An interesting bit of news from North Carolina, where a deacon is now the father of a deacon — on his way to the priesthood: After 10 years of discernment, Rev. Mr. Richard Sutter took a step closer to serving the church as a priest after he was ordained in May as a transitional deacon…

After many months of delay, Pope Benedict’s third encyclical arrives tomorrow. And at least one observer is asking: “Will anybody care?” In the days leading up to this week’s scheduled release of Pope Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical, there’s been a quickening of speculation about what it will say. We know the name: Caritas in Veritate…

My pal The Anchoress is telling Michael Jackson, in no uncertain terms, to “Beat it, already.” She’s had about enough of the endless coverage of his dying, his death, his post-death, and everything leading up to his funeral (which we’re still waiting to get over with.) As she notes, dryly: Are the cameras and the…

And now for something different: a brief Michael Jackson tribute, played as the postlude on the organ of the Trinity (Episcopal) Church on Wall Street in lower Manhattan. It’s a blending of “Beat It” and “ABC.” (A wave of the deacon’s sequined white glove to Mike Paulson at Articles of Faith.)

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