Archdiocese

Conference explores laity’s responsibility for church

While lay men and women have taken on more roles in the church, a recent conference in Berkeley took a deeper look at the vocation of the laity and their connection to the mission of the church. At the annual convocation of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology’s College of Fellows Feb. 1 and 2, participants discussed the ways the laity are active in the church today, and how their role could be expanded.

Sharing the grief and grace of living with an affliction

Evangeline Carlos of San Mateo learned she had metastatic lung cancer after applying for a nursing assistant job that required a chest X-ray as part of the hiring process.

Chinese Catholics celebrate New Year as ‘family of God’

With rites special to their culture and rites close to every Catholic’s heart, the Chinese Catholic community of the Archdiocese of San Francisco welcomed the Lunar New Year Feb. 9 at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The New Year commenced Feb. 5.

Lenten opportunities

Events to help observe Lent are taking shape around the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

St. Jean Vianney relic touring archdiocese

The relic of the heart of St. Jean Vianney, patron saint of parish priests, will visit locations around the Archdiocese of San Francisco Feb. 28-March 3 as part of a national tour. The public schedule with note of accompanying rites and times is listed below. The saint died Aug. 4, 1859, and was canonized by Pope Pius XI May 31, 1925, for a life of “heroic penance and prayer to draw people away from sin and closer to God,” the Knights of Columbus said in a description of the tour.

Consecrated Life Mass: Religious ‘united in what they do and why they do it’

One of 65 women and men religious celebrating jubilees in 2019 said in remarks delivered during the Consecrated Life Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral Feb. 3 that those who choose religious life can be wholly different in background, ministry and age but are “united in what they do and why they do it.”

Married couples show archdiocese the reality of love

Whether they had celebrated their wedding five years ago or 65 years ago, a special archdiocesan Mass honored the witness to love provided by married couples. At the archdiocese’s annual Wedding Anniversary Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral Feb. 9, couples who had reached a new five-year increment in their marriage, along with any couples married more than 40 years years, renewed their vows and had their rings blessed. About 90 couples participated, with a total attendance of 400.

Peaceful, positive and personal pro-life messages mark 15th Walk for Life

A throng of upbeat pro-life supporters, some from as far away as Colorado, Arizona and Tennessee, swarmed the streets of downtown San Francisco Jan. 26 carrying a wide array of messages calling for an end to abortion.

Youth rally: Respect for life begins with self-worth

Nearly 450 eighth grade students from 16 Catholic schools across the archdiocese gathered Jan. 24 for a youth rally at St. Mary’s Cathedral and a message that respect for human life begins with understanding their own value and not being defined by social cues.

Catholic, Orthodox neighbors renew bond in prayer

For more than a decade neighboring Belmont faith communities Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish and the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross have come together for prayer. Led on Jan. 24 by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone and Metropolitan Gerasimos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco their members’ voices rose in prayer once more.