News
St. Leo Parish holds first Spanish Mass
Face it. Sermons at times can be more tedious than uplifting, and if you don’t speak the language they can be murder. At least that’s how the families of the mostly Irish industrial workers of Tacony felt in the early 1880s when the only Catholic chapel in the area was at St. Vincent German Orphanage. […]
Deacon William Shire Jr. dies at 70
Deacon William F. Shire Jr. was a permanent deacon at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Levittown since he was ordained May 31, 2008 at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. “Bill Shire is someone everybody referred to as just a good man,” said Father Michael C. DiIorio, pastor of St. Michael the […]
Closures to impact Catholic League
The year is 1982. In the Catholic League Northern Division football quarterfinals, a Bishop McDevitt team that had squeezed into the playoffs with a 3-3-2 record blindsides Father Judge, 10-0, and leaves legendary Judge coach Whitey Sullivan staring in utter disbelief as the seconds drip away and melt what seemed like a sure Catholic League […]
Father Jerome Pohl, active in ministry to Polish community, dies at 79
St. Joseph Church in Oborniki, Poland, was standing room only for the Jan. 13 funeral of Father Jerome Pohl, who died Jan. 9 in Philadelphia. School students, young adults and numerous orders of nuns and priests filled the pews and aisles in tribute to a priest whose whole life was devoted to God and to […]
Father Santo R. Garzarelli dies
Father Santo R. Garzarelli, a retired priest and resident of St. Francis Country House in Darby, died on Thursday, Jan. 19. Father Garzarelli was ordained for the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) in 1961, and was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1975. He served in Hong Kong, India, and New Guinea, and […]
Principal garners top honors
Last October, when the annual Catholic school administrators’ conference was held in Avalon, N.J., Immaculate Heart Sister Virginia Paschall was startled when she received a Distinguished Principal Award. Her school, Blessed Virgin Mary in Darby, certainly isn’t large. It has at this point 214 students K-8, and it’s a struggle; Darby is by no means […]
Calling on men to step up in faith
The fourth annual Men’s Spirituality Conference, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is breaking new ground. “We have an incredible group of speakers with compelling stories, and, for the first time, we are having a woman speaker,” said Dominic Lombardi, director of the archdiocesan Family Life Office. That person is Immaculee IIibagiza, a survivor of […]
Conference explores faith and health care
The 20th World Day of the Sick is Saturday, Feb. 11. It is also the day that Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, will be in Philadelphia to lead the “Conference for Health Care Workers and Medical Professionals.” The conference will be held at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in […]
A Lenten sacrifice so that others may eat
As the liturgical year brings us closer to the season of Lent, Catholic Christians worldwide will soon reflect on beautiful traditions in preparation for the observance of Christ’s Passion and the celebration of His Resurrection. These traditions may include simple Lenten meals, Scripture studies, abstaining from favorite foods and adding spiritual activities to their daily […]
Tens of thousands witness for life
So how many people attended this year’s Rally and March for Life in Washington that marks the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the country? That’s impossible to say, but try to imagine a huge throng marching 10-15 abreast taking more than two hours to cross a […]