Catholics will come to Indianapolis in the tens of thousands for the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 — some as individuals, some as couples, some as groups. And some will come as families.
Nation
It was the first time some of the students had ever seen a nun. A pair of Sister Servants of the Lord visited St. Jude the Apostle Church in Lewes earlier this year to give the religious education students a look at women in habits. They talked about their call to the vocation, how they live and what it’s like to be a nun.
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York said he and other members of a delegation traveling in Israel and Palestine “feel safe and secure” April 14, after Israel defended itself overnight from unprecedented Iranian drone strikes and missiles.
Philippe Villeneuve, Notre Dame Cathedral’s chief architect, learned about the 2019 fire 300 miles from Paris and rushed to the capital to help firefighters save the iconic monument. For France’s top architect of historical sites, the evening of April 15, 2019, was especially dark as Notre Dame Cathedral was already his passion when he was a little boy. Since the inferno, he has worked tirelessly to finalize major parts of renovations by Dec. 8 when the cathedral is reopened.
Wearing scrubs en route to the hospital to begin her day, a health care specialist was asked how much she knew about Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa basketball superstar who has led her Hawkeye teammates — and by extension, all of “Hawkeye Nation” — to almost unprecedented acclaim in women’s basketball.
Within 24 hours after Archbishop William E. Lori asked Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore to support twin emergency relief funds for those affected by the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, nearly $50,000 was raised in online donations.
Catholic aid workers in Gaza are determined to continue their mission after a deadly strike killed colleagues from a fellow organization. Seven staff members of World Central Kitchen died April 1 when their three-vehicle convoy was hit in an Israeli air attack. The group — comprised of Australian, British, Polish and Palestinian nationals, as well as a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen — had just dropped off more than 100 tons of food stocks to a warehouse in central Gaza.
On May 18-19, groups of eight young adults will leave San Francisco; New Haven, Connecticut; San Juan, Texas; and Itasca State Park in Minnesota.
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception has once again been targeted by vandals. This time, a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the north lawn of the basilica grounds, located in an area known as Mary’s Garden, suffered severe damage.
Catholic couples and liturgical experts are advising how to observe Ash Wednesday — the beginning of the Latin Church’s penitential season of Lent leading up to Easter — which falls on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, this year.