Should candidates for priesthood be ordained as deacons?

A controversy has erupted in the Catholic media over the practice of ordaining future priests as deacons first.

Word on Fire...again

I almost typed "Hair on fire".  It appears that people at Word on Fire didn't consider Massimo Faggioli's redaction of his reference to Bishop Robert Barron's ministry as adjacent to Trump and Trumpism on the Commonweal site as being sufficient.

From the article on NCR today:

Bishop Barron's Word on Fire again threatens Commonweal over article about Trumpism | National Catholic Reporter (ncronline.org)

St. Guinefort

 

Lately I have come across several articles about an obscure saint from the 12th century, St. Guinefort.  He was one of those unofficial saints who was not canonized, more a figure of  folklore than one who could be verified historically.  He was invoked as a patron for the protection of children. 

And oh by the way, he was a dog. From this article:  St. Guinefort, the Dog Venerated as a Saint | Mental Floss

AP: ‘A step back in time': America’s Catholic Church Sees an Immense Shift Toward the Old Ways

 Excerpt from today's lengthy piece from the Associated Press:

. . . Across the U.S., the Catholic Church is undergoing an immense shift. Generations of Catholics who embraced the modernizing tide sparked in the 1960s by Vatican II are increasingly giving way to religious conservatives who believe the church has been twisted by change, with the promise of eternal salvation replaced by guitar Masses, parish food pantries and casual indifference to church doctrine.

The shift, molded by plummeting church attendance, increasingly traditional priests and growing numbers of young Catholics searching for more orthodoxy, has reshaped parishes across the country, leaving them sometimes at odds with Pope Francis and much of the Catholic world.

The changes are not happening everywhere. There are still plenty of liberal parishes, plenty that see themselves as middle-of-the-road. Despite their growing influence, conservative Catholics remain a minority.

Yet the changes they have brought are impossible to miss. . . . 

Here is a link to the full article.