The kickoff of training camp is upon us. Saints fans, anxious for any morsel of information, will get their Twitter updates about who is hot and who isn’t. For every Chris Ivory and Pierre Thomas, two free agent runners who earned jobs in camp, there’s the flip side… Onome Ojo and Courtney Watson.

“Orange Turtles,” “Purple Fireflies,” “Lime Shrimp,” “White Crawfish,” “Red Raccoons,” “Blue Possums,” “Yellow Pelicans” and “Lavender Butterflies” frolicked together for a week at the 2013 St. Benilde Vacation Bible School July 2-5.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis signed a decree clearing the way for the canonization of Blessed John Paul II and has decided also to ask the world’s cardinals to vote on the canonization of Blessed John XXIII, even in the absence of a miracle.

The reigning national champion, Retif Oil, will be hard pressed to defend its American Legion baseball title after dropping into the losers’ bracket at the Southeast Regional playoffs, held at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium between July 13-17.

Beginning in the fall, teachers in the Archdiocese of New Orleans will be “diving deeper” in math instruction using Common Core standards. Long gone are the days of rote learning where a teacher stands at the blackboard and has students memorize the multiplication tables.

Calling it “just like old times,” CYO basketball tournament director Armand Bertin announced that De La Salle will rejoin its other local Catholic school peers as a competitor in the 2013 tournament.

Dr. Seuss rugs and lady bugs. Colorful blocks and kidney-shaped tables. All adorn the classrooms that will greet 12-month-olds to 3-year-olds attending Resurrection of Our Lord Catholic School’s new “Little Lambs Early Childhood” program.

Turn back the pages of prep lore to a bitter cold December night in Shreveport. Jesuit’s football team faced  host Byrd High, a team against which, in three previous meetings, Jesuit had not scored a point.

Know your faith. Live your faith. Share your faith. Three simple suggestions that Greg Willits shared with those attending the recent Catholic Media Conference in Denver. Willits, a writer, radio show host, ministry leader and director of Evangelization and Family Life Ministries for the Archdiocese of Denver, is fired up about being a Catholic, and his new book, “The New Evangelization and You – Be Not Afraid,” ventures to ignite the faith in others.

Demi Varuso didn’t know the rules. Growing up in Metairie as one of eight kids, Demi attended four public schools by the time she was in the fifth grade, experiencing what life is like when the goalposts keep moving.

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In the hands of 13 amateur icon painters, the Prophet Elijah leapt from the pages of Scripture to vivid life atop small canvases. Dressed in a moss-green robe – to symbolize his years of prayer and fasting in the wilderness – the holy prophet of Kings and Malachi is shown perched in front of the cave where he made his home.

A Statement from Archbishop Gregory Aymond regarding the announcement that Blessed John Paul II will be canonized: “It is with great excitement we received the news that Blessed John Paul II will be canonized this year.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis' first encyclical, "Lumen Fidei" ("The Light of Faith"), is a celebration of Christian faith as the guiding light of a "successful and fruitful life," inspiring social action as well as devotion to God, and illuminating "every aspect of human existence," including philosophy and the natural sciences.

Maci Ousset proved her chops in karate when she was named a winner at the World Karate Confederation World Championship May 10-11 in Melbourne, Australia. Ousset, 17, competed in three rounds of the mandatory kata girls’ 16- to 17-year-old advanced division and earned first place in kata and second in kumite sparring.

She has traveled the world reporting about the Catholic faith, even accompanying Pope John Paul II to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Cuba, Rome and beyond, but it took hitting rock bottom for Mary Lou McCall to discover her true beliefs.

Ties to a church where a Catholic has spent formative years are embedded in the heart, as was evidenced on June 16 when approximately 200 people turned out at St. Lawrence the Martyr Church in Metairie to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for one of their own who was ordained a priest weeks earlier – Father Travis Clark.

60 years a priest Dominican Father Austin Green My life as an ordained Dominican priest began 60 years ago. It has given me the opportunity to serve the people of God in many ways, as a theology teacher in seminary and in college, as parish priest, as hospital chaplain, as chaplain for a religious congregation, as priest for the deaf community and for persons with disabilities.

Después del funeral, el 15 de junio, en la Misa por el Padre Michael Jacques, el pastor de la iglesia de St. Peter Claver, el Arzobispo Gregory Aymond caminó con otros obispos, sacerdotes y feligreses en una procesión por el barrio en una carrosa halada por caballos que llevaba el cuerpo del Padre Jacques.