took a tour through Italy and one of the stops was Siena. It’s this beautiful, old, medieval village – most famous for its most famous saint, Catherine of Siena. And, in fact, you can visit a museum there and actually see St. Catherine’s head on display. I was…
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