The Washington Post fulfilled every liturgist's dream by publishing a story about the two Marinis--Piero and Guido--the pope's former and current master of ceremonies. The coverage is surprisingly decent, given that it is total inside baseball--so much so I'm surprised the Post printed it.

Pope Benedict's remarks on the use of condoms in the prevention of HIV continue to reverberate, both in the blogosphere and in the printed Catholic press. The UK Tablet has this analysis from Austin Ivereigh, who concludes--correctly in my mind--that:The breakthrough is the Pope’s mention of a condom as a positive first step – impossible were it “intrinsically evil”.

Christmas time brings a wealth of liturgical feasts, but one feast suffers somewhat from the eminence of Christmas: the Holy Family. This year it comes the day after Christmas—kind of like an afterthought of the great holiday. Preachers will speak about the wonderful example of love among the Holy Family and urge congregations to enhance family ties.

Passing on traditions can means passing on faith.