Priest launches prayer group in home setting
CAMP VERDE — A new partnership with a local pastor brought a distinctively Catholic voice to a nearly 40-year-old Christian home for adults with developmental disabilities.
Church celebrates religious freedom with ‘Fortnight’
Freedom, according to Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted, does not come from a government. It comes from God. “A government acts wrongly when it coerces its citizens to violate their consciences or pay a heavy price and penalty for faithfully following it,” he said in his June 22 homily at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.
Bishop Olmsted marks 40 years of priesthood
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted celebrated a July 3 Mass in the Diocesan Pastoral Center chapel with the chancery staff a day after the 40th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.
‘Sun’ brings home 10 awards from Catholic Media Conference
The Catholic Sun won first place for reporting on religious liberty and second place for www.catholicsun.org, among eight other honors during the June 19-21 Catholic Media Conference.
Prescott parish praying for pastor, local firefighters
The hearts of Sacred Heart parishioners are heavy right now. Their pastor, Claretian Father Daryl Olds, suffered a massive stroke June 19. Two weeks later, he remains in intensive care in stable, but critical condition.
Arizona fire rages as slain hotshot crew members are mourned
As the people of central Arizona mourned the deaths June 30 of 19 firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots, hundreds of other firefighters battled the still-uncontrolled blaze that threatened the small towns of Yarnell and Peeples Valley.
Yarnell’s Catholic community, shrine in limbo as fire rages
As far as Fr. Raul Lopez can tell, the Yarnell Hill fire lines have not reached St. Mary Mediatrix Mission. Yet. The state of the Shrine of St. Joseph is unknown.
Arizona Catholic Conference 2013 Legislative Wrap-Up
On June 14, the Arizona Legislature adjourned sine die at 12:59 a.m. after spending 151 days in session, capped by an emotionally charged debate focused on Governor Brewer’s Medicaid expansion proposal.
Catholic leaders respond to Supreme Court ruling on marriage
A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 26 that the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. Catholic leaders both locally and around the country called the 5-4 ruling tragic.
Bishop Olmsted responds to Supreme Court marriage decision
The U.S. Supreme Court had the chance to uphold the importance of marriage and its fundamental role in providing for our children and the future of the United States. By striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act and failing to uphold California’s Proposition 8, the Court has succumbed to our culture’s radical efforts to redefine marriage and, in a very real sense, is now engaged in the ongoing battle against families, society and people of faith.
