News
Suburban boroughs draw immigrants
By JIM GAUGERSpecial to The CS&T WEST CHESTER – In the typical parish church in Philadelphia, members live in the neighborhood. Their children can walk to school. In the suburbs, people live at greater distances from the church. The children take buses. Does that sense of separation create less community in the parish? For six […]
Catholic Charismatics praise God
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T VALLY FORGE – Approximately 500 Catholics from the Philadelphia Archdiocese and surrounding states gathered April 18 at the Valley Forge Convention Center for the area’s annual Charismatic Renewal Conference. “We prayed that God would bring in people from the north, the south, the east and the west, and that’s […]
Philadelphia Church helps rebuild Italy
By George GregorySpecial to The CS&T As the universal Church honored spanine Mercy Sunday, April 19, Cardinal Justin Rigali celebrated a liturgy at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul remembering earthquake victims in Abruzzo, Italy. The 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck on Monday, April 6, and was centered in the provincial capital of L’Aquila. […]
Suburban and city parishes face unique challenges, opportunities
By LOU BALDWINSpecial to The CS&Tand CHRISTIE L. CHICOINECS&T Staff Writer Is a suburban parish different from an urban one? Are the challenges of the church in Southampton distinct from the ones in South Philadelphia? Yes and no, say four priests who have worked at each. A spanerse mixFather Anthony J. D’Angelico was pastor of […]
Analysis
Suburban and city parishes face unique challenges, opportunities Location, location, locationAnalyzing the city/suburb demographicsSuburban boroughs draw immigrantsCase study: St. Agnes Parish, West Chester When rural turns suburbanCase study: St. Mary Parish, Schwenksville
Location, location, location
Analyzing the city/suburb demographicsBy Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T Did you know, in our culturally spanerse Archdiocese that the four suburban counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery have well over twice as many registered Catholics as does Philadelphia itself? In the 17 years (1990-2007) that the archdiocesan Office for Research and Planning has been […]
When rural turns suburban
Case study:St. Mary Parish, SchwenksvilleBy JIM GAUGERSpecial to The CS&T SCHWENKSVILLE – The borough of Schwenksville is a tiny community nestled in the northwest section of Montgomery County. It is served by St. Mary Parish, under the direction Father Charles J. McElroy, its pastor since 1993. At first look, St. Mary seems to be situated […]
Prendie girls ready to play, weather permitting
By John KnebelsSports Columnist DREXEL HILL – If weather was allowed to be a member of the Catholic League, it would be easy to determine the team to beat: Rain. “We’re five and seven this year,” mused Archbishop Prendergast softball coach Charlie Wieners. “We have five wins and seven cancellations.” Wieners is obviously not alone […]
Lansdale Catholic lacrosse earning local respect
Sports ColumnistBy John Knebels LANSDALE – When it comes to household names in the world of local lacrosse teams, Lansdale Catholic doesn’t quite come to mind. You might want to add the word “yet” somewhere in that assessment. While it is too early to determine whether or not the Crusaders can compete with the likes […]
When the Holy Spirit takes over
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T YARDLEY – For Gloria Coyne, the way to the Father and the Son is through the Spirit. “When I pray in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit takes over,” said Coyne, who is the archdiocesan liaison to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, which held its annual conference at the Valley Forge […]