A former administrative assistant at a Tuscaloosa Catholic church has pleaded guilty to embezzling money, much of which she is accused of using to buy gifts for TikTokers. Kristen Marie Battocletti, 35, entered her guilty plea on Tuesday in a Tuscaloosa courtroom to one count of wire fraud involving the theft of hundreds of thousands Read more
Odd Spot
Chasseur sauce was invented by a Pope … sort of
Monday, July 22nd, 2024In classic French cooking you have five mother sauces, namely bechamel, veloute, espagnole, tomato, and hollandaise. Then there are other sauces based on the Big Five. One surprising sauce factoid, however, involves a man who seems to have invented a fair number of the latter sauces, these being sauce chasseur, sauce lyonnaise, sauce porto, and Read more
Woman, 108, stays young by ‘flirting with men with mustaches’
Thursday, July 18th, 2024An Alabama woman celebrating her 108th birthday offered an unusual answer to how she keeps herself feeling young: “drinking wine, eating dessert, and flirting with men with mustaches.” Helen Denmark turned 108 on Sunday, and she was celebrated with a party Monday thrown by her friends and caregivers at Brookdale Assisted Living in Birmingham. Denmark Read more
How the Church came to own properties in Manly
Monday, July 15th, 2024
The first plans for British settlement in Manly, NSW, Australia, emerged in the 1820s following the acquisition of land from the local Gayemagal people. A smallpox outbreak at the end of the 18th century severely reduced their population, paving the way for the British settlement. Around 1850, the NSW Legislative Council granted the Catholic Church Read more
A process for choosing a pastor
Thursday, July 11th, 2024
The Catholic parish of Zizers in Switzerland is advertising for a new priest. Due to the shortage of priests, parishes often do this themselves in consultation with the diocese’s personnel managers. “The perfect candidate has not been found yet,” said Alois Gadola, the chairman of the Zizers parish council. In an interview, he emphasised the Read more
Seminarian’s unusual gift to parishioners
Monday, July 8th, 2024
Seminarian Daniel O’Kelly is preparing to go to Rome to finish his studies soon, but before he leaves, he has a special gift for the parishioners of St Catherine’s Laboure Gymea in Sydney, Australia. During a brief Advent placement at St Catherine’s in 2022, Daniel’s dedication to the church was evident. Returning for his long-term Read more
Court awards damages to woman not allowed to train as a deacon
Thursday, July 4th, 2024
On June 25, the Civil Tribunal of Mechelen, in Belgium, made an unusual ruling against two Roman Catholic bishops. Jozef De Kesel, the former Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, and Luc Terlinden, the current Archbishop of the same Archdiocese, have been ordered to pay a fine of 1,500 euros to a woman named Veer Dusauchoit. The woman Read more
Facebook users say ‘amen’ to AI images of Jesus
Monday, July 1st, 2024
It’s alarming to see the prevalence of fake and culturally insensitive images of Jesus on social media. Many of the AI photos draw in streams of users commenting “Amen” on bizarre Jesus images, praising the impressive work of nonexistent artists or wishing happy birthday to fake children sitting pitifully in mud. Intricate artistic renditions of Read more
Keep it simple says the Pope
Monday, June 24th, 2024
During a general audience last Wednesday, Pope Francis advised priests to avoid giving lengthy sermons that could bore worshippers. “The homily should be brief: an image, a thought, a feeling. A homily should not last more than eight minutes,” he said. “Because after that time, attention is lost, and people fall asleep – and they’re Read more
Thai boys sport archaic monk’s haircut
Thursday, June 20th, 2024
A Catholic church in Thailand has been ridiculed and pilloried for getting a group of students to sport a coronal tonsure. A coronal tonsure, which first appeared in the 4th and 5th centuries, is a hairstyle worn by Catholic monks until it was abolished by Pope Paul VI in 1973. It is supposed to resemble Read more