Raleigh church fire being investigated as arson...
A Sunday morning fire that destroyed an historic Raleigh County church building is being investigated as an arson. According to the Beaver Volunteer Fire Department, the Saint Colman Catholic Church building along Irish Spring Road in Dillon, not far from Shady Spring, was already on the ground and smoldering when firefighters arrived on the scene Sunday morning...
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Still we march! Thoughts on the overturn of Roe v. Wade...
I like many of you will always remember where I was when I heard that Roe v. Wade had been struck down. I was in Wichita, Kansas, preaching a priests retreat and preparing for Mass on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Tears welled in my eyes as I ran to share the news with the bishop and priests. I have been marching in the March for life almost uninterruptedly since 1975...
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Violent Vandalism Attack on Catholic Church in Washington State Caught on Video...
A woman was praying alone in the perpetual adoration chapel early Tuesday morning when the wave of anti-Catholic vandalism and violence sweeping the U.S. struck St. Louise Catholic Church in Bellevue, Washington. Hearing a commotion outside, the woman ventured into the hallway. There, she confronted a masked intruder standing outside the parish center...
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Dobbs, Roe and the vindication of American democracy...
Prior to June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court's most important civil rights decision was handed down on May 17, 1954. Then, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Court declared racially segregated public facilities unconstitutional, effectively reversing its 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld state-mandated segregation laws...
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Vatican inconsistencies: A Tale of Two Bishops...
The contrasting recent handling by the Vatican of two bishops has highlighted concerns about discrepancies in the disciplining of bishops, with no explanation available why one of the two bishop was dismissed while the other has been allowed to remain in office. The two cases involve Bishop Daniel Fernandez Torres of Arecibo, Puerto Rico...
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Scientific American: How parents' trauma leaves biological traces in children...
After the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, in a haze of horror and smoke, clinicians at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in Manhattan offered to check anyone who'd been in the area for exposure to toxins. Among those who came in for evaluation were 187 pregnant women. Many were in shock...
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Initial impressions of 'Desiderio Desideravi,' Pope Francis' new document on the Mass...
After a year of barbed commentary directed at liturgical traditionalists from many quarters, the Holy Father's apostolic letter Desiderio Desideravi, dated June 29 for the solemn Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, takes a rather different tack, both in tone and substance. Desiderio Desideravi takes its title from the words of Jesus at the beginning of the Last Supper: "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (Luke 22:15)...
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Apostolic Letter 'Desiderio desideravi,' on the liturgical formation of the People of God...
My dearest brothers and sisters, with this letter I desire to reach you all - after having written already only to the bishops after the publication of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes - and I write to share with you some reflections on the liturgy, a dimension fundamental for the life of the Church. The theme is vast and always deserves an attentive consideration in every one of its aspects...
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FBI opens sweeping probe of clergy sex abuse in New Orleans; Mann Act may allow prosecution of crimes going back decades...
The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them, officials and others familiar with the inquiry told The Associated Press. More than a dozen alleged abuse victims have been interviewed this year as part of the probe that's exploring among other charges whether predator priests can be prosecuted under th...
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Judges Temporarily Block Abortion Bans in Louisiana, Utah, Texas...
Judges in Louisiana, Utah, and Texas have temporarily blocked the enforcement of those states' laws banning abortion, after the Supreme Court returned the regulation of abortion to the states. On June 24, the court voted 6-3 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to uphold a Mississippi law restricting most abortions after 15 weeks...
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4 thoughts on the closure of Spencer Trappist Brewery. Is this the end of the Beer Option? ...
Many of us were excited for the first American Trappist brewery back in 2014 at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts. I was inspired to write The Beer Option: Brewing a Catholic Culture Yesterday & Today by the long tradition of monastic brewing, which pointed to a whole Catholic history of beer. I wrote a couple of articles following the emergence of new monastery beers...
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Raising a child like the Little Prince...
A merchant is selling special pills—one pill will quench thirst for a whole week! A person will no longer need to find something to drink. "Why are you selling those?" asks the little prince. Answer: Experts say they will save us fifty-three minutes per week. "And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?" "Anything you like...
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The Last Train Robbery in the Old West...
The sun had just set. Darkness surrounded the glow from the gaslights at the railway station in the town of Fairbank, Arizona. Located in Cochise County, the town owed its existence to the railroad. Fairbank was the closest rail stop to the more bustling Tombstone, less than 10 miles to the east. While Fairbank did not have many houses...
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'Roe v. Wade' is still overturned, and other news too!...
It's no overstatement: Dobbs v. Jackson has begun a new chapter in American political life. What comes next, politically and culturally? I don't know. Neither do you. Dobbs does not make abortion illegal across the United States; it localizes the issue to state legislatures — and eventually, to state judiciaries. Twenty states are unlikely to prohibit or strictly regulate abortion...
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The 10 commandments of reverencing the Holy Eucharist...
To attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation. This serious obligation begins for children when they reach the "age of reason." We adore the Eucharist by our full, active and conscious participation in the Mass. To prepare well for every Mass we attend. The holy sacrifice of the Mass is "Calvary perpetuated" because it is the representation of Christ's sacrifice on Good Friday...
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Four priests, one religious sister murdered in one week...
The past seven days were among the deadliest for Catholic priests and religious in recent years, with one violent murder every 33 hours. Just last Wednesday, June 22, Pope Francis condemned that week's killing of two Jesuit priests in Mexico. By Sunday, June 26, the pontiff was once again lamenting the death of a religious, this time at the end of his weekly Angelus: Sister Luisa dell'Orto...
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Why are they angry?
There is a scene in book four of Screwtape Letters where Screwtape is quite insistent that Wormwood keep the patient from developing a prayer life. The last thing Screwtape wants to see is the patient rebuff Wormwood's attempts to persuade the patient from developing prayerful communication with God. Screwtape is very poignant at keeping human beings from encountering an environment of prayer and this becomes a central theme throughout C...
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When your parents divorce, it sticks with you.....
As with any trauma, the negative effects of divorce aren't easily or quickly "gotten over." Contrary to popular belief, divorce can and does continue to affect children far into the future, even those who outwardly seem to have "made it" relatively unscathed. Being a child of divorce affects a person's identity, triggering ontological questions about who he is and his place in the world and generating a deep sense of emotional homelessness...
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The Pope indicts 'restorationism.' I plead guilty.....
Those opening lines from a book I wrote five years ago, Lost Shepherd, came rushing back to mind last week, when I read the Pope's latest published interview, with its condemnation of "restorationism." When Pope Francis decried the influence of "restorationist" groups, and added that "there are many in the United States"...
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This Sunday, Jesus, the free one, wants us to break our bonds...
The readings for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C, Jesus and St. Paul offer a picture of freedom that cuts against our instincts about what makes us free. Freedom does not mean doing what you want, it means being able to embrace what is best. And to do that, one thing is necessary. The Gospel and Epistle reading paint a picture of radical freedom...
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A new Vatican investigation in Strasbourg marks the latest upheaval for Catholics in France...
In his latest intervention in the Catholic Church in France, Pope Francis has ordered an apostolic visitation of the Archdiocese of Strasbourg, which is set to begin at the end of this month. According to a June 23 press release from the papal embassy in France, the decision was made after the Vatican received information "relating to the pastoral government of the Archdiocese of Strasbourg" and after "hearing the Dicastery for Bishops...
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9 things you might not know about Chick-fil-A...
People have all kinds of opinions on the popular chicken chain born in the American South, but for those who choose to frequent Chick-Fil-A, the prevailing opinion is that it's stinking delicious. Not only that, but if you have kids, you can actually feel good about the healthier options (in my opinion).
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Abortion Clinics Across the Country Begin Closing After Dobbs Ruling...
Multiple clinics that provide abortions closed down Friday in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court's ruling that will end federal protections on abortion. Driving the news: The Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday that overturns Roe v. Wade, making it so states can legally regulate or ban abortion.
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Here are the winners and losers of the 2022 NBA draft...
Chris Ryan: One of the joys of the second half of the past NBA season was watching how Cade Cunningham never let any defense speed him up. So what did Detroit do in the 2022 draft? Grab a guy who can't be slowed down. Cade will win Detroit some playoff games, eventually. But Jaden Ivey will put some asses in seats and kick the Pistons up any League Pass ranking...
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How to debunk 7 common myths about overturning Roe v. Wade...
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday overturning the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade as well as the 1992 decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In simplest terms, this means that abortion is no longer legal nationwide — the legality of abortion will now be determined at the state level. There are a lot of myths out there about what this ruling means and what will happen next...
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5 Ways to Respond to Christ's Sacrament of Love...
On Friday, June 24, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is particularly special this year, for two reasons. First, June 24 is normally every year the Solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist, basically six months before Christ's birth. But since the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart takes place on the Friday after Corpus Christi...
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Life after Roe v. Wade: What happens next in our nation?
The Supreme Court on Friday issued its a decision in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, overturning Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 decision and returning the power to legislate limits on abortion to the states. The decision represents a seminal victory for the pro-life movement, one for which generations of lawyers, activists, and legislators have fought...
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What is stagflation, and how can you prepare for it?
The next big risk to the U.S. economy may be summed up in one word. And no, it's not necessarily recession, though economists are evenly split on the risks one is coming. Instead, 80% of economists in the same survey named stagflation as the greater long-term risk to the economy, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association...
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Who was St. John the Baptist? 11 things to know and share.....
John the Baptist is a mysterious figure in the New Testament. He was famous in his own day, even before he became the herald of Christ. We even know about him from outside the New Testament. The Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is June 24 (or June 23 in most places in 2022, because of the coincidence with the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart on June 24) ...
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Dead Time, Living Time, Technology, and Leisure...
To get time right, we must get leisure right. Leisure is always the first principle. Leisure in its true sense transcends time. And for this very reason, it alone is what makes time come alive, bringing it to its fruition—even when we are at work. Looking at my own life I realize that my consistent experience of being short on time means at least this: I am failing in living the primacy of leisure...
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What does it mean to follow “all” of the Church's teachings?
"In the culture, if you stand for virtues and principles and morals, you are far right," went a Facebook post I stumbled upon. "In the Church, if you are devout and follow 'all' of the teachings of the Church, you are rigid. Got that?" Not untrue, though I'd want to qualify both claims. The second sentence is the one that interests me here...
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Locusts and wild honey: Why St. John the Baptist gets a liturgical birthday party...
Like John the Baptist himself, there is a lot unusual about this feast. For example, in most places in the U.S. the solemnity will be celebrated on Thursday, June 23. But if your church is named for John the Baptist, or he's the patron of your diocese, you might be celebrating the feast on Friday, June 24. And the Church celebrates nativity feasts only for three people - Jesus Christ...
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Here are some of the most famous drivers to take on Pikes Peak...
Qualifying has begun for this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and as always, that means some of the world's best drivers are giving it their all on the mountain. In doing so, they become part of a class of drivers that—if you browse back through the list of entrants dating back to 1916—you'll find includes some of the greatest and most famous drivers of all time...
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Pope's Wednesday Audience: 'Do Not Sugarcoat Your Witness of the Gospel'...
Do not sugarcoat your witness of the Gospel, but let the truth be made manifest even through your weakness, Pope Francis said in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday. "We can ask ourselves: are we capable of preserving the tenor of this relationship of Jesus with the disciples, according to that style of his that is so open, so frank...
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We march and fight under the banner of Jesus Christ...
In St. Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises, the training manual of authentic Jesuit spirituality and the most influential retreat program in the history of the Church, the founder of the Society of Jesus has us meditate on "Two Standards" — two flags or military banners — under one of which we must choose to march and fight...
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Vatican security concerns flare after shots fired near St. Peter's Square...
Security around the Vatican is on high alert after a renegade vehicle sped erratically towards St. Peter's Square and broke through police barricades just before the pope's noontime Angelus address on Sunday. At around 10 a.m., just two hours before Pope Francis was scheduled to appear for the weekly Angelus, a gray BMW was seen swerving at high speed down the Via della Conciliazione...
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Bobby's dad was okay. So was mine. John's wasn't.....
"I love life. Life's all good." My friend Bobby has come over to my corner of our townie bar, where I waited to order dinner. The bartender sets down my beer. "I got that," Bobby tells her. "OK," she says and nods. He buys a lot of people beers. He's got on his painters hat and a Sherwin-Williams t-shirt. He's a house painter and contractor who works for a lot of people in the wealthy communities up river...
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When you read the Church Fathers, you finally realize the early Church was Catholic.....
"Whenever people ask me, 'Give me the short answer of why you reverted to the Catholic Church' I tell them I discovered two things. Number one, I discovered sola Scriptura [Scripture alone] is false. The other one I discovered: apostolic succession is true. Apostolic succession is that process of the handing down of the truths of the Church through the Church Fathers...
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Why the U.S. military is listening to shrimp...
Whale skeletons stand guard around the coastline of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, a stark reminder of the damaging effects of military sonar. Sonar from ships and submarines is thought to be one of the contributing factors to whale strandings, confusing the whales' own sonar and casuing them to beach themselves on the shore...
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10 musical masterpieces: An entry point into classical music...
Classical music speaks to us, even if much of it is wordless. It communicates to us, nonetheless, through its powerful and complex melody, rhythm, and harmony, employing a beautiful and mathematical language that enchants, agitates at times, inspires, sooths, and stimulates. In contrast to the immediately pleasing and entertaining pop music...
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For the fallen away: The line between charity and cowardice...
Sadly for Catholics today, most of us have friends or family members who have chosen to leave the Catholic Church and worship instead at a Protestant church of some sort, or no church at all. By far the most common cause of this is marriage issues. Catholics may marry outside the Church to escape a failed marriage which has not been annulled...
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Is this desolate Australian highway the world's emptiest road?
Laverton is the kind of outback town you might expect at the end of an epic desert road trip, not at the start of one. Marooned on the edge of Australia's two largest deserts - the Victoria and the Great Sandy - Laverton felt like the last outpost of frontier civilisation, a 12-hour drive from Perth, five hours from already-remote Kalgoorlie...
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The Eucharistic Revival, big news, and the Avs...
The U.S. Church's Eucharistic Revival has officially begun, and you're reading The Tuesday Pillar Post. I hope your parish had a cool Eucharistic procession on the feast of Corpus Christi this weekend, and that you got to be a part of it. But whatever that procession looked like, it was probably not as cool as this procession in the Archdiocese of Mobile...
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Birds of a Feather: Why do astrophotographers tend to develop a love for bird photography?
As I shared with you last week, I find it interesting how hobby astrophotographers often develop a love for bird photography. Last week, I introduced you to one of my favorite astrophotographers by the name of Trevor Jones - AKA AstroBackyard. As I followed this passionate astrophotographer, I learned that Trevor and his wife Ashley Northcotte have a YouTube channel called "The Bird Nerds...
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St. Aloysius Gonzaga, pray for us!...
Some Americans, particularly in the Washingtons, might associate St. Aloysius Gonzaga with the Spokane university or the DC high school named after him. But the Jesuit saint who died at 23 deserves to be better remembered in our day, particularly because of certain elements of his biography that are exceedingly relevant to our day...
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Sanity returns to transgender madness after Lia Thomas' ban by FINA...
Finally, sanity prevailed in the world of women's sports. Swimming's world governing body, FINA, announced a ban Sunday on biological men competing in women's events, unless they had "transitioned" before the age of 12. In other words, transgender athletes who have experienced the enduring competitive advantages of a male puberty flooded with testosterone...
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Hello. My name is Tony, and I am a restorationist.....
I wasn't always this way. I grew up in the 1960s and the 1970s, and we all took for granted everything the priests and bishops said we had to do according to the directions of the Second Vatican Council. None of us had read the documents, but we figured that our leaders had, and we obeyed. They counted on it. When our pastor removed the marble communion rail with its mosaic inlays of Eucharistic symbols...
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Intentional or not, the Pope just offered a valuable conclave tip on abuse baggage...
Even before Pope Francis stages his latest consistory on Aug. 27, inducting 20 new members into the Catholic Church's most exclusive club, the event has managed to make news - in this case, not so much for the new cardinals who'll be there, but the one erstwhile cardinal-designate who won't. This past Thursday, the bishops' conference of Belgium announced that the 80-year-old former Bishop of Ghent...
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Solemnity of Corpus Christi: 'Whoever Eats This Bread Will Live Forever'...
Today, Catholics in the United States celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (which most of the rest of the world celebrated last Thursday). Corpus Christi is especially important after the 2019 Pew survey suggested there were real problems with the understanding of Christ's presence in the Eucharist among Catholics in the United States...
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True Catholic leadership is rooted in the fear of God...
At some point in any leadership situation, we have to evaluate the fruits of that leadership. It isn't enough to assume that someone means well and ignore the results. This is especially true for Catholic bishops. It is utterly insufficient to speculate as to whether a particular bishop's "heart is in the right place", or whether many people find him "warm and likeable"...
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Gallup Poll: Belief in God in U.S. Dips to All-Time Low of 81%...
The vast majority of U.S. adults believe in God, but the 81% who do so is down six percentage points from 2017 and is the lowest in Gallup's trend. Between 1944 and 2011, more than 90% of Americans believed in God. Gallup's May 2-22 Values and Beliefs poll finds 17% of Americans saying they do not believe in God.
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Good news in Canadian, artistic ambitions in Italian, and Francis' law of power...
Some good news this week out of Canada. We covered last month the efforts of a local parish community to buy their own parish church after it was put up for sale by the Archdiocese of St. John's Newfoundland, along with 17 other properties, as part of a bankruptcy filing to meet the cost of a settlement with abuse victims of the Christian Brothers at the former Mount Cashel orphanage...
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From the shadows, a fresh voice...
I first stumbled upon an article by Denise Trull at Dappled Things some time ago. Since then, I think I've read just about everything she has published there. When her pieces post, I feel a bit like a greedy child grabbing at a new bar of chocolate, looking to savor each sentence. I have yet to be disappointed by her work, and on occasion...
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Science and the Sacred Heart: Hello, Mandelbrot Set!...
During this month of June — the Month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the Church - I have been each day posting an image of the Sacred Heart with some little thought, either my own or someone else's to my Twitter and Facebook feeds. The action feeds my own devotion to and meditations on the Sacred Heart, but the thoughtful responses of others is certainly gratifying and sometimes enlightening...
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Catholic Bishop Revokes Catholic Status of Jesuit-Run School in Massachusetts Over LGBT and BLM Flags...
After a months-long impasse, A Jesuit middle school in Worcester, Massachusetts, has had its Catholic status revoked by the local bishop for defying his order to stop flying flags supporting LGBT pride and the Black Lives Matter movement. "The flying of these flags in front of a Catholic school sends a mixed, confusing and scandalous message to the public about the Church's stance on these important moral and social issues...
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The brilliant Catholic clues you never noticed in Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'...
Apart from The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, a tragedy of errors, is the shortest of Shakespeare's plays. At only 2,107 lines it is barely half the length of Hamlet, with which it is often compared. The date of its composition is not certain but several clues within the text suggest strongly that it was first performed in 1606, shortly after the notorious Gunpowder Plot in November of the previous year...
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