LOCAL NEWS

College students can count on diocesan efforts to help them find, maintain their faith through adulthood.

CAVE CREEK — St. Gabriel the Archangel, a parish in the heart of a steadily growing area that includes a large percentage of young families, will open an expanded school in late 2020 and a new church about a year later.

I’ve now served in the Catholic press for 12 years. I use the term “serve” because those of us in the field consider this to be a vocation.

The birth of the Diocese of Phoenix in 1969 took place a scant four years after the Second Vatican Council called for “A Brand New Day,” so to speak.

The changes wrought by Vatican II were underway, Lyndon B. Johnson was in the White House, the Phoenix Suns were in the midst of their first season and the population of Phoenix stood at a mere 580,000.

Incredibly, only 41 days after the Diocese of Phoenix was founded in 1969, the first Charity & Development Appeal campaign launched.

Thanksgiving stuffing with a local flare, courtesy of an Arizona Catholic.

Six people across diocesan history have been recognized by the Vatican for their contributions to the Church.

"It was one of the very few dioceses where I didn’t know any priests, deacons, religious or lay leaders before I arrived..." the bishop said, "Now I feel very much like the spiritual father, and I feel so close to this family."

Many parishes will hold the collection this weekend with funds supporting both local and national poverty efforts.