“The optics are bad on this”: Bishop Stika accepted accused deacon for ministry (The Pillar) The Bishop of Knoxville accepted a transitional deacon for parish ministry, even after the deacon was dismissed from seminary because of sexual misconduct allegations. Bishop Richard Stika reportedly intended to ordain the deacon a priest, despite objections from both Knoxville’s diocesan priests and psychological experts…
Marginalized trans people find help in Argentina, thanks to the Church (El Pais) The Virgin of Caacupé accompanies the figure of Christ in the chapel that bears her name in Buenos Aires’ Villa 21-24 slum, on the banks of a filthy waterway. Legend has it that the original figure was sculpted by an indigenous Guarani, who sought her protection from enemies in another village. Paraguayans and Jesuit priests were the first to worship her, but today she is also one of the most venerated patron saints of Argentina. Centuries later, she is still enveloped in blue and white with a golden crown carved from wood, but her painted eyes gaze down on a very different reality. Priest Facundo Ribero raises his hand and places it on Angie’s forehead. Her friend Raizza waits her turn, and both trans women receive communion…
Some Catholic colleges to require COVID vaccinations (CNS) The number of private colleges requiring COVID-19 vaccinations continues to grow, numbering about 75 on April 27 on a list updated by the Chronicle of Higher Education.Catholic universities with fall COVID-19 vaccine requirements include Georgetown University in Washington, Assumption University and Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, Boston College, Chicago’s DePaul University and Loyola University Chicago, Seattle University, St Mary’s University in Notre Dame, Indiana as well as the University of Notre Dame, Trinity Washington University, the University of San Diego and Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York…
The lingering influence of Catholicism in Spain (The Economist) In the past four decades of democracy Spain has become a secular society with astonishing speed, perhaps faster than anywhere else in Europe. But the Roman Catholic Church retains considerable influence in some areas of national life…
Large gathering of Vietnamese Catholics cancelled (AP) A gathering that traditionally has drawn tens of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics from across the U.S. to southwest Missouri has been canceled for a second straight year because of the pandemic…
Become a patron of The Bench and get a signed copy of my new book — and more!
