Dion DiMucci considers himself a “ferocious” Catholic and proclaims that “the truth will set you free.” That is why he chose Dion the Wanderer Talks Truth: Stories, Humor and Music for the title of his recently published autobiography, which discusses many details about his life, including his music — think of his early hits in the late ’50s and early ’60s, including Runaround Sue, Teenager in Love, Donna the Prima Donna, and, of course, The Wanderer. An inductee into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, Dion still continues to produce and record music today — his relationship with God and his return to his Catholic roots.

The book, which is an easy read, will be of interest to fans of his...READ MORE

WASHINGTON (EWTN News) — The exclusion of the words “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance in a recent NBC sports broadcast is part of a pattern to eliminate references to faith, Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., has said.

“Across our country today, we’re seeing this movement that is an anti-faith movement, to try to rewrite our history and to try to censor any references to God anywhere. I think that’s what this was,” he told EWTN News in a July 14 interview.

“It wasn’t just the Pledge of Allegiance, but it’s a pattern of things that we’re seeing growing by leaps and bounds to take any reference to faith away from a nation that had faith built in its DNA from its conception.”

Such incidents...READ MORE

Here at last, in the final chapter, the Harry Potter franchise rouses itself toward something approaching greatness. The decision to split J.K. Rowling’s final volume into two parts, which may have looked in advance like a crass bid to drag out the cash cow one last time, has been triumphantly vindicated.

The first half of Rowling’s seventh book was dominated by a camping trip from hell and Twilighty angst that made for a dreary, unmagical and — for less than fully initiated fans — downright confusing middle movie, the only film in the series I didn’t enjoy on some level. Now, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 restores balance to the Force: Though (surprisingly) the briefest...READ MORE

NEW YORK (CNA/EWTN News) — A federal judge on July 13 temporarily barred New York City from enforcing a new law that would cripple crisis-pregnancy centers with heavy fines and possible closures for failing to cite medical limitations.

“Pro-life pregnancy centers, which freely offer real help and hope to women and their preborn children, shouldn’t be punished by political allies of those who make their money aborting babies,” said attorney Matt Bowman of the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal group.

Judge William Pauley III called the new law “offensive to free-speech principles” and halted its enactment while a lawsuit filed on behalf of two pregnancy-care centers and a maternity...READ MORE

Making sure all his work is covered at the three Minnesota parishes he pastors can be complicated, but Father Kevin Finnegan knows the importance of breaking away for a retreat or retreat day when he can.

“It’s more than just recouping, of course,” said Father Finnegan, who is pastor at Divine Mercy in Faribault, St. Michael in Kenyon and St. Patrick in Shieldsville. “It’s really having a time just to be quiet with God. To focus, to open my inner self, my soul, to know that God still loves me, to listen to God in quiet, to rest in his presence. … Sometimes we need to just rest.”

The availability of fewer priests means priests are doing more work, so it’s sometimes challenging for them to...READ MORE

After Same-Sex Marriage - Kathryn Jean Lopez, Catholic Vote

Iraqi Christians Still Under Attack - La Stampa/Vatican Insider

Are You Speaking God’s Word to a Brick Wall? - Sister Lisa Marie Doty F.D.C.C., Nunspeak

Hallelujah! Developmental Biology Textbook Corrected - Doctor Stacy Trasancos, Accepting Abundance

A Priest by Any Other Name? - Mollie Ziegler, Get Religion

The Music, And What Is Wrong With The Novus Ordo - Mundabor’s Blog

Saint Ephrem, Deacon - Catholic Lane

For the latest round-up on the best punditry in the Catholic blogosphere go to ThePulp.it.

Robert Louis Stevenson on Gregorian Chant - Jeffrey A. Tucker, The Chant Café

Drug Trafficking: Mexican Bishops & Controversial Statements - Andrés Beltramo Álvarez, La Stampa/Vatican Insider

The Running of the Saints - California Catholic Daily

Are Priests Employed by the Church? - Dylan Parry, A Reluctant Sinner

The Golden Calf of Scientism - Anthony S. Layne, The Impractical Catholic

Parents Furious as U.K. Government Gives Green Light to Explicit Sex Ed in Lessons - John Smeaton, S.P.U.C.

The Seven Brothers and Saint Felicitas - Catholic Lane

For the latest round-up on the best punditry in the Catholic blogosphere go to ThePulp.it.

Here in the United States we didn’t hear much about one of the newest pro-life witnesses: 8-month-old Frieda Mangold.

Baby Frieda set a record. She’s Europe’s most premature baby, and according to reports, she ties the world record for smallest baby with a boy in Ottawa, Canada, who was born in 1987.

When she was born on Nov. 7, 2010, in Germany, Frieda was in the womb just 21 weeks and five days.

She weighed just over a pound (1.01 pounds, or 460 grams) and was 11 inches long. She spent the next few months in the neonatal unit of Klinikum Fulda Children’s Hospital in Fulda, Germany — a town St. Boniface knew well.

When she left the hospital, she weighed 7.71 pounds and stretched out...READ MORE