ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — Father Larry Snyder admits it’s a daunting challenge: starting work on cutting the U.S. poverty rate in half by 2020 at a time when thousands of Americans are drowning in debt and organizations that serve the poor are straining to meet their clients’ needs. Not only is Catholic Charities USA, […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — Greed lies at the root of all evil and is the source of the current global economic crisis, Pope Benedict XVI said. “It is precisely greed that insinuates to us that having is the highest good” in life and yet it is greed that distorts the purpose of material goods and […]
Continue readingRating: A-III (PG) NEW YORK (CNS) — The following is a capsule review of a movie recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Charming show biz comedy about a law school dropout (Colin Hanks) who takes a job as road manager for a once-famed but now […]
Continue readingOn Easter Sunday in churches throughout the Diocese of Peoria, pews were filled with visitors and Catholics who may only attend Mass a few times a year. Our poll question this week is: “How can we better welcome visitors and newcomers to our parishes at Mass throughout the year?” Some side questions to consider: Does […]
Continue readingMORTON — For three years in a row, Girl Scout Troop 4190 from Blessed Sacrament Parish in Morton has shown its care and concern for U.S. troops serving in Iraq or Afghanistan by treating them to boxes of their organization’s famous cookies. In 2007, what was then Brownie Troop 190 decided to send one box […]
Continue readingThe Diocese of Peoria has awarded 521 Catholic school students tuition assistance grants totaling nearly $700,000 for the 2009-2010 academic year. Both the grant total and the number of students awarded are the largest in the four years the diocese has disbursed monies from the John Lancaster Spalding Scholarship Fund, established by contributions to the […]
Continue readingAbout 200 pilgrims accompanied Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, as he visited three Peoria churches to pray before the Blessed Sacrament after Mass on Holy Thursday. “The pilgrimage was a resounding success. Look for it again next year,” said Chris Kreps, Bishop Jenky’s administrative assistant. “The bishop wants this to become a tradition.” The ancient […]
Continue readingPERU — Responding to renewed interest in providing opportunities for boarding students, St. Bede Academy here broke ground Monday for an on-campus residence that could house 16 female boarding students for the 2009-2010 school year. The Benedictine-run Academy was a boys’ boarding school from 1892 until 1981. “If you speak with alumni who graduated prior […]
Continue readingBetween 40 and 50 kidney transplants take place at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria every year and last week one of them was made possible by Msgr. Eric Powell, pastor of Epiphany Parish in Normal. Msgr. Powell, 45, donated one of his kidneys to an Epiphany parishioner during a two-hour surgery on Easter […]
Continue readingHollywood actor J. Omar Castro will be present at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria on Sunday, May 3, for a Marian prayer event that includes the screening of a segment of the new release “Rosary Stars: Praying the Gospel.” Family Theater Productions announced this week that Castro — one of 21 young adult celebrities featured […]
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