By Diogenes
Showing most recent 42 items by this author.
almsgiving XXV
Suppose you're a priest of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. Ordained in 1967, you serve as pastor of a large parish (3,100 families) in the Diocese of Arlington. In this interview, your tout the parish as "very inclusive. The welcome includes those who are a different age, of different...
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almsgiving XXIV
Suppose you're director of the planned giving office of the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut. As such, you're viewed as the bishop's liaison to wealthy Catholics who are contemplating making major estate gifts to the diocese. You have $1,250 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To...
almsgiving XXIII
Suppose you're the Archdiocese of New York's executive director of development -- the archdiocese's top fundraiser, the cardinal's liaison to wealthy Catholics, the person you call for tickets to the nonpartisan Al Smith Dinner. You have $250 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To...
almsgiving XXII
Suppose you're a priest of the Diocese of Little Rock. Ordained in 1964, you're professor of moral theology at Spring Hill College, a Jesuit college in Mobile. You have $2,000 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your alms? (a) to the Fellowship of...
almsgiving XXI
Suppose you're one of the 25 active diocesan priests of the Diocese of Las Vegas. Ordained in 1962, you're pastor of St. Andrew's Catholic Community in Boulder City. You're a member of the diocesan presbyteral council and the priests' personnel board. You have $500 in your pocket and are inspired...
almsgiving XX
Suppose you're a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts. Ordained in 1984, you're pastor of a large parish (Our Lady of Victory in Centerville, with 1,188 children in the parish religious education program). According to the new Kenedy directory, you're moderator of the Diocesan...
almsgiving XIX
Suppose you're coordinator of student services for a Massachusetts diocesan school system; according to the new Kenedy directory, 7,708 students are enrolled in your diocese's 27 Catholic schools. You're also a lector, an extraordinary minister, and an associate of the Sisters of Providence. You...
almsgiving XVIII
Suppose you're a priest of the Diocese of Corpus Christi. Ordained in 1985, you're pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Mathis. It's Lent, and your thoughts naturally turn to almsgiving. You have $250 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your alms? (a) to...
almsgiving XVII
Suppose (according to the new Kenedy directory) you're associate director of personnel for the Diocese of Fairbanks. You're also RCIA and adult education coordinator at the cathedral parish. You have $250 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your...
almsgiving XVI
Duquesne University president Charles Dougherty isn't the only Duke who has manifested eleemosynary delectation in the thought of a Kerry presidency. Patricia Dunham, associate professor of political science, gave $250 to the Kerry campaign on March 12. As if on cue,
almsgiving XV
Suppose you're the president of a Pittsburgh Catholic university with 9,600 students. Before assuming your current position, you directed the Creighton Center for Health Policy and Ethics and were acting president of Creighton University. You have $500 in your pocket and are inspired to give it...
almsgiving XIV
Suppose you're the director of Ministry to Catholics of African Ancestry of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. You lead an affiliate of the National Black Catholic Apostolate for Life. You have $250 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your alms? (a) to...
almsgiving XIII
Suppose you're responsible for programming and production at the Diocese of San Jose's Catholic Telemedia Network, which provides videos and other electronic resources for Catholic schoolchildren. You have $500 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your...
almsgiving XII
Suppose the local archbishop has appointed you president of the archdiocese's Catholic Charities / Catholic Youth Organization, which has a $35,000,000 budget. You have $25,000 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your alms? (a) to the Missionaries of...
almsgiving XI
Suppose you're a priest of the Order of the Friar Servants of Mary. Ordained in 1967, you have a distinguished vita and are professor of ethics and director of Catholic-Jewish Studies at Chicago's Catholic Theological Union. You've even been called "the leading Catholic authority on...
Almsgiving X
Retired Maronite Catholic Archbishop Francis Zayek donated to Senator Kerry, and current Maronite cathedral rector Father Abdallah E. Zaidan-- who is also the American superior of the Congregation of Maronite Lebanese Missionaries-- has given $1,250 to congressmen renowned for their support of...
almsgiving IX
Suppose you're the lay president of a Catholic university founded by the Society of Mary. You have $1,500 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your alms? (a) to a Marian shrine (b) to another spiritual or corporal work of mercy (c) to Senator...
almsgiving VIII
Suppose you're the rector of one of the two Maronite Catholic cathedrals in the United States. Ordained in 1986, you belong to a missionary religious order. You're a member of the eparchy's college of consultors, the head of the commission for Lebanon, procurator and advocate of the tribunal, and...
almsgiving VII
Suppose you're a priest ordained in 1967 and administrator of the St. Paul Albanian Catholic Community in Rochester Hills, Michigan. You have $1,300 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your alms? (a) to the Church in Albania (b) to a work of mercy...
almsgiving VI
Suppose you're the first lay president of a Philadelphia-area college associated with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. According to your college's tax return (a public record), your salary is $156,000 (plus $18,435.50 in benefits). You have $500 in your pocket and are inspired to give...
almsgiving V
Which archbishop, now retired, gave $500 to John Kerry back in 1989-- 4 years after Kerry made his first impassioned defense of legalized abortion as a newly elected senator? The gift wasn't the archbishop's only venture into politics: he gave $1,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign...
almsgiving IV
Suppose you're a very well respected priest of a rapidly growing archdiocese. You hold honorary doctorates from three colleges, served as chaplain of the state association of police chiefs for 20 years, have served as a member of the executive committee of your city's Boy Scouts, and have received...
back to school
Suppose you were an eighth-grade English teacher. You've assigned your students the task of summarizing a letter by a famous author. Here's the full text of the author's letter. And here's your student's summary: In recent days, I have once again been in contact with Cardinal Ratzinger both by...
almsgiving III
Suppose you're the lay president of a Benedictine university. According to your university's tax return (a public record), your salary is $194,849 (plus $11,691 for benefits, plus $29,850 for expenses and other allowances). Having prayed and worked, you turn your thoughts to almsgiving, and you're...
almsgiving II
Suppose you're a longtime (ordained 1953) priest of the Archdiocese of Denver and pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church in Denver. You have $250 in your pocket and are inspired to give it away. To whom, or what, do you direct your alms? (a) To a corporal work of mercy-- say, the Missionaries of...
quality television
Who said, "The 'gods' were taken out of 'g--d---,' and all of the 'holes' came out of '---hole'?" (a) The nation's top rap artist. (b) The eight-year-old next door-- the one you won't let your children play with. (c) The new director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops'...
almsgiving
Suppose you're the young (ordained 1997) director of vocation formation for the Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee. You're also pastor of St. Stephen's Church in Old Hickory and a member of the board of directors of Catholic Charities of Tennessee. You have $2,000 in your pocket and are inspired to...
All Souls Day, New Orleans
Code of Canon Law, n. 767 (1983): The most important form of preaching is the homily, which is part of the liturgy, and is reserved to a priest or deacon. Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism, n. 134 (1993):...
the naked public square
Suppose you were sponsoring a summer institute on Catholic social teaching. Some 85% of American dioceses will send representatives to the institute. Whom would you invite to address the topic "Catholics in the Public Square"? (a) Father Richard John Neuhaus (b) Sen. Rick Santorum (c)...
A homework assignment for St. John's University alumni
The homework problem: Susan Ebbs, Ed.D., is senior vice president for student life at St. John's University in Jamaica, New York, a large (over 18,000 students) Vincentian university. Dr. Ebbs has a habit of supporting pro-abortion causes and candidates. According to tray.com, in the past 2 years...
presenting the Good News IV
Suppose you're sponsoring the first North American Institute for Catholic Evangelization. Whom would you include on your list of major presenters? (a) A lay speaker who challenges young adults to live the virtue of chastity. (b) A priest who challenges young adults to live the virtue of...
presenting the Good News III
Suppose you were hosting the first North American Institute for Catholic Evangelization. Whom would you include on your list of major presenters? (a) The president of a Catholic college whose graduates are beacons of fidellity to the teaching of the Church. (b) The superior of a religious...
presenting the Good News II
Suppose you were hosting the first North American Institute for Catholic Evangelization. Who would be number 2 on your list of major presenters? (a) A sister from Mother Teresa's order. (b) A sister from Mother Angelica's order. (c) Sr. Angela Zukowski, who believes that "a woman must...
presenting the Good News
Suppose you were hosting the first North American Institute on Catholic Evangelization. Who would top your list of major presenters? (a) A Catholic missionary imprisoned for years by a Communist regime. (b) A college chaplain with a long-standing track record of conversions and vocations. (c)...
"If gold ruste, what shal iren do?"
Father Jose Angel Salazar, a priest of the Diocese of Corpus Christi (pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Mathis, TX and member of the diocesan presbyteral council), has welcomed the recent CDF document on political life by giving $250 to the presidential campaign of Howard Dean. According to...
Catholic Charities employees: giving the gift of death
A moderate amount of ink has been spilled on Boston Catholic Charities' acceptance of a gift by Voice of the Faithful. More noteworthy, perhaps, is the material cooperation in the culture of death by some of those associated with Catholic Charities. According to tray.com's public federal election...
sentimental in Seattle
In a remarkable display of ecumenical sensitivity, the Archdiocese of Seattle has banned the singing of "The Old Rugged Cross," the hymn composed by the Methodist minister George Bennard in 1913. The reason? Are Seattle liturgists suddenly inflamed with zeal for Gregorian chant and sacred...
the latest from Our Lady's university
As reported in today's news bytes, the University of Notre Dame is conferring its highest award upon Margaret O'Brien Steinfels, the longtime Commonweal editor and defender of dissent from Humanae Vitae (see the second news byte link). No informed Catholic should be surprised. Still, why not...
prelatic punditry
Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, who last June compared American journalists to Nero, Diocletian, Stalin, and Hitler, now says that "frightening economic interests" are behind the war. "The true motives for this conflict," he opines, "are already emerging, and there are frightening...
the Buffalo vocation office's recommended readings
As disheartening as the new appointments to positions of influence in the Rochester vocation office may be (see Off the Record, March 22), the situation in the neighboring Diocese of Buffalo does not appear that much better. The vocation office there publishes a list of recommended books for the...
troubling appointments in Rochester
Bishop Braxton, head of the American bishops' committee on Louvain, has chosen Father John DeSocio, the priest in charge of the Diocese of Rochester's pre-theologate and seminarian formation programs, as vice rector of the American seminary in Louvain. According to this article, the new head of...
more episcopal confusion
If 80 or 90 percent of persons who develop lung cancer are cigarette smokers, and if only a small minority of the population had a craving for cigarettes, you wouldn't be guilty of smokerphobia if you followed common sense and said it's highly risky to place those with a tendency to smoke in a...
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