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The Deacon's Bench

At the US News & World Report, their religion blogger Dan Gilgoff recently chatted with Deal Hudson about the GOP and HHS: Trying to understand why Republican leaders have been all but silent on Kathleen Sebelius’s appointment to head the Department of Health and Human Services even as the party’s antiabortion base goes ballistic, I…

That seems to be the thesis behind this item from Our Sunday Visitor — and after a long career in the business, I can’t disagree: Back in January, with fanfare, the Vatican announced that it was launching a site on YouTube. I confess to wondering just how many YouTube people will frequent a site featuring…

…is having a chapel down the hall with a window like this: It was just installed yesterday, and depicts Christ on the seashore, calling to fishermen who are tending their nets — an apt image for a television channel called The NET (New Evangelization Television.) A tabernacle and several chairs are also going into the…

After disappearing from the Catholic radar screen, the notorious Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) may be about to make a return. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: A proposed bill promising major changes in the U.S. abortion landscape has Roman Catholic bishops threatening to close Catholic hospitals if the Democratic Congress and White House make it…

Those of us who spend a fair amount of time floating through cyberspace — and if you’re reading this, you’re one of them — will appreciate this insight about finding faith in the age of Facebook: With a new media boom sweeping the digital world, the Catholic Church is doing its best to stay relevant.…

This story is troubling and upsetting and just sad on so many levels: A Roman Catholic archbishop says the abortion of twins carried by a 9-year-old girl who allegedly was raped by her stepfather means excommunication for the girl’s mother and her doctors. Despite the nature of the case, the church had to hold its…

What on earth could draw a crowd of men like you see pictured above? (No, it’s not a diaconate ordination in Santa Barbara — though it’s close.) It’s just a typical rally of the Holy Name Society for the Archdiocese of New York in 1936. As Dr. McNamara points out: Founded by the Dominicans in…

Continuing his custom, Pope Benedict plans to baptize a number of new Catholics at the Easter Vigil this year — and one of them will be a woman from California. CNS reports: This year, parishioners at St. Joseph Church in Modesto, Calif., are more excited than usual about Easter. That’s because 40 of them, along…

That seems to be the point of this directive, from Italy: Roman Catholic bishops in Italy are urging the faithful to go on a high-tech fast for Lent, switching off modern appliances from cars to iPods and abstaining from surfing the Web or text messaging until Easter. The suggestion goes far beyond no-meat Fridays, giving…

A lot of priests know their way around a kitchen, but the Washington Post this week profiled one who is turning it into his own little apostolate. Take a look: Mass had been over only a few minutes and the Rev. Leo Patalinghug had already traded his green and gold robe for an apron, his…
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