News
Parishes in Philadelphia, Chester Co., evaluated
Seven parishes in Northwest Philadelphia and four parishes in Coatesville, Chester County, submitted written recommendations for Archbishop Charles Chaput’s consideration regarding merging, consolidating or closing some of the parishes in those Pastoral Planning Areas (PPAs). The proposals were due Feb. 15, and will be discussed among the parish pastors and a Strategic Planning Committee comprised of archdiocesan experts in several aspects of Church life. PPA 540 includes nine parishes located in the Germantown, Mount Airy and Oak Lane sections of Philadelphia and a detailed study of seven of those parishes began last October. The parishes affected are St. Vincent de Paul, founded in 1851; St. Francis of Assisi, founded in 1899; Immaculate Conception, founded in 1902; St. Benedict, founded in 1922; St. Therese of the Child Jesus, founded in 1925; St. Athanasius, founded in 1928; and St. Raymond of Penafort, founded in 1941.
Choir gives girls opportunity to sing sacred music
Cathedral Girls Choir Mandi Gureki traveled from her Lansdale home to the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul last August because she thought it would be “fun” to sing in the newly formed Cathedral Girls Choir. But after a heart-stopping moment when she was told the session she attended was actually an audition, her spirits sank.
Attending St. Dot’s a family tradition
Legacy families add up at school When Brian Gallagher and his wife Trisha (McCalla) Gallagher went to an open house last year at St. Dorothy School in Drexel Hill, it was like walking into a class reunion. Like themselves, their grade school classmates from the 1980s are now parents of children who go to school […]
Raising funds for Catholic schools
Catholic education is of utmost importance to Al Gabriele, a retired businessman and entrepreneur, whose career most recently was in the printing field. A member of St. Rose of Lima Parish in North Wales, he recently finished chairing a highly successful $25 million capital campaign for La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor. It took […]
220 students learn about Theology of the Body
“The Theology of the Body: A New Language for a New Generation” was the theme of the seventh annual Papal Colloquium at Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote on Feb. 2 during Catholic Schools Week. Brian Butler, co-founder and president of Dumb Ox Productions, a non-profit organization dedicated to chastity and vocation formation for teens […]
Neumann-Goretti prevails in 59-57 OT win over the Prep
How to explain it? Less than three minutes into the game, Neumann-Goretti High School had drilled a trio of three-point shots and was ahead, 11-0. St. Joseph’s Prep didn’t score its first points with 4:17 left in the first quarter. In the end? The game somehow went into overtime, and as they have done against […]
Carroll snags Catholic League title in nail biter
Archbishop Carroll was ahead by three and hanging by a thread. Archbishop Wood senior Alex Heck drove through the lane and scored untouched to put her team down by one with 22.3 seconds remaining in overtime. A timeout was called and both teams jogged toward their respective benches. Junior Sarah Curran, the defender who had […]
Children’s mission of mercy feeds the hungry, homeless
Kick boxing, piano lessons, St. Mary Interparochial School, food preparation and Mercy Hospice. What on earth could they have in common? It’s complicated. About 10 kids attending the lower grades at St. Mary, located in Olde City, Philadelphia, meet at the home of the Holahan family every Friday after school for piano lessons, which are […]
Archbishop Chaput: High schools will stay open, new foundation will aid Catholic schools
Archbishop Charles Chaput announced in dramatic fashion today at a press conference that all four archdiocesan Catholic high schools that had been recommended for closure would remain open. As the archbishop made the announcement at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Philadelphia, where he was joined with some of the top state legislative leaders and local […]
Archdiocese of Philadelphia welcomes new chief financial officer
Timothy O’Shaughnessy, 48, has been named chief financial officer of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia effective April 16, according to a statement today by the archdiocesan Communications Office. O’Shaughnessy most recently served as CFO for St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia since 2008. In that role he was responsible for overseeing all finance-related matters including the […]