St. Therese, St. Joseph ministries come to aid of Africa orphanage

Clinton, Norris parishes raise funds for vehicles to serve Father Abuh’s home diocese in Nigeria The East Tennessee Catholic Father Julius Abuh is familiar with roads – the ones well-traveled, and the ones less taken. Ministering to parishioners at St. Therese Parish in Clinton and St. Joseph Parish in Norris, …

St. Mary Parish earns national recognition for energy conservation

Johnson City church wins Cool Congregation Challenge by Interfaith Power & Light By Emily Booker A commitment to the caring and conservation of creation has earned St. Mary Parish in Johnson City national honors. Interfaith Power & Light recently named St. Mary as its 2015 Energy Saver Winner in its …

St. Thérèse member named statewide Knight of the Year

From staff reports The Tennessee Knights of Columbus paid tribute to the efforts of councils, Knights, and their families to support their parishes and their communities during the annual state convention held April 29-May 1 at the Marriott Cool Springs in Franklin. And a Knight from the Diocese of Knoxville …

Knights honor East Tennessee agencies for their nonprofit work

By Emily Booker Local charities received much-earned recognition and support for their work when the Knights of Columbus Council 12633 honored 20 agencies at a dinner on May 16 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City. Don Hoyle, grand knight for the council, and Father Doug Owens, pastor …

Knights of Columbus initiative focusing on Church parishes

Fraternal organization working on bringing chapters into closer cooperation with churches By Liz O’Connor, Andy Telli The Knights of Columbus is working to bring the order into closer cooperation with parishes. Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson launched the new initiative late last year. “We will use our resources of time, …

Funeral Mass held for Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma foundress

Mother Barbara Anne Gooding, RSM, a foundress of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Mich., who was in residence in the Diocese of Knoxville, died April 1, following a brief illness. Called in religious life Sister Barbara Anne Marie, she was born on Feb. 12, 1940, in Cincinnati and …

Perspective from a child of God

By Rhetta Botts From the perspective of someone who converted to Catholicism and was confirmed during the high school years, I can say that I wish I had received the graces sooner. “Confirmation isn’t magic,” Sister John Catherine Kennedy, OP, once told me. We must desire the graces, and we must …

Bishop Stika lowers confirmation age to fifth, sixth grades

By Rhetta Botts Following an extended period of study, the age of confirmation in the Diocese of Knoxville is being lowered to a middle-school grade level. Bishop Richard F. Stika has announced that the confirmation age will drop from high school to fifth and sixth grades. With this change, Bishop Stika …

Students share a window to the world of cathedral construction

By Emily Booker When one of the largest church construction projects in the country is happening right outside your classroom, you can’t help but watch and wonder. And talk about a teaching moment. It’s a feild trip right outside the school doors. Sacred Heart Cathedral School students and faculty have …

Bishop Stika, Jim Wogan launch diocesan TV show A Call to Discipleship

By Bill Brewer The Diocese of Knoxville is turning to television as an evangelization tool to help spread the word of God throughout East Tennessee. A Call to Discipleship is a new TV show being produced by the Diocese of Knoxville that features stories and conversation on discipleship taking place …

Once upon a time: Building His Church, living stone by living stone

By Monsignor Xavier Mankel With the canonizations of Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Louis and Zelie Martin, and many other lesser-known saints, we should have at our disposal a sufficient number of saints from a catalogue of the saints to cultivate devotions for many years to come. …