Bishop’s podcast discusses church’s ‘neophytes’
The Intermountain Catholic in Salt Lake City has posted another podcast from Bishop John C. Wester, this time on the “neophytes,” those who entered the church at Easter and are now beginning their lives as Catholics.
Pope’s critics seek to deny freedom of religion
In a column in The Beacon of Paterson, N.J., Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli addresses the issue of Catholic politicians and abortion, saying critics in Congress of Pope Benedict XVI’s recent comments about abortion and excommunication ultimately want to deny him freedom of speech and deny the church freedom of religion.
Ordination season
Ordinations to the priesthood often take place in late May or early June, bringing numerous feature stories on the reasons the new ordinands felt called to their vocations. One of the better stories this year is in the Tennessee Register in Nashville about a 53-year-old who wrestled with his calling for decades before finally deciding to take the leap of faith into priestly life.
Also there’s this story in the Catholic Explorer of the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., with the irresistible headline, “God delivers mail carrier to the priesthood.”
More links …
- A quiz on eucharistic norms for the Feast of Corpus Christi — National Catholic Register
- Fifth graders raise $2,280 for Make-A-Wish Foundation — Catholic Herald, Milwaukee
- Parish of many cultures celebrates them with Diversity Day — The Catholic Review, Baltimore
- Kentucky archbishop makes ‘urgent request’ for preaching on immigration, recalls region’s immigrant past — The Record, Louisville, Ky.
- Brotherly love: Valedictorian, sibling with Down syndrome have special bond — The Criterion, Indianapolis
- Editorial: A commitment to healing, unity — National Catholic Reporter
Lowlife vermin? Immigration debate reaches archbishop’s mailbox
It’s not often that an archbishop gives you a glimpse into his mailbox, but Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver does just that in a column in the Denver Catholic Register urging support for an immigration-reform compromise that he calls imperfect but a sensible first step.
“When you get an email that says, ‘Goddamn your soul to hell for protecting those lowlife filthy (illegal immigrant) vermin’ — as I did just last week — it gets your attention for its sheer mental illness,” writes Archbishop Chaput.
There are legitimate differences on immigration reform, he says. “But if we conduct that debate in a stupid and vindictive way — these are exactly the right adjectives for it — we demean ourselves. If we behave like bigots, we eventually become bigots.”
Song comforts students after Va. Tech tragedy
The morning after the Virginia Tech shootings, a man awoke with a song of God’s love in his heart, reports The Catholic Virginian in the Diocese of Richmond. What happened next helped comfort students at another Virginia public university and moved a campus minister to tears. The paper also provides a link to the My Space page where the song can be heard and downloaded.
In a related story, the Catholic Standard in the Archdiocese of Washington interviewed some local Virginia Tech-bound Catholic high school seniors on why the tragedy strengthened their resolve to attend the university.
Orthodoxy’s ‘dry drunks’
Effective modern-day prophets are those who manifest God’s love, not those “who hold all the ‘right’ positions and say all the ‘right’ things, yet exhibit an angry, sour attitude that seems the opposite of Christian joy or an evangelizing spirit,” writes the president and publisher of Our Sunday Visitor, Greg Erlandson, in a commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of “dynamic orthodoxy” in the church today.
The Catholic role in health care
All Catholics, not just those who work in health care, should be concerned about health care issues, the president of the Catholic Health Association tells St. Anthony Messenger magazine. Sister Carol Keehan points to some startling statistics beyond the oft-heard numbers of Americans without health insurance.