Deepening abuse crisis highlights need for Mass of Healing and Reconciliation

The deepening crisis in the Church following revelations involving clerical sex abuse in Pennsylvania and allegations involving former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick points to an even greater need for reconciliation and healing now.

New coordinator for Safe Environment Training in Phoenix

The new coordinator for the Phoenix Diocese’s Safe Environment Training Office, Maria Escárcega, is a native of Arizona, is fluent in Spanish and has a background in the field of mental and behavioral health.

Catholic doctor instills youthful love of prayer through motion

Quiet time plus stillness does not always equal prayer. A conversation with God can happen with a little bit of wiggle, too.

Meet Dcn. Jim Myers

For Dcn. Jim Myers, the path to the diaconate was filled with little signs nudging him along the way to ordination.

Meet Dcn. Catarino Portillo

It happened 10 years ago at St. Matthew Parish in Phoenix. Dcn. Catarino Portillo and his wife Julia regularly attended the parish where they served in various ministries and participated in a group Bible study.

Meet Dcn. Stephen Schmidt

From preaching on the front porch to at the pulpit, Dcn. Stephen Schmidt can see God’s hand in it all.

Meet Dcn. Jeffrey Strom

Newly ordained Dcn. Jeffrey Strom did not think of becoming a deacon until in recent years, when in the course of a month three different people suggested the role to him. This caught his attention and he started taking steps toward this ordained ministry and the Lord kept opening doors.

St. Cecilia Circle brings music to dining masses

If drum circles do indeed refer to an informal gathering of musicians “jamming,” then the St. Cecilia Circle was aptly named. Far beyond the circle’s...

Community Notification Statement – Fr. Frank Zappitelli

The Diocese of Phoenix learned on November 8, 2018 that the Diocese of Youngstown in Ohio placed Fr. Frank Zappitelli, a retired priest of the Diocese of Phoenix, on a list of “Clergy of the Diocese of Youngstown whom credible, substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor have been made.” Upon learning this Bishop Olmsted immediately removed Fr. Zappitelli from public ministry.

Diocese to kick off 50th anniversary with Honor Your Mother

The diocesan celebration of its patroness, Our Lady of Guadalupe, also showcases the unity of the diocese — one that has some 1.1 million Catholics who attend Mass in at least a dozen languages and is turning 50.