An Important Message from Principal DeBoer and Father Zehren Aug 27, 2025 Dear Annunciation Parish and School Family, We are navigating an impossible situation together at this time. No words can capture what we have gone through, what we are going through, and what we will go through in the coming days and weeks. But…
CNA, ed. CBJ—Most people think of St. Maximilian Kolbe as the heroic martyr who traded places with another prisoner in the Nazi’s horrific Auschwitz prison, resulting in a painful death by starvation, but there is much more of the story to tell. What would give someone the courage to do such a thing? And, why…
A new study found that 2025 graduates of Catholic law schools are not only more focused on ethics, service, and community, but they are also more likely to be practicing law than graduates of secular institutions. The study, commissioned by the St. Mary’s University School of Law and conducted by YouGov, asked a national sample…
Review of The Origins of You: How Breaking Family Patterns Can Liberate the Way We Live and Love, by Vienna Pharaon Vienna Pharaon’s The Origins of You is one of the most eye-opening, compassionate, and transformative books I’ve read in years. It is not just a book about self-help or psychology – it’s a map…
Detroit Catholic/CNA—At the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, the band is getting back together. The band of Christ’s 12 apostles, that is. On Feb. 8, Detroit’s mother church will publicly unveil its long-awaited “Journey with the Saints” project, a permanent installation of 14 “larger than life” statues accompanied by first-class relics of…
CNA/NCR—A Massachusetts mayor is going to bat for including statues of two Catholic saints on the city’s new public safety building, saying he picked them because of their importance to police and firefighters and accusing opponents of harboring “‘negative attitudes’ toward Catholicism.” But lawyers for local residents who object to the planned 10-foot-high bronze statues…
Aug. 8, 2025—In today’s historic peace deal—after decades of bitter conflict and tremendous suffering for both nations over the ethnically Armenian-Christian Nagorno-Karabakh enclave—Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a peace deal at the White House. Pashinyan hailed the moment as “opening a chapter of peace” and “laying foundations to a…
CNA—Today marks three months since Pope Leo XIV first appeared on the central balcony of the Vatican basilica after being elected the successor of St. Peter. In that first urbi et orbi message, delivered on May 8, the Holy Father expressed the words that would mark the beginning of his pontificate: “I am an Augustinian,…
We at Catholic Textbook Project mourn the loss of one of America’s and the Church’s great historians, Dr. James Hitchcock, who recently joined his equally influential wife, Helen Hull Hitchcock, in everlasting life. Dr. Hitchcock was one of the earliest supporters of this important apostolate to Catholic schools. He sat down with us some years…
CNA—Ernesto Escaler, a renowned Filipino businessman and the owner of Gourmet Farms Philippines, one of the most iconic restaurant brands in the country, is described as a man of few words but remarkable action. His staff describe him as deeply low-key — someone who avoids attention and prefers not to speak about his philanthropy. But…
CNA—Antonia Raco, a 67-year-old Italian woman long affected by an incurable neurodegenerative illness, was officially introduced to the press on July 25 in Lourdes, where her healing was recognized as the 72nd miracle attributed to the intercession of the Virgin Mary since the apparitions of 1858. “In a moment of great joy, the 72nd miracle…
Book Review: Creating Moments of Joy, by Jolene Brackey Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s or dementia is an experience filled with challenges, but as Jolene Brackey beautifully illustrates in Creating Moments of Joy, it is also a journey of wisdom, love, and even unexpected joy. This book is an essential read for caregivers, family members…
On May 30, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SCR 19— introduced by Texas legislators Senator Tan Parker and Representative Caroline Harris Davila. The bill SCR19 approved the placement of a statue honoring “Mother and Child” in the Texas Capitol Complex, where the State Preservation Board will determine the exact location within the complex. Honoring…
CNA—England—The skull of St. Thomas More may be exhumed and preserved to coincide with the 500th anniversary of his historic martyrdom, according to a spokesperson for St. Dunstan’s Church in Canterbury, England, the Anglican church in which the relic reportedly currently rests. Ironically—given the reason for More’s beheading—an opportunity for ecumenical outreach and communication As…
CNA—A reported strike on the only Catholic Church in Gaza killed three people and injured nine others July 17, according to a statement from the Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM. Among the injured was the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli. Pictures showed damage to the church’s roof and windows. Amid the ongoing war in…
Pope Leo XIV received a phone call Friday from Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, following yesterday’s Israeli army attack on Holy Family Church in Gaza. According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, the pope received the call at Castel Gandolfo, where he is on vacation. On July 17, the Israeli…
July 3, 2025
At the outbreak of fighting in April 1775, few colonists wanted complete independence from Great Britain. Those who did were thought to be radical. By the middle of the following year, however, sentiments had shifted and many more colonists now favored independence. Then, in August 1775, a royal proclamation from Great Britain declared that the…
CNA—The last three popes — Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV — have on more than one occasion recommended reading Lord of the World, the dystopian science fiction novel written by Robert Hugh Benson in 1907. This apocalyptic novel depicts the consequences of a society that turned its back on God and presents a social critique…
CNA—The cast of the hit series “The Chosen” was recently in Matera, Italy, filming the crucifixion of Jesus, which will be featured in Season 6. Abe Bueno-Jallad, the actor who portrays Big James, or James the Great, shared that he has “never seen the cast so focused.” Unable to talk much about the upcoming season,…
A man I truly admired died last week in the southern California mudslides, the region’s first confirmed victim of the disaster. Live accounts and videos captured the roar and unimaginable force of liquid mud overtaking homes as heavy rains pounded on the freshly denuded, fire-ravaged hillsides surrounding Santa Barbara at the time. The experience must have been terrifying. His wife was
