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The Deacon's Bench

You might find an answer here, with a story we aired last night on “Currents.” And right here we have a profile of the #1 capo. Ah, Brooklyn! You can also find a write-up in the local paper. Enjoy.

How long until we start seeing more obituaries like this on a daily basis? Read on, from the BBC: Renowned British conductor Sir Edward Thomas Downes, CBE, has died at the age of 85, after travelling to the assisted suicide clinic Dignitas with his wife. He and his 74-year-old wife Joan, who was terminally ill,…

For your summer beach reading… The Catholic newsweekly America has just published a special issue on the diaconate, which features a thought or two from Your Humble Blogger, along with much saner and smarter people like William Ditewig and Scott Dodge. Enjoy! It’s great to see this vocation getting so much attention. As an added…

This is big. And impressive: Founder of a rural Alabama health clinic for the poor that was devastated three times (twice by hurricanes, once by fire) since its founding in 1990, Dr Regina Benjamin was reelected to a second term on the board of the US’ Catholic Health Association at its yearly assembly last month…

The New York Times’ conservative columnist Ross Douthat has offered his thoughts this morning on the pope’s new encylical. What he has to say strikes me as both sensible, and necessary: When a pope criticizes legalized abortion, liberal Catholics nod and say that yes, they agree, it’s a terrible tragedy … but of course they…

I’m not a big fan of Joel Osteen — I once told someone “He’s all crown and no cross” — and there’s a lot I find accurate and troubling in this dissection of the “Prosperity Gospel” from Slate. But I especially appreciate the author’s final words: Who can blame people for flocking to Joel Osteen…

The vocations crisis is sending ripples across all kinds of ministries — including military chaplaincy. Now the National Guard is feeling the effects: When patriotism inspired the Rev. Jerry Fehn a decade ago to serve soldiers in combat zones abroad, the 45-year-old was afraid he had waited too long. He needn’t have worried. The National…

Several prominent Catholics commentators, of varying political persuasions, seek to answer that question in this post. It’s an interesting Sunday morning conversation-starter.

You decide. One thing is certain: this guy’s got the goods.

“The news media, despite their claims of impartiality, and despite the good work they often do accomplish, are just as prone to prejudice, ignorance, bad craftsmanship and tribalism as any other profession. But unlike other professions, the press has constitutional protections. It also has real power in shaping how we think, what we think about…
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