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The Deacon's Bench

“The Golden Compass” has engendered more than its share of controversy. Now, after hearing a lot of complaints, the USCCB has withdrawn a favorable review written by two of its staff critics. But the film’s star, according to press reports, remains a good Catholic girl: hough she was once married to the world’s most famous…

Just in time for Christmas: CNS has unearthed a fascinating story about the place outside Bethlehem where tradition holds that the Holy Family paused while on the way to Egypt: The rows of framed letters and baby pictures are testimony that the Milk Grotto — where Mary is said to have nursed Jesus as the…

A priest in Kansas has taken up a new cause: the right to smoke. That’s right. I’m not making this up. See for yourself: As each customer walked into Mort’s Cigar Bar in Old Town on Monday night, the Rev. H Setter quickly opened a wooden box and held out a Chateau Real cigar. “Are…

If you’ve been itching for something altogether different this Christmas, try this: instructions on how to make a Hawaiian-style Advent wreath, from the Hawaii Catholic Herald: Materials you’ll need: + Greenery from a Norfolk Pine, Ironwood, or other local evergreen, or any hardy plants found in your backyard or neighborhood such as eucalyptus or ferns…

I’m not sure why this bit of news shocks me — given the poor-to-God-awful state of catechesis here in the U.S., it’s par for the course — but it’s quite an eye-opener: A new study has uncovered a surprising lack of religious knowledge among both Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Contradicting the impression that…

You know the craze for bottled water has reached its apex when even the Church is getting in on the act: Inspired, perhaps, by vitamin and energy waters, a number of new companies have begun making more explicit claims: their water doesn’t just promote good health, it actually makes you good. Holy Drinking Water, produced…

When I was a lowly undergraduate at the University of Maryland (class of ’81 — barely), I’d sometimes attend mass at the beautiful campus chapel. Frankly, I wasn’t a big mass-goer in those days, and tended to spend my Sunday mornings in less sacred pursuits, like sleeping. But when I wandered into the chapel for…

As we know, these are dire times for Christians in Baghdad. But in this season of hope, hope does spring eternal. The AP reports: The worshippers were searched at the door and snipers stood guard on the roof, but Sunday’s Mass was a joyful one for more than 200 Iraqis who packed a church in…

We’ve been hearing a lot of talk lately about the “reform of the reform” — and now a leading liturgist at the Vatican has said, “Be careful about that”: In a new book, a Vatican archbishop has chronicled the birth pangs of the liturgical reform generated by the Second Vatican Council and warned of a…

Like a lot of you out there, I was taught by nuns. But I never had one do something like this: Sister Kathy Avery won’t put up with swearing on the playground at her school, and she’s not above repeating the offending language to make sure everyone understands which words she won’t tolerate. The principal…
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