NEWS

Sr. Mary Ruth Dittman, SDS, spent her retirement years in the Diocese of Phoenix, but couldn’t resist the call to continue sharing her NCIU nursing skills.

In the aftermath of revelations surrounding Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick and the newly released grand jury report on six Pennsylvania dioceses, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares called for a day of fasting and prayer Aug. 22, the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Aug. 22, the feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Aug. 16 announced three key goals and a comprehensive plan to address the “moral catastrophe” of the new abuse scandal hitting the U.S. Church.

The prelates' joint statement was issued in response to the release the same day of a grand jury report based on a months-long investigation into sexual abuse claims in six Pennsylvania dioceses.

The Gerard House opened Aug. 1 in Phoenix’s Sunnyslope area as the third “boy” in the Maggie’s Place family, but with some easily distinguishable features.

More than 100 diocesan, state and national pro-life leaders from across the U.S. networked in Phoenix this summer.

Thirty African priests — among them 13 from various orders — are spread out in parishes throughout the Diocese of Phoenix alone with others filling priest shortages in the church nationwide.

Campus leaders plan to add one grade level each year until the current first-graders enter eighth grade.

Praying in front of an abortion center around the clock for 40 days straight might seem a daunting endeavor, but pro-life leaders from around the world organize the vigils twice each year.

Planned to handle the area’s rapidly expanding Catholic population, especially among Hispanics, the school will open for classes Aug. 13 and host a grand opening Aug. 21.