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The Deacon's Bench

The rumblings about Tony Blair’s conversion to Catholicism are getting louder. Now, the British press is pounding the drums, and sounding awfully certain: Tony Blair will convert to Roman Catholicism within weeks when he is received into the church by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, according to the Catholic magazine the Tablet. There…

And now for something completely different: cloistered nuns who have made Eucharistic adoration their personal ministry — on the internet. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: When she entered religious life four decades ago, Sister Mary Catherine supposed her life as a contemplative, cloistered nun would keep its medieval ways forever. In many ways, it has. “We…

Deacon doings out in Portland, Oregon: news that they’ve just ordained a half dozen more men to the diaconate: Six men were ordained permanent deacons Saturday for service in Catholic parishes of western Oregon. “Today’s celebration is all about service, a tradition in our church community that goes all the way back to the Lord…

Wooden crosses, each decorated with a poppy and bearing the name of a fallen soldier, stand in the Field of Remembrance set up at Westminster Abbey in London, Thursday, November 8, 2007. Photo: by Kirsty Wigglesworth, AP

Yes, you read that right. A bishop in Great Britain has offered a modest proposal for controlling prostitution: Legalize it: A Roman Catholic bishop in the city of Portsmouth is backing a campaign to legalise brothels without in any way condoning them. The Right Reverend Crispian Hollis supported the local branch of the Women’s Institute…

I was delighted to notice this exceptional and insightful and brilliant piece of Colbertiana in First Things. The author, Nathaniel Peters, clearly grasps the profound social and cultural significance of My Close Personal Friend, Stephen Colbert, and places him in a truly Catholic context. He also includes, bless him, a link to one of my…

When I was in formation, one of our texts was Avery Dulles’ Models of the Church, which posits that there are different intereptations for what we all know as “church.” The varying models include Church as Mystical Communion, Church as Sacrament, Church as Herald, Church as Servant and Church as Institution. Now a reader, who…

This morning’s Philadelphia Inquirer has a few words on what it truly means to be pro-life, from the always-compelling Boston theologian Lisa Sowle Cahill. Not everyone will agree with what she has to say, but it’s worth pondering. Key snip: More than 200 bishops will gather in Baltimore next week for a national meeting to…

The holiday season is creeping up on us — and for some, that can mean a lot of stress, particularly on the subject of religion. What happens when more than one faith is involved? At Ohio University, the school paper has an interesting look at “bi-religious” families: Ohio University students Jenna Tricaso and her boyfriend,…

One of television’s most famous Irish Catholics has been getting some unwanted attention from a member of the clergy, according to the AP: A priest has been arrested on charges of stalking late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien by writing him threatening notes on parish letterhead, contacting his parents and showing up at his studio,…
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