News
Serving the hidden poor
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T When Barbara Anne Baer was a young 20-something, she was assistant display director for the Blum Store, the exclusive women’s apparel store on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia. She might be draping a $500 frock on the display dummy or arranging the folds in the background drapes, when outside the […]
O’Hara’s offense too much for North
By John KnebelsSpecial to The C Pilgrims Unit Study S&T Sometimes a team loses a game and still manages to make a good impression. That’s precisely what North Catholic did last Saturday afternoon at Frankford High School. Facing a Cardinal O’Hara team that was physically bigger and healthier, North Catholic remained more than respectable in […]
Philly bishop combines love for faith, football
John KnebelsSpecial to The CS&T When he was known only as Mike Burbidge, he attended Most Blessed Sacrament School in Southwest Philadelphia before graduating from Cardinal O’Hara High School in Springfield in 1975. During the fall and early winter, he would often accompany his father, a 20-year season ticket holder, to Eagles games. After being […]
Archdiocesan priest deployed to Afghanistan
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T By the time you read this, Philadelphia’s Father Joseph Coffey, in his role as Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Coffey, U.S.N., will be in a place where one would not normally expect sailors to be – land-locked Afghanistan. He’s there with the Third Marine Air Wing, MWSS 372 (Marine Wing Support […]
Hip-hop mission of Mercy
By JIM GAUGERSpecial to The CS&T “Mercy gonna be bringing hope to all of those in needUsing our skills and helping out where we’re called to be.” – Operation Team Katrina rap song PHILADELPHIA – For the fourth straight year, students from Mercy Vocational High School in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia spent their Easter […]
Local Catholics frame response to immigration challenges
By Denise PetersonSpecial to The CS&T PHILADELPHIA – About 90 Catholics from the Philadelphia Archdiocese gathered at Our Lady of Ransom Parish’s gymnasium on Sept. 11 for a leadership meeting on immigration reform. Participants included clergy, religious and lay Catholics from the five counties, as well as representatives from other dioceses in Pennsylvania and Catholic […]
Dream comes true for preschooler
By Christie L. ChicoineCS&T Staff Writer BLUE BELL – Four-year-old John Shapiro came to pre-kindergarten Monday, Sept. 14, at St. Helena School in Blue Bell, Montgomery County. It was a dream achieved for the boy who had become accustomed to seeing his older siblings off to school, dutifully biding his time until he, too, would […]
Pa. crisis impacts Church
By Christie L. ChicoineCS&T Staff Writer PHILADELPHIA – As the Pennsylvania budget impasse has significantly impacted Catholic schools and Catholic social service programs across the Archdiocese, Church officials have communicated their concerns to legislators of the commonwealth. This week diocesan officials were awaiting details of a budget agreement reached by legislators and Gov. Ed Rendell […]
20 years later, her spirituality still grows
By Lou BaldwinSpecial to The CS&T Immaculate Heart Sister Mary James McCaffrey, a classroom teacher for 28 years and now a director of religious education for 20, was an unlikely candidate for the convent when growing up. The middle of five children of James and Esther McCaffrey, or as she puts it, “the meat between […]
The Holy See’s sports hall of fame is revealed
By Carol GlatzCatholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) – No one would ever mistake St. Peter’s Square for Giants Stadium. But for centuries, the Vatican has hosted countless competitions and dozens of high-caliber athletes – most of them lay employees, some of them monsignors and popes. Because so few people know about the sporty side […]