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The Deacon's Bench

The New York Times this morning printed an essay from German author Peter Schneider, who raised some pointed questions about the Church in the pope’s homeland: Pope Benedict should also recognize how precarious the Catholic Church is in Germany. Like Americans, Germans have already had to cope with a general loss of trust in public…

A new report indicates that the Church may have turned a corner, at least in the United States: While the Roman Catholic church in Europe reels from a widening sex abuse crisis, the scandal that has plagued the U.S. church for nearly a decade is tapering off, a report released Tuesday says. The number of…

For the last few years, my parish has offered a unique interpretation of the Stations of the Cross during Lent: “Mary’s Way of the Cross,” by Fr. Richard Furey, CSsR. It’s a dramatic, poignant, heart-wrenching retelling of the Passion, through the eyes of Christ’s mother.  We  do it with up to 20 altar servers, music…

The recession may be hard on the pocket book, but it may be keeping together more marriages, as a result: In the Great Recession, breaking up is hard to do. With housing values depressed and jobs disappearing, divorce has become a luxury beyond the reach of some couples. There is often not enough money to…

Here’s something out of the ordinary: a priest who is choosing to step away from priesthood, and being remarkably candid about it: The Rev. Tom Farley looked at packed pews Sunday morning and made a promise. “There is an elephant in the room,” Farley said as Mass began at St. Clare Catholic Church in Southwest…

The passionate pro-life Democrat (and Catholic) is satisfied that the health care reform bill will not use federal funds for abortion: House Democrats who had withheld support of the health care legislation because of abortion concerns said Sunday afternoon that they would back the bill, all but assuring that Democrats would have the 216 votes…

“We are bishops, not politicians, policy experts or legislative tacticians. We are also pastors, teachers, and citizens. At this point of decision, we cannot compromise on basic moral principles. We can only urge — and hope and pray — that the House of Representatives will still find the will and the means to adopt health…

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd has evidently been sharpening her stiletto, to take another stab at the Church, but the point is really pretty dull. In every sense. There is so much wrong with her latest column, I don’t even know where to begin, so I’ll let you all take a look and have…

Like a lot of people, I get inundated with pleas for money from various religious orders. But I claim a soft spot in my heart for a hearty band of Trappists who live in the homeland of my grandparents: they are the monks of Novy Dvur and Sept Fons, in the Czech Republic. There, they…

Yesterday, the country’s first Catholic Vice President had a few things to say about health care reform and abortion: Vice President Joseph Biden, a practicing Catholic, is using his faith and his position to try and help convince those in Congress who have fears about the health care legislation and federal funding of abortion to…
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