BISHOP VANN’S BLOG: THE YEAR OF MERCY AND MORE
The journey of Faith of the Second Week of Advent continues, and with it our own journey of life, faith and salvation. Like the custom of the “Advent” calendars that so many of us use in our homes, the...
View ArticlePERFORMING ARTS SPOTLIGHT: JSERRA’S EMMA MCCLELLAN
The performing arts programs at JSerra are really college prep for dancers, actors and musicians. The product of the Catholic high school’s dance program, Emma McClellan is also an outstanding student....
View ArticlePOPE FRANCIS LIGHTS VATICAN CHRISTMAS TREE
Pope Francis lights the holy candle, symbolic of the lighting of the huge Christmas tree in St. Peter’s square. Later, he offers comforting words to refugees via web cam.
View ArticleNEW VATICAN DOCUMENT REFLECTS ON RELATIONS BETWEEN CATHOLICS, JEWS
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholics are called to witness to their faith in Jesus before all people, including Jews, but the Catholic Church “neither conducts nor supports” any institutional missionary...
View ArticleILLUMINATING THE VATICAN
St. Peter’s Basilica, on the first evening of the Year of Mercy, became the backdrop for a video presentation, complete with audio, for an ecology light show. Tens of thousands gathered to watch as...
View ArticleMR. DOWNTOWN
Ever since Anastasios Marcopulos was a small child, he’d stand far from the basket and heave the ball toward the rim. The basket seemed so far away, Marcopulos needed both hands and a big hip swing...
View ArticleMARY VALADEZ, MC
YEARS AS A RELIGIOUS: 15 HER ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY: I cook for the sisters and children. I also work with a group of teenagers. I help the older sisters. HER GREATEST CHALLENGE: Learning another...
View Article‘IN OUR TIME’: A SHARED HISTORY
The Catholic Church has just marked the fiftieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the landmark Vatican II declaration that urged Catholics to understand and accept the Jewish roots of their Christian...
View ArticlePARENTING IN CYBERSPACE
If your 17-year-old asked you to borrow the car for a few hours, would you let her go if you had no idea where she was heading, who she was going to be with and what she’d be doing? Likely not. Why,...
View ArticleSTATEMENT FROM BISHOP VANN ABOUT THE SAN BERNARDINO TRAGEDY
The horrendous tragedy that unfolded in San Bernardino on December 2nd was a tragic and wanton disregard for life and an affront to the world God wishes that we foster on earth. We stand in solidarity...
View ArticleMEET SANTA MARGARITA CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL’S AUSTIN CLARK
When Austin Clark chose to make the transition from competitive swimming to water polo at the suggestion of his father, what he expected would be a natural progression presented much more of a...
View ArticleA SPIRITUAL RETREAT WITH STYLE
Father Peter Towsley didn’t look like the other guests waiting to check in at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. While most who had just arrived at this AAA Four-Diamond luxury hotel were dressed in...
View Article‘AMERICAN VALUES’ SURVEY SHOWS A NATION LESS TIGHTLY KNIT THAN BEFORE
A new “American Values” survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute shows widening gaps in how America regards itself, according to the institute’s president and CEO, Robert Jones. There...
View ArticleFINNIAN OF CLONARD
This Irish abbot, known as “the master” and “teacher of saints” in the period following St. Patrick, was reported to be from Leinster, where he began establishing monasteries. He traveled to Wales and...
View ArticleCATHOLIC SCHOOLS GIVE HIGH MARKS TO SWEEPING NEW FEDERAL EDUCATION LAW
WASHINGTON (CNS) — When President Barack Obama signed the sweeping bipartisan legislation Every Student Succeeds Act Dec. 10, he described it as a “Christmas miracle.” “This is an early Christmas...
View ArticlePOPE TO VISIT MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES IN MEXICO IN FEBRUARY
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will visit some of the most marginalized communities in Mexico and seek to bring hope to a country deeply suffering from crime, corruption and inequality when he...
View ArticleCATHOLIC ACTIVISTS, POPE SAY MORE WORK NEEDED AFTER CLIMATE CHANGE PACT
PARIS (CNS) — German Msgr. Josef Sayer prayed over a crowd of environmental activists at Saint-Merry Catholic Church, where they had joined for Mass after two weeks of intense lobbying in and around...
View ArticleSCIENCE AND FAITH: BRIDGING THE GAP THROUGH EDUCATION
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Creationism vs. evolution, scientific method vs. ethics, science vs. faith, the church’s censure and rehabilitation of Galileo Galilei. For centuries, there have been countless...
View ArticleIN PEACE DAY MESSAGE, POPE ADDRESSES DEATH PENALTY, DEBT, MIGRANTS
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis called for abolishing the death penalty worldwide, lifting the burden of debt on poor nations, global aid policies that respect life and revamped laws that welcome and...
View ArticleANNETTE WALKER NAMED DIVISION PRESIDENT OF ST. JOSEPH HEALTH
The St. Joseph Health System Board of Trustees and St. Joseph Health Ministry yesterday named Annette Walker division president of St. Joseph Health. The announcement was made by Deborah Proctor,...
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