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Sacred sites await spiritual trekkers across Alaska

For millions of Christians, including those in Alaska, summer is spiritual pilgrimage time. But if Alaskan pilgrims can’t make the long journey to Lourdes or the Holy Land, they can still make little pilgrimages — in the Far North. Here, the Catholic Anchor lists a few holy sites in Alaska ripe for spiritual venturing.
“We are all pilgrims,” Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has explained. And that pilgrimage is a “journey to Heaven,” he added – one in which the faithful are on a “perennial mission of proclaiming before the world the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Catholic Anchor honored by Alaska’s secular media

Competing against news outlets from across Alaska, the Catholic Anchor took home three awards from the Alaska Press Club’s statewide journalism competition, which took place in Anchorage in late April. Consisting of several hundred journalists and more than 60 media outlets, the Alaska Press Club is a professional organization that provides education, recognition and information to Alaska’s reporters, editors and publishers. The Catholic Anchor — the only faith-based newspaper among the Alaska Press Club members — continued its long tradition of being honored at the annual conference.

Alaska’s Catholic summer camp geared up for second season

The second season of St. Therese’s Camp in the Mat-Su Valley begins June 28. The Catholic summer camp, located outside of Wasilla, offers four weeklong programs on a forested 57-acre lakeside campus. According to the camp website, programming for children ages 8-14 includes “swimming, kayaking, canoeing, singing, campfires, archery, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, arts and crafts and outdoor skills training.”

Alaska Catholic Youth Conference aims to ‘reinvigorate’ faith

Attendees will participate in daily Mass, go to eucharistic adoration and confession, perform service projects in the community and raise money for Heifer International. On Tuesday evening, Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz, Fairbanks Bishop Chad Zielinski and Juneau Bishop Edward Burns will join young people for an ice cream social, after which the youth will be able to grill the bishops with questions about the faith. This is a popular and well attended yearly event at ACYC.

Anchorage parish to mark 10 years of perpetual eucharistic adoration

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in south Anchorage will be celebrating 10 years of offering perpetual eucharistic adoration at the parish.

New Alaskan deacons urged to be instruments of mercy

It’s no secret that the vast, sparsely populated expanse of Alaska suffers from a grave shortage of Catholic clergy. On May 1 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral in Anchorage that burden was lessened just a bit when six Alaskan men, dressed in white albs, were called from their seats among family and friends to be ordained permanent deacons for the Archdiocese of Anchorage.

News & Upcoming Events across the Anchorage Archdiocese

Here is a listing of news briefs and upcoming events across the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska.

Anchorage Archbishop’s June Calendar

Here is a list of liturgies and events that Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz is scheduled to participate in during the month of June. For more news, photos, opinions and features from the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, go to www.CatholicAnchor.org.

June Community Calendar for Anchorage Archdiocese

Here are some calendar events scheduled in June across the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska. For more news, opinion and features go to www.CatholicAnchor.org.

Fertility restoration brought life, strengthened our faith

Just prior to my fifth pregnancy, my husband Alex and I decided that we would close off our marriage to new life. With a vasectomy on the calendar, our daughter Bethany was conceived, and Alex went through with a sterilization that cost about $800 and took an hour. And that was it. No longer would we ponder the possibility of new life each month in our marriage; our family had grown even beyond what is considered a normal size and we certainly had plenty of children already, right?