Oct. 2 was a special day at the Academy of the Sacred Heart. The 151-year-old school inducted its Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2018 on that day, and made the occasion doubly enjoyable when its volleyball team defeated St. Scholastica in three games. Receiving their silver plaques as individual inductees were Nina Wessel English, gymnastics, Class of 1992; Renée De La Houssaye Fleishman, volleyball, Class of 1989; Christy Carr Gernard, four sports, Class of 1997; Lindsay Ruckert Mutimer, volleyball and gymnastics, Class of 1998, and coach Charles “Ray” Grenier, mentor to the Cardinals’ volleyball, basketball and track and field teams, 1964-74.

The arrival of caps and gowns was cause for celebration and photos for St. Mary’s Dominican High School’s Class of 2019. The seniors will wear the attire at special events during their final school year, culminating with graduation next May.  St. Marys’ Dominican High School Senior Class coordinator Camryn Wisniewski holds her cap as she takes a photo with fellow seniors after receiving their caps and gowns.

On an occasion that summoned both his vocational and professional callings, Deacon Gary Levy, a veterinarian since 1982, blessed his four-legged patients from the porch of his Lakeview-based practice on Oct. 4 – the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Deacon Levy, who was ordained to the permanent diaconate in June, is assigned to St. Pius X Parish in Lake Vista. He conducted a second blessing of animals in front of St. Pius X Church on Oct. 5. The creatures blessed there included a bearded dragon, a sulcata tortoise and a ball python.

Normally at a Catholic wedding Mass, the bride and groom are the first to receive Communion in the sanctuary and then remain kneeling until Communion is distributed to their relatives and friends. When Emily France and Matthew Poche married on May 26, 2018, at St. Louis Cathedral, they decided together that they would like to serve as extraordinary ministers of holy Communion as another sign of their connection and love for each other and God’s love for their family and community.

From Tulane and Broad, it’s about 170 miles by bike to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, and that’s definitely not measuring by how the crow flies. For the last seven years in October, a disparate group of cyclists has ridden the back roads of south and central Louisiana, hugging the curves of the Mississippi River at times, cutting over to Airline Highway when the mighty river starts looping too crazily upon itself – making north and south anyone’s guess – then heading north into the Tunica Hills of West Feliciana Parish and finally to the razor wire of the largest maximum-security prison in America.

Priesthood Sunday, a special day set aside throughout the U.S. since 2005 to reflect upon and affirm the central role of the priesthood in the life of the church, will be celebrated Oct. 28 in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Priesthood Sunday is coordinated and sponsored by the USA Council of Serra International. Traditionally scheduled for the fourth Sunday of October, all parishes are encouraged to choose any Sunday that works best within their liturgical schedule. 

Ursuline Academy students recently came together to raise $800 and awareness for those suffering from Sickle Cell Anemia. We all wore red shirts (the sickle cell awareness color). In addition to September being National Sickle Cell Awareness Month, we participated in this fundraiser in honor of seventh-grader Evan Bellow, who has Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). “I felt honored to know that I have so much support from my friends and family,” Evan said.

As part of the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ “40 Days for Life” campaign, Archbishop Gregory Aymond will preside at a prayer service sponsored by the Respect Life Office Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. in front of Deanz Health Care for Women, 5437 Crowder Blvd. in New Orleans East. The clinic has applied with the state’s Department of Health for a license to perform abortions, said Ben Clapper, director of Louisiana Right to Life. The doctor who would perform the abortions is Dr. Rashonda Dean, a native of Opelousas, Louisiana, who has performed abortions in Louisiana since at least 2012. Clapper said conservative estimates are that Dean has performed nearly 16,000 abortions since 2012 at Delta Clinic for Women in Baton Rouge and Women’s Health Care Center, 2701 Gen. Pershing St. in New Orleans.

As long as there’s a CYO (basketball) tournament, I will have a team in it.” Those were the promising words of Archbishop Rummel’s head basketball coach Scott Thompson as he made his way into the Joe Yenni Stadium stands to watch his school’s football team face his own alma mater, Jesuit, last Saturday. When the tournament tips off on Nov. 27, two longtime mainstays will be playing elsewhere. As we know, Brother Martin opted out after volunteering its own gymnasium as one of four tournament sites in past years. Instead, the Crusaders will be at West Jefferson on that date. Where St. Augustine, which abandoned the CYO tournament two years ago, will be is anybody’s guess. The LHSAA has not yet posted its full schedule. Coaches at other Catholic schools, however, share Thompson’s sentiment. They are not willing to give up on the 68-year-old tournament even though participating  may mean an extra game against one another in the Select division playoffs.

Pope Francis has convened a Synod of Bishops in Rome to discuss the church’s ministry and outreach to young people. What are your thoughts on the synod? The Holy Father is very sincere and intentional in that he wants to listen directly to the youth – to listen to where they are in their daily lives, where they are in their lives of faith, what they think about the church, how they relate to God and also how they can be encouraged in their spiritual life and in their discerning what God is calling them to do in terms of a vocation to marriage and family life, to religious life and, perhaps, to the single way of life. Pope Francis is also wants to know how the church can help young people discern their professions – choosing a profession where they can make a difference.

El Papa Francisco, convocó un Sínodo de los Obispos en Roma, para discutir el ministerio de la Iglesia y el alcance a los jóvenes. ¿Qué piensa del sínodo? El Santo Padre es muy sincero e intencional, ya que quiere escuchar directamente a los jóvenes, escuchar dónde están en sus vidas diarias, dónde están en sus vidas de fe, qué piensan de la Iglesia, cómo se relacionan con Dios, y también, cómo pueden ser alentados en su vida espiritual y su discernimiento de que Dios les está llamando a hacer en términos de una vocación al matrimonio y a la vida familiar, a la vida religiosa, y tal vez, a una forma sencilla de vida. El Papa Francisco también quiere saber cómo la Iglesia puede ayudar a los jóvenes a discernir en sus profesiones, eligiendo una profesión donde puedan marcar la diferencia.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) –Promising a thorough review of how the Vatican handled allegations of sexual misconduct by former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the Vatican acknowledged that what happened may fall short of the procedures that are in place today. “The Holy See is conscious that, from the examination of the facts and of the circumstances, it may emerge that choices were taken that would not be consonant with a contemporary approach to such issues. However, as Pope Francis has said: ‘We will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead,’” the Vatican said in statement released Oct. 6.

VATICAN CITY (Vatican News) – Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, released a letter Oct. 7 to “his fellow brother,” Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, responding to Archbishop Viganò’s recent accusations against the Holy See. Cardinal Ouellet said he based his letter on his own personal knowledge and documents in the archives of the Congregation for Bishops. In the letter, he asks Archbishop Viganò to return to full communion with Pope Francis.

ADMINISTRATOR Due to the illness of Father Stanley Klores, Pastor of St. Patrick Church, Archbishop Aymond has appointed Father Ian Bozant as administrator of St. Patrick Church in New Orleans effective immediately.

That Joe Chango is the head football coach at Country Day is a very good thing for the school. Give the credit to director of athletics Mike McGuire. And since McGuire is also the boys’ basketball coach, give the assist to science teacher Don Hattier, who worked at St. Charles Catholic with Chango in the late ’90s. So, when Country Day was searching for a football coach after the 2014 season, McGuire said Hattier recommended Chango. McGuire said Chango, then an assistant coach at Jesuit, made a huge impression in his job interview. “Joe played at a small school,” said McGuire. “He understands that you have to play both ways.” On a Friday night at Newman, Chango said the Cajuns dressed out 32 players against the Greenies. The Cajuns were on the cusp of their first loss of the season. They trailed 28-7 in the third quarter, and 31-14 in the fourth. 

Setting the stage for a monthlong gathering of bishops, Pope Francis urged synod fathers not to be crushed by “prophets of doom,” but to be the signs of hope and joy for which today’s young people yearn. “Anointed by hope, let us begin a new ecclesial meeting,” he said in his homily at Mass Oct. 3, opening the Synod of Bishops, which was to meet until Oct. 28 to discuss “young people, the faith and vocational discernment.” Filled with hope and faith, he said, the synod members can “broaden our horizons, expand our hearts and transform those frames of mind that today paralyze, separate and alienate us from young people, leaving them exposed to stormy seas, orphans without a faith community that should sustain them, orphans devoid of a sense of direction and meaning in life.”

Marianite Sister Audrey M. Strassel, a woman religious for 74 years, died June 30 at East Jefferson Hospital at age 91. Sister Audrey was the daughter of the late Edward C. Strassel and Mary Enola Heitmeier Strassel. She was preceded in death by her two sisters, Emelda B. Maggio and Geraldine S. Meyer; two brothers, Herman Burmaster and Leslie “Pete” Strassel; and two nieces Lynn Burmaster and Marlene Meyer Aysien. Survivors include a brother, E. David Strassel Sr., and numerous nieces and nephews. Sister Audrey, also known as Sister Eusebia, entered the Marianites of Holy Cross in 1944 and made her final profession in 1950.

Sister Gloria Irizarry Rodriguez, a Sister Servant of Mary, minister to the sick, died July 25, after a long illness. She was 63. Sister Gloria was born in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, on Nov. 21, 1954. At age 13, her family moved to New York. By age 19, she had joined the Congregation of the Servants of Mary.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Climate change, water resources, inculturation and indigenous practices were among the topics discussed during the first afternoon session of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon.

Jack Jezreel, the founder of JustFaith Ministries (JFM) that seeks to explore the link between faith in God and care of neighbor, will present the 2018 Roppolo Memorial Endowment Workshop Oct. 19-20 at Schulte Auditorium of Notre Dame Seminary, 2901 S. Carrollton Ave., New Orleans. Jezreel will discuss “Discipleship and Public Life: Realizing Pope Francis’ Vision.” He will deliver a keynote address Oct. 19 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and then lead a workshop on his theme Oct. 20 from 9 a.m. to noon. The workshop is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided. The workshop is in keeping with one of the five archdiocesan synod priorities, which urges Catholics to be “a voice and witness for Catholic social teaching.”