Category: Profiles
Deacon Ken Kulinowski: Polish-American deacon pens book defending Pius XII
Deacon Ken Kulinowski was born in Buffalo, N.Y., just 22 days after the Nazis invaded Poland. The grandson of Polish-speaking immigrants, Kulinowski attended a Polish national school.
New director of Mount Claret Retreat Center focuses on future
Nestled at the foot of Camelback Mountain, the Mount Claret Retreat Center stands as oasis of sorts in the midst of a bustling city. Tom McGuire, the new director of the facility, is hoping more and more Catholics will seek God’s presence there.
Catholics Matter: Alex Vera: Catholic mother spent years serving diverse immigrants
Alex Vera grew up in St. Joseph, Mo., during the 1940s — a time when European immigrants arrived fleeing World War II. Although she was baptized Catholic by her mother, Vera was actually raised as a Methodist.
Catholics Matter: Artist uses gift to touch hearts, reach souls
A teacher spotted Mike Shanks’ extraordinary artistic ability when the St. Thomas the Apostle parishioner was in eighth grade. “What you have, it’s not normal,” the photography instructor told him.
Catholics Matter: Joyce Coronel: ‘Sun’ columnist highlights plight of Chaldean Catholics
Although fiction, Joyce Coronel has taken elements of her life growing up in Scottsdale and as a writer for The Catholic Sun to craft a story loosely based on the real hardships facing Chaldean Catholics living in the Middle East.
Catholics Matter: Becky Greene: Former secularist embraces Catholic faith
Becky Green decided to become a Catholic and planned to enter at the Easter vigil but was deterred by tragedy. On Holy Thursday, her 55-year-old father, en route to Phoenix for the ceremony, suffered a fatal heart attack.
Alan Gaxiola: A slow journey back to the faith
Alan Gaxiola works in an aluminum recycling plant in Goodyear to support his wife and three children. He also puts in plenty of hours working for the Church, leading others to faith in Christ. But it wasn’t always that way.
Catholics Matter: 1st Way director Kay Allen headed for Belize
Just three weeks shy of leaving the country and taking on a new mission in Belize, Kay Allen, director of 1st Way Pregnancy Center, was all fired-up about the clinic’s focus on reaching out to pregnant women. A client she’d hoped would choose life ended her pregnancy instead, giving into fears that she would lose her athletic scholarship.
LANA HOLMES: Catholic convert relishes volunteering at school
Lana Holmes remembers that when she was growing up and attending public elementary school in Phoenix, her mother was a frequent classroom volunteer. That example of service is something that stayed with the mother of three. The University of Arizona fine arts grad worked in the advertising industry and in public relations, but it is [...]
CATHOLICS MATTER | Javier Bravo: Teacher mixes faith, learning
Javier Bravo grew up in Yuma in a devout Catholic family, the youngest of seven children born to parents who immigrated from Mexico. He spent six years in the seminary for the Diocese of Tucson, but then felt God leading him in a different direction. Bravo taught Spanish at Yuma Catholic High School, simultaneously earning [...]
