CatholicAnchor.org When the Spanish sailor Juan de Camus sorted through the ashes of a burned-down house in the Philippines in April 1565, he happened upon a plain pine box. Opening it, he found what would in later centuries become one of the most important icons in Filipino culture — a discovery that continues to…
CatholicAnchor.org While a number of laws in Alaska deal with trafficking, efforts are underway to strengthen these laws. In the last legislative session, Gov. Sean Parnell introduced a bill to provide stronger protections for victims and survivors, while strengthening penalties and sentences for sex trafficking and giving law enforcement more investigative tools to track down…
CatholicAnchor.org A resolution has been making its way through the Alaska Legislature to enable more parents across the state to choose private schools for their children — and unless it is considered and passed this session, the bill will die. Introduced last February by Senators Mike Dunleavy, Fred Dyson, Pete Kelly, John Coghill, and…
CatholicAnchor.org The Anchorage Archdiocese has three men studying at St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, Minn. — Arthur Roraff, Robert Whitney and Kevin Klump. These seminarians, all in different phases of formation, are on pace to be ordained to the priesthood over the next four years. In December the Catholic Anchor connected with two of…
CatholicAnchor.org From 1965 until 2013, the total number of priests in the United States dropped from 58,632 to 39,600. During the same years, the total number of graduate level seminarians dropped from 8,325 to 3,694. And yet, the number of self-identified Catholics increased from 48.5 million to 78.2 million. Now a large, aging population…
CatholicAnchor.org Braving blowing snow and treacherous road conditions, approximately 30 people gathered Dec. 14 in Anchorage for “Conversations with the Archbishop.” The event took place at Holy Cross Church, where enthusiastic attendees showed up to hear Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz share his impressions of the current state of the Catholic Church. Joined by Father Tom…
Religious liberty advocates worry that Anchorage area churches, faith-based organizations and business owners could soon be forced to violate deeply held religious beliefs regarding the issue of homosexuality if a ballot initiative is approved of by voters on April 3.