Pops, an inmate at B.B. “Sixty” Rayburn Correctional Center, announces the same personal intention at every Wednesday night Communion service held inside his prison’s 200-seat chapel: “Lord, help us so one day these gates will open up, and we all can go home in glory.”

Against the backdrop of the nation’s opioid epidemic, the Metairie Substance Addiction Ministry (SAM) will host a resource and information fair Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. at the St. Angela Merici Church gymnasium, 901 Beverly Garden Drive, Metairie.

By Dr. Emilie Leumas, Clarion Herald Contributing writer. River of Faith: 300 Years as a New Orleans Catholic Community: In 2015, New Orleans commemorated the 200th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. While much of the United States overlooked the significance of the battle and its place in history, the Archdiocese of New Orleans curated an exhibit highlighting the power of prayer and the protection of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.

“This is a historical day for all of us to be together,” said current Magnificat international Central Service Team coordinator Donna Ross on Jan. 21. “It doesn’t happen all the time.” The occasion for the Central Service Team’s visit to Magnificat’s District 4 Metairie headquarters was a blessing by Father Beau Charbonnet,  chaplain, of the group’s remodeled office, headquarters for 37 years, and a joint planning meeting.

Parents can no longer keep their head in the sand about the real and present dangers of pornography and its effects on their children, an expert told parents at a Jan. 23 meeting at Archbishop Chapelle High School. Matt Fradd, a native of Australia who now lives in Georgia, has studied the impact of pornography for the last 11 years. He made parents and educators aware of the dangers of pornography, how easily it can be found on the internet and gave steps to shield children from it.

t was a parishwide effort when 22 members of the CYO, the Faith and Families and Social Concerns ministries at St. Pius X joined forces recently to better understand the idea of human dignity and offer direct assistance to the homeless.

The new $14 million residence hall nearing completion at the University of Holy Cross in Algiers is a bold statement for a Catholic university that for decades has prided itself on its intimacy, affordability and results. Dr. David “Buck” Landry, UHC president, is a numbers guy, and he’s not bashful about his reasoning for pushing the university’s board to approve the biggest capital outlay in the school’s history.

One of the great metaphors of the Bible is “the journey.” From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture is full of people on the move: from Abraham to the Promised Land and Paul and the apostles – after the resurrection – all over the Roman Empire.

ARLINGTON, Va. (NCEA)  – The board of directors of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) has appointed Tucson Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, D.D., Ph.D., as chairman, succeeding Bishop George V. Murry, S.J., who stepped down from the position on Dec. 8.

In November 1967, Archbishop Philip Hannan’s initiative to convince the Louisiana Legislature of the importance of supporting Catholic and non-public schools with “a fair share” of taxpayer dollars took shape through the formation of the Louisiana Federation, Citizens for Educational Freedom (CEF).

When Marsha Davis was growing up, only on a rare occasion did her father, Lawrence W. Courville, discuss his Army National Guard service during World War II. She knew his childhood buddy from the Bay City, Michigan, National Guard had died in battle next to him and that her dad had contracted malaria, but other than that, she was clueless.

Reflections from the 2018 March for Life submitted by St. Mary’s Dominican students follow. In my daily prayer of “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” (1 Samuel 3:10), I heard God calling me to attend the March for Life. I had no idea going into the trip what it would be like, what I would encounter or if I would regret my decision to go. I expected a trip where I would see Washington, D.C., and, for one day March for Life, but the trip exceeded my expectations in an incredible way.

John Smestad Jr., archdiocesan executive director of Pastoral Planning and Ministries, was honored with the 2018 Proudly Pro-life Award at the 19th Annual Proudly Pro-Life Dinner sponsored by Louisiana Right to Life on Jan. 11. Smestad was honored for his work of beginning the annual CYO March for Life pilgrimage to Washington, D.C.

In its 300-year history, the City of New Orleans has been blessed to have several saints walk its streets, and the most recent, St. John Paul II, has lessons for everyone in the way he forgave his attacker following a 1981 assassination attempt, former Archbishop Alfred Hughes said in the opening talk of the Tricentennial Lecture Series Jan. 16 at Notre Dame Seminary.

As students from Holy Name of Jesus School walked forward with red roses, Archbishop Gregory Aymond culminated a full week of pro-life activities Jan. 22 by blessing the new Holy Innocents Prayer Garden – for babies lost to miscarriage, abortion or other causes – at St. Patrick Cemetery No. 1, 5000 Canal St.

The Vietnamese community in New Orleans will celebrate its Lunar New Year a little longer this year than in previous years. Van Pham, pastoral council president at St. Joseph Church in Algiers, said even though this year’s Lunar New Year isn’t actually until Feb. 16, two local Catholic parishes with a Vietnamese population are hosting celebrations in January.

A statue of Rachel – the Old Testament mother who has become a modern-day touchstone for those reeling from the death of a baby – graces a new cemetery prayer garden dedicated to children lost through miscarriage, abortion or other circumstances preventing the burial of their remains.

St. Louis Cathedral is the third church to stand at the head of Jackson Square. When New Orleans was laid out in 1721 according to a plan prepared by Royal Engineer Le Bland de la Tour, the site of the future cathedral was designated for a Catholic church, which under the Code Noir was the only faith legally allowed in the colony.

“I don’t know if you know what a gift you are to the world, but you really are,” Dr. Tim Hogan, a psychologist, author and certified Imago relationship therapist told catechists and religious leaders as the keynote speaker Jan. 12 at the annual Go! Gulf Coast Faith Formation Conference, held Jan. 11-13 at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.