By Catholic News Service Compelling documentary about the experiences of U.S. combat soldiers in Afghanistan as well as their postwar struggles to resume their lives back home. In 2011, Justin D. Roberts, who directed and co-wrote the narration with Alan Wain, served in Afghanistan as an Army chaplain. He carried a camera to document his […]
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Mel Gibson, Mark Wahlberg, Owen Wilder Vaccaro and Will Ferrell star in a scene from the movie "Daddy's Home 2." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults.(CNS/Paramount)
By Catholic News Service Silly slapstick predominates in this follow-up to the 2015 comedy about the blending pains of a post-divorce family. As the stepfather (Will Ferrell) and biological dad (Mark Wahlberg) whose rivalry fueled the first outing try to preserve the fragile harmony they’ve achieved during a Christmas visit by their own temperamentally contrasting […]
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Leonard Hybki, a member of St. Valentine Parish in Peru who served in the U.S. Army during the Korea conflict, salutes as the National Anthem is sung outside Queen of the Holy Rosary Shrine in LaSalle in ceremonies following a Veterans Day Mass on Nov. 8. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
LA SALLE — Students from Trinity Catholic Academy here got a Veterans Day homework assignment during a special Mass that drew military veterans as well as former priest military chaplains to the Diocese of Peoria’s shrine to war veterans here on Nov. 8. “On this Veterans Day, if you meet a veteran, I ask you […]
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Johnny Depp stars in a scene from the movie "Murder on the Orient Express." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Fox)
By Catholic News Service Sleek ensemble whodunit, set in the 1930s, presents Agatha Christie’s famed Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh who also directed), with an array of plausible suspects after a gangster (Johnny Depp) meets a grisly end on the luxurious train of the title. As Poirot questions the victim’s secretary (Josh Gad), butler […]
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The gym at Corpus Christi School in Bloomington was transformed into a place of worship for the Diocese of Peoria's Abide in Me high school youth retreat, including a "burning bush" tower of candles in the center that often held the Blessed Sacrament exposed for adoration. Pictured is the procession at the close of Mass on Sunday. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
BLOOMINGTON — Some of the 150 high school youth who took part in a diocesan retreat Nov. 3-5 came tired and stressed from busy school and activity schedules. Others attended reluctantly, prodded by parents or friends. But after spending 40 hours with Catholic peers from around the diocese — and in the constant presence of […]
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Melissa Leo stars in a scene from the movie "Novitiate." The Catholic News Service classification is O -- morally offensive. (CNS/Sony Pictures Classics)
By Catholic News Service At a time when the reforms of Vatican II caused some nuns to leave the convent, a wide-eyed young woman (Margaret Qualley) decides to enter, having fallen in love with God. There a rigid tyrant of a mother superior (Melissa Leo) lords it over her new charges, making it her mission […]
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Father Jeffrey Laible, spiritual director for Warriors to Lourdes, distributes Communion during Mass for English-speaking service members and their companions at the grotto in Lourdes, France, during the International Military Pilgrimage in May 2016. (Provided photo/Lt. Col. William Wong, M.D.)
LINCOLN — As Veterans Day approaches, plans are being made around the diocese to honor the men and women who have served their country. From his office at Holy Family Church here, Father Jeffrey Laible is also working to bring them the healing they may still need physically, spiritually and emotionally. A lieutenant colonel in […]
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Co-founders of Children of Hope and Faith are, left, Father Johndamaseni Zilimu, shown with children at a diocesan orphanage in Tanzania in 2006, and Jane Walsh of Champaign, holding two of the organization's recent newsletters.
CHAMPAIGN — Considering there are millions of child orphans in the world, the efforts of a group founded locally to assist hundreds of them in northwest Tanzania may not seem significant. That is, unless you are one of those helped. “We really try to help the individual child reach their full potential,” said Jane Walsh […]
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Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth star in a scene from the movie "Thor: Ragnarok." The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Disney)
By Catholic News Service A healthy dose of humor keeps this sweeping Marvel Comics adaptation — the second sequel to the 2011 original — on the boil, although it still registers as overlong. The straight-shooting Norse god of thunder (Chris Hemsworth) and his ever-wily brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), will have to patch up their differences […]
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Kyle VanOverbeke, Maria Wnorowski, Erin McNally and Brandon Early make up the second cohort of teaching fellows to serve in Catholic schools of the diocese through the Alliance of Catholic Education, sponsored by the University of Notre Dame. (Provided photo)
The opportunity to serve, grow in faith, gain teaching experience and make a difference has drawn four more young adults to Catholic schools in Peoria as teaching fellows with the Alliance for Catholic Education. They are the second cohort sent by the program, which is sponsored by the University of Notre Dame. They aren’t all […]
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