Illustration by Andrea Ventura.
Evelyn Waugh liked to tease Graham Greene by remarking that it was a good thing God exists, because otherwise Greene would be a Laurel without Hardy. It is a mark in Greene’s favor that he recounts the jibe in a tribute to Waugh written shortly after his friend’s death in 1966. Throughout his life, the fabulously successful Greene was ever ready to pull his own leg, such as when, in 1949, he entered a
New Statesman competition by submitting three parodies of his own writing under pseudonyms. One of the entries was judged good enough to merit a guinea of the six-guinea prize. Greene then wrote a letter to the editor owning up to the prank and regretting that he had not won the contest outright, especially as the money would be tax-free always an important consideration with Greene.
New Catholic center at UMass gets $500K gift
The Newman Center at 472 North Pleasant St. in Amherst, photographed in August. GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Published: 4/20/2021 2:18:29 PM
AMHERST A $2 million capital campaign underway for the construction of a new Newman Catholic Center, likely to open in spring 2022, is already halfway toward its goal due, in large part, to a gift from an alumnus.
George “Trigger” Burke, who is the honorary chairman of the “Miracles Happen… When Heart Speaks to Heart” campaign, recently made a $500,000 contribution, one of the 52 donors who have pledged a combined $1 million toward the project.
As a result of Burke’s gift, the worship space inside the new building, to be constructed at North Pleasant Street and Thatcher Road, will bear his name.
The Power of Easter in an Increasingly Secular America | Opinion Bishop Robert Barron
, Auxiliary Bishop, Archdiocese of Los Angeles On 4/6/21 at 7:00 AM EDT
The number of those who formally affiliate with a religion has been dropping precipitously in the United States, and indeed throughout most Western countries. In the early 1970s, roughly 3 percent of Americans would have claimed no religious identity, but today, that figure has skyrocketed to 26 percent. This problem persists across the spectrum of the mainstream religions, but it is particularly acute within the Christian churches and worst of all in my own Roman Catholic Church. Recent surveys have indicated that for every person who joins the Catholic Church in America, six are leaving.
Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraska churches have been adapting to social distancing regulations by having online services from buildings void of parishioners.Â
Catholics in Nebraska will be obligated to go back to in-person Sunday Masses starting in May, the state s three dioceses announced Wednesday.
Diocese of Lincoln Bishop James Conley joined Omaha Archbishop George Lucas and Grand Island Bishop Joseph Hanefeldt in planning to end the dispensation from the Sunday Mass obligation on May 23. The dispensation was put in place last March due to the pandemic.
Conley said Catholics have a grave obligation to return to in-person Masses because the Eucharist is at the heart of what it is to be a Christian.