The Catholic Post Category: Featured Article - Page 50

Hundreds turn out in Normal to receive a blessing and Holy Week Survival Kit

By: Jennifer Willems - April 6, 2020 - Featured Article Epiphany Parish, Father Joe Baker, Holy Week, Msgr. Eric Powell, Palm Sunday

Msgr. Eric Powell sprinkles holy water on one of the hundreds of cars filled with parishioners from Epiphany Parish in Normal that drove by to receive a blessing and Holy Week Survival Kit on Palm Sunday. They lined College Avenue to wait for an opportunity to turn into the entrance to the church parking lot. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)

NORMAL — For four precious hours on Palm Sunday, priests and parishioners at Epiphany Catholic Church were able to share smiles and greetings as between 800 and 900 cars drove through the parking lot to pick up Holy Week Survival Kits. Due to the cancellation of public Masses, it was the first time they had […]

Drive through confessions offered by some parishes as Holy Week approaches

By: The Catholic Post - April 1, 2020 - Featured Article

Among the priests of the Diocese of Peoria offering drive through confessions is Father Peter Zorjan, right, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Colona and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Silvis. At left, a penitent (foreground car) pulls up beside Father Zorjan's car outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church last Saturday. (Photos by Brian Wellner and provided)

By Brian Wellner / For The Catholic Post SILVIS — Parking lot confessions are the new normal in the Diocese of Peoria as more parishes take the private, intensely personal sacrament outside in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Last Saturday, Father Peter Zorjan heard confessions for the first time in front of Our Lady of […]

Galesburg woman’s effort to connect hearts embraced around world

By: Jennifer Willems - March 31, 2020 - Featured Article, Uncategorized

Designed as a "social distance scavenger hunt," Heart Hunters has turned into a way for people to come together by sharing love and kindness, according to founder Krista Wynes of Galesburg. This is one of the photos shared by the group's 600,000 Facebook followers. (Provided photo)

GALESBURG — As precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 caused people to shelter in place, Krista Wynes offered them a way to connect by sharing their hearts. They responded to her call for a “social distance scavenger hunt” by placing hearts on windows and doors, making her new Heart Hunters Facebook group a […]

Early distribution of Easter lilies, palms a sign of hope in Westville, Georgetown

By: Tom Dermody - March 30, 2020 - Featured Article

Father Timothy Sauppé, pastor of St. Mary in Westville and St. Isaac Jogues in Georgetown, holds a blessed palm in front of tables with 400 Easter lilies that are available for pick up by every household of his two parishes ahead of Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter. (Provided photo)

WESTVILLE — Normally, Father Timothy Sauppé would not have 400 Easter lilies in his parish center a week before Palm Sunday. But this is not a normal Lent. So the pastor of St. Mary, Westville, and St. Isaac Jogues, Georgetown, purchased a plant for every registered household of both faith communities. And he is inviting […]

COVID-19 is not God’s judgment, but a call to live differently, Pope Francis says

By: The Catholic Post - March 27, 2020 - Featured Article

Pope Francis holds the monstrance as he delivers his extraordinary blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) during a prayer service in the portico of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on March 27. The service was livestreamed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. (CNS/Vatican Media)

By Cindy Wooden / Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The worldwide coronavirus pandemic is not God’s judgment on humanity, but God’s call on people to judge what is most important to them and resolve to act accordingly from now on, Pope Francis said. Addressing God, the pope said that “it is not the […]

Diocese’s schools now closed through April 13; e-learning plans implemented

By: Jennifer Willems - March 26, 2020 - Featured Article

Aimé Blankenship, a first-grader in Abby Brancaleon’s class at St. Patrick School in Washington, practices the skills she’ll need for e-learning before all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Peoria closed at the end of the day on March 13. The schools will remain closed through Easter Monday, with online learning beginning March 31. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, has directed that all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Peoria remain closed through Easter Monday, April 13. The announcement was made March 23 in conjunction with a letter from the bishop informing the faithful that public Masses would continue to be suspended through Easter Sunday. The schools are scheduled […]

Public Masses suspended though Easter, Catholic school closings extended

By: The Catholic Post - March 25, 2020 - Featured Article

The light of Christ, taken from the paschal candle, is shared by those who were received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil last April at St. Patrick Church, Galesburg. (The Catholic Post/Jennifer Willems)

“With great sadness” on Monday evening, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, announced that the suspension of all public worship — first implemented as a coronavirus precaution on March 14 — will continue in the Diocese of Peoria at least through Easter Sunday, April 12. “Holy Week and Easter rank as the most important moments we […]

In video message, Bishop Jenky offers encouragement during pandemic

By: Tom Dermody - March 22, 2020 - Featured Article

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, speaks words of encouragement during the coronavirus pandemic in a video recorded March 21 in the chapel of the cathedral rectory in Peoria.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Following is the text of a video message from Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, to the Diocese of Peoria released on March 21. It is published, along with updated directives from the Diocese of Peoria during the coronavirus pandemic, on the diocese’s web page, cdop.org. Dear friends: I am speaking to you […]

Spiritual hunger awakened by suspension of Masses can lead to growth, grace

By: Jennifer Willems - March 18, 2020 - Featured Article

As the faithful adjust to the new reality of watching Masses that are being live streamed from their churches or rectory and convent chapels in an effort to prevent transmission of COVID-19, many are wondering what they should be doing as they sit in front of their computer, television or cellphone. Father Jacob Rose advises […]

Bishop Jenky suspends all public Masses in the Diocese of Peoria effective March 14

By: The Catholic Post - March 13, 2020 - Featured Article

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, citing coronavirus precautions, suspended all public Masses in the Diocese of Peoria effective with the Vigil Masses of Saturday, March 14. (The Catholic Post file/Tom Dermody)

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, has suspended all public Masses in the Diocese of Peoria beginning with the Vigil Mass on this Saturday, March 14. Following is the full text of his statement, released on the afternoon of Friday, March 13, 2020. Click here for his March 12 statement with directives also affecting Catholic schools […]

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