Under an ordinance passed by the New Orleans City Council June 28, school zone hours in Orleans Parish have been extended for both the morning and afternoon drive times. The longer school zone hours that will go into effect on the first day of the 2012-13 school year will be 7 to 9 a.m. and 2:45 to 4:45 p.m.

When Tony Ricard was a mostly frightened incoming freshman at St. Augustine High School in 1978, he didn’t know what to expect as he walked through the doors of the city’s premier Catholic high school for African-American males.

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti – There are moments of clarity when Religious of the Sacred Heart Sister Judy Vollbrecht knows exactly why she has spent the last 12 years in Haiti working with children who have experienced unspeakable horrors.

A couple weeks ago, I gathered with some friends at the Abita Brewery to hang out and enjoy a few beers … and talk some theology. For four weeks during the summer, young adults can fellowship and hear speakers explore important faith-based issues through “Theology on Tap.” On June 28, the founder of Adore Ministries, Paul George, spoke about “Putting on the Armor of Virtue.” As young adults, most of us want to live virtuously.

With the recent focus of the church on the Fortnight for Freedom and the calls to stand firm in our fight for religious freedom, one of the things that has astounded me, as a Catholic, has been the response within the young adult community.

A retreat at St. Charles Catholic last year fostered trust in your neighbor. Photo | COURTESY ST. CHARLES CATHOLIC Ten years ago, the four members of the religion/campus ministry department of St. Charles Catholic High School – Connie Cambre, Jeff Montz, Lee Ann Kliebert and myself – sat together in the old library as we worked on a self-improvement plan for our accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

View the image gallery A major restructuring of the Office of Catholic Schools aims to make the office more proactive and nimble in advancing the mission of Catholic education by assigning special areas of focus to six new associate superintendents and two administrative veterans.

Father Jimmy Jeanfreau remains amazed at the enthusiasm and affection of the Bolivian people every time he returns, and it’s been six years since his last assignment as a missionary priest there. On his most recent visit June 1-8, Father Jeanfreau as director of the Pontifical Mission Societies’ office led religious educators who are mission coordinators in the Archdiocese of New Orleans on the Bridge Builders Mission Immersion Program in and around his old stomping grounds of Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

A miraculous cocoon saved 16-month-old Melissa Trahan-Ferrara from certain death after Pan Am Flight 759 careened into her family’s Kenner home on July 9, 1982. View the image gallery The plane’s impact threw Trahan-Ferrara from her bed and into the street, catapulting the toddler into a protective roll of carpeting, complete with an air bubble.

On July 1, six new associate superintendents joined the staff of the Office of Catholic Schools. Here are their profiles: STEPHENIE AUBERT Age: 60 Hometown: Wallace, La. Church Parish: Our Lady of Grace, Reserve Education: St. Catherine of Siena Elementary, Donaldsonville; Ascension Catholic High, Donaldsonville; bachelor’s degree in speech pathology from Nicholls State University; master’s degree in special education from Nicholls; also earned her “master’s plus 30” hours in supervision and administration from Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond.

Honoring and celebrating Americans of Italian descent in New Orleans began in earnest at the 1984 World’s Fair with the American-Italian Cultural Museum. Joe Maselli was the driving force behind the effort to create a permanent museum on South Peters Street after the fair.

View the image gallery Are you in a Catholic Church parish that has merged or is sharing a pastor? Realize that you are not alone and help is out there. The Loyola Institute for Ministry (LIM) in New Orleans recently hosted Mark Mogilka to address this topic in a two-day multi-parish ministry workshop attended by pastors, staff, pastoral council leaders and others from Baton Rouge to Metuchen, N.J. “It came about because it is an increasingly prevalent form of parishes in the United States,” said Tom Ryan, director of LIM.

¿Le sorprendió la sentencia de la Corte Suprema al afirmar la constitucionalidad de la ley del Acto del Cuidado Asequible? Me ha sorprendido. Cuando me enteré acerca de la decisión, yo asistía a una clase de educación continua para los obispos en Carolina del Norte, con el Instituto de Liderazgo Católico.

The goal of this “Year of Renewal: Offering a Worthy Sacrifice of Praise” is to move faithful Catholics to a deeper understanding of the Mass, an understanding that will result in more worthy celebrations of the Mass and greater participation in the Mass in parishes, schools and other ecclesial gatherings.

In 2006, the New Orleans Saints were the biggest story in sports. The Saints led this city’s comeback, post Katrina. But a bigger story can be written by the Saints in 2012. Can a team without its head coach, suspended for a season, be the first team to play the Super Bowl on its home field?

Retif Oil’s Brady Williamson peeks toward first base to see if Deanie’s Seafood second baseman Spencer Veit will complete a double play during first-round play in the First District American Legion baseball tournament on July 15 at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium.

This column by Archbishop Philip Hannan was published in the Clarion Herald on July 15, 1982. The crash of Flight 759 brings up the nagging question: Why does God permit such tragedy? The answer and the consolation lie in the suffering of Christ.

In order to provide pastoral care for the people of God in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Archbishop Aymond has made the following appointment: PAROCHIAL VICAR Father Frank Reale, S.J. , Parochial Vicar, Immaculate Conception Church, New Orleans, effective July 31, 2012.

Almost all of the Vatican’s important business gets done from October through June, making it the most relevant unit of time to use when analyzing the papacy’s activity and its implications for the church.