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The Deacon's Bench

In the unlikeliest of places — the New York Times — they had a story today about the unlikeliest of best-sellers, a Christian novel about God’s love. Take a look: Eckhart Tolle may have Oprah Winfrey, but “The Shack” has people like Caleb Nowak. Mr. Nowak, a maintenance worker near Yakima, Wash., first bought a…

An alert reader sent this my way: the story of a pastor in the Archdiocese of New York who is standing up for his church — and walking: Got a problem? Walk it off! That’s what Monsignor John Budwick is doing. Budwick, the soft-spoken pastor at St. Patrick’s Church in Newburgh, recently learned the parish…

What to give the Vaticanista who has everything? Those sharp-eyed folks over at the Catholic News Service have stumbled on a new web site for buying souvenirs of the Swiss Guard. Everything from DVD’s to watches to caps. Personally, I’m holding out for my very own uniform. I know, at least, that my wife would…

When was the last time you saw a physically fit Catholic priest? Jack LaLanne in a Roman collar? The Catholic News Service has taken notice and is offering some advice for the long weeks of Ordinary Time: With studies confirming that a high percentage of U.S. clerics are overweight and lead inactive and nutritionally unhealthy…

Over the weekend, the Archbishop of Baltimore had a meeting to discuss his ongoing concerns over the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi. A priest who was there has blogged about it: On Saturday, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien met with a group of members of Regnum Christi after the priesthood ordination in Baltimore. Recognizing that they…

A new report has some intriguing factoids about Catholic voting patterns — and what may lie ahead later this year. Like almost every other poll and projection, it bodes well for Obama: lthough Catholic Democrats outnumber Catholic Republicans in the United States, both are outnumbered by the 41 percent of U.S. Catholic voters who are…

Hot on the heels of this great video of a young man dancing his way around the world, my brother-in-law dropped me an email and said to go to YouTube and search “free hugs.” I’d never seen this before. It’s another grin-fest. Very, very sweet. (A little creepy, I’ll admit. But very, very sweet, too.)

Around the newsroom today, more than a few people have said, “You know, his last HBO special wasn’t that good. He was pretty angry and bitter at the end.” But to appreciate George Carlin and his talent, look no further than this classic routine from nearly two decades ago, comparing two great sports. As my…

Those busy people at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life have released more details of their ongoing study of what we Americans believe. Seems that we believe what we know — but what we know may not be very much. Here’s the scoop: America remains a deeply religious nation, but a new survey…

Obama’s controversial priest, who tore into Hillary Clinton a few weeks back and ended up suspended as a result, is back. Fr. Michael Pfleger returned to the pulpit at his home parish yesterday, and the Chicago Tribune was there: Comparing his pastoral return to a heavyweight champ’s comeback, Rev. Michael Pfleger blazed back to his…
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