In 1968, with the country besieged by political upheaval, Father Thomas Merton — a Trappist monk — under the sponsorship of the new Archdiocese of Anchorage, set off for the peaceful wilds of Alaska for 17 days
Maggie Schmitt grew up as a student walking the hallways of St. Mary’s Catholic School on Alaska’s Kodiak Island where she attended pre-school through eighth grade. From a young age she wanted to work with children. Six years ago she returned to her alma mater as an elementary teacher.
CatholicAnchor.org Anchorage Archbishop Paul Etienne is scheduled to participate in the following liturgies and events in the month of May. May 4 – 7 p.m., Listening session, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Soldotna May 5 – 9:30-11:30 a.m., Young adult gathering, Soldotna May 5 – 5:30 p.m., Confirmation Mass, Our Lady of the Angels, Kenai…
Below is a roundup of news items and upcoming events from around the Anchorage Archdiocese.
Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Roger Schwietz will lead a pilgrimage for young adults this fall to the eternal city of Rome. The Oct. 27 to Nov. 4 trip takes place over All Saints and All Souls days with a focus on saints who were foundational in the development of the Catholic Church.
From June 3-6, teens from across the state will rally in Anchorage for the annual Alaska Catholic Youth Conference. The Catholic Anchor caught up with the Archdiocese of Anchorage’s Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry Matthew Beck to learn more about what to expect from the upcoming gathering.
This concert includes a preview of the upcoming tour of Italy where ACC will perform at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, and in the opening night of a music festival near Milan.
It is late April as I write this column. Our parish listening sessions, which are nearly complete — three to go — are revealing many things. I am hearing about the challenges we face as church, a wide variety of perspectives, some hope and gratitude, and a fair amount of frustration and disappointment.
One aspect of the summer missions will be reaching out to those who have abandoned their involvement with the church. “The most important thing in the church today is mission. It’s the church’s main task. Pope Francis has been classic about this: We have to go out. We can’t just be a kind of Catholic ‘club.’
The permanent diaconate has an ancient history, appearing in the first years of Christianity. It waned in the Middle Ages and wasn’t revived until Pope Paul VI restored the order in 1967. Since then the diaconate has skyrocketed in the United States, including in Alaska.