News - January 2017 RSS Feed

St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica School kindergarten, first and second grade students toured St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica, in Beaumont, on Jan. 31. The students enjoyed looking for animals in the stained glass windows and hearing stories from tour director Bill Gier.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — President Donald Trump’s executive memorandum intended to restrict the entry of terrorists coming to the United States brought an outcry from Catholic leaders across the U.S. Church leaders used phrases such as “devastating,” “chaotic” and “cruel” to describe the Jan. 27 action that left already-approved refugees and immigrants stranded at U.S. airports and led the Department of Homeland Security to rule that green card holders — lawful permanent U.S. residents — be allowed into the country.

Msgr. Kelly Catholic High School began Catholic Schools Week with a Parent Appreciation Prayer Service at the school gym on Jan. 30. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Students at St. Mary Catholic School in Orange collect, donate or make items for various local organizations. Each grade has a goal of 100 items or 100 pounds of product for the organization they choose.

“In our church we have a movement,” said Ivette Ramirez speaking of the faithful at St. Mary Church in Cleveland. This movement is the integration of the Hispanic and non-Hispanic communities within the church family.

Evangelization and Catechesis for the dioceses of the state of Texas took a huge step forward Jan. 9-11 at the Beaumont Pastoral Center. That was the sight for the Mid-Winter meeting of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops’ Evangelization and Catechesis Department.

“I have an awesome God. We are best of friends. I talk to God like I talk to you” said 86-year-old Sister Magdala-Mari Gilbert, OSP, while on vacation in Beaumont visiting family. “Come in and fall in love with Jesus.

The giving of time, talent and treasure work in harmony at St. Mary Parish in Cleveland. “It’s a generous church and there’s a warmth there between the different groups,” said Wanda Norwood, 2015 Stewardship Committee chair at St. Mary.

A deep depression that almost resulted in suicide brought Carmen Anderson (pseudonym) into the Catholic Church. Anderson’s depression started at a young age. “In high school, I knew something was wrong,” Anderson said.

WASHINGTON—President Donald J. Trump today issued an executive order to construct a wall at the U.S./Mexico border, to significantly increase immigrant detention and deportation, and  to disregard/preempt/overrule the judgment of state and local law enforcement on how best to protect their communities.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — True conversion means Christians must not only change their way of living, but also transform their way of thinking in order to respond to Christ’s call to proclaim the Gospel, Pope Francis said.

Southeast Texas Rally for Life 2017 was held Jan. 22, at St. Anne Church in Beaumont. The keynote speaker was Dr. Joe Pojman, executive director of the Texas Alliance for Life in Austin. “From 2013 to 2014 abortions in Texas dropped by 9,000,” Pojman said.

WASHINGTON—Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of the Diocese of New York, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, invited Catholics and others to join the nationwide “9 Days for Life” campaign.

The  25th Christian Unity Service “Sing with One Voice” was celebrated Jan. 17 at St. Michael Church in Jasper. Choirs from 17 different churches sang at the annual event. #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Bowling for Birthright was held at Max Bowl in Port Arthur on Jan. 14. Diocese of Beaumont youth enjoyed a day of bowling and fellowship while helping Birthright. Youth’s pledges and monetary or supply donations from the event went to Birthright.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Last year, more than 13 million people around the world watched Pope Francis explain one of his specific prayer intentions each month. The 90-second, personal explanations in “The Pope Video,” first launched in January 2016, encouraged people to join an estimated 50 million Catholics who already had a more formal relationship with The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network — better known by its former title, the Apostleship of Prayer.

Congratulations to Haidee Todora, principal at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School, Port Arthur, who has been selected to receive the 2017 NCEA Lead. Learn. Proclaim. Award. Given by the National Catholic Educational Association, the award recognizes excellence and distinguished service in Catholic school education.

The annual Collection for the Church in Latin America will be taken up in the Diocese of Beaumont Jan. 21-22. This collection has existed for over 50 years as a sign of solidarity between the churches of the United States and those in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Archbishop Patricio Fernandez Flores, 87, fourth archbishop of San Antonio who was the first Mexican-American elevated to the hierarchy in the Catholic Church in the United States, died of pneumonia and congestive heart failure on Jan. 9, 2017 at Padua Place Residence for retired priests in San Antonio.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — At the start of a new year, Pope Francis laid out a laundry list of suggested resolutions for religious and political leaders for making a joint commitment toward building peace.