With the highly anticipated Papal visit to the United States this fall creeping ever closer, word has come out of the Vatican of a possible detour on the pope’s flight home to Rome. The Holy See Press Office has confirmed that Pope Francis is considering a visit to Cuba to cap off his first visit ...read more

From the left: Sr Laura, Sr Greta share with me about Venerable Henriette Delille’s story and her continuing significance. During my time in New Orleans, I visited with Sr. Greta and Sr. Laura of the Sisters of the Holy Family to learn about the Cause for Venerable Henriette Delille, founder of The Sister’s of the ...read more

This week the Vatican, specifically Pope Francis, was the target of the angst of the Turkish government. While that drama played itself out on newspaper pages around the world, a couple of other things happened: The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Congregation for Institutes of Religious Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and the ...read more

Portrait of Bishop Dominic Mary Ho-Ngoc-Can, founder of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary My time in New Orleans has yielded many interesting stories, one of these is the role that the Archdiocese of New Orleans played in receiving refugees after the Vietnam war. At the request of Archbishop Philip Hannan the ...read more

In an earlier post in which I wrote about Cafe Reconcile, a bustling, award-winning restaurant that helps at-risk youth develop employable skills, I mentioned that the founder of the program, Fr. Harry Tompson S.J. was the former pastor of Immaculate Conception parish (‘Jesuit Church’ to locals). It’s worth mentioning that Jesuit Church deserves its own ...read more

Its not uncommon in New Orleans to see buses with the destination “Cemeteries” and hoards of people getting onto them. As strange as that sight might seem, New Orleans does have grand cemeteries, which people flock to see. Some of them dating back to as early as the 1700’s. Since most of New Orleans is ...read more

April 26, 2015 – Fourth Sunday of Easter   Theme: Exodus, a fundamental experience of vocation Dear Brothers and Sisters, The Fourth Sunday of Easter offers us the figure of the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep: he calls them, he feeds them and he guides them. For over fifty years the universal Church has ...read more

Side altar at St. Augustine’s Church in Treme New Orleans is a city with deep Catholic roots. There are many religious communities that have played critical roles at various points in the city’s history. In our new series, three of the seven women religious communities that we’ll feature have unique connections to the city. My principal guide ...read more

On Sunday, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the faithful of the Armenian rite. The Armenians were on hand to see the Holy Father name one of their own, Saint Gregory of Narek, a Doctor of the Church. While not trying to draw significance away from that, or from the Mass that ...read more

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday morning – the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday, sometimes called Quasimodo Sunday after the first word of the entrance antiphon, which sings of how we are to desire, like newborn babes, the pure spiritual milk that shall nourish us on our way to ...read more