In less than a year, a group of Alaskans will head to Kraków, Poland with millions of youth from around the world for the World Youth Day gathering with Pope Francis. According to local organizers, those intending to make the pilgrimage need to register soon in order to guarantee a spot.
Traditional Yup’ik dance was a form of prayer, a ritualistic plea to the spirit world in the land that would one day be known as Alaska. In that long-ago age, the shaman donned masks representing animal spirits and led the tribe in singing, dancing and drumming to petition the spirits for specific needs. In the late 1800s Christian missionaries including Jesuit priests banned the Natives’ ancient ceremonial dancing, condemning it as evil pagan idolatry.
As a homeless man in Alaska, Jeff Lane lived at the mercy of four omnipresent factors — weather, the law, wild animals such as urban moose and bear, and attacks by teens looking to victimize the homeless. A hierarchy exists among the homeless, according to Lane, and any sense of loyalty to one another is underpinned by the crushing tyranny of alcoholic thirst: the next drink is king.
A prominent national pro-life organization is urging Alaskans to contact U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, urging her to support the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Introduced in June by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) the measure would ban most abortions after 20-weeks. The bill passed the House in May with a bipartisan margin of 242-184.
“The history of growth in faith in this part of the United States has been amazing to witness,” Sister Magee said. “This project allowed us to see beautiful glimpses into all the activities that make up the church — joyful priests, children’s programs, liturgies, church dedications, and most evident, the sacraments, all truly told by the people of God.”
Here is a listing of news and upcoming events from around the Anchorage Archdiocese.
Anchorage seminarian Kevin Klump has been in formation for the priesthood since 2011. He is on track to be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Anchorage in the summer of 2019. This fall he will be studying theology at St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minn
On Aug. 22, hundreds of pro-life advocates in Alaska joined tens of thousands from around the nation in praying and fasting to end abortion and the public funding of the largest provider of abortions in America — Planned Parenthood. Local gatherings in Fairbanks and Anchorage were part of a nation-wide effort in more than 300 cities to pray and protest outside Planned Parenthood clinics following the release of undercover videos showing the abortion giant harvesting body parts of aborted babies and then haggling over the value of each part with prospective buyers.
In an effort to increase opportunities for a Catholic education, the Anchorage Archdiocese has merged two education scholarship funds to provide more financial assistance to students attending local Catholic schools. After the archdiocese contacted donors earlier this year, Archbishop Roger Schwietz approved combining the Jackson Scholarship with the Archangel Fund, a move that nearly doubles money available to students for annual scholarship payouts.
On Sept. 15, Holy Family Cathedral marks 100 years of providing the sacraments and spreading the Gospel in downtown Anchorage. Located at the corner of 5th Ave. and H Street, the cathedral campus occupies most of an entire city block. That wasn’t the case back in 1915 when the humble wood-structure parish became the first church built in Anchorage.