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Go forth and blog, pope urges

31 Jan 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Pope Benedict XVI took advantage of the World Day of Communications last Saturday to urge those in ministry to use all the multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the gospel. But just as Saint Paul warns in the reading from 1 Corinthians that communication without love is nothing more than “a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal,” Benedict added that priests who venture online “should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ.” The pope, whose own presence on the Web has grown heavily in recent years, urged priests to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures. “The spread of multimedia communications and its rich ‘menu of options’ might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web,” but priests are “challenged to proclaim the gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources,” he said. The 82-year-old pope has often been wary of new media. He has warned of the tendency of entertainment media to trivialize sex and promote violence while lamenting that the endless stream of news can make people insensitive to tragedies. But Benedict has also praised new ways of communicating as a “gift to humanity” when used to foster friendship and understanding. The Vatican has tried hard to keep up to speed with the rapidly changing field. Last year it launched a YouTube channel as well as a portal dedicated to the pope, Pope2you.net. The social networking and communications portal offers news on the pontiff’s trips and speeches and features a Facebook application that allows users to send postcards with photos of Benedict and excerpts from his messages to their friends. The Vatican also announced this week that the pope has made changes to provisions of canon law. One concerns marriages for Catholics who have formally renounced the church and the other concerns the ministry of deacons. The changes came in a “motu proprio” titled “Omnium in mentem (In the Mind of All).” Source: Articles by Ariel David for Associated Press, CathNewsAsia.com, Zenit.org, and Vatican Information Service

Marriage communications canon law motu proprio omnium in mentem in the mind of all world wide web priests benedict xvi internet Deacons world day of communications

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Are women deacons on the way?

26 Aug 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Joshua announces his decision to serve the Lord in this Sunday’s first reading, but so do the people he leads. Lynne Mapes-Riordan of St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Evanston, Illinois hopes women will one day again serve the church as deacons. After 800 years, she could be one of the first. Unlike the church's policy barring priestly ordination for women, the possibility of female ordination to the deaconate remains an open question. Some scholars say female deacons wouldn't be a novel idea but the restoration of a tradition abandoned centuries ago. After meeting last winter with members of her parish, including Mapes-Riordan, Chicago Cardinal Francis George reportedly promised to raise the question in Rome during his visit this year. The idea of female deacons "is being talked about very slowly," George said earlier this year during a forum at Chicago's Union League Club in response to a question about the future likelihood of female priests. "The diaconate is a more open question." "In a strange way, I don't see this being about women," said Mapes-Riordan, a lawyer, wife, mother of two, and longtime parishioner at St. Nicholas. "I see it as being about church and mission.” Taking a perspective expressed in this Sunday’s selection from the Letter to the Ephesians, that “in reference to Christ and the church" "we are members of his body,” Mapes-Riordan said: “We have this part of a puzzle, this piece, that I'm not going to say is missing, but we could have a fuller picture if [letting women become deacons] was added. I don't see it as a women's issue. I see it as a matter for our church." "It's a message of hope. It's a way to stay within the boundaries of Catholic teachings and have women with real preaching authority within the system," said Phyllis Zagano, one of the American church's leading researchers on the subject of female deacons. Zagano and other scholars argue that the diaconate of the early church included both men and women. In fact, they say Saint Paul chose a female deacon, Phoebe, to deliver his most important epistle to the Romans, explaining the concept of salvation through Jesus Christ. Source: An article by Manya A. Brachear for the Chicago Tribune

Deacons francis george women deacons
Are women deacons on the way?

26 Aug 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Joshua announces his decision to serve the Lord in this Sunday’s first reading, but so do the people he leads. Lynne Mapes-Riordan of St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Evanston, Illinois hopes women will one day again serve the church as deacons. After 800 years, she could be one of the first. Unlike the church's policy barring priestly ordination for women, the possibility of female ordination to the deaconate remains an open question. Some scholars say female deacons wouldn't be a novel idea but the restoration of a tradition abandoned centuries ago. After meeting last winter with members of her parish, including Mapes-Riordan, Chicago Cardinal Francis George reportedly promised to raise the question in Rome during his visit this year. The idea of female deacons "is being talked about very slowly," George said earlier this year during a forum at Chicago's Union League Club in response to a question about the future likelihood of female priests. "The diaconate is a more open question." "In a strange way, I don't see this being about women," said Mapes-Riordan, a lawyer, wife, mother of two, and longtime parishioner at St. Nicholas. "I see it as being about church and mission.” Taking a perspective expressed in this Sunday’s selection from the Letter to the Ephesians, that “in reference to Christ and the church" "we are members of his body,” Mapes-Riordan said: “We have this part of a puzzle, this piece, that I'm not going to say is missing, but we could have a fuller picture if [letting women become deacons] was added. I don't see it as a women's issue. I see it as a matter for our church." "It's a message of hope. It's a way to stay within the boundaries of Catholic teachings and have women with real preaching authority within the system," said Phyllis Zagano, one of the American church's leading researchers on the subject of female deacons. Zagano and other scholars argue that the diaconate of the early church included both men and women. In fact, they say Saint Paul chose a female deacon, Phoebe, to deliver his most important epistle to the Romans, explaining the concept of salvation through Jesus Christ. Source: An article by Manya A. Brachear for the Chicago Tribune

Deacons francis george women deacons
Homily stories

22 Jun 2025 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle C

A friend of mine, Josh, is a deacon in a church of a different Christian faith than mine, and it’s interesting to me to observe how that role is interpreted in his church. He’s married, with two sons, and manages a regional restaurant chain. He’s incredibly busy with family and work—but he cheerfully helps anyone at his church who needs a hand around the house. When a fellow church member is moving or has a plumbing emergency or is installing a new roof, Josh pitches in. He says he feels a particular calling to assist seniors. For example, when an elderly woman at his church was widowed, he took care of her house and yard for a year, so she could grieve worry-free until she felt ready to consider downsizing. He explained to me that that’s his role as a deacon. That’s how it worked in the early days of the church: deacons made sure the practical needs of the church, especially the poor and vulnerable, were met, so the apostles could concentrate on preaching. I asked him how he finds the time. He modestly shrugged. Knowing Josh, I assume he simply trusts that God will multiply that scarce resource into enough—even plenty—and that’s exactly what happens.

Authors Jennifer Tomshack

Deacons

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