Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Deacon's Bench

Home
Catholic
Religion News

This & that

Select a Category "Mad Men" 9/11 advent All Things New Amazing video amazing videos amazon america Anglicans Anti-Catholicism art ascension thursday ash wednesday Atheists baltimore Bible Bishops Blogging bonnie engstrom Books bridgeport Brooklyn Chaplains children christian art christmas Church Churches CNEWA Converts criticism Deacons Death Penalty easter eastern christian Eastern Christians Ecumenism education Education Eucharist Europe euthanasia Evangelization Exorcism Family Feasts Gay rights Good Friday Great links Great Moments in Journalism Hanging with the saints heather renshaw Hispanic Catholics Hispanics History homelies Homilies Humor Hymn of the Week Immigration indianapolis Inspiration Interfaith news ireland Jesus Jews Journalism Judaism lent Liturgy logos Marriage Mary Media Medical news Mental health Middle East Monks Movies Music Muslims My world and welcome to it New Evangelization new york News Nuns Parenting Parish life peoria Persecution Politics politics Pope pope francis pope john paul Prayer Preaching Priests Pro-life Quote of the day radio rebecca frech ripp Ripped from the headlines rippred from the headlines Sacraments saints Scripture sex abuse Sex abuse crisis SEX ABUSE CRISIS TAGGED WITH: SEX ABUSE CRISIS The people in the pews the visitation project theatre This & that Thomas Merton Trappists TV Uncategorized uncategorized VATICAN Vatican vocation Vocations Voices & Views Women Worth a thousand words Writing Year of Faith year of mercy young people

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

December 2013

December 19, 2013

Happy Holidays: only half of Americans see Christmas as a religious holiday

Details from HuffPo: As the center of the biggest commercial season in the U.S., it's...

December 18, 2013

Evangelicals discover “church in the profane areas of life”

Here's an interesting take on what is happening in evangelical churches, a strain of Christianity...

December 18, 2013

What happens when deacons stand on a street with a sign offering “Free Blessings”?

Seminarian Connor Danstrom, from Mundelein Seminary, did that in downtown Chicago a few days ago...

December 14, 2013

Followup: teenage orphan will spend Christmas with a new family

You may remember this heartbreaking story from October. Now, an update: The 15-year-old orphan who...

December 13, 2013

First Filipino astronaut plans to take a rosary into space

Something undeniably cool: Filipinos will have that proud leap into history as a 22-year-old De...

December 10, 2013

Welcome to the “Harvard of Santa Schools”

Who knew? From the AP: Last year, Catholic Online profiled the school, too: Began in...

December 05, 2013

Breakthrough: an artificial hand that feels

Fascinating stuff. This holds out hope for thousands who have lost limbs: There have been...

December 04, 2013

Jesus in a snowglobe? See that and more, on a list of the 50 weirdest Nativity sets—UPDATED

Egad. Details from blogger Mark Oestreicher: There’s no question about it: some are horrible and...

December 03, 2013

December 3, 1966

It was an unremarkable Saturday. History records that the only newsworthy event on record (or...

December 03, 2013

Shadows and light: you have to see these amazing sculptures

Details: From discarded wood, welded scrap metal, broken tools, cigarette packets, soda cans and piles...

December 02, 2013

War on Christmas? Maybe not.

From the Nashville Tennesseean, via USA TODAY: Nothing in evangelical Christian author Rachel Held Evans'...

December 02, 2013

What happens when one of these slams into George Jetson’s flying car?

Just in time for CyberMonday... The InterWebs are abuzz with the big story on "60...

December 01, 2013

Worth a thousand words: the story behind this iconic AIDS photo

Photo by Therese Frare/LIFE For World AIDS Day, from LIFE magazine: In November 1990 LIFE...

November 2013

November 30, 2013

Pope blesses sculpture of Jesus as a homeless man

You may remember this story from last spring, about Timothy Schmalz's sculpture of a homeless...

November 30, 2013

“Atheist church” attracting followers—and detractors

From Religion News Service: Perhaps the Elephant & Castle pub here was a fitting locale...

November 29, 2013

The wheel thing: bikers battling child abuse

This is simply great: Bikers strike fear into the hearts of many. They’re seen as...

November 27, 2013

The first Thanksgiving Proclamation, from the first president

Details: Following a resolution of Congress, President George Washington proclaimed Thursday the 26th of November...

November 26, 2013

Incredible: luxury hotel offers guests “Shanty Town” slum experience—with WiFi

Details: It's estimated that one in eight people worldwide live in so-called slums, which, in...

November 25, 2013

Papa, don’t preach: Pope Francis, the nudge

CNS takes note of an interesting papal characteristic: nagging. To wit: When Pope Francis mills...

November 25, 2013

Must-see video: how kids stood up for a boy being teased

From Bridgewater, Massachusetts: After the group of fifth-grade football players from Massachusetts found out their...

November 24, 2013

The story of Black Jack, JFK’s riderless horse

Now here's an angle of the Kennedy assassination I hadn't seen before: WHO WAS BLACK...

November 23, 2013

Called back: an ex-Mouseketeer’s journey from Paganism back to Christianity

From The New York Times: They’re an august alumni association, the Mouseketeers of “The All...

November 22, 2013

Love at first sight: grooms seeing their brides for the first time

I love this. Check out this amazing gallery of reactions, compiled last year by Reddit....

November 20, 2013

Imagine: startling images of “Rock & Roll Heaven,” with rock stars as they might look today

Recognize the fellow here? It's John Lennon. Details: What might some of the rock 'n'...

November 19, 2013

A woman priest on the walls of the catacombs?

Photo: AP Seems a stretch to me. But make of it what you will. From...

November 19, 2013

Flashback: how the Vatican responded to JFK’s assassination

This fascinating flasbhack recounts how the clergy at Vatican II first learned of the assassination—and...

November 19, 2013

The death of Thanksgiving?

Some compelling thoughts, from Presbyterian pastor Henry G. Brinton: As Thanksgiving approaches and commerce clashes...

November 16, 2013

“What To Do on a Date?”: a fascinating glimpse at the way we were

From The Irish Times: Vintage Values – this is the title given to the just-published collection...

November 15, 2013

“Apologetics: I’m Not Really Sorry”: new online course for priests and deacons

FOB (Friend of the Bench) Patrick Madrid dropped me a line this morning and asked...

November 14, 2013

Today, stand for someone who can’t

That would be Thomas Peters. As you probably know, he's facing a long road back...