Pope says St. Hildegard of Bingen is model for today

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:28:35 +0000

Catholic News Service

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — St. Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century German mystic, used her gifts to build up the Church at a time of trouble similar to today, Pope Benedict XVI said.

St. Hildegard is relevant today because of "her love for Christ and His Church, which was suffering in her time, too, and was wounded also then by the sins of priests and laypeople," the pope said.

Archdiocesan News Briefs | September 3, 2010

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:20:13 +0000

Backpack blessing Father Donald Henke of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary gave a blessing to children for “Blessing of the Backpacks Sunday” at Mass Aug. 22 at Immacolata Church in Richmond Heights. The event was intended to build a stronger relationship between the parish and the school. The blessing was given after two Masses, and afterward the congregation was invited to visit Immacolata School. Bringing school families, parishioners and grandparents to the school helped them gain a greater appreciation for the benefits of a Catholic education.

Anger management

Robert Furey, a professional counselor, will be the guest speaker at the First Tuesday Pro-Life Speaker Series at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 7, at St. Peter Parish, 215 N. Clay Ave. in Kirkwood. Furey will speak on the topic of anger management, how it can serve a greater good and how its destructive forces can be minimized. A reception will follow.

Festa di Santa Fara

Image Gallery | Flooding challenges life in Pakistan

maureenflynn — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:37:51 +0000

Estimates of the number of people affected by severe flooding in
Pakistan that began in late July range from 16 million to 20 million.
Catholic Relief Services reports that the floods in northern Pakistan
were sudden and violent. The water cut 100-foot-wide and 40-foot-high
gashes out of mountainsides. Water delivery systems, roads, bridges,
people’s land and more were destroyed by the sudden force of the water.
Entire communities are displaced in the south, but their land, although
damaged, will be there after the floodwaters go down. Catholic Relief

Faith for the Future: Kenrick-Glennon Seminary campaign on the move

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:33:31 +0000

By Joseph Kenny | jkenny@stlouisreview.com

Scott Scheiderer, a first-year pre-theology seminarian at Kenrick School of Theology, read a book by Pope Benedict XVI entitled "Church Fathers" in his room, which is part of a recent expansion of living spaces to accommodate the growing need for residential space at the seminary.

Progress as promised.

Pledges for the capital campaign for Kenrick-Glennon Seminary are being collected and are being put to use, including for building the endowment.

In February, the Archdiocese of St. Louis announced that the "Faith for the Future" campaign exceeded its goal. The effort raised more than $61 million, an amount that was $11 million more than the target.

'Mother Teresa: Seeing the Face of Jesus' plays in film festival in India

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:51:00 +0000

Joseph Kenny | jkenny@stlouisreview.com

Children's video goes from St. Louis to India

Surprised, but definitely pleased.

David Mead of Creative Communications for the Parish in Fenton was awed by the news that a children's video he produced 12 years ago was chosen to be part of the Mother Teresa International Film Festival in India, Aug. 26-29.

"It's very exciting to know — my goodness, this made it into the hands of people on the other side of the world," Mead said last week. "You never know how these things are going to reach people."

‘Boomerang’ chalice returns to Soulard parish after 130 years

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:20:59 +0000

By Joseph Kenny | jkenny@stlouisreview.com

Father Bruce Forman, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Soulard, held the chalice that was presented to Father Franz Goller by the alumni association of Sts. Peter and Paul in 1880. Father Goller was pastor of the parish for more than 50 years, from 1858 to 1910. The chalice was recently restored and will be used for the first time at the parish festival on Sept. 26.

It was a boomerang that took only about 130 years to return.

In 1880, the alumni association of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in the Soulard neighborhood presented a chalice to Father Franz Goller, pastor of the South St. Louis parish.

The chalice ended up at the School Sisters of Notre Dame motherhouse in Lemay, where it was used on special occasions such as anniversaries. In addition to his parish duties, Father Goller was chaplain to the sisters at the motherhouse from the mid-1880s until his death in 1910.

Woman religious doctor makes strides with Natural Family Planning in Taiwan

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:56:55 +0000

Jennifer Brinker | jbrinker@stlouisreview.com

Sister Arlene Te, a religious of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart and a family medicine doctor in Tapiei, Taiwan, visited Aug. 27 with Emily Joost, right, a Creighton Model FertilityCare practitioner intern, at the Department of FertilityCare Services at St. John's Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur. Pictured at center is Diane Daly, director of the archdiocesan Office of Natural Family Planning. Joost, who lives in Belleville, Ill., has been corresponding with Sister Arlene via the Internet as she undergoes training to become a practitioner. Sister Arlene is in St. Louis to have an on-site visit with Joost. The woman religious then will travel to Omaha, Neb., later this week for the 25th anniversary celebration of the Pope Paul VI the Study of Human Reproduction.

With a high abortion rate, easy access to artificial reproductive technology and a low Catholic population, Taiwan wouldn't seem like a place where natural family planning would be embraced.

But Sister Arlene Te, a member of the Sisters of the Society Devoted to the Sacred Heart, is showing that's quite the contrary. The family medicine doctor, who practices at Cardinal Tien Hospital in Taipei, said she has observed a growing interest in NFP among couples who are trying to achieve a pregnancy.

Before the cross | We must keep our Catholic schools growing

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:05:41 +0000

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson

Archbishop Robert J. Carlson greeted Sister Deloris of the Immaculate Heart before he celebrated Holy Mass Saturday in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first profession of vows for Sister Deloris of the Immaculate Heart and Sister Magdalen of St. Jerome, both members of the Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Florissant. In the background is Father Robert Szydlowski, senior associate at St. Martin de Porres Parish in Hazelwood.

In January when I published my vision for Catholic schools, I wrote: "We cannot be content with the status quo or, worse, with declining enrollments in our schools. To truly be Alive in Christ our schools must be vibrant centers of evangelization and missionary activity. Promoting growth is not optional — no matter how difficult the challenges."

Claver organization elects youngest supreme knight

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:36:58 +0000

Catholic News Service

NEW ORLEANS — F. De-Karlos Blackmon, 34, of Huntsville, Ala., has been elected the youngest supreme knight and CEO in the history of the century-old Knights of Peter Claver.

Running on a platform of unity and progressive change, Blackmon was elected to the post during the national convention of the nation's only African-American Catholic fraternal organization and the world's largest black Catholic lay organization.

The convention, held in early August, drew more than 1,000 members from around the country to St. Louis' Millennium Hotel.

Respect Life Convention to promote the family's place in life issues

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:57:56 +0000