Alaska is among a handful of states in which local Catholic dioceses seem to have dramatically underreported the overall number of Catholics in the state. This comes from an article published by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).
On an overcast December day, two women were in the process of making the hand-off of a very important job for the Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage. Susan Bomalaski, who had served as the executive director of Catholic Social Services for nearly nine years, was cleaning out her office on her final day. Meanwhile, Lisa Aquino, who took over the position on Dec. 1, was continuing to learn the nuts and bolts of one of Alaska’s premier social service agencies.
It’s no secret that stable, lifelong marriages are under intense pressure across much of the modern world. Viewed by many as a growing global crisis, the problem has long been on the Catholic Church’s radar and was a central concern during the recent Vatican Synod on the Family held late last year in Rome. But it is also seen as a pressing challenge in Alaska where volunteers for the local affiliate of the international Catholic Engaged Encounter ministry have labored for decades to ensure that couples go into marriage with eyes wide open.
Each year since 2010 the largest faith-based marriage enrichment program in the world has spearheaded a national campaign to find the longest married couples throughout the United States. Requests for nominations are broadcast over television, radio, newspapers and the internet. In Alaska, David and Aleen Fison of Anchorage took top honors for 2014, after 70 years of marriage. The national winners were Harold and Edna Owings of Burbank, Calif., married 82 years.
Students at Holy Rosary Academy in Anchorage put on the school’s annual Festival of Lessons and Carols last month during a service at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral. The program recalled the story of the fall of humanity, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus in nine short Scripture readings from Genesis, the prophetic books and the Gospels. The readings were interspersed with Christmas carols and hymns.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, dozens of children gathered at St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church to meet with the beloved Saint Nicholas, the third century bishop of Myra and the inspiration behind much of the Christmas gift-giving tradition. Families gathered in St. Nicholas parish which celebrated its namesake with a Divine Liturgy followed by singing, dancing, gift exchanges and a potluck feast.
Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz presided over the Dec. 8 Immaculate Conception Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Anchorage. During the morning liturgy he formally blessed the new metropolitan cross which is now used at all Masses that the archbishop celebrates at the newly elevated co-cathedral church.
During daylight hours in early December, Holy Family Cathedral was vandalized. Nearly life-size, solid-wood statues, including one of the Holy Family — the Infant Jesus, Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph grouped together — were toppled to the floor, the main altar was stripped, and even the top of the tabernacle was knocked to the ground. That night, two intruders tried to break into the second floor rooms of the priests’ residence — steps from the church. These acts are part of a growing litany of attacks against the cathedral: In November, someone torched an outdoor statue of Mary and defecated across the church courtyard facing busy 5th Avenue. In 2013 someone charged the altar during Mass; in 2012 two priests were physically assaulted. The violence has left local Catholics wondering how the cathedral walks the fine line between keeping doors open to all comers and preserving peace and reverence for the house of God.
Editor’s note: The following Christmas Mass times are for Catholic parishes across the Anchorage Archdiocese. For last minute updates or changes to Mass times, please visit archdioceseofanchorage.org
Every year, it comes upon a midnight clear or a midnight snowy in Alaska. For at least the last 1,600 years, Catholics around the world have been venturing to church in the middle of a dark December night to celebrate the birth of Christ. The Christmas Midnight Mass is a unique liturgy honoring the Infant Savior — the everlasting Light that brightened the dark streets of little Bethlehem and all of human history.