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Lebanese priests from viral video recount their horror as the explosion rocked their church…
The video shows Father Rabih Thoumy swinging a chain censer sending incense into the air when abruptly there is a rumble and then a loud bang as the shockwave from Beirut’s devastating explosion slams into the church. Thoumy darts for cover as stained glass and other debris fall from above. The camera tips over, coming to rest focused on a carpeting of glass shards covering the floor. The world witnessed fleeting glimpses of the horror wrought on the Lebanese people on Tuesday through videos that circulated widely online, among them that dramatic footage as Thoumy celebrated Mass via livestream from Saint Maron-Baouchrieh church. During a live streamed holy mass in Beirut , the debris fell on the priest and the parishioners. Praying for #Beirut pic.twitter.com/0q4lQ50xDK — Steven Nabil (@t...
Catholic churches continue to drop David Haas hymns after multiple accusations against songwriter…
Several Roman Catholic archdioceses have banned a well-known liturgical composer from performing in their churches and many others have stopped playing his music after dozens of women accused him of sexual misconduct and harassment over more than 40 years. The allegations against the composer, David Haas, 63, include harassment and cyberstalking, lewd propositions, forced kissing and groping, and other unwanted sexual behavior, according to accusations from 38 women compiled by Into Account, a survivor advocacy group. The New York Times interviewed six of the women. Many of the women were musicians or aspiring liturgical composers who considered Mr. Haas a mentor and said they feared professional retaliation if they spoke out earlier. One described him as a “rock star in the Catholic litur...
An incarnate God necessitates incarnate worship…
Let me start this off with a big ol 2020 caveat: if you’re concerned about transmitting or contracting covid, whether because of an underlying condition or an immunocompromised person in your life, you should be free to stay home and exercise every precaution. This is not a post telling people with depressed immune systems or chronic diseases to suck it up and start taking public transit again. If you feel safest at home, you should be free to remain there. And thanks to an increasingly digital economy, it is actually conceivable that someone could shelter at home more or less indefinitely. End disclaimer. I’ve noticed a troubling trend in coverage, whether secular or religious, identifying people who are eager to get back to in person worship as either foolhardy (at best) or selfishly rec...
Sacramento Catholic priest excommunicated for ‘schismatic stance’ against Pope…
A Sacramento priest has been exiled from the Roman Catholic Church by the Diocese of Sacramento for continuing to hold Mass and teach publicly during his suspension. His gatherings were marked by his refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of the current pope. Father Jeremy Leatherby incurred an automatic excommunication for “offering Mass and teaching publicly to a number of the faithful” and questioning the legitimacy of Pope Francis. “He has substituted the Holy Father’s name with the name of his predecessor, and omitted my name during the recitation of the Eucharistic Prayer while offering Mass,” Sacramento Bishop Jaime Soto said in a letter on Friday. Soto called and wrote to Leatherby repeatedly, but the priest did not reply, according to Soto’s letter. Leatherby was substituting the n...
Watch Olympian Katie Ledecky swim with a full glass of milk on her head, without spilling a drop…
Katie Ledecky didn’t spill a drop of the chocolate milk balanced on her head. Courtesy Milk Processor Education Program You could say she’s milking the opportunity. On Monday, American swimming gold medalist Katie Ledecky shared a video showing her swim the length of a pool with a full glass of chocolate milk on her head, never spilling a drop. “Possibly one of the best swims of my career! (~open for debate~) ” Ledecky wrote. It’s not just a random weird thing Ledecky decided to do — the swim was part of the TikTok Got Milk? challenge, a promotional campaign from the Milk Processor Education Program, a dairy industry-funded group. The group is reviving the popular Got Milk? ad slogan that began in 1994, and encouraging people to share oddball milk ...
The best ways to reheat and reuse leftover french fries…
The pandemic supposedly got people back into their kitchens — baking bread and making comfort food casseroles. But around here, we’ve actually found ourselves getting take-out a little more often. At first it was a way to support local restaurants, and then it became increasingly uncomfortable to linger in grocery stores hunting for rarely-used ingredients for new recipes. Plus, there’s just the fact that when there are other stressors on the mind, it’s nice to have one less thing on the mental bandwidth. So we’re still cooking (Jeremy’s stupidly-easy-but-incredibly-delicious biscuits have seen perennial action), but restaurant take-out has ended up in the dinnertime rotation a bit more frequently. Something I noticed after consuming these Styrofoam-encased meals, is that we sometimes ende...
Nicaraguan cardinal says Mass at entrance of firebombed cathedral chapel…
CNA Staff, Aug 6, 2020 / 03:46 pm MT (CNA).- Cardinal Leopoldo José Brenes Solorzano of Managua said Mass Wednesday at the entrance of the Blood of Christ chapel in his cathedral, which was firebombed last week. “The Church has always suffered and will continue to suffer, but our assurance is that the Lord is with us,” Cardinal Brenes said during the Aug. 5 Mass. He called the July 31 firebombing “an act of terrorism.” Anti-government protests in Nicaragua began in April 2018. They have resulted in more than 320 deaths. The government has accused many bishops and priests of siding with the opposition. A small group of priests and religious participated in the Aug. 5 Mass. Behind the cardinal could be seen the large image of Christ crucified that was scorched by the attack...
The dangers of canceling culture…
In the ethnic tradition of Anglo-Saxons, the “patter songs” of Gilbert and Sullivan have been the equivalent of contemporary rap music. Learning the repertoire was part of the expected rites of passage and, in the 1960s, I did my duty, even attaining to the heights of playing Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, a baronet disguised as young farmer Robin Oakapple in a New York City production of Ruddigore. In the second act, portraits of Robin’s ancestor come alive and step out of their frames to curse him as he writhes in unspeakable agony. While I quickly fell from that peak in my theatrical career, I still have clippings of critical reviews that thought my plangent voice and shrieks of pain were convincing. This came to mind when I read that the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, ...
Are we back in the Middle Ages? Who will save us?
To my mind our position today is approaching something rather medieval. Hear me out. The constant talk of the novel coronavirus (and the synonyms we now use to describe our times: pandemic, epidemic, pestilence, etc.) has animated in my Catholic imagination references to the great plagues of the West. In fact, the Great Famine of 1315-1317 and the Black Death (bubonic plague) of 1347-1351 eviscerated Europe, causing the death of half the population by the most conservative estimates. Europe’s population would not recover until 1500. Further, the growing economic precarity of the United States calls to mind the political instability and economic turmoil that scholars refer to as “The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages.” What caused this crisis? The Black Death no doubt led to great political un...
Pope’s Sunday Angelus: ‘Even in times of darkness, God is there’…
Vatican City, Aug 9, 2020 / 05:59 am MT (CNA).- When caught in difficult moments or trials, turn your heart to God, who is near even when you do not search for him, Pope Francis said in his Angelus address Sunday. “Having faith means, in the midst of the storm, keeping your heart turned to God, to his love, to his tenderness as a Father. Jesus wanted to teach this to Peter and his disciples, and also to us today, in moments of darkness, moments of storms,” the pope said Aug. 9. Speaking from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, he said “even before we begin to seek Him, He is present beside us lifting us back up after our falls, He helps us grow in faith.” “Perhaps we, in the dark, cry out: ‘Lord! Lord!’ thinking that he is far away. And He says: ‘I’m here!’ Ah, he was with me!” Pope F...
Today’s lesson from Rome is about perspective and patience…
ROME – Over my years in Rome, I’ve often mused on something St. John Paul II liked to tell people who live and study here: Imparare Roma!, meaning “learn Rome!”, with the idea being that just walking around the city offers a unique education in Catholicism, both its glories and its grubbiness. John Paul knew what he was talking about, having studied here in the late 1940s at the Dominican-run Angelicum University, spending considerable time in Rome during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), and, of course, serving for almost 27 years as Bishop of Rome. I’ve always found his maxim about “learning Rome” to be true, and a recent move across town brought home the point anew. Before my wife and I married in January, we both had apartments near the Vatican. Afterwards, we found a new place acr...
SSPX accused of intimidating would-be whistleblowers amid abuse investigation…
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 6, 2020 / 05:00 pm MT (CNA).- After an official with the Society of St. Pius X told priests and staff they should speak with criminal investigators only in the presence of an attorney provided by the group, the group’s leaders say their message was not intended to suggest anyone should cover up alleged sex abuse. The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) is a breakaway traditionalist group of priests and bishops with no official canonical status in the Church. Rev. Scott Gardner, bursar of the U.S. district of the SSPX, told staff and priests at St. Mary’s SSPX chapel and school in Kansas last weekend that they did not have to cooperate with state investigators of alleged child sex abuse. He added that employees and priest should speak to police only in the presence o...
