BRIEFS

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Valley of the Sun affiliate named Bishop John Dolan of the Diocese of Phoenix an “Unsung Mental Health Hero” on Thursday at the 9th Annual Giving Breakfast in Phoenix. Themed “Heroes Among Us: Shining a Light on Unsung Mental Health Heroes,” the event celebrated individuals and organizations making a profound impact in the mental health community.

A pair of local Arizona Catholic High School teams captured boys basketball state championships this past week, as Brophy College Preparatory won the 6A crown with a 62-49 win over Mesa High School on Saturday, and St. Mary’s High School pulled off a 59-55 overtime victory over Deer Vally High School of Glendale for the 4A crown on Thursday.  Both contests were held at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

Bishop John Dolan joined dozens of community members supporting the work to build a new Newman Center at Northern Arizona University Thursday morning at the Catholic Jacks Breakfast held at Paradise Valley Country Club. The current building, built in 1967, was outgrown years ago, Fr. Matt Lowry, Chaplain at Holy Trinity Catholic Newman Center in Flagstaff, Ariz., said. Currently, so many students are growing in their faith, attending Mass and programing that Fr. Lowry said they have had to retrofit four spaces to serve as overflow sections to watch Mass on TV screens. 

Bishop John Dolan attended Housing for Hope’s, an affiliate of Catholic Charities Community Services, grand opening of the second phase of Acacia Heights Apartments, an affordable housing complex near 7th Avenue and Camelback in Central Phoenix, where he blessed the newly developed property and took part in the ribbon cutting ceremony. On Jan. 23. Acacia Heights II, which features 66 units of varying sizes, joins more than a dozen affordable housing projects Catholic Charities runs throughout Greater Metro Phoenix and Northern Arizona.

A crowd gathered at St. Francis Xavier parish in Phoenix on Saturday for a special Mass to celebrate the more than 100 consecrated men and women that live and serve locally in the Diocese of Phoenix.   The Eucharistic liturgy, celebrated by Bishop John Dolan, took place on February 1 for the Feast of the Presentation, which Pope St. John Paul II established as the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life in 1997. This is a special day set aside to recognize and pray for men and women who publicly live a life consecrated to God through the public profession of the evangelical councils of poverty, chastity and obedience.  

Students from Catholic schools across the Dioceses of Phoenix and Tucson gathered last Thursday morning for Mass at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix to celebrate Catholic Schools Week. Students participated in the liturgy, which included a diocesan choir comprised of students from 12 different Catholic schools. At the conclusion of Mass, 12 teachers from the Diocese of Phoenix were recognized for 25 years of service, and Sr. Lynn Winsor of Xavier College Preparatory was honored for 50 years of service.

André House celebrated 40 years of service to the Phoenix area in January. A place of hospitality serving those experiencing homelessness, André House welcomes guests from all backgrounds, providing fresh meals, clean clothes, showers, laundry facilities and most importantly, a warm welcome. 

Nearly 100 people, representing 42 parishes in the Diocese of Phoenix, took part in a day-long retreat featuring speakers and workshops at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Phoenix on Saturday, that was designed to help parishioners and staff evangelize and form new Catholics. Attendees, including formation leaders, catechists and Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) team members listened to keynote speakers Fr. Kwame Assenyoh of the Diocese of Oakland and Fr. Ron Oakham, a member of the Carmelite Order.

Last week, Bishop John Dolan kicked off the 2025 Jubilee Year in the Diocese of Phoenix by celebrating six special Masses throughout the state. He was joined by hundreds of parishioners and pilgrims from around the diocese at each of the Masses, which had overflowing crowds and were celebrated at the Jubilee pilgrimage sites decreed by Bishop Dolan in October 2024.  

Hundreds of people joined Bishop John Dolan in Nogales, Mexico, on Saturday where they took part in the rich tradition of Las Posadas along the U.S.-Mexico border wall as part of the Kino Border Initiative (KBI), a group comprised of six Catholic organizations whose vision is “Migration with Dignity.” The event was the 15th binational posada sponsored by four Catholic dioceses, including Phoenix, Tucson, Nogales and Sonora. Las Posadas, which is widely celebrated in the Hispanic culture, commemorates Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. Comprised of a procession that goes from one designated stop to the next, participants take part in the Holy Family’s experience of being told “there is no room for you in the inn” (Luke 2) in a unique way. At each of the five stops, passages of Scripture are read, and Christmas carols are sung.