The words “rejoice” and “wow” were frequently heard last weekend at dedication ceremonies for a major school and church expansion project at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Peoria. Noting that the dedication took place on the Third Sunday of Advent, known as “Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday,” Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, opened the Mass preceding the […]
Continue readingCHAMPAIGN — More than 600 Spanish-speaking Catholics from the Champaign area were urged to let Mary lead them closer to Christ during a Spanish Mass celebrated in a festively decorated St. Matthew’s Church here on the Dec. 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “Our Lady always appears to open the way to a better […]
Continue readingIt was fiesta time in St. Mark’s Church in Peoria last Friday afternoon, as Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, joined students, staff and parents of St. Mark’s School to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe by praying the rosary in Spanish. Bishop Jenky had received letters from St. Mark’s seventh grade Spanish class, […]
Continue readingA new Vatican document on biomedical ethics provides a teaching opportunity, especially for infertile Catholic couples who do not understand the church’s stand against in vitro fertilization, according to a local natural family planning and fertility care specialist. “Dignitas Personae” (“The Dignity of a Person”), an instruction issued last Friday by the Vatican Congregation for […]
Continue readingDAVENPORT, Iowa — Quad City Right to Life (QCRTL) is offering a way to support its work on behalf of life and save money at the same time through sales of “The Quad Cities Dining Tour” coupon book. This is the fifth year the organization is using the book, which includes 200 coupons for area […]
Continue readingRating: L (R) 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. Surreal, pessimistic drama in which a theater director (Philip Seymour Hoffman), deserted by his artist wife (Catherine Keener), endlessly rehearses a constantly expanding […]
Continue readingROME (CNS) — An Italian government official intervened to stop a hospital from withholding nutrition and hydration from a woman who has been in a persistent vegetative state for 16 years. The Dec. 16 decree by Maurizio Sacconi, Italy’s welfare minister, temporarily blocked Eluana Englaro’s physician and family from carrying out an Italian supreme court […]
Continue readingVATICAN CITY (CNS) — This year’s economic crisis could help people rediscover the true meaning of Christmas and the values of life, love and charity, Pope Benedict XVI said. After the “consumerist and materialistic scales have been shed, Christmas can then become an occasion to accept as a personal gift the message of hope that […]
Continue readingDETROIT (CNS) — Cardinal Adam J. Maida of Detroit emphasized the need for urgent government action to allocate at least enough money to help Detroit’s automakers stay afloat until a more comprehensive assistance package can be worked out in the new year. “People in households throughout southeast Michigan and all across the country are counting […]
Continue readingBy: By Msgr. Stuart Swetland Third Sunday of Advent, Dec. 14 Isaiah 61:1-2a,10-11; (Psalm) Luke 1:46-48,49-50,53-54; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8,19-28 Who are you? This question is often asked. In our modern world our identity can be our most guarded possession. We are asked to offer proof of identity all the time: traveling, shopping, on […]
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