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The Deacon's Bench

Sometimes, the most effective evangelists use unexpected tools. This fascinating piece from The Catholic Herald in Wisconsin profiles an actor who is turning his passion for theater into The Passion: Silence enveloped the audience at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, “Where was I when my God was nailed to a tree?” echoing through…

Predictably, there’s a flurry of press coverage these days about the pope’s upcoming visit to the U.S. — and the New York Times has contributed a snowflake or two with this profile of the papal nuncio, whom The Gray Lady describes as the “pope’s guide” for his trip: When Pope Benedict XVI makes his first…

A hearty “Deacon’s Bench” hello to a shiny new deacon’s blog — from Brooklyn, no less! — focusing on art and the church. It’s the brainchild of an artist and brother deacon by the name of Bernard M. Deschler, whose work is truly extraordinary (a sample is below — Bernie’s interpretation of “Easter Morning). For…

The astonishing story of the Muslim who was baptized by the Pope at the Easter Vigil now has another interesting twist. He will be married in the Church next month: The Muslim journalist Magdi Allam, who was received into the Church during the Easter Vigil by Pope Benedict XVI, plans to marry Valentina Colombo in…

The Christopher Awards are among the most meaningful prizes bestowed during the springtime awards season; they recognize not only achievement, but also values. (Department of Full Disclosure: Your Humble Blogger has one on his shelf, from 2002, for co-writing the documentary “9/11”.) So, drumroll please, as we roll out the winners for 2008: U.S. Cardinal…

My father was a Pennsylvania Democrat, from the coal mines of Scranton, back in the day when it meant supporting people like Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy. So it’s with no small amount of interest that I read today about how some of those same Democrats could prove decisive in the weeks to come. Both Clinton…

There aren’t many things these days that leave me utterly speechless. But this item did: That triumphal barnburner of an Easter hymn, “Jesus Christ Has Risen Today – Hallelujah,” this morning will rock the walls of Toronto’s West Hill United Church as it will in most Christian churches across the country. But at West Hill…

Over at America’s blog, James Martin is taking a long, hard look at the elephant in the nave, and he poses the (to some) shocking question: is the Easter Vigil just too long? For me and for most Catholics, the Easter Vigil is the absolute summit of the liturgical year: not simply the celebration of…

Just before Easter, the writer Anne Rice, whose new novel on Christ has just been published, posted an item in the Washington Post’s On Faith section about her own faith journey. An excerpt: Why did faith come back to me? I don’t claim to know the answer. But what I want to talk about right…

One of the most influential and enduring Catholic writers in America remains Flannery O’Connor. Today is her birthday. And, over at Busted Halo, a writer has taken a pilgrimage to her fabled Georgia homestead Andalusia: You’ll find her along the fence line of Memory Hill Cemetery, to the left. The grave sits in a family…
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