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The Deacon's Bench

A parish in Wisconsin has come up with a novel — and somewhat unnevering — method of getting people to go to church…tuition discounts: Parents whose children attend St. Jerome Parish School here can save $1,400 off the annual tuition if they sign a contract agreeing to attend church regularly. “Parents are the primary educators…

Those are among the last words of Arthur Miller’s greatest work, “Death of a Salesman”, but they could also serve as a sorrowful footnote to his life, a life that was evidently more complicated than we realized. Word is now seeping out about Miller’s rarely mentioned son: Daniel was born…in a New York City hospital.…

From Christianity Today comes this inspiring story of a deacon giving hope to the hopeless: men who have turned to prostitution to stay alive. The deacon, John Green (seen on the left with his wife and children), founded Emmaus Ministries in Chicago. Its purpose: to help those who are traveling life’s dusty road to discover…

Well, where were you 30 years ago today? I don’t remember myself. I was preparing to begin my freshman year at the University of Maryland, and I had a lot on my mind. But countless Elvis fans, I’m sure, do remember, and many have converged on Graceland to pay tribute to The King, who passed…

What does a deacon do when he’s not at church? More than you may think. Check out this piece, from a paper in greater St. Louis, describing the life of police chaplains — including one who is a Catholic deacon: Florissant Police Sgt. Richard Miller says he knows police chaplains’ prayers are answered. While waiting…

Where are vocations coming from? Among other places, the hills of California, where a small college is producing seminarians the way Fresno produces raisins: Five alumni of Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula were ordained to the priesthood this year, bringing the total number of alumni priests to 47. The college also boasts 20 graduates…

The man who gave the world, among other things, “Jeopardy” (and its insistent theme song) and Vanna White will be buried tomorrow from one of the most celebrated Catholic churches in Tinsletown: Merv Griffin’s funeral will be held tomorrow at 3 p.m. – in one of Hollywood’s most famous churches. Griffin’s by-invitation-only service, expected to…

There is money to be made from faith and belief, and nowhere was that more evident, it seems, than at a recent religious marketing expo in Cleveland: “As far as T-shirts go, you can’t beat Pope John Paul,” said Dominic Scarnecchia, who was hawking his wares at the Catholic Marketing Network’s international trade show here…

Today marks a special holiday for My Close Personal Friend Stephen Colbert. Although he was, of course, named for the patron saint of deacons, he feels some misguided attachment to that other St. Stephen, whose feast is today, August 16. He has even referred to him several times on his TV show. (I’m sure the…

While all the attention in Louisville the last couple days has been on the shiny new archbishop, the folks at the local paper decided to give the departing shepherd his due. Retiring Archbishop Thomas C. Kelly talked with the paper about his plans for the months ahead: “How I feel about leaving is, it’s very…
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