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The Deacon's Bench

At best, they were mixed. Some excerpts below. The Christian media liked it. The mainstream media, not so much. — In “Evan Almighty,” Mr. God goes to Washington. Frank Capra, stop rolling in your grave. At least they cared enough to steal from the very best, as the new Steve Carell comedy labors mightily to…

Periodically, I’ve noticed that other Catholic websites have given a Bronx cheer or two to the modern tabernacle. (The good folks over at Holy Whapping are giving a whapping to a few right now.) Most of these boxes are, if not just unattractive, downright ugly. Well, forget a Bronx cheer. How about a Queens raspberry?…

The Associated Press has been sniffing around and smells a trend: bishops who are becoming impatient, or even angry, with pro-choice (that is, pro-abortion) Catholic politicians. A few bishops, who are supposed to be on a private retreat this week in New Mexico, are nonetheless finding time to speak to the media: Denver Archbishop Charles…

Every now and then it pays to wander over to Ironic Catholic. Today is one of those days. I found this remarkable kitchen tool over there, and now it’s solved all of my what-should-I-get-that-special-couple-for-a-wedding-gift problems. Yes, as you can tell: it’s a slow day at The Deacon’s Bench.

Some canny Catholics have decided that the New Evangelization needs a tee shirt. Or two or three. Two web sites, Catholic Posters and Romantic Catholic have started marketing apparel that is funky and fun — and faithful. And it’s aimed squarely at Generation Y. (Or, perhaps, “Generation Why?”) Check ’em out. I haven’t seen these…

Unfortunately, I missed this movie during its sell-out engagement in New York City, but those who saw Into Great Silence reported being moved and awestruck by the sheer simplicity and beauty of it. The film chronicles the austere life inside a Carthusian monastery, and consists of three hours of…silence. The trailer below gives a glimpse…

“In two weeks it’ll be the longest day in the year… Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Ch. 1 Well. I didn’t miss it. Happy…

A 23-year-old seminarian in New Jersey, Edmund Luciano, (that’s him in the middle on the left, with his sister and his cousin) just had a heart transplant, and it sounds like he’s doing remarkably well: Luciano knows only that the heart donor was a 12-year-old boy, according to the agreement with the sharing network. “The…

The papal preacher’s in a pickle. Father Raniero Cantalamessa, who has been the pope’s preacher since 1980, was to be the keynote speaker at the 12th International Seminar for Priests July 3-5 in Medjugorje, the site of thousands of alleged appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Now, Cantalamessa has pulled out, because he did not…

Awful liturgical music taken to its logical extreme, thanks to Bart Simpson.
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