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The Deacon's Bench

From Melbourne, Australia comes this word of a Catholic schoolboy with an unfortunate surname: The Hell family says it may tell a Catholic school in Australia where to go after it objected to enrolling their son because of his name. Officials said the boy had been offered a place at the St. Peter the Apostle…

I have no idea just what “Fark.com” is, but they’re running a little contest, asking people to depict Stephen Colbert as a religious figure. God bless her, Diane at The Word, has picked this priceless piece on the left as her favorite: Stephen as the Pope. Scrolling through the site, there are others even more…

One of the priests at my parish — skeptical that there is much demand in our neighborhood for the 1962 mass — has taken it upon himself to keep a tally of how many people are requesting it. As I made my way down the aisle and into the vestibule at the end of our…

Here’s the Cliff Notes version, courtesy the Catholic News Service: — The current Roman Missal, published after the Second Vatican Council, continues to be the “ordinary” form for celebrations of Mass in the Latin-rite church. The 1962 missal is now considered the “extraordinary” form of the Mass. — Any priest can celebrate Mass in private…

On the other side of my diocese, they’re hoisting chianti and offering some sage thoughts on the motu proprio over at Deacon Tony’s Place. I think Tony gets it right: Here Benedict is trying to make an appeal to regain the mystery and awe once experienced in the traditional mass that was somehow lost in…

I got an email this morning from a Catholic veterans group asking if I could give them “some publicity…we’re for God, Country and Home.” They’re the New York branch of the Catholic War Veterans of the USA, and they’ve got their own website and everything. (They even have Frank Sinatra singing “New York, New York”…

You saw his amazing and soul-stirring performance all over the internet (including, I hope, right here). But if you still haven’t gotten enough of the now-legendary Paul Potts, relax. His CD is coming. A loyal Deacon’s Bench reader dropped me a line the other day to point out that the folks at Amazon are taking…

Pope John Paul was a phenomenon — charismatic, bold, tireless, beloved. Not for nothing have people around the world begun to refer to him as “The Great.” But is history repeating itself with Benedict? Some are beginning to suggest as much: With donations to the Church from around the world almost doubling and pilgrims pouring…

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a diocese ordaining identical twins to the priesthood: Fathers Joel and Ben Sember, 27, were ordained June 30 by Bishop David A. Zubik at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay. Father Andrew Kysely was ordained with them. To mark the occasion, Bishop Zubik used artifacts from previous…

A hearty Deacon’s Bench welcome to my pal and classmate Deacon Tony Stucchio, who is wading into the blogosphere with his very own blog, Deacon Tony’s Place. I think you’ll like what you find over there: great insights and stories about the saints, along with Tony’s own reflections on our faith. He’s now offering some…
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