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The Deacon's Bench

Last night, our diocese for the first time celebrated the Chrism Mass on a day other than Holy Thursday. (Evidently, this is not uncommon in other parts of the country.) It was a rich and rewarding liturgy, as always, but it had a different feeling in the evening. (Among other things, by the time it…

The day before Holy Thursday is traditionally known as “Spy Wednesday” — when Judas “spied” for an opportunity to betray Jesus. Last year I dug up and posted this little nugget which explains the liturgies surrounding this day, and the rest of Holy Week: Today and during the Sacred Triduum, the Matins and Lauds of…

This writer in today’s New York Daily News offers some trenchant observations on the state of Catholic America, particularly in light of the Notre Dame controversy: If it looks like there’s an identity crisis within the Catholic contingent, there is – but the divisive episode at Notre Dame was hardly the catalyst. This is a…

They’ve been doing that during Lent at some parishes around Pittsburgh, and the experiment has been well-received, according to the Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper: In what was billed as “pulpit sharing” or “priest swap,” the priests from five parishes in two South Pittsburgh neighborhoods visited nearby parishes to celebrate weekend Masses during the first weeks of…

After first hinting at this idea during her appearance on “In the Arena” last weekend, Elizabeth Scalia has now expanded and refined it in a compelling piece for Pajamas Media. A snip: Several bishops have argued well against the invitation, and Bishop John D’Arcy, of Fort Wayne and South Bend, has said he will not…

The Milwaukee papers are bidding fond farewell to Archbishop Timothy Dolan, as he prepares to head east and knock on the door of St. Patrick’s next Tuesday night. This article has some great anecdotes: Stories abound of Dolan’s personal outreach, his ability to connect with others – Catholic or not – whether at a fish…

Her name has been floated before for this position — and she’s also been mentioned as a contender to the serve at the Court of St. James, as her grandfather did — but there seems to be new life in this old story: A longtime John Kerry supporter is about to land the prized position…

With all the other things happening on Palm Sunday, it didn’t get much attention, but there was a sizable protest last weekend at Notre Dame. (If you have to ask what it was about, you haven’t been paying attention.) From the Chicago Sun Times: Hundreds of anti-abortion advocates protested Sunday on the University of Notre…

“I’m not talking about this much publicly, but let me just say that I found over the course of the last decade, attending the basilica … reading the literature, that there was a peace in my soul and a sense of well-being in the Catholic Church, and I found the Mass of conversion last Sunday…

A number of parishes from around the U.S. have taken an extraordinary step to fight parish closings: they’re taking their case straight to the top. From the AP: Worshippers in eight dioceses around the country have banded together in a last-ditch effort to ask the Vatican to instruct bishops to negotiate with them over the…
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