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Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.And there was great joy in that city.(Acts 8:5-9) Who is Phillip? Not one of the Apostles, nor yet was he an evangelist, Phillip was one of the first Deacons of the church, he served God and the church in...

Donald Dashnaw PLATTSBURGH — David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz attended his first religious seminar at Clinton Correctional Facility escorted by then-chaplain Donald Dashnaw. "He just wanted to get exposure to the church," remembered Dashnaw, who for 58 years lived in Morrisonville and now resides in South Carolina. Dashnaw was chaplain in the Dannemora maximum-security prison for three-and-a-half years. Close-up interaction with inmates made him apprehensive beforehand, a nervousness not allayed by the background checks and fingerprinting he had to have done. But once behind the walls, Dashnaw saw the incarcerated in a different light. The inmates, he said, "were very...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Former First Baptist Church deacon Stephen Edmonds was back in court on Thursday asking a judge to change his sentence.  In 2003, Edmonds pleaded guilty to molesting three boys. In return for his guilty plea to three counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, 10 other charges were dropped and Edmonds was sentenced to one year in jail and five years probation. He also must register as a sexual offender.  The plea deal did not sit well with families of the victims, which wanted the judge to sentence Edmonds to the maximum of six years...

Police have been targeting Estabrook Park for years trying to stop men from soliciting sex from other men there. Video: Deacon Charged For Lewd ActThe latest suspect is 48-year-old Jerome Pitchford, long-time deacon of Milwaukee's Holy Redeemer Church of God in Christ.   The warm weather seems to expose the issue at the park, and in this case, the apparent secret of a married man with children, a church leader.  Police said Pitchford apparently does not practice what he teaches in Sunday School. Police say after church at the Holy Redeemer Church of God in Christ on Sunday afternoon, he was...

The recent liturgy of ordination to the diaconate honored the ministry of presence which is primary to the vocation of permanent deacons. Nineteen men were ordained as permanent deacons at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angles June 7 before a congregation of more than 2,500 faithful. During the nearly three-hour liturgy, Cardinal Roger Mahony, main celebrant, prayed for the blessings of the Holy Spirit to be poured forth on this class of deacons known as St. Ignatius. "May there abound in them every Gospel virtue," said the cardinal, "love, concern for the sick and poor, unassuming authority, the...

“Is the candidate worthy?” intoned Bishop Patricia Fresen ceremonially, as lifelong Catholic Juanita Cordero stood before her in a pure white gown, about to be ordained as a priest. The question was asked three times during the ordination ceremony on Sunday, July 22, as one female priest and two female deacons were invested with the power to perform sacraments — a function forbidden to women under canon law. They are part of a movement from within the Roman Catholic Church that has been ordaining female priests since 2002, though those involved say that the tradition of women priests and...

ANKAWA, Iraq, FEB. 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The ordination of three deacons is a sign of hope in Iraq, says the bishop of Kirkuk. Kirkuk's Chaldean Archbishop Luis Sako was present at Friday's ordinations in Ankawa. According to AsiaNews, the ceremony took place in the Church of St. Joseph and was celebrated by Bishop Rabban Al-Qas, of Amadiyah and Erbil. Bishop Mikha Pola Maqdassi, of Alquoch, was also present. The ordained deacons are Salar Soulayman Bodagh of the Diocese of Alquoch, Raymond Hamid Sargis of Baghdad, and Louya' Gilyana Dinkha of Mosul. Friday's ceremony follows the Jan. 27 ordination of Wassim...

PLAINS, Ga. (ABP) -- Former First Lady Rosalynn Smith Carter was ordained as a deacon Dec. 10 by Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga. Though raised a Methodist, Carter, 79, has been active in Baptist congregations since her marriage more than 60 years ago to former President Jimmy Carter, a longtime Baptist deacon. “She is very shy and doesn’t like the spotlight,� said Maranatha pastor Jeff Summers. “But people have seen her leadership and compassion.� Carter is often involved in behind-the-scenes ministries, such as working with children and delivering meals to the homebound, he added. Maranatha is among a growing...

The Martyrdom of St. Laurence (Lawrence) Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura (Basilica of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls) (Prior to his final victory, St. Lawrence was brought before Cornelius Secularis, prefect of Rome under the Emperor Valerian, who, according to Dom Prosper Guéranger in his Liturgical Year, "aimed at ruining the Christians by prohibiting their assemblies, putting their chief men to death, and confiscating their property." It was for this reason that St. Lawrence, the archdeacon for Pope St. Sixtus II, was summoned to the tribunal of Cornelius, who sought the riches of the Church of Rome. It...

August 10, 2006 Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr Psalm: Thursday 33 Reading 12 Cor 9:6-10 Brothers and sisters:Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,for God loves a cheerful giver.Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,so that in all things, always having all you need,you may have an abundance for every good work.As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for foodwill...

In August of A.D. 258, the emperor Valerian ordered that all deacons, priests, and Bishops be put to death. Tradition via the Golden Legend tells us that Pope Sixtus II met with Lawrence, saying to him: "I shall not leave thee, my son, but greater strifes and battles be due to thee for the faith of Jesu Christ. We, as old men, have taken more lighter battle, and to thee as to a young man shall remain a more glorious battle of which thou shalt triumph and have victory of the tyrant, and shalt follow me within three days...

PRINT STORY The leader of a Maui Catholic church admitted in court he sexually abused a boy for three years. But the deal struck with prosecutors may only send the deacon to prison for a year. Deacon James Gonsalves pleaded guilty to 30 counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of attempted first-degree sexual assault and 30 counts of third-degree sexual assault. But under a plea agreement, the 69-year-old would only spend a year in prison, three months under house arrest and 20 years on probation. The victim, who remains unnamed, says the abuse started in 2002 when he was...

PN-G elementary principal caught in sting Beaumont police conducting a sting at Tyrrell Park trying to stop indecency at public parks arrested Doak Lamb, the principal at Woodcrest Elementary School in Port Neches after he requested anal sex from undercover officers. According to the officers, who were patroling the park and going into and out of the public buildings there, Lamb responded to officers advances but rejected oral sex, instead saying that he preferred anal sex and had brought his own condoms. During a search of Lamb as he was being arrested, a condom fell out of his front left...

Through a letter sent to the Bishop of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, the Holy See has called for an end to the so-called “Indigenous Church,” influential especially in southern parts of Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. The letter to Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, is signed by Cardinal Francis Arinze (bio - news), prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. He deplores the influence of the ideology of the "autoctonous church,” inherited by Bishop Arizmendi from his predecesor, Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia. Cardinal Arinze remarks that the new policy should supress the overreliance on the ordination of permanent...

Feticide, the Supreme Court and South Dakota Deacon Keith Fournier © Third Millennium, LLC Introduction Two events of great importance have taken center stage in the past week. We live in what Pope Benedict XVI called in his first encyclical letter an “anti-culture” of death. This is a slight - but important- nuanced variance in terminology from the past reference to a “culture of death” used by his predecessor of blessed memory, that great champion of life, John Paul II. Pope Benedict will not even call it a “culture” of death. He is correct. The acceptance of the notion that...

BASRA, Iraq, DEC. 7, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The diaconate ordination of 10 Chaldean Catholics in Basra has given believers hope in the future, says Archbishop Djibrail Kassab. Last Sunday, the archbishop celebrated the closing Mass of the Year of the Eucharist. "We celebrated the feast of the Annunciation according to the Chaldean liturgy," the prelate told AsiaNews. The 10 were ordained on that occasion. "The church was full; we were about 350," the 67-year-old prelate said. "We could read happiness on the faces of the faithful and the new deacons." The Chaldean archbishop continued: "We shall pray for peace and security...

Can women be deacons? Weren’t women deacons in the early Church? The sacrament of holy orders comprises three degrees: the episcopacy (bishops), the presbyterate (priests) and the diaconate (deacons). The first two degrees — the episcopacy and the presbyterate — participate in the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, and thereby the term sacerdos denotes only bishops and priests. The bishops possess the fullness of the sacrament of holy orders. Priests are their co-workers in the apostolic mission. The diaconate assists and serves them. Nevertheless, all three degrees are conferred by a specific rite of ordination in the sacrament of holy orders...

August 10, 2005Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr Psalm: Wednesday 35 Reading I2 Cor 9:6-10 Brothers and sisters:Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,for God loves a cheerful giver.Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,so that in all things, always having all you need,you may have an abundance for every good work.As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for foodwill supply...

Police say they found six guns in the deacon's parish apartment. The San Francisco archdiocese filed the restraining order after 57-year-old Dennis Gooch allegedly threatened an archbishop, an auxiliary arch bishop and Saint Gregory's pastor. Police say Gooch was upset with their decision not to allow him to become a priest. >>

Speaking through Silence © Third Millennium, LLC By: Deacon Keith A Fournier Like millions of Catholics, other Christians, people of faith and people of good will the world over, I am keeping a vigil of prayer for Pope John Paul II. I have signed up online for “breaking news”, I have found myself turning news on with ridiculous frequency, hoping to hear encouraging, or other news. As a member of the Clergy of my Diocese I have been sent “talking points”, by my Diocese, to explain how Popes are elected or, to speak to the Pope’s life and mission, should...

Terri’s Day By: Deacon Keith Fournier © Third Millennium, LLC February 23, 2005 will be a day that all people of good will in America remember for however remaining years are left for this Republic. It should be remembered as “Terri’s Day”; the day when truth and goodness triumphed or the day when perfidy, intentional lies and evil disguised as a “right”, led to the execution of Terri Schiavo by starvation and dehydration. I awakened to the headline in my morning newspaper: “Two Rulings Leave Fate of “VEGETATIVE WOMAN” Undecided”. Since it was an Associated Press Release, I am sure...

“Purple Thumbs Up”: Reflections on the Election in Iraq and Our Choices Here at Home By: Deacon Keith Fournier © Third Millennium, LLC How wonderful, on this early Sunday morning, to see all these good Iraqi people, who have hungered to be able to choose who will represent them in government, rejoice over this historic election! Their contagious smiles filled me with hope and should bring great joy to all those who hunger for the triumph of authentic human freedom around the world. Today, the process toward freedom has begun in Iraq. I have prayed, worried, and hoped that this...

January 22, 2005Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Saturday 6 Reading IHeb 9:2-3, 11-14 A tabernacle was constructed, the outer one,in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of offering; this is called the Holy Place.Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not with the blood of...

ROME, NOV. 23, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University. Q: What is the official teaching of the Church on using taped music at Mass? We just attended a funeral today and two songs were played over the loud speaker that were professional recordings. Each of these had a Christian message. Another song was pre-recorded onto a tape and was sung by a relative. Is there any official document that has guidelines that would help with this situation? -- C.Y., Murdock, Minnesota A: There are few universal norms which explicitly forbid...

August 10, 2004 Feast of Saint Lawrence, deacon and martyr Psalm: Tuesday 35 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading I2 Cor 9:6-10 Brothers and sisters: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his...

Conflict divides St. Mary's Nylon issue: Sides accuse each other of overreacting -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ted Slowik STAFF WRITER PLAINFIELD — Some parents and youth ministry leaders at St. Mary Immaculate Roman Catholic Church are saying a family overreacted by confronting parish officials and contacting police after eighth-graders in a confirmation class were told to put on nylon stockings as an exercise during a retreat. Some other parents say the pastor overreacted by expelling the family's two sons from the parish school because their father violated a parental code of conduct by being too "intrusive, inflammatory or overbearing." People on both...

Dear Friends,Below are some of my notes on the subject of priests and politics. I hope you find them of some use. SincerelyFr. Peter West The mission of Priests For Life is to give priests the resources and the support that they need to defend the sanctity of life. We also reach out to our brother priests who are hesitant to preach about abortion and encouragethem to be more active and more vocal in their defense of human life. In the sixties, Dr. Bernard NathansonNathanson Testimony was the founder of NARAL (at that time the National Association for the Repeal...