By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When it comes to sex education programs, the Catholic Church is painted as old-fashioned and callous about teen pregnancy and disease. But governments that mandate sex education in the schools are fooling themselves about its effectiveness, the Vatican newspaper said. (more…)
Prayers for vocations were lifted up as the Serra Clubs of Beaumont and Port Arthur gathered to honor their namesake, Father Junipero Serra, during a Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption, Beaumont, Aug. 28.
“We all have different crosses and suffering that we have to endure. Father Serra was met with a lot of hostility as he made his way through California with his mission work. But he never gave up,” Father Shane Baxter, director of vocations, said during his homily. (more…)
Parishioners at St. Henry, Bridge City, gathered in the parish hall to celebrate their pastor Father Steven Leger’s 25th year in the priesthood. The afternoon was full of good food and memories as parishioners perused photos from his many years as a priest. (more…)
By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service
A 30-foot sculpture of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is seen Aug. 22 at a memorial on the National Mall in Washington. The Aug. 28 dedication of the memorial to the civil rights leader was postponed because of Hurricane Irene. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Sister Antona Ebo, an 87-year-old Franciscan Sister of Mary, does not want Washington’s new memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to just be a quick tourist stop.
She hopes visitors take time to reflect on the words of the civil rights leader carved in stone at the memorial, which opened to the public Aug 22. Or better yet, she hopes these words and the 30-foot likeness of Rev. King carved in stone will prompt some soul searching.
“If we have to keep talking about keeping the dream alive, then what have we been doing for it still to be a dream?” said Sister Antona. “Martin was our dreamer; his dream was for his time. Who are our dreamers today? You have to search kind of hard to find people with new dreams appropriate for our time,” she told Catholic News Service in an Aug. 24 telephone interview.
Sister Antona isn’t one to mince words, showing the same spirit she demonstrated in 1965 when she marched with Rev. King in a legendary protest for voting rights in Selma, Ala. The march took place just days after what has been called “Bloody Sunday” when state troopers assaulted demonstrators with clubs and tear gas. (more…)
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — More than a million young Catholics learned the hard way about a venerable Catholic tradition: “spiritual Communion” or the “Communion of desire.”
After a wild storm Aug. 20 at World Youth Day in Madrid left six people injured — including two with broken legs — Spanish police collapsed the tents where most of the unconsecrated hosts for the next morning’s Mass were being kept. (more…)
Educators in the Diocese of Beaumont embarked on a four-year journey toward making their schools the best they can be Aug. 24 at the Catholic Pastoral Center. The meeting was led by Richard Burke, president of Catholic School Management, Inc.
“At the end of the day one of our main goals is to ensure that development programs and institutionalized advancement programs work better in your schools,” Burke said. (more…)
Cecil Placette, father of Father David Placette, parochial vicar of St. Charles Borromeo, Nederland, passed away Aug. 24.
Grammier-Oberle, Port Arthur, will handle arrangements. A rosary will be Friday evening and Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Charles, 211 Hardy Ave.
Faith and fun were the orders of the day as St. Pius X, Beaumont, parishioners gathered to celebrate the feast day of St. Pius X Aug. 21.
Bishop Curtis Guillory, SVD, joined Society of the Divine Word Father Joseph Dang in celebrating Mass.
“I wish that everyone had the opportunity to go around the diocese and experience the great events that are going on at all the parishes. Every parish has its own unique personality, but we’re all in the body of Christ,” Bishop Guillory said. (more…)
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the closing Mass of World Youth Day at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Madrid Aug. 21. "The Lord loves you and calls you his friends," the pope told the 1.5 million pilgrims attending. (CNS photo/Alessia Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo)
MADRID (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI said he was leaving Madrid filled with gratitude to the Spanish people, the World Youth Day organizers and volunteers and the million-plus pilgrims who prayed with him.
“Spain is a great nation whose soundly open, pluralistic and respectful society is capable of moving forward without surrendering its profoundly religious and Catholic soul,” the pope told King Juan Carlos and other dignitaries Aug. 21 before boarding a plane to return to Rome.
Spain has a reputation as a country where the overwhelming majority of residents are baptized, but faith has little resonance in public policy.
But Pope Benedict said the way Spanish society handled World Youth Day showed it could rally for a great cause: “helping young people to become more deeply rooted in Jesus Christ, our savior.”
The pope thanked the young pilgrims who came to Madrid for World Youth Day with their “joyful, enthusiastic and intense presence. To them I say thank you, and I congratulate you for the witness which you gave. (more…)
(updated 8-24-11)
Deacon Kevin Sullivan of Corpus Christi passed away at the age of 66 after suffering a heart attack Aug. 21. He recently moved into the Diocese of Beaumont, and Bishop Curtis Guillory, SVD, appointed him as deacon at St. Mary, Cleveland, effective Aug. 10.
He was ordained to the permanent diaconate for the Diocese of Corpus Christi Nov. 11, 2008. (more…)
