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The Deacon's Bench

John Allen’s column for the New York Times on Humanae Vitae provoked some strong reaction — and if you want to read a sample, head over to the Times editorial page today and read a few of the letters. An interesting mix, I think. And one or two familiar names.

Above is the “word cloud” that someone created of the top 20 most-used words that people posted at Tributes.com about Randy Pausch. Now a woman who wrote one of the many obituaries about Randy has shed some light on the phenomenal public grief that surrounded his death. From Wired: When news of Pausch’s passing surfaced,…

That could happen, if Virginia Governor Tim Kaine joins the ticket. Kaine’s biography describes him as being active in his local church, and he spent a year after college working as a missionary with Jesuits in Central America. He’s also a member of Democrats for Life. The Washington Post has more: Virginia Gov. Timothy M.…

While the world watches and wonders what will be happening with the Anglicans — and if we might see a small stampede of new Catholic priests with families in tow — it’s worthwhile to pause and direct our attention toward Milwaukee. They’re about to make a little history there. This comes from the Milwaukee Journal…

This slipped under the radar, but it’s worth noting. The Archbishop of St. Louis has lifted a widely reported order of excommunication. From Zenit: Three leaders of a former St. Louis parish who incurred excommunication for hiring a suspended priest have been reconciled with the Church. According to a statement last week from the Archdiocese…

“If women are being called to the priesthood then why is it only dissident women that are being called? Where are the women being ordained that have a preference for the extraordinary form of the Mass? Why do they always have a preference for Hippy stoles and not beautifully embroidered ones. Where are the traditionalist…

Chant has been rebounding in popularity for some time now, ever since those Benedictine monks released their blockbuster recording several years back. Now the Cistercians have gotten into the act — and they are also causing a musical sensation: It isn’t every day that a group of Catholic monks find themselves on the pop charts.…

Once, churches were sanctuaries for refugees and hunchbacked bellringers. Now, anyone can live there. More and more canny developers are transforming abandoned churches into condos. And the Boston Globe takes note: When developer Tony Pace had the chance to turn the 100-year-old former Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ipswich into a luxury condo, he sought…

Want to see inside the mind of a reporter? Sounds scary — but this is actually fascinating and fruitful. Boston Globe reporter Michael Paulson covers one of the bigger beats in Beantown, religion, and he’s just launched a blog at the paper dubbed Articles of Faith. He posted an item recently about covering the (use…

There’s been a lot of ink spilled lately on the 40th anniversary of the landmark encyclical Humanae Vitae. But one of the most insightful and objective examinations of the subject, I think, seems to be this one, from John Allen, from the op-ed pages of the Sunday New York Times: Forty years ago last week,…
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