‘Why we defend the guilty’

Ron Yengitch defends criminals for a living because the law says everyone deserves a strong defense, according to the Intermountain Catholic in Salt Lake City. Read this story of a Catholic who applies his faith to his work as a defense attorney and find out why his favorite Scripture story is about the woman caught in [...]

More to ‘pay it forward’ for Lent

The “Pay It Forward for Lent” contest of The Catholic Spirit in St. Paul, Minn., (previous posts are here and here) just keeps growing. Click here for the latest update.

Two rosary-makers, two different stories

The Catholic Courier in Rochester, N.Y., has a story of two people of different ages in the diocese who, as the story says, “share a common passion: making and giving away rosaries.” Frank Pettrone has been making rosaries for nearly a decade and is the first to use each of his creations. And 16-year-old Gretchen Smith [...]

An unexpected highlight of a trip to Lourdes

When visual media manager Nancy Wiechec and I went to Lourdes, France, to illustrate how pilgrims celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions, we never expected to be touched by a young woman who communicated with her smile and her hands.
Sick people come to Lourdes to be healed. But this woman came to help.
Although [...]

Lourdes anniversary recap

We had great coverage this week of the 150th anniversary of the Lourdes apparitions. Our photos and graphics manager, Nancy Wiechec, filed some wonderful images (like the one at the left) of pilgrims gathered in Lourdes to mark the date in 1858 when Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous, a poor, illiterate 14-year-old girl near [...]

‘Favorite family food for Lent’

Looking for some new recipes for Lent? The Arkansas Catholic asked its readers for their family favorites and came up with 113 suggestions, all of which can be found here. Surely you can find one that’s worth a try.

Vatican phone book slims down

An updated Vatican phone book was finally released this month. Strangely enough, it looked thinner than the last one.
In fact, the 2008 elenco telefonico lost 61 pages, almost 30 percent, from its previous edition. What did they cut out? The answer was apparent to anyone who opened it: most of the names were gone from [...]

Bishop calls for comprehensive immigration reform

If you’re a Catholic in the pew wondering why the church holds the position it does on immigration reform, this story in the Intermountain Catholic in Salt Lake City could be worth a look. The head of that diocese, Bishop John C. Wester, also is the current chairman of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee, and he urged [...]

Tales of longevity for Valentines’ week

He’s 101. She’s 99. And they’ve been married 83 years this month, long enough to wind up in the book version of Guinness World Records. Meet Clarence and Mayme Vail and read their story of faith in The Catholic Spirit in St. Paul, Minn.
And while you’re comparing that story to your own relationship with your [...]

‘Shaving heads for Fred’

Dozens of students and teachers at a Minnesota Catholic school volunteered to have their heads shaved to raise funds for a classmate who was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. Details are in The Catholic Spirit, which reports that the Shave Your Head for Fred benefit raised about $10,000.