Mary Ellen Kelly

According to a report in The Scotsman , Catholics planning to attend open-air Mass arranged for the Pope’s visit to the UK will face a two-tier system, depending on which side of the Border they are. Worshippers in Scotland will not have to pay to attend the Papal Mass to be held in Glasgow . . . . Continue Reading »

The Department of Communications of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a set of social media guidelines for the use of church personnel, defined as “anyone—priest, deacon, religious, bishop, lay employee, or volunteer—who provides ministry or service or is . . . . Continue Reading »

On July 2, on her blog on the National Public Radio website, NPR ombudsman Alicia Shepard posted a piece with the title “ Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain .” In it she describes the complaints NPR received when, on June 23, the network broadcast a story about Tom Cruise that included . . . . Continue Reading »

First Things assistant editor Kevin Staley-Joyce has pointed out that blogger Marcel LeJeune at Aggie Catholics has posted a list of the “ Top 15 Phrases Not Found in the Bible .” Here’s a sample: 3.  “The Lord (or God) works in mysterious ways” Comes from a hymn . . . . Continue Reading »

A headline on LifeSiteNews.com alerts us to the latest in an ongoing series of similarly troubling stories: “Stalemate after Nebraska Health Board Rejects Conscience Compromise for Christian Psychologists.” According to the report: Defying the recommendations of Nebraska’s top public . . . . Continue Reading »

An artist died on Thursday, July 1—a man whose name you may not know but whose work you surely will recognize. His most famous painting is probably The Prayer at Valley Forge (1975), which hangs today at George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon. And if you’ve ever leafed through a . . . . Continue Reading »

The news agency Rome Reports has compiled a short video highlighting “ The worst-dressed priests in the world .” The images (amusing and appalling all) are from a blog called Bad Vestments (motto: Because Christian Worship Is Not Supposed to Be About You). The first-ever Bad Vestments . . . . Continue Reading »

The Catholic News Agency reports that L’Osservatore Romano has reprinted some 1985 comments by then-cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on the World Cup and what its fans call “the beautiful game”: “The fascination with soccer,” he wrote, “lies essentially in that it forces man . . . . Continue Reading »

With Father’s Day closing in, the question of what to get for Dad this year looms large. He’s got far too many ties, including a few (relics of Father’s Days past) that he wore once and will never, ever wear again. He’s got the original Star Wars trilogy (Widescreen Edition with . . . . Continue Reading »

According to reports on Artinfo.com and Reuters.com , visitors to Athens this summer will be able to see something no one has seen for almost thirty years: the Parthenon, free of scaffolding. The scaffolding will return in September, however, when restoration work on the temple’s western . . . . Continue Reading »