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The Deacon's Bench

Some may remember the stories of churches being occupied by unhappy parishioners in Boston and New Orleans. Now police have made some arrests in Louisiana: At least three people have been arrested today after the Archdiocese of New Orleans sent police to two occupied Catholic churches to remove parishioners who for more than nine weeks…

First, there was the chestnut stuffing at Thanksgiving. The pumpkin pie. Then the carrot cake at the office Christmas party. The chocolate mousse at Christmas. The plate of cookies Christmas night. Egg nog. The ziti and eggplant and tiramisu at the rectory staff Christmas party. The second helping of tiramisu at the pastoral council Christmas…

“The unfolding of the Church’s history always occurs within the context of the history of the age. Today, here, that means Southeast Michigan’s struggle to find a new way to establish a vibrant economy, so that families have sufficient resources to obtain not only the material goods, but the spiritual as well, that they need…

Brother deacon and blogger supreme, Scott Dodge, from Salt Lake City, unearthed this surprising nugget, the last part of W.H. Auden’s “For the Time Being, A Christmas Oratorio”, whose opening lines pretty much sum up the bittersweet mood of this particular time: Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,Putting the decorations…

After a long, long, long wait — 46 months — Detroit will be getting a new bishop to replace retiring Cardinal Adam Maida (who put in his papers during the papacy of John Paul II!). The Motor City’s new guy is Bishop Allen Vigneron of Oakland (but originally from Detroit) and you can read all…

Look no further. My siblings in Catholic broadcasting, Catholic TV in Boston, are now airing every Sunday the mass from Notre Dame in Indiana. The basilica is stunning, the liturgy is reverent, the music is magnificent — and there’s nothing like seeing lots and lots of young people happily attending mass and serving at the…

Over at Whispers, Rocco has posted a poignant tribute to a priest who died on New Year’s Eve, while trying to move a tree that had fallen during a windstorm. His name was Fr. Michael Kelly, 53, from the diocese of Arlington: A Civil War reenactor known as the “Flying Priest,” the loss of Kelly…

A paper in upstate New York has this curious report about a splinter group of Catholics seeking to attract a wider following: A decade ago, when a large group of Catholics feuded with the Diocese of Rochester over issues such as female priests and blessing of gay unions, the very public dispute resulted in the…

The Queens Came Late The Queens came late, but the Queens were thereWith gifts in their hands and crowns in their hair.They’d come, these three, like the Kings, from far,Following, yes, that guiding star.They’d left their ladles, linens, looms,Their children playing in nursery rooms,And told their sitters:“Take charge! For thisIs a marvelous sight we must…

The road to a vocation isn’t always smooth, or straight — and there’s a Capuchin friar telling his story in his own blog, The Long Road to the Priesthood. Now that story is attracting the attention of the local press up in Michigan: It was 1:30 a.m. on an October night, and Vito Martinez could…
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