The North Star Catholic / Staff Reports, Author at The North Star Catholic

Father Fred Bugarin marks 40th year as a priest

Parishioners at St. Anthony Church in Anchorage helped Father Fred Bugarin celebrate his 40th anniversary to the priesthood last month.

Describing their pastor as a “bridge builder between people,” parishioners held a community celebration on Jan. 24-25.

Part of a small handful of priest ordained in Alaska, Father Bugarin immigrated to Alaska from the Philippines with his father in 1963. He attended Anchorage’s first Catholic junior high school before graduating from West High School in 1967.

Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Francis Hurley turns 88

Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Francis Hurley celebrated his 88th birthday on Jan. 12 with a gathering of friends at his private residence in Anchorage. He served as head of the Anchorage Archdiocese for 25 years, retiring in 2001 when current Archbishop Roger Schwietz was installed. Archbishop Hurley continues to live in Anchorage where he celebrates daily Mass in his home chapel, visits with friends and former colleagues and regularly attends major funerals and Catholic events in the archdiocese.

Duggars headed for Alaska to spread pro-life culture

Millions of Americans have watched Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar display the joys of life in a large Christian family through the popular reality show “19 Kids and Counting.” In February the couple heads to Alaska to speak at Alaska Right to Life’s annual convention in Anchorage.

Holy Rosary students to host theater comedy, with dinner

Holy Rosary Academy is presenting two performances of their annual high school play, Jan. 23-24. This year students will perform Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s “The School for Scandal,” a comedy of manners set in the 1920s. Performances will be on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. at St. Patrick Church’s Deacons’ Hall. The Saturday evening show will begin with dinner served at 6 p.m. and the play starting at 7 p.m.

Alaska’s Catholic schools to highlight faith, knowledge, service

Catholic schools across the Anchorage Archdiocese will join in the annual National Catholic Schools Week this month to celebrate Catholic education in the United States. The theme for this year’s Jan. 23-31 celebration is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.” Area schools will mark the weeklong observance with Masses, open houses and outreach for students, families, parishioners and the wider community.

Searching for Alaska’s longest married couple

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.

News & Upcoming Events across the Anchorage Archdiocese

Here is a listing of recent news briefs as well as upcoming events and public liturgies scheduled across the Archdiocese of Anchorage.

Anchorage Archbishop’s January Calendar

Here is a list of events and liturgies that Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz is scheduled to attend in January.

Jan. Community Calendar for Anchorage Archdiocese

Here is a run down of upcoming events across the Anchorage Archdiocese in January.

Students celebrate Advent with ‘Lessons & Carols’

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.

ALASKA NEWS

Alaskan seminarians reflect on summer & look ahead to continuing priestly formation

As the summer days grow shorter and autumn approaches, students across Alaska are preparing for the beginning of a new school year. Among those students are the four young men studying to become priests for the Archdiocese of Anchorage. The Catholic Anchor caught up with each of these seminarians to learn what they did over their summer break, and what the next academic year holds in store.

Alaskans rally to fund formation of future priests

Alaskans once again turned out in impressive numbers to financially support young men training to become priests for the Archdiocese of Anchorage. The second annual Seminarian Night dinner fundraiser took place Aug. 10 at Lumen Christi High School in Anchorage. More than 175 attendees donated tens of thousands of dollars.