CIMA honors excellence in storytelling at awards ceremony

With seagulls flying above and the sound of the surf below, attendees at this year’s Catholic in Media Associates (CIMA) awards were greeted by a picture perfect Southern California backdrop for the group’s annual Mass, reception and ceremonies held in Pacific Palisades.

Now in its 22nd year, CIMA presented its yearly awards honoring excellence in media, with the feature film “The Monuments Men,” the feature documentary “Cesar’s Last Fast” and the television news program “CBS News Sunday Morning” receiving accolades for stories with uplifting messages that promote positive messages and themes.

New priests urged to ‘be men of patience, mercy, love, hope’

When Rosa Sahagun learned that her nephew Juan Ochoa wanted to become a priest, she felt immensely proud — and fiercely protective. As a surrogate mother, who helped raise him after his parents passed away when he was a young teen, “I have always supported him, to help him have confidence in himself,” she said.

“He has always had the support of his entire family, and wherever he is, he will always be with us — and now we will stand by him as a priest.”

LA archdiocese runs CNA news wire service exclusively

The nation’s largest archdiocese, Los Angeles, has chosen Catholic News Agency to provide U.S. and global news for its archdiocesan publications, “Vida Nueva” and “The Tidings.”

“For an archdiocese as large as Los Angeles, we rely very heavily on a wire service that can provide for us reporting on national and international events,” editor-in-chief, J.D. Long-García told CNA.

Cathedral wins CIF-SS Division 4 volleyball title – 05/30/14

Cathedral High School of Los Angeles won its third straight CIF-Southern Section Division 4 volleyball title May 24 with an exciting four-set victory over Bishop Montgomery of Torrance.

CASA Universitaria: Higher education comes to Compton

“Education, the path to change; education, an important part of social justice; education, the foundation for success; education, a way to improve the quality of life, based on grassroots needs.”

School gardens: A growing trend

The fourth grader ran to show his teacher the spring green insect he had just plucked from the plant bed, the first caterpillar ever found in the garden at Nativity School in El Monte.

Jenny Reyes and her class of 21 fourth grade students were in front of the school this May 22 morning, tending to six raised beds planted with snow peas, carrots, cucumbers and flowers.

Malta L.A. group makes Lourdes pilgrimage

Knights, Dames and volunteers from the Los Angeles Location of the Order of Malta recently travelled on their annual week-long pilgrimage to Lourdes.

Each year, the Los Angeles group joins up with other members of the United States Western Association of the Order of Malta forming a group in excess of 300, and journeys to the location where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to St. Bernadette in 1858. The pilgrimage is shared with 50 malades (French for “sick”) from California and other Western states searching for spiritual and even physical healing.

SOAR! Dinner set June 22

Three individuals and a foundation will be honored at the Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR!) Dinner on June 22, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.

Kathleen Aikenhead, president of the William H. Hannon Foundation; Timothy and Steph Busch, active in Catholic education and numerous Catholic lay endeavors; and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation will be recognized for their efforts in support of church ministries and religious.

CALL awards Archbishop Gómez Scholarship to teacher

Carla Rivera, a teacher at Good Shepherd School in Beverly Hills, has been selected the 2014 recipient of the Archbishop José Gómez Scholarship awarded by the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL).