PEOPLE

“I’ve met so many kids who have no idea what a true family or a true parent is. It’s so sad they don’t understand that,” Mark said.

PRESCOTT — Priests have many hidden talents you may not encounter in their everyday lives — like dancing.

Barely into her second semester of college, one ASU freshman took a bit of a leap of faith. It was one that transplanted the Valley native to East Africa.

If you've been to any of the Phoenix Catholic Women's Conferences, you've witnessed the fruit of one woman's passion for helping fellow Catholic women along the path toward holiness.

Since she took over the role of director of Safe Environment Training for the Diocese of Phoenix last month, Dr. Kathy Cisar has been moved by the support provided to survivors and the educational resources available, and she’s ready to do her part to make sure people have the tools necessary to keep children and vulnerable adults safe.

To the uninformed, admonishing the sinner may sound like a holier-than-thou Pharisee casting judgement, but in reality, it involves an awareness of one’s own brokenness and need of repentance. It’s about lovingly calling someone to conversion, encouraging those who are trying to break free from sin and addiction.

BAPCHULE — Growing up on the sprawling Gila River Indian Reservation south of Phoenix, Bryson Hall remembers the day tragedy shattered his world: Oct. 12, 1996. He was just 12 years old.

SCOTTSDALE — Growing up in a strict German Lutheran family, Fr. Doug Lorig got the impression that God was someone angry. Paradoxically, amid messages of condemnation and wrath, he was told that God is love.

Sammy Bryant has always felt a call to evangelize and has allowed his faith to guide his work. Having grown up without a father, he’s been motivated even more so to live out his vocation as a husband and father and share that with others.

When Barb Nabours, a member of San Francisco de Asís Parish in Flagstaff, lost both her parents in a span of three short weeks, the outpouring of compassion she and her family received was a source of great consolation.