New priest assignments in Anchorage Archdiocese
Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz has announced several new assignments for long-standing priests in the Anchorage Archdiocese.
FEATURED
VIDEO: Newest Alaskan priest ordained for the church
Here is a short seven-minute video highlighting the ordination of Father Arthur Roraff to the Catholic priesthood. The ordination by Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz took place on June 19 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Anchorage.
Buoyed by court ruling Alaska gay rights activists turn to schools
resh off the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring all states to issue same-sex marriage licenses, gay rights activists in Alaska and across the nation are pressuring legislators to pass measures mandating wider acceptance of the LGBTQ lifestyle and ideology in schools. In a June 6 email to Alaskans, ACLU of Alaska Executive Director Joshua Decker praised the Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, but then noted that “the fight for full equality is not yet over.”
Sen. Sullivan backs measure to prevent unborn babies from painful abortions
Alaska U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan is an original sponsor for a bill to prevent unborn babies from feeling pain during an abortion. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, introduced the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in June. Sullivan’s support for the measure drew praise from the Susan B. Anthony List, a national pro-life organization that works to advance legislation protecting unborn babies and women.
The culture of the west is dying, what to do?
So where is the good news? The secular west is dying by its own hands. Same-sex marriage doesn’t produce children. Abortion and contraception have reduced the west to a graying population.
Alaska airman on a mission to be a military priest
Hayes first felt a call to the priesthood when, as a sixteen-year-old, he made a Confirmation retreat in Germany. “There, I had the confidence to ask the presider (who happened to be the archbishop of the military services at the time, now Cardinal Edwin O’Brien), what I had to do to become a priest,” Hayes recalled. “He told me to go to school, and to continue to pray about it.” Later, after the retreat was over, the base chaplain asked if anyone was discerning a call to priesthood.
Filmmaker looks ‘Outside da Box’ to inspire teens’ faith
Groth said that a big part of the problem is that “we under-challenge our young people” when it comes to faith. “We’ve got a parish of 3,000 families where I’m at, and I can scan any Mass and maybe find five or ten young people sitting in the pews. And it’s not because we’re over-challenging them” in youth ministry, he said. “It’s because we’re not reaching out enough and we’re boring them out of the pews and we’re not giving them something worthy to really sink their busy lives and time into.”
Retired deacon reflects on changes & challenges in the church
A deacon with nearly 40 years of service to the Archdiocese of Anchorage retired from his position as director of the Office of Worship July 1. Deacon Ted Greene, a long-time homilist and catechist, said that health problems this year combined with a restructuring of the pastoral center offices means that at age 75 it’s time to slow down. Slowing down physically is tough for a man whose intellect and interest in all things Catholic have been running at high speed for years.
EDITORIAL: The sting of death and power of Love
No pain is more pronounced than the sudden loss of a loved one. Faith in God is tested — sometimes shattered — when we receive the unbearable call that one of our own has been ripped from the world. The agony and disbelief is beyond comprehension, beyond reason. No explanation stands under the weight of losing a close one.
Wives partner with their deacon husbands
Fifty years ago, Church Fathers at the Second Vatican Council restored the ancient office of the permanent diaconate and allowed married men to be ordained as permanent deacons in the Catholic Church. All these years later, deacons are now an integral part of modern parish life, serving as lifelines for many busy priests who sometimes struggle to meet the diverse needs of their parishes. Deacons can be married or single. Most — 98 percent — have spouses. These wives play a special and critical role in this rapidly growing ministry.