Les Misérables, one of the most popular stage productions of all time, and a story with strong Catholic and Christian underpinnings, is coming to Anchorage’s Atwood Concert Hall for 13 live performances Oct. 17-26. Just prior to the arrival of the Broadway play, a free screening of the 2012 academy award winning movie version of the story will show at the Beartooth Theater pub in Anchorage.
The ongoing 40 Days for Life campaign in Alaska and around the world runs through Nov. 2. The international 40-day prayer vigils take place each fall and spring with pro-life advocates gathered outside abortion facilities to peacefully stand vigil, pray for unborn babies and help mothers choose life for their children.
One of the leading voices in the modern version of the pro-life movement will be in Alaska next month to speak at two banquets held by Alaska Right to Life. Co-founder of the international 40 Days for Life prayer vigils, Shawn Carney, will deliver the keynote address at two gatherings, one on Thursday, Oct. 2, and another on Saturday, Oct. 4.
For 500 years, since the rupture of Christian history by the Protestant Reformation, Catholics and Protestants have been on opposite sides of a theological battlefield. Now they are joining arms on some of society’s greatest moral debates — abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, to name a few. “While they were carrying on these [theological] battles, just a few decades ago, they found out that…the whole social and moral scene had collapsed,” Catholic attorney Bob Flint of Anchorage told the Catholic Anchor in an interview. “The world changed,” he said.
Pope Francis understands the crisis of marriage culture in its multiple dimensions, just as he understands that the family, which begins in marriage, is a troubled institution in the post-modern world; that’s why he’s summoned two Synods on the topic of the family. And that’s why the Synod, fully aware of the gravity of the situation, should begin, continue and end on a positive note, offering the world a pearl of great price: the Christian understanding and experience of marriage.
Joyce and Karl Lund have spent their lives living out a passion for education and a commitment to doing things together. So it’s probably no surprise that after “retiring” from over 80 years, collectively, in the world of public education, they opted out of an opportunity for adventure in Panama, and accepted instead the invitation to help launch Our Lady of the Valley Catholic School in Wasilla.
Father Tom Lilly recently completed an ancient pilgrimage path, hiking the narrow footpaths, farm trails, cobbled streets and byways of Spain. The pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Anchorage completed his journey to the historic cathedral that houses the relics of Saint James the Apostle. Known as Santiago de Compostela, the church has been a prominent place of Catholic pilgrimage since the Middle Ages.
By ELI WOODVINE CatholicAnchor.org Teens and youth leaders from four Alaska parishes teamed up earlier this summer to make a difference on Alaska’s Kodiak, Island. In July, 14 teens and seven chaperones from Our Lady of the Angels in Kenai, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Soldotna, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Anchorage boarded…
As election season politics plays out in Alaska Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz is urging Alaskans of all faiths to engage in civil dialogue and discourse when debating in the public square. “Over the years, what falls in the bounds of being acceptable seems to be disintegrating,” Archbishop Schwietz said in a statement that was read at an Aug. 18 interfaith prayer service just outside St. Anthony Church in Anchorage.
On Sept. 13 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Father Michael Shields will lead a “Mothers’ Day of Healing” retreat at St. Michael Church in Palmer. The gathering, which is geared for women in all stages and phases of motherhood, will include eucharistic adoration, spiritual reflection and fellowship. Father Shields also will be available to hear confessions. Refreshments and childcare provided.