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The Deacon's Bench

This story just refuses to die down. The Brazilian doctor who performed an abortion on a nine-year-old rape victim is now being hailed as a hero: A doctor excommunicated by the Catholic Church for performing an abortion on a 9-year-old rape victim received a standing ovation during a national convention on women’s health, according to…

“I think it’s going to be looked at, and I am not so sure it wouldn’t be a good idea to decide on the basis of geography and culture not to make an across-the-board determination.” — Retiring New York Cardinal Edward Egan,discussing priestly celibacy yesterday on an Albany radio show.

This news item should be of interest to anyone reading this: the Vatican may issue a document on the New Media. From CNS: The Vatican is considering the preparation of a major document on new media and their implications for the church’s communications strategy. Bishops from 82 countries began a five-day meeting in Rome March…

Pope Benedict is poised to make some history when he visits the Holy Land this spring, according to the Associated Press: Pope Benedict XVI will show solidarity with Jews and Muslims during his first papal trip to the Holy Land with visits to Jerusalem’s Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock, the papal envoy…

That controversial bill in Connecticut is — at least for now — dead: Following the biggest political firestorm of the 2009 legislative session, a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday on the financial and administrative management of the Catholic Church has been canceled. The bill is dead for the rest of the legislative session. As soon…

This story landed like a like grenade yesterday, and the alarm over it is only growing. If you haven’t heard about it by now, take a deep breath and read on: A proposed bill that would take power from Catholic priests and bishops and turn it over to parishioners has sparked outrage among church leaders,…

The priest who has been at the center of a firestorm in the Archdiocese of St. Louis has been officially stripped of his faculties, according to the Associated Press: A priest who defied his Roman Catholic bishop in 2005 to become pastor of a largely Polish-American parish at odds with the archdiocese has been stripped…

“If bigots in one state succeed…bigots in other states will try the same.” — Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput,strongly condemning a Connecticut billthat would force the Catholic Church there to turn over control to lay people.

The good Dr. McNamara dug this up from the vault, and it’s an interesting little curiosity: the first bit of film showing a papal blessing. It’s Leo XIII, in the 1890’s, and McNamara notes: It’s said that when this short film clip was shown in the largely Protestant sections of the Midwest, it started a…

This may be one for the record books. I got an e-mail about this from Jim Alt, editor and publisher of Deacon Digest. It’s the surprising story of a wedding where the father of the bride and the father of the groom were both deacons — and both men took part in the ceremony. From…
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