MARIA STEIN, Ohio  – As the Year of Mercy comes to an end, Maria Stein Shrine of the Holy Relics will host a gathering to officially mark the closing of the Holy Door that leads to the Relic Chapel on Nov. 20 beginning at 2 p.m. The event will begin …

My Dear Friends in Christ, On the weekend of Nov. 19-20, the feast of Christ the King, Pope Francis will close the Holy Doors of Mercy at the Vatican, and we will do the same in the archdiocese at our own cathedral. While this symbolic gesture will conclude the Extraordinary …

By Walt Schaefer When the 40 original families built the first Queen of Peace Church in 1941 in the small hamlet of Millville on US 27 between Hamilton and Oxford, there was no indoor plumbing. These farming families brought out their horses and equipment and erected what long-time parishioner Adela …

By Andrea Koverman, SC During the week of Oct. 17 hundreds of students from both Mount St. Joseph (MSJU) and Xavier Universities had a unique opportunity to consider to what degree the current criminal justice system reflects one of the tenants of the Catholic faith, namely that all human life …

By Junno Arocho Esteves ROME  — Second chances are hard to come by for people who have served time in prison. They often feel judged and shunned by a society that views them just as former criminals who inevitably will go back to committing crimes. Nevertheless, for 23 people from …

By Gail Deibler Finke A robust church won’t have its religious freedoms challenged, Archbishop William Lori said in a brief interview following a lecture at The Athenaeum of Ohio November 1. The Archbishop of Baltimore, who is also the head of the USCCB’s Committee on Religious Freedom and the Supreme …

The St. Martin Deanery Catholic Rural Life in collaboration with the archdiocesan Catholic Social Action Office and the Ursulines of Brown County sponsored a Walk of Mercy for the Land and its People Oct. 23 at the motherhouse grounds of the Ursulines in St. Martin. The walk was planned in …

Joint Statement on the Reformation Urges Prayer As the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation approaches, Roman Catholic and Lutheran bishops from Southern Ohio, including Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, issued a joint statement encouraging their members to engage in study, prayer, and service with each other. The statement, …

Archbishop Dennis Schnurr has given a chalice and paten to the seminary that he received from Pope Saint John Paul II. The Archbishop received this precious gift in 1993 when he met Pope John Paul II in Denver, Colorado. The Archbishop was responsible for the planning and operations of World …

As Paul Stanbery was composing a piece to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe, he felt an eerie sensation that he was being led to the various elements he used in the tribute. The composition will make its debut Oct. 29 on the anniversary of …