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The Deacon's Bench

From the Anglican Desk (Communion Division) comes this bit of news: An Anglican cathedral is trying to accommodate those of its faithful who do not accept female clergy by allowing parishioners to decide whether to accept communion bread blessed by its female canon or by a male priest. Blackburn Cathedral in Lancashire recently installed Rev.…

I’m old enough to remember the excitement generated when Elizabeth Ann Seton was declared a saint in 1975. (It was an especially big deal in my neck of the woods, Maryland.) Now, they’re about to mark the bicentennial of her ministry, and people are taking a closer look at the life and legacy of the…

This has been widely circulated, but it’s well worth reading and pondering: a modern story of pilgrimage and pure, undiluted trust: They’ve been mistaken for Jedi-wannabes headed to a Star Wars convention. They’ve been investigated by police, approached by strangers, gawked at from cars and offered gifts of crumpled dollar bills and Little Debbie snacks.…

Here’s something the pope should definitely mention in his next encyclical: Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Health and Family Welfare Minister, has called for the country to redouble its efforts to bring electricity to all of its huge rural population. The introduction of the electric light and television sets to those vast areas that still did…

“The primary function of the MSM is not to inform but to sell beer and shampoo. Informing and enlightening are entirely secondary to that overriding capitalist value. So given the choice between understanding and ratings-grabbing sensationalism, the MSM will choose sensationalism every time: especially when it comes to religion and particularly when it comes to…

An alert reader sent this my way: some intriguing thoughts from FOB Meredith Gould: And what’s up with calling Roman Catholics to pray for “spiritual perfection in priests”? Rather ambitious, don’t you think? I think we should start with more modest goals. Praying for priests’ willingness to work well with lay leadership comes to my…

You may remember the flap over this story, which reported that Canada’s non-Catholic prime minister had received communion — but instead of consuming it, pocketed the host. Now, a Canadian paper has apologized: The saga of the missing holy host now has a sequel – a confession. A New Brunswick newspaper has issued an apology…

This may seem like an improbable casting choice, but there’s word from Hollywood that Quentin Tarantino’s muse will soon be donning the habit to play a nun. From CNA: An upcoming movie will portray the real life story of Ugandan schoolgirls kidnapped from their Catholic school in 1996 by the notoriously cruel Lord’s Resistance Army…

Any Beantown priests who are counting the days until they hit the retirement age of 70 should keep on counting. From the Boston Globe: The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, continuing to grapple with a shortage of clergy, is raising the retirement age for priests from 70 to 75. The change is part of a broad,…

That seems to be what the Archbishop of Canterbury is mulling for his fractured, increasingly splintered church — an idea that sounds, frankly, schizophrenic. From the New York Times: Confronting rifts among his followers over gay clergy and same-sex unions, Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, said the world’s 77 million Anglicans faced the possibility…
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