• Challenges: Nearly deported, newly graduated from Loyola
    June 27, 2014  |  Around the ADLA  |  No Comment

    Education, education, education. That is what Enrique and his sister always heard from their undocumented Mexican parents. Florian and Beatriz toiled daily to support their Los Angeles-born children, sending them to St. Cecilia School and petitioning for years to be legal residents.

    When Enrique was in the eighth grade and in the top three of his class, a judge ruled that the family be deported. During the proceedings, the judge learned that Enrique had been accepted to Loyola High School. The judge reversed his deportation ruling, saying how fortunate Enrique was to be admitted to Loyola and that it could change Enrique’s life.

  • Challenges: Twin success, centered in faith at St. Joseph
    June 27, 2014  |  Around the ADLA  |  No Comment

    Life has not always been easy for the Castellanos brothers. Sometimes it even seemed downright impossible. No matter what life threw their way, however, perseverance and tenacity ruled the day.

    Raised only by their father, Quentin, from the time they were one week old, twins Joaquin and Joseph have worked hard for everything they have, including their Catholic education. On May 25, they graduated from St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, each with high grade point averages, multiple athletic honors and an extensive involvement in school and service organizations.

  • Martha Elena Bautista: ‘I’m very blessed’
    June 26, 2014  |  Around the ADLA  |  No Comment

    Martha Elena Bautista wasn’t wearing a royal blue cap and gown like the 28 eighth-grade graduates inside St. Columbkille Church in the late afternoon of June 18. Instead, she wore a green-patterned, sleeveless blouse and navy skirt with dark stockings.

    But when the 29-year-old mother received her GED high school-equivalency diploma, members of the packed-together congregation in the narrow church clapped as loud and long as they did for each of the 16 girls and 12 boys at the Los Angeles parochial school on West 64th Street. And when she walked out with the Class of 2014, trying not to smile too broadly, they clapped even harder.

  • From age to age: Memories and support
    June 26, 2014  |  Around the ADLA  |  No Comment

    On May 30, Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto High School held its 90th commencement exercise. Jan Chambers has been present for 40 of them.

    Throughout that time, the school has changed names, principals (she has worked with six administrators), uniform styles and more. Chambers herself has served as department chair, athletic director, coach, teacher and yearbook moderator.

  • Holiness is our daily task
    June 26, 2014  |  The Latest  |  No Comment

    Holiness is the heart of our relationship with Jesus and holiness is the heart of our mission as Christians.

  • Mary Health of the Sick celebrates 50th anniversary
    June 26, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    When Betty Mosler could no longer care for herself after living in her own home for many years, she considered long-term care at Mary Health of the Sick, a nonprofit that serves individuals in their last stages of life.

  • Viajará a México enviado del Papa para seminario sobre migración
    June 23, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    El ‘número dos’ del Vaticano, el cardenal secretario de Estado Pietro Parolin, viajará a México a mediados del mes de julio para participar en un congreso internacional sobre migración.

  • Catholic Conference responds to state budget
    June 20, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    The budget Gov. Jerry Brown received this week was “sober” but not “good,” according to Edward Dolejesi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference.

    “It pays the bills, it provides money for more effective public safety and human service programs at the local level, and there’s some money left over for a rainy day,” Dolejsi noted. “But for a small, incremental investment, it could have been so much more.”

  • The mission of a deacon couple
    June 20, 2014  |  In The News  |  No Comment

    As an 18-year-old youth in his native El Salvador, Leonel Yoque faced a potentially life-and-death decision in 1989. With his country in civil war between leftist guerrillas and the rightist government, his university was shut down and his options were limited.

  • We need a new conversation about religion in American life
    June 19, 2014  |  The Latest  |  No Comment

    Last week at the annual Spring meeting of the United States Catholic bishops, my brother bishops and I voted unanimously to continue our “ad hoc” Committee for Religious Liberty for another three years.