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The Deacon's Bench

For most of the last four decades, the pro-life movement has been known for its prayers, its rallies, its marches. Now, a priest in Virginia is insuring that it will be known for something else: brick and mortar. From The Arlington Herald and CNS: Providing homes for unwed mothers is a necessary outreach for the…

An alert reader pointed out that Detroit has just ordained a batch of deacons — 15, in fact. The Michigan Catholic newspaper has a terrific write-up, complete with biographies of the men, pictures and short essays about their vocational journeys. Great stuff. Congratulations, and welcome! And God bless you all.

They’re fixtures in a lot of neighborhoods: small (sometimes kitschy) statues of the saints, or Mary, benevolently watching over the daisies and dandelions in the front yard. But one community in Long Island has, in effect, evicted them, according to Newsday: The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights Tuesday urged residents of a Medford…

Can wearing a clerical collar be hazardous to your health? A report out of England suggests it can make you a target: Catholic and Anglican vicars should remove their clerical collars while off-duty to avoid being singled out for attack, a church safety group said here yesterday. Criminals often target clergymen because they are perceived…

The Church is continuing to expand — and not necessarily in Europe or the United States. Some highlights of a new report: The world’s Catholic population is growing fastest in Africa and Asia, according to an annual compilation of statistics provided by the Fides news agency. The world’s Catholic population grew 16.6 million in the…

Word is filtering down from from Massachusetts that they’ve just welcomed a new crop of deacons. From the local paper: Six Cape and Islands men were among the 13 ordained as permanent deacons yesterday at Corpus Christi Church, said a spokesman for the Fall River Diocese. Bishop George Coleman, former pastor of Corpus Christi, presided.…

My Close Personal Friend Stephen Colbert had some choice words for the pope last night — and that new book, written by his cat, Chico. Enjoy. And a tip o’ the mitre to Diane and the hard-working blogging professionals at The Word: Catholic Colbert.

That’s the heartfelt and hopeful message buried deep inside today’s latest (last??!!) posting at Whispers in the Loggia. I, for one, find it hard to believe Rocco might be signing off from the spot that has become required reading across so much of the Catholic world. (If you doubt it, just try to find anyone…

Days after the Diocese of Orange County, California announced a multi-million dollar settlement to four female sex abuse victims, three of the four came forward to reveal their identities. Here’s the latest from the Orange County Register: Three women who settled their sexual abuse lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange for millions of…

Notre Dame’s celebrated president, Theodore Hesburgh, is still alive and kicking –and collecting accolades on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The Chicago Tribune has this nice tribute, from some female admirers: Rev. Ted Hesburgh, University of Notre Dame’s legendary president, is 90 years old, his eyesight waning to the point that he can no…
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