Since 1972, the year before the United States’ Supreme Court legalized abortion, the U.S. bishops have designated the first Sunday of October as Respect Life Sunday. This year’s observance is Oct. 5. Throughout the Diocese of Peoria and across the country on that day, Catholics and likeminded people will form “Life Chains” in silent and […]
Continue readingBible studies for teens and adults, parish missions, a pioneering preschool religious education venture and a fall retreat for parish catechetical leaders are among the projects receiving grants from the Diocese of Peoria’s Fulton Sheen Endowment for Religious Education and Adult Faith Formation this fall. Sixty grants to 29 parishes totaling $26,973 were approved by […]
Continue readingFor the last two years, the Muslim-Catholic Women’s Dialogue has been hosted by the Sisters of St. Benedict at St. Mary Monastery in Rock Island. This year, the Muslim women will welcome their Christian friends to the Islamic Center of the Quad Cities, 6005 34th Ave., Moline. The first part of the dialogue, planned for […]
Continue readingOTTAWA — A third major flood of 2008 has impacted the Diocese of Peoria, this time brought on by heavy weekend rains that swelled the Illinois River and other waterways to historic levels, especially in the LaSalle County area. Among the Catholic properties sustaining damage was Gould Stadium, the football field at Marquette High School, […]
Continue readingEven as parishes and schools throughout the Diocese of Peoria prepare to celebrate Catechetical Sunday this weekend, four young women are hard at work exploring the role they will play as ministers of “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of Church.” Laura Scrafford, Rebecca Mosca, Kathy Haninger and Anna Waechter are graduate […]
Continue readingHENRY — The phone rang in the office of Gail Kruse at King’s House, the Diocese of Peoria’s well-known retreat center. Well, maybe not known well by everyone. “Can I talk to Mr. King?” the caller asked. “You sure can,” answered Gail, not missing a beat and referring to Christ the King, for whom the […]
Continue readingBLOOMINGTON — The church’s moral teachings are not just to help Catholics decide for whom to vote, but should also inspire and guide Catholics in how they lead their lives between elections. That was the theme of a workshop presented by Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, at St. Mary’s Parish […]
Continue readingWelcoming students, teachers and administrators from Catholic schools around the diocese to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria on Wednesday, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, quipped that he was probably the last person to say, “Welcome back to school.” And yet every time they come to church for Mass, he said, they are entering “the school […]
Continue readingThe following guest commentary was written by Nancy Piccione, a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Metamora. An avid reader, she has a B.A. in English literature and an M.S. in journalism. She is married to Joseph Piccione and they have three children — none of whom, she reports, are teenagers. Yet. When Claire, the […]
Continue readingWOODHULL — Woven into the cotton threads of Jane Streeter’s 100-year-old baptismal gown is a story of five generations of faith and tradition. The story begins in late 1908, when Sarah Walsh Cole made a baptismal gown while she was expecting the birth of her son, Richard Cole, Streeter’s father. He wore that gown at […]
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