Local News
Newman Center helps college students share Catholic faith
College is a time of change and transformation. It is also a time when many students rediscover and deepen their faith. Pam Putnam came to the University of Pennsylvania from Crescent City, Nevada. She found herself stressed and at times overwhelmed by the pressures of college life. “I had a pretty difficult semester. It felt […]
Archbishop announces clerical changes
Most Reverend Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia, announces the following appointments effective as noted: PASTORS EMERITI Reverend Monsignor John A. Close, Saint Katharine of Siena Parish, Wayne, effective August 10, 2012. Monsignor Close is retiring and will reside at Villa Saint Joseph, Darby Reverend Leonard N. Peterson, Saint Maria Goretti Parish, Hatfield, effective […]
In wake of shooting, Archbishop Chaput joins religious leaders in support of Sikhs
The Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia expressed words of condolence and support for members of the Sikh community Aug. 9 in a letter cosigned by Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. The ecumenical and interfaith group, including leaders of the Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Baha’i communities, responded to what it called the “senseless violence” in which a gunman killed six people and wounded four at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin Aug. 5. The leaders said they stand with Sikhs “in solidarity, friendship, hope and prayer.”
Interfaith leaders, city officials pray for peace, fallen officer at Cathedral
Archbishop Charles Chaput presided at an Aug. 3 Interfaith Memorial Service for Healing and Hope at the Chapel of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul for Philadelphia Police Officer Brian Lorenzo, who was struck and killed by an automobile being driven the wrong way on I-95 on July 8. The service was a […]
They came by faith: Black Catholic Congress draws 2,800
On July 18 many Catholic faithful from across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia departed for the National Black Catholic Congress XI, in Indianapolis,Indiana. The Philadelphia contingent, numbering over 110, traveled by bus, car and train to join with approximately 2,800 other Black Catholics and Catholics who work in the Black apostolates from all over the United […]
Suspended priest arrested for sexual assault, related charges
Father Andrew McCormick, a 56-year-old archdiocesan priest, was arrested late Thursday, July 26 and charged with seven counts related to the sexual assault of a then 10-year-old altar boy in Philadelphia in 1997. The priest was arrested and charged with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, […]
Local Catholics give $132K to retired religious
Catholics of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia donated $132,314 to support retired religious women and men this year, according to a letter of thanks dated July 6 from Most Precious Blood Sister Janice Bader, executive director of the National Religious Retirement Office to Archbishop Charles Chaput. Sister Bader, whose office sponsors the annual national appeal, said […]
Holy Family U unveils plans for senior/student housing, athletic fields near NE Philly campus
Some of the details are yet to be worked out, but the planned acquisition of the 32-acre site of the former Liddonfield Housing Project in Philadelphia’s Upper Holmesburg section will go a long way toward easing overcrowding at the main campus of Holy Family University, located 1.4 miles north in Torresdale. On July 20, Estelle […]
At 50, St. Hilary’s still a welcoming parish in Rydal
Archbishop John Krol must have been in a theological mood in 1962. Three of the five parishes established that year were named for doctors of the Church. St. Hilary of Poitiers in Rydal, which is named for a 4th century theologian, was among them. It was founded on June 6th out of territory taken from […]
Archdiocese welcomes not one, but two new superintendents of schools
The one shall become two. Former archdiocesan Superintendent of Schools Mary Rochford, who retired at the end of the school term in June, is succeeded by two women in a position that splits the responsibilities Rochford held. Dr. Carol A. Cary is the new Superintendent of Secondary Schools and Jacqueline P. Coccia is the new Superintendent of Elementary Schools, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office of Catholic Education (OCE) announced July 19.