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The Deacon's Bench

Last year, Fortune magazine broke the story of a remarkable gathering of some of the wealthiest men and women in the world. It happened here in New York, and it was hosted by David Rockefeller. Mayor Bloomberg was there, and Oprah Winfrey. It was organized by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Fortune magazine called it…

“Being part of a religion is certainly an individual choice. It may not be for everyone at every time in their life. I know there are people who deeply worship God and pray to God every day, but for various reasons are not involved or associated with religion. Sometimes that changes and they come back…

An Evangelical Protestant attorney couldn’t make that promise to her mother when she announced that she was studying to become a Catholic. And now, she could end up spending her life in a cloister. Her amazing story, from the Catholic Anchor: Many find it hard to fathom why a woman would ever think of trading…

A writer at the BBC is posing that question, and I can think of several members of the clergy who might agree: Are today’s weddings a danger to the couples getting all the attention on The Big Day? [Rev.] Giles Fraser’s warmed to that theme in a Thought for the Day this week, and, judging…

A few days after her bombshell announcement that she’s “quitting Christianity,” author Anne Rice has given a lengthy interview to the Los Angeles Times to explain herself: Q) You were raised Catholic, became an atheist, then returned to Catholicism in 1998. Why are you quitting now? It’s not as if the church has suddenly changed.…

Sister Denise Mosier, OSB August 26, 1943 – August 1, 2010 The tragic story of the Benedictine nun killed in a Virginia car crash has grabbed a lot of headlines — but so should this story, about how her community is coping: There is an amazing backdrop this week for the Benedictine nuns in Virginia…

He’s joined a growing list of zillionaires who have decided that, since you can’t take it with you, you might as well give it all away. From AnnArbor.com: Tom Monaghan, the founder of Ann Arbor-based Domino’s Pizza who now focuses his time on Catholic philanthropy, is officially pledging to give away at least half his…

John Allen has the scoop: According to an old Italian saying, only cani e americani move in Rome in August – dogs and Americans. The sweltering heat, however, did not deter an estimated 50,000 altar boys and girls, mostly but not exclusively German, from descending on the city this week for a massive rally with…

Modern technology can work wonders — but it can also lead you astray. From the Telegraph: A small, but rising portion of the six million pilgrims who flock to the world’s third most visited Catholic shrine in Lourdes are showing up at another, rather less well-known village called Lourde. Their sin was to have misspelled…

A priest who has a unique perspective on the question offers his own answer over at U.S. Catholic: I was spending a leisurely minute planning my funeral the other day-not a savory task, but a prudent one since I have pancreatic cancer. A friend gave me advice, sharing her plans. One car per person; she…
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