KCHS girls hoops team reaches state finals

The defending-champion Knoxville Catholic boys make the semifinals in their bid to repeat By Dan McWilliams The Knoxville Catholic High School girls basketball team made school history as it reached its first-ever state tournament and came home with a runner-up finish. The Fighting Irish boys team, the defending champions in …

Chattanooga Serrans make $4,000 gift to FOCUS missionaries working at UTC

The Serra Club of Greater Chattanooga recently made a $4,000 contribution through the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Catholic Student Center to support the evangelization efforts of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) missionaries who work on UTC’s campus. FOCUS is a Catholic collegiate outreach whose mission is to …

Chattanooga East Ridge Masses have new ap-peal

Our Lady of Perpetual Help dusts off church bells after a 13-year hiatus By Bill Brewer Parishioners and neighbors alike now know when Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Chattanooga is celebrating Mass. Just listen for the bells. The parish has renewed its long-dormant electronic bell system, and the …

KCHS two-sport standout Kaden Martin going to Miami

Knoxville Catholic High School junior Kaden Martin, a standout in football and baseball for the Fighting Irish, narrowed his collegiate choices to Tennessee, Miami, Fla., Arizona State and Oregon, schools that would offer him the chance to play both sports. On March 3 at KCHS, Kaden announced to the media …

Knoxville Catholic quartet signs Feb. 3 with universities

By Dan McWilliams Four student-athletes committed to colleges Feb. 3 at Knoxville Catholic High School in KCHS’s second athletic signing day of the school year. Luke Davenport committed to Middle Tennessee State University as a preferred walk-on in football. Emma Schaad signed with Tusculum University in softball. Kennedy Noe signed …

Sr. Francesca Koller, OP, who ministered at St. Jude, dies

Sister Francesca “Fran” Koller, OP, died Jan. 19 at St. Dominic Villa in Hazel Green, Wis. The funeral Mass was held at the Dominican motherhouse in Sinsinawa, Wis., on Jan. 28, followed by burial in the Motherhouse Cemetery. Sister Fran made her first profession as a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa …

Diocesan seminarians receive the ministry of acolyte

Eighteen priesthood students at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Ind., including three from the Diocese of Knoxville, received the ministry of acolyte on Feb. 18, in the seminary’s St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel. The seminarians receiving the ministry from the Diocese of Knoxville were Joseph Austin, …

Fr. Donahue installed as Immaculate Conception pastor

Bishop Richard F. Stika installed Father Charlie Donahue, CSP, as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Knoxville on March 7. Father Donahue previously served in the diocese as pastor of St. John XXIII Parish on the University of Tennessee campus. During that time, he also served as a police chaplain. …

Kenneth Wandera ordained to the priesthood

Three Glenmary Home Missioners were ordained to the priesthood on March 20 by Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Diocese of Nashville, including Father Kenneth Wandera, who is from Kenya and is serving as an associate pastor at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Erwin. Joining Father Wandera in the …

Imparting the Holy Spirit

Bishop Stika presides at 13th Chrism Mass serving as the shepherd of the Church in East Tennessee By Dan McWilliams Bishop Richard F. Stika has celebrated a baker’s dozen Chrism Masses, and in the latest one March 30 he thanked his brother priests numerous times for their service to East …

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Life and hope

Many are the struggles and disappointments in life, but with Christ our Great Hope we triumph By Bishop Richard F. Stika “In God alone be at rest, my soul, for my hope is from Him.” — Psalm 62:6 As I prepare this column, it is Holy Week, and by happy …