Local News
Roman student loves serving Jesus
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T Approximately 165 teens and adults were honored at a Catholics in Youth Ministry Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael J. Fitzgerald at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul on May 11. The young people represented the future of the Church in Philadelphia, and the adults were those who […]
Unlikely vocation to religious life turns into 60 years
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T Sister Kathleen Leary celebrates 60 years as a Sister of St. Joseph this year, and it’s a singular accomplishment that would flabbergast some of her teachers at Notre Dame High School in Moylan way back when. This was the kid who garnered more detentions than anyone in her freshman […]
Beatification brings joy to Polish couple
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T CONSHOHOCKEN – Jozef and Felicia Rzeznik of St. Mary Parish, Conshohocken, were thrilled and watched television when Pope John Paul II was beatified on May 1. They were living in Warsaw, Poland, in October 1978, when they received the unexpected news that Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow was elected […]
Fifty years of influencing students
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to the CS&T VILLANOVA – Barbara spanirgilio didn’t set out to be a teacher. After attending Our Lady of Angels School in Philadelphia and the commercial program at West Catholic Girls High School in 1960, she went to work in an office, just as she intended. It only took six months for […]
Knight works to help the poor
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T George Fadgen, 71, who is chairman of the Philadelphia Chapter, Knights of Columbus Charity Drive, didn’t really discover the K of C until a little more than a decade ago. Fagden knew about the organization because his father was a Knight, and he remembers attending K of C picnics […]
Fulfilling needs beyond food
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T When Sister Barbara Tickner, I.H.M., who is now 75, was age 18 and deciding which religious congregation she would enter, it was a no-brainer. Born and raised in Manayunk, the daughter of Alice and Francis Tickner, she attended St. John the Baptist School, as did her sisters, Marie and […]
Chin helping Chinatown expand
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T PHILADELPHIA – John Chin, 44, who is the executive director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. (PCDC), like many first generation Americans, balances two distinct cultures. Although he lives in South Philadelphia instead of Chinatown proper, he retains his membership at Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic Church, where he and […]
Have you met the music man?
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T For a guy that is just 20 years old, Jeff Braconnier certainly has a full plate. At St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Media, he directs the children’s choir, is a youth minister and handles technology support. He is also a full-time student in his third year at Immaculata University. […]
Devotion without limitation
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T SOUTHAMPTON – If there is anything in the whole world Matthew New would like to do with his life, it is probably to become a priest. Now 20, he’s been an altar server at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Southampton for about 10 years, and received a […]
Parade grand marshal: Honoring St. Patrick
By Sister Kathleen Leary, S.S.J.Special to The CS&T “Every day is a gift from God” for Sister James Anne, I.H.M., who considered it a special gift when she was unanimously voted to be the grand marshal for Philadelphia, 2011 St. Patrick’s Day parade. Only the third woman to hold this honor, she explained the theme […]