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The Deacon's Bench

It’s a busy time in the country’s cathedrals and basilicas. Worcester just ordained three new permanent deacons, and the Catholic Free Press has a lovely look at their calling: He wrote letters to his former girlfriend. But then he destroyed them. After all, he was in seminary now. But when he kept using her name…

Word is filtering through the diaconate community today that Paul McArdle, the first deacon ordained in the United States, has died.   He was 76.  I received the following comment on my blog this afternoon: My name is Fr. Mario A. Castro, I am the Pastor of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Brownsville, Texas, where…

Below, the first published snapshots (forgive the miserable quality — deacon photographer at work!) of the new priests for the Diocese of Brooklyn, ordained Saturday June 26, 2010 at the Basilica Cathedral of St. James. Below, Fr. Nixon Jean-Francois, Fr. Alonzo Cox, and Fr. Michael Bruno are vested.  Ad multos annos! 

Busy weekend here at The Bench: I’ll be attending the ordinations of three new priests for the Diocese of Brooklyn Saturday morning, then on Sunday, serving as deacon at the Mass of Thanksgiving for one of them, Fr. Alonzo Cox. You can read about our new priests right here. (We profiled them on “Currents” last…

Yes! Can someone say “Amen!”? This just made me smile: a video of the newly installed bishop of Springfield concluding his homily with a song from one of the Backstreet Boys. Yes. Really. You can read about him here. But watch the video for yourself. 

It’s not often that a beautiful and historic church in a city like New York gets a new altar — and gets a full-blown rededication, complete with cardinal and archbishop. But that happened recently at St. Francis Xavier Church in Manhattan. The church, as you can see in the video below (beautifully shot and produced…

In the days after his death, much has been written about Manute Bol the humanitarian. But this writer also points us to something often overlooked: Manute Bol, the Christian: Manute Bol, who died last week at the age of 47, is one player who never achieved redemption in the eyes of sports journalists. His life…

Well, that was what his mother had hoped and prayed for. It didn’t quite work out that way.  The celebrated film critic — now suffering from a ravenous form of cancer that has taken away much of his jaw — remembers his Catholic upbringing, the loss of his faith, and the vocation that wasn’t.  It’s…

File this under “Really Interesting Stuff Most Catholics Don’t Know.” It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then a priest is unable to complete the holy sacrifice of the mass. What then? Zenit, citing a theology manual from the 1930s, answers: “Should a priest have to interrupt the Mass due to illness or another…

This popped up over at The Anchoress this morning, and I was flabbergasted. I know this gal! Mary Anne Marks is in my parish! Now, a degree from Harvard under her belt, she’s about to enter religious life, joining the order featured recently on Oprah. Check this out. You can also read the text right…
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