Archives
By: Jennifer Willems - February 2, 2016 -
Featured Article, News Article
Alleman, Catholic, Distinguished, Rock Island, Schools, Teacher, VanDeHeede
Lynn VanDeHeede meets with seniors Ally Zahringer, Rachel Elliott and Kyler Yodts to plan an activity at Alleman High School in Rock Island. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)
ROCK ISLAND — Counseling at Alleman High School changed when Lynn VanDeHeede became the director of the department 11 years ago. A teacher who enjoyed her time in the classroom, she didn’t want to be isolated from the students or see them only when something got serious enough to require intervention. With Kathy Miller […]
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By: Jennifer Willems - February 1, 2016 -
Featured Article, News Article
Catholic, Distinguished, Pastor, Schools, Washington, Week, Willard
Father Stephen Willard prays with a class at St. Patrick School in Washington. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)
WASHINGTON — If Father Stephen Willard had his way, every child would receive a Catholic school education, and ability to pay should not be an obstacle, according to the Diocese of Peoria’s Distinguished School Pastor for 2015-16. “People are very generous in the parishes. We have tuition assistance funds. Sometimes it might be difficult, but […]
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By: Tom Dermody - January 29, 2016 -
Featured Article
Bloomington, Franciscans, Scheeler, Schneider, St. Mary
Father Ric Schneider, OFM, who has served as pastor of St. Mary Parish in Bloomington for 23 years, receives a hug from a parishioner following the 9 a.m. Mass on Jan. 24. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
BLOOMINGTON — After 135 years of pastoral leadership at St. Mary Parish in Bloomington, the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province will return care of the faith community to the Diocese of Peoria in June. The announcement was made “with a very heavy heart” at all parish Masses the weekend of Jan. 23-24 […]
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By: Tom Dermody - January 29, 2016 -
Featured Article
2016, blizzard, Diocese, East Moline, Life, March, Moline, Peoria, pilgrims
Some of the 38 pilgrims from Moline and East Moline explore the nearly two feet of snow that left them stopped for 20 hours on a closed section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike on their way home from the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Provided photo
Whether they came home early or stayed and were stranded in a blizzard on a Pennsylvania roadway or in a Washington, D.C., hotel room, hundreds of pilgrims from the Diocese of Peoria will long remember the 2016 national March for Life. Among those staying and marching as winter storm Jonas approached was a group of […]
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By: Jennifer Willems - January 27, 2016 -
Featured Article
2016, Chicago, Diocese, Life, March, Peoria, Pro-life
CHICAGO — Frigid temperatures were no match for the warm hearts more than 5,000 people from across the Midwest brought to March for Life Chicago on Jan. 17. Among them were many “ambassadors of the pro-life cause” from the Diocese of Peoria. A bus pilgrimage sponsored by the diocese included 90 people, half of them […]
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By: Tom Dermody - January 23, 2016 -
Featured Article, News Article
abortion, holy, hour, Jenky, mercy, Miller, Peoria, Pro-life
A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe is brought forward at the start of the diocese-wide Mass and Holy Hour of Reparation and Healing at St. Joseph Church in Peoria on Jan. 22. Our Lady's intercession was frequently asked in prayers seeking an end to abortion and encounters of mercy for mothers and fathers of aborted children. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
A week of pro-life activities culminated in the Diocese of Peoria with hundreds joining Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, at St. Joseph Church in Peoria for two hours of “spiritual warfare” that included a declaration that “we are not in a battle with those who have had an abortion.” “That may be stating the obvious, […]
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By: Tom Dermody - January 20, 2016 -
Featured Article
abortion, Hoye, Peoria, Pro-life, Sanctity
Participants in the Walk for Life take part in a prayer march around the Federal Courthouse in downtown Peoria on Jan. 19. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
“Why are you pro-life?” Keynote speaker Rev. Walter B. Hoye II emphasized the “you” repeatedly in a challenge to nearly 200 at the annual Sanctity of Human Life Rally in Peoria on Jan. 19. “Ask yourself, inside your heart. Be honest. Why are you?” asked Hoye, founder and president of the Issues4Life Foundation and a […]
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By: The Catholic Post - January 14, 2016 -
Featured Article, News Article
Peoria, Pro-life, Roe, Wade
The Diocese of Peoria is sponsoring a pilgrimage to March for Life Chicago (shown in a 2015 file photo) on Sunday, Jan. 17. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)
Activities during the coming week — including the March for Life in Chicago, the National March for Life in Washington, D.C. and a Mass in Peoria celebrated by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC — will keep people around central Illinois busy as they observe the 43rd anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. The Supreme Court decision, […]
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By: Tom Dermody - January 12, 2016 -
Featured Article, News Article
The former HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital in Streator is now known as the OSF Center for Health-Streator. (The Catholic Post/Tom Dermody)
STREATOR — With gladness, pledges for the future and acknowledgement of community concerns, OSF Healthcare System on Jan. 4 assumed ownership of the former St. Mary’s Hospital site previously operated by Hospital Sisters Health System. The facility at 111 Spring St. is now known as the OSF Center for Health-Streator. An open house is planned […]
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By: Jennifer Willems - January 7, 2016 -
Featured Article, News Article
Ayers, deployed, John, Monmouth, Seminarian
New seminarian serving in U.S. Army deploys to Afghanistan
Deployment to the Middle East isn’t one of the usual steps for priestly formation in the Diocese of Peoria, but that seems to be the path on which God has set Monmouth native John Ayers. He wouldn’t have it any other way. “I’m not only going to Afghanistan to be a good soldier, but I’m […]
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