We are honored to celebrate the extraordinarily well-lived life of our beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, husband, uncle, and brother, Jerry Ratajczak Jurand, who peacefully left us, as he had wanted, on July 12 at age 103. Mr. Jurand was a man with a real zest for life who approached life …
‘Did ya’ll see?’ and ‘Can you believe?’
Bad laws and bad processes still require a willing participant By George Valadie I remember it was a Friday when Christa Pike was finally able to get my full attention. She’d been in the news here and there since 1995 but especially of late. Mostly a Tennessee story but one …
Attracting a following
East Tennessee artist’s paintings of Georgia Martyrs to be displayed at beatification By Bill Brewer As a gifted artist who resides in the Diocese of Knoxville, Clorinda Galdós Bell finds herself with an abiding connection to Catholic parishes in Georgia. Her works of sacred art are increasingly being hung throughout …
Dennis Haskins
Dennis Button Haskins IV, a Chattanooga native and actor best known as school principal Richard Belding on the hit television show “Saved by the Bell,” died Sept. 27 in Burbank, Calif., at age 75 from Parkinson’s disease. Mr. Haskins became known to generations of TV viewers as the principal of …
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Blessed Franciscan friars
Oct. 31 beatification for five Georgia Martyrs is 429 years in the making By Bee Goodman On a Sunday morning in September 1597, a Franciscan priest on the Georgia coast was preparing to celebrate Mass. He never reached the altar. Father Pedro de Corpa and four fellow Franciscans, Father Blas …
Bishop Beckman celebrates Mass for young adults
He says the Lord wants everyone to respond to His call, and that all of us have a part to play By Bee Goodman Anyone who has ever split a dessert with a sibling knows the feeling. Somebody’s slice is a little bigger, and everybody at the table sees it …
Care of Creation Ministry organizes hike with bishop
On a beautiful sunny Friday morning in September, 11 hikers joined Bishop Mark Beckman on a Smoky Mountain adventure organized by the Diocese of Knoxville’s Care of Creation Ministry. The group gathered at the Middle Prong trailhead near Townsend and began with a reflection from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ encyclical—“A …
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St. Michael the Archangel, pray for us
Prayers (but not all of them) are vital elements in the Mass liturgy By Bishop Mark Beckman Having recently celebrated the feast of the Archangels (Sts. Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel) and the feast of the Guardian Angels, I am reminded once again of the great care God has for us …
Permanent-deacon candidates now acolytes
12 men in the diocese’s 2027 class take the last major step before their ordination next June By Dan McWilliams The Diocese of Knoxville had its own version of the Sending of the Twelve on Oct. 1 as a dozen candidates for the permanent diaconate became acolytes, the last major …
A synodal Church takes shape
Delegates from across the Diocese of Knoxville call on the Holy Spirit for guidance By Jim Wogan For a few years now, Church leaders in Rome—including, not unimportantly, two popes—have been asking dioceses around the world to embrace the concept of synodality and to seek guidance from the Holy Spirit …
Notice to faithful of the Diocese of Knoxville
The Diocese of Knoxville has become aware of ministerial activity associated with and supportive of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (SSPX) being organized within the territory of the Diocese by Rev. David Mary Engo and other members of the laity. Effective immediately, the bishop of Knoxville has withdrawn …
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Bishops issue statement on Christa Pike
Bishops of the Lutheran, Episcopal, and Catholic dioceses of Tennessee issued a joint letter to Gov. Bill Lee on Oct. 1 on the Christa Pike execution attempt and the Church’s opposition to the death penalty. The letter read: “Dear Governor Lee. Grace and peace to you. We write as bishops …