Weekend brings Partners to 73%
The annual Partners in Charity Appeal had its biggest weekend so far this year, raising $702,547 in gifts and pledges, according to Msgr.Thomas J. Sullivan, director of the diocesan Office of Stewardship and Development.
That brings the total so far this year to $3,422,708, or 73 percent of the goal of $4.7 million.
The drive had reached $2,720,161, or 57.88 percent of the goal two weeks ago. The big jump in contributions in the past week came largely because 66 parishes took up their Pledge Sunday collections last weekend, Msgr. Sullivan said. full story...
Praying the rosary experiencing revival, pope says
By John Thavis
ROME (CNS) — Praying the rosary is enjoying a revival among Catholics and can be a profound way to relive the events of Christ’s life, Pope Benedict XVI said.
The pope led the recital of the rosary with hundreds of Catholics in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major May 3. U.S. Cardinal Bernard F. Law, archpriest of the basilica, welcomed the pontiff and prayed with him. Speaking at the end of the encounter, the pope said the rosary was “not a pious practice relegated to the past, like a prayer of former times to be remembered with nostalgia.”
“The rosary, on the contrary, is experiencing almost a new springtime. This is undoubtedly one of the most eloquent signs of the love that younger generations have for Jesus and for his mother, Mary,” he said... full story...
Returning to ancestral roots
By Claire Quintal
Special to The CFP
Pilgrims to the Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City this June will be traveling to a city celebrating the 400th anniversary of its founding (1608-2008). Established in the early 17th century by the maritime French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, the city remains the cultural hub of the French in North America.
These diocesan pilgrims will be going as devout Catholics, but many of them will also be returning to their ancestral land. Demographers have stated that by the early 20th century 37 percent of the population of the entire Province of Quebec had crossed the border into the United States. full story...
