Local News

Pilgrims leave for World Youth Day in Spain

Auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Fitzgerald gathered Aug. 10 with 30 young people from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary before departing on a 12-day pilgrimage that concludes at World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid, Spain from Aug. 16-21. Bishop Fitzgerald and more than 200 young people from across the […]

Wolk sees value of unborn human life

By Lou Baldwin Special to The CS&TShould you be strolling along Philadelphia’s Eighth Street early on a Friday morning, when you pass Appletree Street, just north of Arch Street, you might see a small knot of people in prayer facing a nondescript multi-story building. They are mostly members of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, and […]

Time for guard to turn a corner

By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T When school opens on Sept. 7 at St. Cecilia School in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, there is going to be one huge difference. Kathy Polec won’t be guarding the corner of Stanwood and Ridgeway Streets, behind the school, as she has done for 21 years. Polec’s warm […]

Compassion flows from faith, family

By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&TMary Lettieri Strenchock, a nurse practitioner at the J.E. Wood Clinic at Pennsylvania Hospital, recently received recognition from her peers in the mental health field through the 2011 Community Service Award given by the Community Council of the Hall-Mercer Behavioral Health Center.Strenchock, 44, has compassion in her DNA. Her mother, […]

Immaculate Conception and St. Casimir close

  Churches will become worship sites By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T Two Philadelphia parishes officially closed July 1, but became worship sites of the parishes with which they were already twinned. Immaculate Conception at Front and Allen Streets has merged into nearby St. Michael at 2nd and Jefferson Streets. St. Casimir, a Lithuanian personal […]

Teen focuses on true meaning of manhood

By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T Collin Sceski, 19, a member of Sacred Heart Parish, Oxford, recently won a $1,500 scholarship that will come in handy as he begins his studies at Villanova University. It was the grand prize in an essay contest for teens sponsored by Ascension Press, and the topic was Blessed Pope […]

Drawing families together in service

By Sister Kathleen LearySpecial to The CS&T For many parents and students, the closing of an elementary school can be traumatic, especially when it means the students will no longer be as involved in parish events. However, in June 2005, when it was announced that St. George Elementary School in Glenolden was closing, Msgr. Michael […]

No plans to retire after 40 years

By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T Margie McGlynn-Haugh is going to have a tough time responding to all the congratulations she received for her 40th anniversary as a teacher. A kindergarten teacher at St. Cecilia School in the city’s Fox Chase section since 1977, she received well over 700 cards and e-mails. Some of the […]

Shedding light on the vulnerable

By Lou BaldwinSpecial to the CS&T You don’t have to be a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart to be a true daughter of St. Frances Cabrini. Take Danielle Alio, a senior at Cabrini College in Radnor, which was founded by the Sacred Heart Sisters, a congregation established by Mother Cabrini, the United States’ first […]

Deacon promotes religious vocations

By Lou BaldwinSpecial to the CS&T Religious vocations, especially to ordained ministry, are important to Deacon Jack Betzal. For one thing he is a permanent deacon assigned to St. Joseph Parish in Aston, and for another, he is president of the DelChester Serra Club, part of the international organization that promotes religious vocations through prayer […]