It’s spring! If you had to shovel snow, take some solace in the fact that from here on out, the daylight hours will overwhelm the dark hours.
This is your weekly roundup.
Let’s get this one out of the way. The founder of Westboro Baptist Church, Fred Phelps, died this week. Proverbs tells us, “Do not rejoice when your enemies fall.”
In more uplifting and “kind of awesome” news, Ursuline Sister of the Holy Family Cristina Scuccia rocked the house on reality show The Voice Italy this week. Sister Cristina sang “No one” by Alicia Keys, and brought at least one judge to tears. He told her “If I had found you at Mass I would always be at church.”
Monday was St. Patrick’s Day, complete with its usual green beer and green rivers and green parades. This year, however, Guinness, Sam Adams, and Heineken pulled their sponsorships of the parades in New York City and Boston because the parades do not allow LGBT groups to participate. New York City mayor Bill de Blasio also refused to participate this year, and so the Catholic League’s Bill Donohue announced that he would no longer be drinking Guinness, Sam Adams, or Heineken.
Bill Donohue might be participating, however, in the NYC gay pride parade. According to the GLAAD website, Donohue asked to carry a banner in the parade that reads “Straight is great.” So far, Donohue has been warmly welcomed by LGBT groups.
Finally, today is World Down Syndrome Day. Go ahead and watch this video, and have your tissues handy.
And now for the Papal rapid fire roundup.
This week, Pope Francis:
- Prayed with victims of organized crime.
- Met Russell Crowe.
- Has people speculating about his meeting with President Obama next week.
- Posed for a selfie with some newlyweds.
And that’ll about do it for this week. Remember to tell us what you think about fracking, and check out our series of Lenten reflections. Enjoy these first days of spring, and let’s look forward to complaining that it’s just TOO HOT all the time.
