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The Deacon's Bench

According to reports, you won’t be seeing this ad during the Super Bowl.

Pope Benedict is evidently trying to crack down on what he perceives as a growing number of easily-received annulments: Granting marriage annulments too easily and without real cause plays into a modern form of pessimism that basically says human beings are not able to make lifelong commitments to loving another person, Pope Benedict XVI said.…

“Is religion an important part of your daily life?” The good people at Gallup asked that question and came up with an interesting snapshot of which parts of America are most devout: Want to be almost certain you’ll have religious neighbors? Move to Mississippi. Prefer to be in the least religious state? Venture to Vermont.…

Another member of the SSPX has decided to share his thoughts about the Holocaust with the world: In the wake of a global furor triggered by Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to lift the excommunication of four traditionalist Catholic bishops, including one who cast doubt on the Holocaust, another leader in the traditionalist Society of St.…

It’s starting to look that way. From Catholic Online’s Deacon Keith Fournier: For many years I have been covering the stories of members of the Anglican Clergy who have been so deeply disappointed with the move away from orthodoxy within their own community. Among them are many who are being drawn by the beauty of…

The sex abuse scandals may no longer be on the front page every day, but U.S. officials haven’t forgotten about them — and this story could have huge repercussions. From the Los Angeles Times: The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles has launched a federal grand jury investigation into Cardinal Roger M. Mahony in connection with…

Catholic parishes are gearing up for another offensive in the war on FOCA (the notorious Freedom of Choice Act that President Obama has promised to sign): On the past two Sundays, parishioners at the Holy Family Church in Nutley, New Jersey, have received a stark warning: If the Obama administration and Democratic Congress have their…

What can love do? This astonishing story out of London offers one answer: A woman who doctors believed could remain comatose indefinitely recently revived after her husband asked her for a kiss. Just ten days after giving birth to her son, Telford, Shropshire resident Emma Ray suffered a heart attack and collapsed while shopping with…

This columnist in Michigan, Julie Mack, takes another look at what’s happening in Catholic schools (during National Catholic School Week), and suggests its part of a larger trend: I recently read that enrollment in American Catholic schools peaked in 1965, when the system had 12,000 schools serving 5 million students. I was among that 5…

The New York Times runs a blog called “Proof,” described as being about “alcohol and American life.” One of the contributors is author Jim Atkinson, a recovering alcoholic. And this week, he wrote about religion’s role in his sobriety: My own recovery did not require me to become a born-again Christian or a Bible thumper…
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