At one point during the synagogue hostage situation in Colleyville, Texas, on Jan. 15, interfaith leaders stationed at nearby Good Shepherd Catholic Community Church began discussing why bad things happen to good people.
Author: John Lavenburg
Catholic Students Help Afghan Refugees With Asylum Process
Last month, as Rozita Gerhardt helped Afghan refugees complete their asylum applications, she thought of her mother, who years ago fled Iran, and how this was just the first step of what will be a lifelong process.
Dioceses Without A Bishop Press On With Their Synod Consultations
When Bishop Robert Brennan invited the Diocese of Columbus to an initiative to shape the diocese’s future in early 2021, two things hadn’t happened yet: His appointment to the Diocese of Brooklyn in the fall, and the start of the diocesan phase of the Synod on Synodality.
New Mexico Archbishop Pushes for Nuclear Disarmament
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe says he vividly remembers a somber day on a 2017 trip to Japan where he heard the story of school children rushing to their classroom windows on an August day in 1945, attracted by the bright light of an atomic bomb detonating.
Bronx Parish Comes Together for Fire Victims
Susan Watts sat towards the back of St. Simon Stock Catholic Church on Monday night with a heavy heart thinking of the eight children she knew that were affected by Sunday’s tragic building fire, including one who died — “I came here to pray for them and for everybody that was affected.”
Documentary On Louisiana Priests’ Path To Sainthood Bound For Cannes
Last January, when Chris Charles Scott directed a documentary about five French priests who cared for the sick during the 1873 yellow fever epidemic in Shreveport, Louisiana, he never expected it would land in this year’s Cannes World Film Festival.
Philadelphia Archbishop Prays for Victims of Fire That Killed 12
Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia asked Catholics to join him in praying for all those that were affected by a duplex house fire on Jan. 5 which killed at least 12 people, including seven children.
Boston College Health Director Sees ‘Optimistic Scenario’ With Omicron
Philip J. Landrigan strongly supports COVID-19 vaccine mandates. As the director of the Boston College Global Public Health Program, it’s his medical perspective on how to keep hospitalizations and death rates down even if cases climb. It’s his theological perspective, too, as a teacher at a Jesuit university.
‘No One Expected This Outpouring of Support’
On Friday, Dec. 17, the scene at the parish center of Christ the King Catholic Church in Madisonville, Ky., was organized chaos anchored on a single purpose: to meet the needs of those reeling from devastation.
In One Town, Survivors Cherish Life As Best Christmas Present
On Saturday, Dec. 18, Elko was out in front of his house loading a U-Haul truck with whatever he could save from his home, which was crushed by a fallen tree. His neighborhood was in the direct path of the tornado, only about a mile from the candle factory where eight people died.