VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Increasing vocations to the priesthood, improving the way laypeople and priests work together and ensuring that service, not power, motivates the request for ordination are all possible outcomes of a major symposium being planned by the Vatican in February 2022.
A novel fundraising approach to restore one of the most iconic monuments in the world, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, enables donors to have a piece of history.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As religious leaders, scholars, experts and abuse survivors come together online to participate in a three-day international symposium on faith, healing and prevention, Pope Francis sent a message as part of a series of opening remarks for the event.
WASHINGTON- The bishops along the border of the United States and Northern Mexico have issued a joint statement on the situation at the border of the two countries.
Father Rick Stansberry, pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church, and Father Bill Pruett, pastor of Saint James the Greater Catholic Church, were presented the 2020 Blessed Stanley Rother Faithful Shepherd Award by Archbishop Coakley and their fellow priests during a ceremony before the Chrism Mass on March 30 at The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City.
This summer, for the 22nd year, school-age campers from across the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City will gather at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Youth Camp for a week of prayer, activities and friendship.
Thousands of students leave their homes and communities each year to attend college. Once away from home, students sometimes stop attending Mass, which can lead to leaving the Church. But, through Catholic campus ministries across several Oklahoma campuses, they have the opportunity to connect with fellow Catholic students.
The 51st anniversary of Earth Day is April 22. For many, this Earth Day is significant because it presents an opportunity to properly celebrate both this year’s Earth Day and last year’s golden anniversary, which passed quietly during the early season of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Jim Beckman, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices that they had prepared. And, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has risen’” (Luke 24:1-6; NASB).
- Luis Soto, Assistant Executive Director of the Secretariat for Evangelization and Catechesis
We have been invited to support and participate in the Annual Catholic Appeal. The life of the archdiocese and many of its ministries, services and apostolates are supported by it and depend on our participation. Every year the archbishop makes an invitation for all Catholics in the archdiocese to contribute their donations. These donations are in addition to our offering at our parish.
This illustrated children’s book was created by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and published by Loyola Press. The book responds to “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love, A Pastoral Letter Against Racism” and is intended to “empower young readers to reflect on the reality of racism in our society and to act towards respect, understanding and friendship.”
In his passion, Jesus’ sufferings were unequaled. For the Son of God offered himself as a sacrifice for all. No one, not even the saintliest person, can take on the sins of all people in every time and place. Only God can, and did.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — One year ago, Pope Francis stood in a rain-drenched, empty St. Peter’s Square praying for God’s comfort as the world began experiencing the growing severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WASHINGTON (CNS) — In the days following the March 16 shootings in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six Asian American women, protests and vigils took place around the country remembering the victims and calling for an end to a growing wave of anti-Asian racism and violence.
WASHINGTON — Following a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, CO, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development issued the following statement:
OKLAHOMA CITY – Construction crews on Tuesday March 23 lifted the final steel beam onto the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in south Oklahoma City. The beam, which was signed by hundreds of Oklahomans, is the latest construction milestone for the shrine, which is expected to be completed in late summer 2022.
Catholic Bishops of England and Wales restored the custom of Catholics abstaining from meat and fasting on every Friday of the year. Older Catholics will remember this was the custom of the Church in the United States. Father Phil Seeton, pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Lawton, encourages his parishioners to not just do the minimum required by the Church but to pray and abstain from meat on Fridays during the whole year. This is done in remembrance of the Lord who died on a Friday.
After almost a year of being quarantined, Saint Ann Retirement Center in Oklahoma City reopened March 14 for family members to return to the community and visit loved ones.
The bizarre story of Father Adam Oraczewski is one of the most intriguing tales of the Church in Oklahoma. In desperate need of clergy, and especially Polish-speaking priests to lead the predominately Polish parish in Harrah, Bishop Meerschaert was the perfect mark for the complex and odd charlatan that was Father Oraczewski.