LOCAL NEWS

Bishop John Dolan visited the new construction site of St. Thomas the Apostle (STA) grade school in Phoenix on Tuesday (March 31). The $25 million project will provide a brand-new K-8 academic building — a 76,000 square-foot, three-story structure with a basement. In addition to classrooms, the build will include a cafeteria, theater stage, science lab and collaborative common spaces for group learning and projects. 

Nearly 200 priests from around the Diocese of Phoenix — the largest turnout in more than a decade — gathered with Bishop John Dolan, Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Nevares, Auxiliary Biship Peter Dai Bui and Bishop Emeritus Thomas Olmsted at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix on Monday (March 30) to concelebrate the annual Chrism Mass. The liturgy drew a standing-room-only crowd.

An avid hiker and member of the creation care team at her parish, Sacred Heart in Prescott, Ariz., Charlene Hoffman has nurtured a longtime love for the earth. So when she heard about the Creation Summit hosted by the Diocese of Phoenix, she knew she had to get involved. “It was like an answer to prayer,” she said.  Hoffman was one of nearly 100 attendees at the inaugural Creation Summit in January 2025, at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Phoenix. Through panels and small group discussions, the interfaith event invited participants to reflect on topics such as spirituality and climate challenges.  

The surge in the number of those seeking to become Catholic is catching the attention of parish staffs across the Diocese of Phoenix. Whether it’s disappointment with the empty promises of secularism, a deep hunger for something authentic, the election of the first U.S.-born pontiff or a combination thereof, parishes have seen a strong uptick in inquiries. Not everyone fits in the standard model for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), the process by which men and women become Catholic. From nurses and police officers who work nights to truck drivers and those in hospice care, a welcoming, flexible approach is helping hundreds become Catholic. We checked in with parishes in four corners of the Diocese of Phoenix to see how creative OCIA leaders are adapting in order to welcome more people into the Catholic Church. 

A new collaboration between the Diocese of Phoenix and the University of Mary in Bismark, N.D., welcomed potential students at an open house held...

Bishop John Dolan met with more than a dozen members of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC) and other Catholic chaplains who serve in healthcare settings across the state of Arizona on Tuesday (March 24) at the Diocesan Pastoral Center in downtown Phoenix. The gathering took place to discuss the shared mission of bringing Christ to the sick, suffering and vulnerable. . The role of chaplains is to “accompany patients and their families in moments when life is often most fragile,” said NACC Arizona State Liaison Rev. Dr. Fidelis Igwenwanne, BCC.

On the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Bishop John Dolan took part in a special celebration for the 80th Anniversary of Our Lady of Mt. ...

The Diocese of Phoenix, in partnership with the Hope Border Institute (HOPE) of El Paso, Texas, and the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) of New York, brought together faith leaders, diocesan staff, migrant advocates and community leaders from across Arizona and the Southwest for a regional gathering entitled, “Witness to Hope: Responding to Mass Deportations.” The convening on immigration took place Thursday (March 12) at the Diocesan Pastoral Center in downtown Phoenix. 

One afternoon, a teen girl from Chino Valley High School in Northern Arizona came home jumping up and down with excitement — she had been asked to prom. She exclaimed, “Mom, this is the best news ever! We need to find a beautiful dress. Can we go shopping tomorrow?”    Her mom smiled and agreed. But once her daughter left the room, she broke down in tears. As a single mom with five children, working two jobs, she had no idea how she would afford a dress and accessories.   

For the second consecutive year, record numbers gathered in the Diocese of Phoenix for the Rite of Election Masses — an integral part of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) that is celebrated annually during the Lenten season — with some of the highest turnouts in the country. An estimated 1,600 candidates and catechumens, those who will come into full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, were personally welcomed at the late-February and early-March liturgies as they enter the final stages of their preparation.