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The Deacon's Bench

Happy Father’s Day, one week early. I posted last month on the man who is a father to a priest in Baltimore, and was about to be ordained a priest himself. Well, yesterday, it happened: This is history in process at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in north Baltimore as Deacon Greg Rapisarda became…

Well, not just any altar server. David James was the assistant moderator of the servers at my parish for nearly a decade — and did a superb job.  (Before anyone asks: yes, we have a priest who acts as moderator for the kids, though it’s his assistant who does the heavy lifting of supervising schedules…

And the local paper has the scoop: Nearly 30 additional men are now formally part of the framework that ministers to the faithful throughout Central Jersey’s Roman Catholic churches following their ordination as deacons in the Diocese of Metuchen. The 29 deacons, most active in their churches for years, were installed by Bishop Paul G.…

A new exhibit in Brooklyn is throwing a spotlight on a side of the artist most people might not know about. From Reuters: As a pop art pioneer, Andy Warhol blazed his way to fame with trademark Brillo soap pad boxes and silk-screens of Campbell’s Soup cans. But a new museum exhibit shows pop art…

For the past few weeks, the world has watched in frustration, and sorrow, and anger, the disaster that has been unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. A couple weeks ago, on my TV show, “Currents,” we interviewed a priest in Louisiana. He’s been working with Catholic Charities on relief efforts in the region. He ministers…

Somehow, I don’t think we’ll be seeing this extravaganza on Broadway any time soon: Elvis Presley, Eva Peron, Buddy Holly have all had one. Now, so too, does Pope John Paul II: a musical dedicated to his life. Actually entitled Non Abbiate Paura, or “Don’t Be Scared,” this show, like the others, is bustling with…

It’s becoming more common to find churches that offer mass with sign language. But how often do you hear about the Sacrament of Reconciliation being offered for those who are hearing impaired? Well, they offered it recently in Georgia. From the Georgia Bulletin: Frania Franch-Sonner emerged from a makeshift confessional made of a steel frame…

Lady Gaga’s baffling — and, yes, tasteless — new video is raising eyebrows. But as this piece notes, she’s not the first to mock religion for entertainment: Queen of controversy Lady Gaga is making headlines for yet another racy video featuring highly sexualized material combined with religious imagery. But while some argue Gaga has crossed…

The big story of the day, out of the Vatican: Pope Benedict begged forgiveness from God and victims of child sexual abuse by priests on Friday and vowed that the Catholic Church would do everything in its power to ensure that it never happens again. Benedict made his comments, some of his clearest ever about…

On Saturday, the church is beatifying for the first time a journalist — Manuel Lorenzo Garrido, known as “Lolo” — and the video below is a poignant look at his life and work.
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