LOCAL NEWS

CIUDAD JUÁREZ ― Pope Francis comes to Ciudad Juárez with a message of hope and mercy, say Rosa and Sergio Siller, who are leading a group of pilgrims from Sacred Heart Parish in Phoenix. Sergio is a native of the last city on the Holy Father’s apostolic visit to Mexico, and he and his family are staying with his family while they’re here.

Christ calls every person to a special mission, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted told Massgoers who often find themselves praying in front of abortion clinics.

A former Diocese of Phoenix athlete, who punted for the 2007-08 Super Bowl champs, earned the diocese a spot in the first Super Bowl High School Honor Roll.

Students from more than 30 Catholic schools in three dioceses across Arizona converged in one spot for a statewide field trip. They filled the concrete circle at Wesley Bolin Plaza Feb. 3 for the annual Catholic Schools Week rally. Their physical presence and youthful energy represented more than 21,000 Catholic school students throughout the Grand Canyon state eager to affirm their role in a Catholic school and the need for a faithful community to support it.

Students require quite a few supplies before entering a learning environment. Fortunately, their toolbox — their mind — is within reach.

The significance of Pope Francis’ planned apostolic visit to Mexico Feb. 12-17 is not lost on the faithful in the Diocese of Phoenix. “While Mexico has its own unique heritage and culture, we can be sure that much of what Pope Francis says and does there will have great relevance for us in Arizona,” said Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. “I look forward to his pastoral visit to our neighbors to the south, and pray for a safe and fruitful pastoral journey by Pope Francis.”

In a world with more than 33,000 Christian denominations, it’s rare to see leaders of several of them gathered in one place to pray for unity. Yet that’s exactly what happened Jan. 20 at St. Apkar Armenian Apostolic Church in Scottsdale. Leaders of the Arizona Faith Network and members of local congregations gathered for a prayer service during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an international Christian ecumenical event held annually since 1908.

Exactly one month into the calendar year marks the formal closing liturgy at the local level for the Year of Consecrated Life.

Patty Chesebrough gazes inside the darkened church and stares up at a portrait of the late Fr. John Hanley, the priest who showed her God’s mercy in her darkest hour. It was 1990 and Chesebrough’s husband was pressuring her to have an abortion. She called her parish, St. Theresa at the time, and asked to speak with a priest.

"We treated him with love throughout, even when he wasn’t loving back. That sticks. That is the breach and that is the way it works," Tony Rizzo said.