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The Deacon's Bench

Not much has been written about the big event that followed by several days the death of Tim Russert: the lecture for the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, which the NBC News star was scheduled to give. His last-minute replacement was another NBC News star, and Catholic — a graduate of Catholic University, in fact —…

That’s the question explored in this fascinating piece from Time magazine, which indicates the Vatican is already heavily involved, and a mass migration across the Tiber may be in the works: For an ordained clergyman to depart his cradle faith is a lonely endeavor, done individually. But that is probably not how things will roll…

Devotees of Thomas Merton — you know who you are — will remember that Catherine Doherty and Madonna House in Harlem figured prominently in The Seven Storey Mountain. Merton spent many weeks there before leaving New York for Gethsemani. And the rest is history. Catherine Doherty and Madonna House are again in the news (this…

Tonight, my parish will offer a special mass to commemorate the Chinese Martyrs, whose memorial we celebrate July 9. This is my homily for the occasion. Anyone who saw the 2002 Super Bowl saw something unforgettable. And it had nothing to do with sports. It was held in New Orleans, in the Super Dome. The…

More news late today on the Disturbance in the Force, i.e., rumblings of schism in the Church of England. Damien Thompson has the lowdown: The Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, is to lead his fellow Anglo-Catholics from the Church of England into the Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic Herald will reveal this…

Remember the wonderful video of Matt Harding, dancing his heart out? The mainstream media has finally caught up with him, and his story is splashed on the front page of the Arts section of the New York Times: In many ways “Dancing” is an almost perfect piece of Internet art: it’s short, pleasingly weird and…

Life is about to get very interesting for members of the Church of England — an institution which seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Details right here: Members of its General Synod threw out compromise proposals on females in senior ranks. All safeguards demanded by traditionalists were rejected. But the Vatican warned the…

The headline-making rescue of hostages from Columbia last week was more than just dramatic — it was also, it seems, divine. From Zenit: The Colombian bishops say their repeated exhortations to pray for kidnap victims is now an invitation to give thanks to God for having heard the prayers. In a statement Friday, the prelates,…

Over at Jesus Goes to Disney World, Fr. Austin Murphy has the scoop on the soon-to-be bishop of Wilmington — who, it turns out, just happens to be a cousin of his: As has been anticipated, the Holy Father today has appointed one of our auxiliary bishops of Baltimore as the 9th Bishop of Wilmington,…

If you’ve ever wondered just how they clean one of the largest churches in the world, a paper in Canada has kindly provided the answer: As the tomb of the first pope and the principal church of most of his 264 successors, St. Peter’s Basilica is Roman Catholicism’s greatest shrine. It’s also a treasure trove…
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