LOCAL NEWS

A young Arizona dad was among the repeat "attenders" and encouraged younger brothers to come. "It was a great experience for me when I came in 2013. It's a great place to encounter a lot of people, and we're all here to encounter Christ," he said.

Over the past decade there has been an ever-growing awareness and discussion of gender identity and transgenderism.

His name wasn’t even mentioned on his baptismal record. No U.S. seminary wanted him. Now he's on his way to sainthood with his story coming to Valley stages.

He was known as monsignor, superintendent, rector, vicar general, proud Army veteran and chaplain many times over. His preferred title, however was simply “Fr. Ed.”

Fathers and mothers have the ability and responsibility to lead their families to holiness, wrote Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted in an apostolic exhortation published Dec. 30.

The hard-working priest was born in the Netherlands, began his priesthood in Africa and spent more than half of it in the Diocese of Phoenix.

As the Catholic faithful continue to struggle with the abuse scandals uncovered this past year, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted led the local community in the diocese’s biannual bilingual “Mass of Healing and Reconciliation” Dec. 11 at St. Jerome Parish in Phoenix.

A set of historic statues that were vandalized at St. Mary’s Basilica serve as a reminder of our own brokenness as we prepare for the coming of Christ, says rector Fr. Michael Weldon, OFM.

Even if guests can’t physically give much, spiritually, they gift several Catholic apostolates with their presence and someone to serve in an extra special way at Christmastime.

MESA — It began as a backyard project; an idea to help needy families at Christmas provide gifts for their children.