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The Deacon's Bench

Much has been written, and debated, about the bewildering news that 17 teenage girls from Gloucester, Massachusetts evidently made a pact to get pregnant. This is a tragedy. But, as this post over at Beliefnet reminds us, it may also be a barometer: Whether this was, as some have speculated, a desperate attempt to find…

While I was on vacation, Boston added 26 more deacons to Beantown’s roster. And the website of the diocesan paper, The Pilot, has a terrific photo essay, complete with audio. (The full write-up can be found right here.) This, I think, gives a wonderful sense of the experience: the anticipation, sacredness, excitement and joy of…

An Irish Catholic gal from Long Island muses on an Irish Catholic guy from upstate New York. Here’s Peggy Noonan on Russert: One of the greatest statements, the most piercing, was something Chuck Todd said when he talked on a panel on MSNBC. He was asked more or less why Tim stuck out from the…

If you didn’t see it yesterday, put down your coffee, shut the door, and click the image below. Luke Russert at his father’s memorial service. Just watch. This kid’s got it.

As I mentioned elsewhere, I was away for several days, visiting Disney World. Don’t laugh. This has become an annual ritual for me and my wife. We first went there in 1996, for a one-time vacation, to get it over with and celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We didn’t expect to fall in love with…

Now here’s an idea I can really get behind. It’s something referred to, only with a a little irreverence, as Baby Priest Camp. And it’s written about over at the blog “Gift and Mystery”, run by the newly ordained (okay, one year) Holy Cross priest Fr. Stephen Koeth. The way he describes it: Held every…

Watching the Tim Russert memorial at the Kennedy Center this afternoon on MSNBC, I saw Bruce Springsteen pop up, and he sang this tribute to the newsman, his classic song “Thunder Road”: The screen door slams, Mary’s dress wavesLike a vision she dances across the porch as the radio playsRoy Orbison singing for the lonelyHey,…

A few weeks back, the Vatican decided to draw a line in the sand over the ordination of women as priests. Women who had been ordained illicitly and invalidly were to be automatically excommunicated. Now, Voice of the Faithful has weighed in — and to the surprise of no one, has sided with the women.…

“It has all been said so eloquently in the tributes that have come from some of the highest authorities in our nation and even around the world. … All that remains is to say thank you to the good and gracious God who gave us Tim Russert for 58 years and to pray that the…

The invaluable James Martin over at America has reminded us of something easily overlooked: Tim Russert was “an honorary Jesuit” who was educated by Jesuits, and spoke often at Jesuit commencements: Russert seemed to embody a certain ideal of Jesuit education: the working-class youth who, through hard work and faith, contributed to his family, to…
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