Instead of the annual pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., sponsored by St. Michael High School in Baton Rouge and the diocese, youth will have the opportunity to join their church parishes and schools through a diocesan-wide virtual gathering.

Inside the hospital, where medical workers perform heroic acts daily without a word of complaint, the stress can be overwhelming. Not only is there concern about their own health, these same medical professionals are also worried about the health of their families.

Beginning Monday, 11 January 2021, FRANU will lease approximately 11,800 square feet of building space in the Catholic Life Center’s Tracy Center to host a variety of courses.

Sophia Solomon, Senior Nursing Director at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, was the third person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine shot on Dec. 16. “I felt blessed to be a part of it,” she said. Photo provided by Grace Weber | Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center

Even though the sickly pall of COVID-19 and social unrest threatened to seal many dreams in a coffin in 2020, stories of  courage, inspiration, celebrations, dialogue, ordinations and forward-looking changes give glimpses of new dreams and hope for the future.

Pope Francis announced a Year of St. Joseph on December 28 in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the Universal Church. St. Joseph is also patron of the Diocese of Baton Rouge!

The candles of the Advent wreath illuminate brightest in the days ahead as we draw near to the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas.

Only weeks before the novel coronavirus epidemic paralyzed the nation and forced Louisiana into quarantine, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge had launched its Parents and Children Together (PACT) program, a home visitation model designed to service the underserved in rural communities.

With temperatures plummeting under gray skies, spirits were soaring and everyone was proud to be a Bear at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge during a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating two historical occasions, the school’s record-setting sixth National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award and the opening of a stunning new student center.

One day I was having a conversation with my dad about growing up in Dallas.  He explained that his south Dallas neighborhood was made up of mainly Italian, Jewish and African American families. 

Systemic racism remains prevalent today, rooted in institutions, country clubs and even Catholic schools, according to Father Joshua Johnson, pastor at Holy Rosary Church in St. Amant.

In a trend that mirrors society, religious communities face tremendous challenges in elder care and retirement that have been magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic.