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As a small group of children played outside, the noise from the dining hall at St. Anthony of Padua overflowed with dozens of conversations. Seated at long rows of tables, a few hundred men and women talked Monday Nov. 5 over trays of beef stew, rice and salad or lingered over cups of coffee.

PHILADELPHIA – Acting on his promise to find new ways to support survivors of clerical sexual abuse, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced Nov. 8 that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is creating a new reparations program open to anyone abused by clergy in the archdiocese.

The St. Vincent de Paul Conference of St. Robert Parish, San Bruno, has been awarded a $3,561 grant from the National Council of the U.S. Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Mateo County is running up to the holidays much with the help of volunteer Peggy Cooney.

Anyone interested in cultivating a “sense of living in eternity now” should open themselves up more intentionally to the communion of saints and souls, said the leader of an All Souls weekend contemplative retreat at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Bolinas Nov. 3.

In the heart of a city becoming as well known for the size of its homeless population as it is for its golden-hued bridge, about 200 people gathered at St. Patrick Church Nov. 8 to pray for the eternal rest of the human lives ended unceremoniously on the streets of San Francisco.

On Sunday, Oct. 28, devotees of a centuries-old Peruvian tradition attended Mass and participated in a solemn procession escorting the image of the Lord of Miracles, patron of Lima, Peru, at St. Timothy Parish in San Mateo.

TIJUANA, Mexico – As caravans of Honduran and Guatemalan immigrants traveled through Mexico toward the U.S. in a cacophony of media reporting and political rhetoric, a group of California and Mexican bishops met quietly in Tijuana in their annual meeting of prayer and friendship Oct. 22-23.

VATICAN CITY – Speaking on behalf of all adult Catholics, Pope Francis formally closed the Synod of Bishops by asking young people for forgiveness.

VATICAN CITY – As the Synod of Bishops finished its work, Pope Francis called on all Catholics to defend the church from those who are influenced by the “great accuser” seeking to destroy it.

For 70 years many Christmas trees in San Francisco have served double duty as bright company for the gifts under them, and as a source of aid to young beneficiaries throughout the Bay Area. The Guardsmen this year will sell more than 6,000 Christmas trees at their Fort Mason tree lot with the $500,000 raised funding a campership program sending underprivileged children to summer camp, and scholarships for underprivileged children attending private schools in San Francisco.

The city of San Francisco removed a controversial statue from the Pioneer Monument near City Hall in the early hours of Sept. 14.

Fall was a busy time for putting new names on office doors at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in Menlo Park. Welcomed to the faculty to teach and assist in several areas of faith were Father John Boettcher, Dr. Nina Heereman, Dr. Francis Feingold, Father Francis Lowe and Jesuit Father David Robinson.

Closing out a monthlong series of town hall-style discussions about clergy sex abuse, the Archdiocese of San Francisco held its final listening session Oct. 28 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Belmont. More than 100 people gathered to hear Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone review archdiocesan policies to safeguard children and talk to him about the abuse scandals inundating the church.

Students, parents, teachers and staff of Holy Name School in San Francisco are more prepared for a schoolwide or local emergency than they’ve ever been after the school held its third annual lockdown, evacuation and reunification drill Oct. 19, principal Natalie Cirigliano said.

Four individuals were feted by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone for their leadership and service to the church at the 2018 Assumpta Awards dinner Oct. 24 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco.

VATICAN CITY – Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas of San Salvador asked Pope Francis to proclaim St. Oscar Romero the church’s first Latin American “doctor of the church.”

Tense listening sessions in the archdiocese on the clergy sex abuse crisis continued, as Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone met with several dozen Catholics at St. Mary’s Cathedral Oct. 17 and St. Stephen Church Oct. 18.

Embracing Pope Francis’ view of the church as a “field hospital,” three San Francisco parishes have set up a support center aimed at healing the wounds of divorce.

Catholic high schools are mixing it up with the men’s and women’s Crusader Mixed Choir blending voices from Archbishop Riordan, Mercy San Francisco and ICA Cristo Rey. The group is based at Archbishop Riordan High School.