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The Deacon's Bench

When this item clicked across the wire, I wasn’t surprised by the first sentence: Madonna is causing “crazy enthusiasm” and “impure thoughts” on her first concert visit to Chile, a prominent retired cardinal complained on Wednesday, as he paused in a tribute to a late dictator to denounce the pop star. But the second sure…

A faithful reader wanted to share this, anonymously: his own thoughts about the controversial cappa magna, worn by Cardinal Llovera. Take a look: It is not something we always recall, but the purpose of beautiful vestments, as Peter the Venerable reminded even Bernard of Clairvaux (and as Bernard admitted) is to remind the faithful not…

What’s it like to be an archbishop? Cardinal Sean O’Malley in Boston lets us know regularly in his engaging, self-named blog. And now Wilton Gregory of Atlanta is getting into the act, with a lengthy look at one day in his life in the Georgia Bulletin: A recent 14-hour day spent with Archbishop Wilton D.…

Lady, when on that night I left the Island that was your England,your love went with me, althought I coul dnot know it andcoul dnot make myself aware of it.It was your love, your intercession for me, before God,that was preparing the seas before my ship,laying open the way for me to another country. I…

At a time when many parishes, and many dioceses, are facing serious financial problems and looming deficits, this sort of news is downright miraculous: For the last few months, St. James Roman Catholic Church in Johnson City has seen a decline in weekly donations. About two out of four weeks the parish fails to meet…

Somebody get St. Francis of Assisi on the line. It turns out dogs can be, in a word, bitchy. Take a sniff: To the list of the qualities of dogs — enthusiastic and steadfast come to mind — can be added another. That pooch of yours, researchers say, may be envious. Scientists in Austria report…

Below is a casual little snapshot of Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera of Toledo, Spain, just hanging out with some of his pals. Cardinal Llovera was just tapped to succeed Francis Arinze as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. He’s known as “the Little Ratzinger.” Rocco has the scoop.…

I was cheered to find this item in a Tennessee paper about another deacon working in broadcasting. Is this a trend, or what? From the Memphis Commercial Appeal: Amid the clatter of plates and the sound of coffee being poured, Deacon Jeff Drzycimski settles in each Sunday morning to what he calls “the luxurious corner…

Washington will soon be welcoming a former Jesuit seminarian to Congress — and CNS has a first look at his remarkable story: The first Vietnamese-American member of Congress is a former Jesuit seminarian who served for four years on the National Advisory Council to the U.S. bishops. Anh “Joseph” Quang Cao, a 41-year-old Republican, defeated…

At this link. Deacon of the gospel at this morning’s mass. Streaming from 5:30-6:30 PM ET.
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