University of Alaska Anchorage students, faculty and staff received ashen crosses on their foreheads March 5 for Ash Wednesday — the start of the Lenten 40-day period of prayer, fasting and alms giving that culminates in Holy Week and Easter Sunday. Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz traced the ashes on about 20 people who attended the…
On March 9, the Anchorage Archdiocese celebrated the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion in which adults as well as a number of children from parishes across the archdiocese took a pivotal step in their preparations to formally enter into full communion with the Catholic Church at the upcoming Easter Vigil. The Rite…
Orthodox Christians from parishes and villages across Alaska gathered at St. Innocent Cathedral in Sitka for the Feb. 21 consecration of Bishop David Mahaffey as the new Orthodox bishop for the Diocese of Sitka and all Alaska. More than 40 priests and deacons were on hand, along with four bishops from the Orthodox Church in…
Democratic Minority Leader Hollis French, of Anchorage, has introduced a resolution in the Alaska State Legislature to repeal the state’s voter approved constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of “one man and one woman.” French is proposing a constitutional amendment to override the 1998 law which passed with 68 percent voter support. French called…
State Supreme Court hears challenge from Planned Parenthood The State of Alaska is defending a voter-approved law that requires at least one parent be notified before an abortion practitioner can perform an abortion on a minor girl. The law provides an option for a judge to bypass the notification requirement in special circumstances. Initially approved…
Proposed legislation to prohibit Alaska abortion practitioners from being reimbursed by the state for performing “elective” abortions, not necessary to preserve the life or physical health of the mother are sitting in committees, awaiting further action by the Alaska House. As of March 18 the two identical bills (Senate Bill 49 and House Bill 173)…
Despite the growth of volunteer opportunities available to college graduates today, the Jesuit Volunteer Corps remains one of the most popular destinations for young Catholics looking for spiritual growth and a chance to serve. Caroline Proulx is one of seven young people — two men and five women — living in community in Anchorage as…
St. Andrew Church in Eagle River has announced plans to hold a special holy hour prayer service to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday on April 27 at 3 p.m. Devotion to the Divine Mercy originated in the early 1900s, when Jesus Christ appeared to Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, a nun and former peasant girl in Poland….
Alaska’s latest annual report on abortions reveals that abortion practitioners are increasingly failing to provide specific answers to questions about their practice or only partially filling out responses to queries about how, why and at what gestational ages abortions were performed, as well as how old women and minor girls were who underwent the procedures….
At 20 million strong, lapsed Catholics would be the second largest religious denomination in the United States, surpassed only by practicing Catholics. Among lapsed Catholics are some who wish to return to full communion with the church. These men and women often find myriad approaches to welcome and assist them. Outreaches range from dedicated ministries…