An Important Message from Principal DeBoer and Father Zehren Aug 27, 2025 Dear Annunciation Parish and School Family, We are navigating an impossible situation together at this time. No words can capture what we have gone through, what we are going through, and what we will go through in the coming days and weeks. But…
CNA, ed. CBJ—Most people think of St. Maximilian Kolbe as the heroic martyr who traded places with another prisoner in the Nazi’s horrific Auschwitz prison, resulting in a painful death by starvation, but there is much more of the story to tell. What would give someone the courage to do such a thing? And, why…
CNA/NCR—A Massachusetts mayor is going to bat for including statues of two Catholic saints on the city’s new public safety building, saying he picked them because of their importance to police and firefighters and accusing opponents of harboring “‘negative attitudes’ toward Catholicism.” But lawyers for local residents who object to the planned 10-foot-high bronze statues…
CNA—England—The skull of St. Thomas More may be exhumed and preserved to coincide with the 500th anniversary of his historic martyrdom, according to a spokesperson for St. Dunstan’s Church in Canterbury, England, the Anglican church in which the relic reportedly currently rests. Ironically—given the reason for More’s beheading—an opportunity for ecumenical outreach and communication As…
CNA—A reported strike on the only Catholic Church in Gaza killed three people and injured nine others July 17, according to a statement from the Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM. Among the injured was the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli. Pictures showed damage to the church’s roof and windows. Amid the ongoing war in…
In 2006, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles held a most remarkable exhibit, featuring ancient icons from Sinai’s St. Catherine’s Monastery. The first-ever exhibit from this 1,500 year old monastery included a video of the monastery, the vast surrounding desert, snippets of the monks’ daily life and local traditions such as Christians making the significant…
And just like that, Israel and Hamas agree on a ceasefire agreement…a week before a new U.S. President is sworn in. The SAME ceasefire agreement that was rejected just a few months earlier! It is interesting what can be achieved when there is clear leadership, and when other countries know clearly what they can (and…
ACI Prensa/CNA—The Cuban government’s announcement of the release of 553 prisoners has been described by an analyst and the opposition as “a swap” by the regime to obtain economic benefits from the United States, including removing the island from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism. The government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel reported on Monday, Jan.…
The B.C. Catholic/CNA—If the faithful can’t go to the shrine, bring the shrine to the faithful. So it will be with the relics of the Canadian Martyrs, usually housed in their Midland, Ontario, shrine, which will make their first tour of western Canada as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. Innovative solution for…
CNA, London, England—The lord mayor of Westminster in London said he is “blown over” after being chosen to become a papal knight — the highest honor a lay Catholic can receive from the Vatican. Councillor Robert Rigby will become a knight of St. Gregory sometime in 2025. Living his Catholic Faith as lord mayor The…
CNA—Bethelehem, West Bank—Being an artisan in Bethlehem isn’t just a job. It’s an art, almost a calling, a treasure handed down from father to son, but one that is now at risk of being lost. After two years of war… Younger generations are choosing other career paths, and after two years of war, fathers don’t…
CNA—Author and Catholic convert Lee Edwards, one of the foremost historians of the conservative movement in America, died Thursday. He was 92. Edwards co-founded the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, D.C., authorized by Congress in 1993 and completed in 2007. He was a distinguished fellow of conservative thought at the Heritage Foundation for about…
CNA—EWTN Global Catholic Network presented the 2024 Mother Angelica Award to Curtis and Michaelann Martin, co-founders of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), an organization recognized as one of the most influential forces for Catholic evangelization in the United States today. EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Warsaw presented the award to the…
CBJ, & CNA—As calendars get filled up and preparations are made, here are SIX resources to help you get ready to enter into the deeper meaning of Christmas. Advent Wreath at home Simple. Easy. Powerful because it helps keeps the focus on the somewhat penitential season of ADVENT. “Advent” comes from the Latin Ad Venire…
CNA—A coalition of religious broadcasters and churches is suing the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over a long-standing rule that forbids certain nonprofits, including churches, from supporting politicians and political campaigns. The complaint, filed on August 28, 2024, in U.S. district court by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), argues that churches “are placed in a…
CNA—The bells of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris rang for the first time since April 2019, when a devastating fire broke out in the spire and roof of the historic French church. Notre-Dame of Paris passed the major milestone today at about 10:30 a.m., just one month away from its highly anticipated reopening on Dec.…
ACI Africa, CNA—A U.K.-based human rights foundation condemned the forced conversion of Christians to Islam in Sudan following the arbitrary arrest of 12 Christian men by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) military intelligence unit. The 12 men were part of a group of 26, most of whom are Christians and were reportedly detained at a…
CNA—New Yorkers on Oct. 15, 2024—the Feast of the great Carmelite reformer, mystic and doctor of the Church, St. Teresa of Avila—gathered in droves within the vaulted ceilings of one of New York City’s most famous churches, St. Patrick Cathedral, many from New York City and others driving in from nearby Long Island, New Jersey,…
VN—Amid the recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, Maronite Catholic Bishops discuss how the violence has led to thousands of people being forced to leave their homes. The Maronite bishops have expressed their “sorrow in the face of the horror of the disaster” in Lebanon following Israel’s recent attacks on the country, which have caused…
CNA—A Monday, Sept 23, 2024, ruling from a federal judge in North Dakota shields thousands of Catholic parishes and employers — for now — from new regulations mandating time off for abortions and fertility treatments as part of federal legislation originally designed to help mothers. At issue were new regulations issued by President Joe Biden’s…
