St. Peter Claver
...to Mother Katharine Drexel to inform her that he had secured a priest to minister to the Black Catholics in Philadelphia.[1] There had been a growing need for a dedicated ministry for some time. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, Black Catholics did not have a church of their own
Saint John Neumann and the Forty Hours Devotion
...in the tomb. Not long after, the practice spread to Rome by way of Saint Philip Neri and was celebrated on the first Sunday of every month. Subsequent popes expanded the practice to all churches in Rome and Saint Ignatius Loyola and the Society of Jesus spread the practice around
Marian Year of 1954
...was defined by Pope Pius IX in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus. Pope Pius XII, in his papal bull Fulgens Corona, expressed his wish for the Marian Year: During this centenary celebration, Christians should conform their lives to the image of the Virgin Mother of God. Just as all mothers
Higher, Faster, Stronger: The Olympics
...in the public domain. Though he never went to the Olympics, Pope John Paul II was a large advocate, as he was an avid skier, swimmer and hiker. Before the 2004 Olympics in Athens, he remarked that practicing a sport, “if lived according to the Christian vision, becomes a prime