Both numbers are impressive: 45 new seminarians and an overall enrollment of 146 at Notre Dame Seminary, which in each category represents “the highest number in nearly 20 years,” said Father James Wehner, rector-president.

Mount Carmel science teacher and Student Council moderator Madi Hannan, 22, is always looking to start a new art project. “I call it my extended hobby because it definitely has been a big part of my life,” she said.

From his elevated perch on the shoeshine stand near Concourse C of Louis Armstrong International Airport – a nondescript wooden platform with two blue-padded chairs and four metal footrests – Wayne Kendrick, 60, notices everything and everyone.

Cabrini High School has earned the first College Board AP® Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles. Cabrini is one of 685 acknowledged among the more than 18,000 secondary schools worldwide that offer AP courses, and among only  490 schools earning the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for AP Computer Science Principles.

Ten years is time for a celebration. The SERVE program (Students Engaging in Reflective Volunteer Experiences) of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans (CCANO) turned 10 years old this summer.

For the times when it’s hard to do the right thing, the author of today’s second reading makes a suggestion. Keep looking at Jesus, he says.

In medical terms, it is called a “continuum of care” – meeting the unique health-care needs of individuals and families as they face the realities of aging and physical and mental decline.

Allstate Sugar Bowl president Monique Morial presents Billy Truax, top, with his Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame plaque at the annual awards banquet on Aug. 10. The former LSU and pro football tight end was joined by Archbishop Rummel’s legendary basketball coach Jim Robarts, left, ex-Saints linebacker Pat Swilling and Destrehan native and 12-year NFL veteran defensive back Ed Reed as the Class of 2019 inductees. Truax prepped at Holy Cross (1957-59), while Robarts led Rummel to state titles in 1977 and 1978.

Sister of St. Joseph Helen Prejean, one of the world’s foremost advocates for the abolition of the death penalty, launched her newest book,“River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey,” Aug. 10 at St. Rita in New Orleans. Sister Helen told more than 200 people who attended the launch party that her community life and prayer with the Sisters of St. Joseph and collaboration with people of other faiths had a major influence on her spiritual awakening that more concrete steps needed to be taken to see the death penalty as contrary to the teachings of Christ.

When the Holy Spirit came down upon Jesus’ fearful disciples in the Upper Room at Pentecost, he gave them the courage and other necessary gifts to spread the Gospel to the ends of the world.

The Daughters of Charity have a tradition steeped in caring for those in need. When the nuns began their health ministry in New Orleans in 1835, they first provided administrative oversight at Charity Hospital; they later founded and operated Hotel Dieu Hospital in 1859.

Cloistered monks and nuns in formation for the Benedictine and Discalced Carmelite orders had a special treat in July. They held a three-day, joint formation workshop at St. Joseph Abbey’s Retreat Center in Covington, celebrated Mass together and even visited Oak Alley Plantation.

The Diocese of Little Rock (Arkansas) has submitted formal documentation to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome regarding an “alleged miraculous healing” of a college student from a serious medical condition, which the Vatican panel may review as part of the beatification cause of Venerable Henriette Delille, foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family in pre-Civil War New Orleans.

Providing  mental-health services to the community has been Mercy Family Center’s aim since Sister of Mercy Sarah Ducey and Mindy Malik, both Ph.Ds, founded the program in 1992.

Every family’s story has a beginning. The life journey of the descendants of Nace Butler Sr. began on plantations in Maryland as slaves who were sold by the Jesuits and sent to Louisiana to work on plantations here.

Archbishop Aymond created the role in 2014. I coordinate health-care chaplaincy across the archdiocese’s eight civil parishes at settings that include hospitals, nursing homes, assisted-living residences and hospice care. There are 123 medical facilities in the archdiocese, including 45 hospitals. Our main challenge is, how are we reaching the Catholics, at minimum, in those places? If we look at hospitals and nursing homes alone, there are 14,000 patient beds in the archdiocese. If we conservatively estimate that these beds are 75% occupied, and our demographics tell us that 42% of those patients are Catholic, that means there are 4,400 Catholics in a hospital or nursing home bed on a given day. So, how do we minister to them, as well as to their families and caregivers? Our goal is to have a Catholic presence as much as we possibly can in those places.

In topographically challenged New Orleans, where “running water” can be a pejorative depending on whether it is flowing inside or outside the house, a long-promised, 25-acre stormwater management and flood mitigation project called the Mirabeau Water Garden can’t come on line quickly enough.

Long before Medicare or Medicaid, women and men religious of the local Catholic church in New Orleans ministered to the sick.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Three U.S. bishops’ committee chairmen have called on the nation’s elected officials “to exert leadership in seeking to heal the wounds” of the country caused by the Aug. 3-4 mass shootings and urged an end to hateful rhetoric many see as a factor in the violence particularly in Texas.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Wednesday general audience offers the pope the opportunity to help people understand the fundamental teachings and beliefs of the Catholic faith. Usually given in a clear and simple style, each catechesis is often part of a longer series of talks dedicated to a major theme, which together form a deep, detailed overview of basic tenets or can offer a more analytical commentary and examination of Catholic teaching.