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 The
next generation of lay ministers
As the first
wave of lay parish staff members begins to retire, a fresh crop of young
people is bringing new energy and new ideas to parishes across the
country.
Not every teenager knows
what they want to do for a living, and fewer still dream of a career in
church ministry. But after getting involved in her parish's youth
ministry program during her teenage years, Emily Anderson knew that this
was what she wanted to do with her life. "My faith was always a
big part of my life," she says. "My mom was always very up front
with me that 'you belong to God.' As I grew up, I learned to appreciate
that I truly did belong to God, and it sort of all worked up to
this." Read
more.
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 The crisis on the border and blame to
spread around
The current wave of child migration really began
on our side of the border.
The border crisis, a pileup
of humanity--including women with children and record numbers of
unaccompanied minors--is bringing out the worst among "native"
Americans in what has already been an overheated season of anti-migrant
fever. With as many as 90,000 unaccompanied children now anticipated this
year, President Barack Obama has called for $3.7 billion in emergency
funding, money that will largely be used to improve border policing and
accelerate deportations. Meanwhile, a vast machinery of nativist rumor-mongering
has sprung into gear, turbo-charged by the various advances of social
media. Read
more.
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 Should girls
be allowed to serve at the altar?
When girls
are barred from being altar servers, they miss out on an important part
of faith formation--and the church does, too.
I recently went back to my
home parish for Mass for the first time after returning from college. My
eyes snapped to the altar servers, and I watched closely throughout Mass
as they seamlessly executed their tasks--processed up the aisle, held
candles during the readings, led the priest to the ambo for the gospel,
and washed his hands. I was proud. I had served from fourth grade all the
way through high school, and I had personally trained all of the servers
who were on the altar that day. Read
more.
Please be sure to take our survey at
the end of the essay.
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 Barbie
as the Virgin Mary? Ken as Jesus? Italian Catholics are not amused
Barbie has
had a number of careers in her 55 years--flight attendant, astronaut,
even president. Her latest role, however, is raising eyebrows.
Italy's Catholic bishops
are furious about controversial artistic depictions of the popular Barbie
and Ken dolls as the Virgin Mary and a crucified Jesus Christ and other
saints. Two Argentinean artists, Marianela Perelli and Pool Paolini,
produced 33 dolls of various religious figures for a show named
"Barbie, The Plastic Religion," which opens in Buenos Aires on
Oct. 11. Read
more.
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Pope Francis tries again on
traditionalist reconciliation after Benedict XVI failed
Picking up a
piece of unfinished business that consumed the energies of Pope Emeritus
Benedict XVI, the Vatican under Pope Francis is again trying to
repair a decades-old breach with a controversial group of traditionalist
Catholics.
Cardinal Gerhard Mueller,
who heads the Vatican body responsible for doctrine, held a two-hour
meeting on September 23 with the head of the Society of St. Pius X,
Bishop Bernard Fellay, and other senior officials from the breakaway
group. In a statement, the Vatican said the parties had discussed
"problems of a doctrinal and canonical nature" that need to be
resolved before the traditionalists can be fully reconciled with the
church. "During the meeting ... it was decided to proceed gradually
and over a reasonable period of time in order to overcome difficulties
and with a view to the envisioned full reconciliation," the Vatican
statement said. Read
more.
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 Read:
What They Wished For
By Lawrence J. McAndrews (University of Georgia,
2014)
The election of John F.
Kennedy in 1960 has long been described as the apogee of Catholic
political life in the history of the United States. Largely eschewing his
Irish Catholic identity, Kennedy convinced the electorate that he was an
American who happened to be Catholic and not merely a pawn of the Roman
pontiff. Read
more.
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