Three Catholic school teachers honored

A beloved teacher at St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy in Downey recently received an unexpected surprise: Sarah Barriga was one of five educators honored as an “extraordinary teacher” by the local business community during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5-9).

St. Anthony HS students donate to Miller Children’s Hospital

Students from St. Anthony High School in Long Beach are taking a hands-on approach to learning about the importance of charitable giving and helping others thanks to the guidance of their teacher, Brett Minter.

Can the natural world afford a ‘just war’?

Being good stewards of the earth behooves people to reflect on whether the natural world can afford a “just war,” considering the destructive power of contemporary weapons upon fragile eco-systems, according to a leading Biblical scholar.

Sister of St. Agnes Dianne Bergant, distinguished professor of Biblical Studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a former president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America, points out that the Catholic “just war” teaching formulated to address conflict is an attempt to limit, not justify, an armed confrontation that appears to be inevitable.

Get on the Bus: ‘Keeping the bond alive’

More than 200,000 children in California alone have a parent in prison. These often overlooked children are the hidden victims of crime and the unintended victims of the criminal justice system. Through no fault of their own, they find their parents taken from them, generating feelings of abandonment, shame, grief and even guilt.

This year more than 1,100 children will be reunited with their parent in 11 different prisons throughout California with the help of the Get on the Bus Program. And once again, thousands of students in elementary and high schools of the Los Angeles Archdiocese help the Get on the Bus program by undertaking projects to help these children make the long and emotional trip to the prison.

‘Walk for Life’ set May 17 in Redondo Beach

The 27th annual Walk For Life, “Every Step Matters,” will be held May 17 to support Pregnancy Help Center in Torrance. The leisurely seaside 5K, starting at 8:30 a.m. from the south side of Veterans Park in Redondo Beach, welcomes everyone in the community, including seniors, families with children and babies in strollers and everything in between.

St. Mary Magdalen Chapel nears 100th anniversary event

Known affectionately in and around the Camarillo community as The Chapel On the Hill, St. Mary Magdalen Chapel will mark its Centennial Mass and Celebration on July 4.

A series of events are planned prior to the celebration, including the Juan and Adolfo Camarillo Dinner on April 26 in the Chapel Courtyard.

‘JP2, we love you!’ Young adults explain how John Paul II influenced their lives

Even though youth and young adults were not even conceived during Pope John XXIII’s papacy, all have experienced his legacy through his successor Pope John Paul II.

“He cared. Along with Pope John XXIII, he genuinely cared for people,” said Jillian Ford of St. Francis de Sales parish in Sherman Oaks.

On way to canonization: First stop, Assisi

“It looks like California to me,” says Patrick Kellogg, while peaking outside the window of the bus heading to the medieval town of Assisi (about 150 miles West of Rome) April 23 in the afternoon.

Pilgrims from archdiocese overcome by visit to Assisi

Emily Chavez said that as soon as she got to the Ròseo Hotel in Assisi she laid on the bed, and as she stood in silence in a state of contemplation, tears betrayed her and started exiting from the corner of her eyes.