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In a Jan. 10 interview with Catholic San Francisco during National Migration Week Jan. 6-12, Mercy Sister Joan Marie O’Donnell detailed two trips to the border she and other sisters made this winter to “take a stand” for migrants’ justice.

Auxiliary Bishop Robert F. Christian, OP, has been appointed rector-president of St. Patrick’s Seminary & University, effective Jan. 14, the archdiocese announced.

WASHINGTON – The conclusion reached by a Pennsylvania grand jury that six of the state’s Catholic dioceses acted “in virtual lockstep” to cover up abuse allegations and dismiss alleged victims over a 70-year period starting in 1947 is “inaccurate,” “unfair” and “misleading,” said a veteran journalist in an in-depth article for Commonweal magazine.

The Vatican has granted a plenary indulgence and a papal blessing for those who participate in the Mass preceding Walk for Life West Coast, including those who are sick and infirm and praying along with the participants on Jan. 26, the archdiocese announced.

During my meeting on 13 September last with the officers of your Conference of Bishops, I suggested that together you make a retreat, a time of seclusion, prayer and discernment, as a necessary step toward responding in the spirit of the Gospel to the crisis of credibility that you are experiencing as a Church. We see this in the Gospel: at critical moments in his mission, the Lord withdrew and spent the whole night in prayer, inviting his disciples to do the same (cf. Mk 14:38). We know that, given the seriousness of the situation, no response or approach seems adequate; nonetheless, we as pastors must have the ability, and above all the wisdom, to speak a word born of heartfelt, prayerful and collective listening to the Word of God and to the pain of our people. A word born of the prayer of shepherds who, like Moses, fight and intercede for their people (cf. Ex 32:30-32).

This week we celebrate the mission of Catholic schools and their cherished legacy. We also recommit ourselves to assuring their future because they are critical to the life of the Church. Catholics schools are privileged places for young people to encounter Jesus Christ through Catholic faith, Catholic culture, and the Catholic intellectual tradition on a daily basis as they learn and grow and develop. Because Catholic schools are called to be, as Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, of Vancouver states, “inspired by a supernatural vision, founded on Christian anthropology, animated by communion and community, imbued with a Catholic worldview throughout the curriculum, and sustained by Gospel witness,“ they are the ideal and obvious institutions to help address a growing problem facing the Catholic Church.

I have always felt that the greatest gift a parent can give their child is the gift of a strong faith. A faith that lies at the core of a person’s life. A faith that serves as a lens where all other experiences, relationships and intellectual pursuits are viewed and examined. This is a tall task indeed given the very secular world in which we live. It is our goal in the 22 preschools, 55 elementary schools, and 13 high schools that comprise the Archdiocese of San Francisco to partner with parents, the primary educators of their children, in cultivating this strong faith in each child we encounter.

In an era of shifting enrollments and expectations, Catholic school principals, parents and pupils stand firm in their support of faith-based instruction.

A local Boy Scout helped put winter gear in the hands of homeless veterans in time for Christmas. Cole Smolinski, a freshman at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco and a Life Scout in Troop 101 at Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame, organized the event as part of his Eagle Scout Service Project.

Rachel Ball joined St. Anthony’s as marketing and communications director in July. In her email conversation with me, she said she was glad to come aboard: “I welcomed the opportunity to join the St. Anthony’s family,” Rachel told me. Rachel met St. Anthony’s while she was involved with a pilot program to reduce hunger and diet-related chronic disease at UCSF’s Center for Vulnerable Populations.

Dozens of St. Dominic families and visitors turned out to watch parish children dressed as gold stars, sheep, angels and centurions animate the Christmas story during the parish’s Las Posadas celebration Dec. 16.

Christina Alvarez secured a makeshift rain poncho fashioned from a plastic bag around a man about to step out Dec. 14 from the warmth of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church into a wintry downpour. Water streamed from a hump of possessions tented on his back as he walked out the door.

Punctuated by shouts of “Viva Guadalupe,” St. Veronica Parish in South San Francisco celebrated the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 12.

Christmas Midnight Mass with Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone as principal celebrant and homilist will be livestreamed from St. Mary’s Cathedral on the homepage of the archdiocesan website. sfarchdiocese.org/events/christmas-midnight-mass.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fifty years after his death, Father Thomas Merton is still helping to draw others nearer to Christ through his writings and the communities they tend to create, said Father Lawrence Morey.

NEW YORK – Since Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin introduced the “seamless garment” approach to life issues 35 years ago, the notion has been both divisive and formative for the church, according to speakers at a Dec. 11 panel in New York.

VATICAN CITY – The fundamental rights of all human beings, especially the most vulnerable, must be respected and protected in every situation, Pope Francis said, marking Human Rights Day, Dec.10.

“You should really come back and see this wall in the morning,” stained-glass artist Margaret Pederson told Catholic San Francisco Dec. 6 during an afternoon visit to St. Augustine Church. “When the sun rises it becomes just like a kaleidoscope.”

This year’s theme at Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory is “accompaniment,” and school counselor Tom Farrell takes it both literally and lightly.

Simbang Gabi, a devotional tradition of the Philippines heralding the birth of the Lord, was launched in a Mass and rites special to the event Dec. 5 at St. Mary’s Cathedral.