In May 2024, I will complete my fifth year on the full-time faculty at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology (MTSM). This is in addition to the three years I taught as an adjunct. These have been the most satisfying eight years of my professional career. I should say “careers,” because there have been a few, some of them running parallel. After completing my Ph.D. in theology at Boston College in 1993, I taught theology for five years at St. Mary’s University, in San Antonio, TX, then made a career change. In August 1998, my wife and I packed up our five young children and moved ..read more

By Tyler Arnold Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2024 / 11:45 am Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is embracing a “massive subsidized day care initiative” to reduce abortions in the United States without restricting legal access to the procedure. In a new webpage recently added to Kennedy campaign’s website, the candidate unveiled a policy platform the campaign is calling “More Choices, More Life.” The candidate’s plan is to redirect money that is currently used to support military aid to Ukraine and put it toward federal funding for day care to help ..read more

By Jeffrey Bruno New York City, N.Y., Apr 23, 2024 / 13:00 pm I’d never ridden the subway with a bishop before. But then again, how many of us have? Bishop Robert Brennan from the Diocese of Brooklyn is not your typical bishop — and I mean that with the utmost respect for the men who hold the office. Each is unique, endowed with their own personalities, charisms, and abilities. So perhaps don’t go telling your bishop he needs to start riding mass transit just yet. He’s striking in the way he carries himself: You can sense a deep spirituality and humility within him. He’s genuinely kind ..read more

By Tina Dennelly CNA Staff, Apr 22, 2024 / 15:30 pm Throughout her freshman and sophomore years at Columbine High School, Jenica Thornby went to the library every single day. “Not one day went by that I did not go to the library,” Thornby recently told “EWTN News In Depth” reporter Catherine Hadro. “Except one day.” That day was April 20, 1999. “I was 16 years old, and I was sitting in my art class when all of a sudden I had this overwhelming urge to leave school,” she recalled. “I just over [and over] in my head kept repeating, ‘There’s no way I’m staying here. There’s no way that any ..read more

By Kelly Marcum Washington D.C., Apr 23, 2024 / 04:00 am St. George may be among Christianity’s most famous and beloved saints, immortalized through the famous legend of St. George and the Dragon — a tale thoroughly medieval in character in which a brave and chivalrous knight charges in and saves a fair princess from being devoured by a dragon. In England, a country long devoted to George and one of several nations to claim his patronage, the saint’s name adorns the signs of churches and pubs in nearly equal measure. His feast day is celebrated with festivals, many of which involve ree ..read more

A Letter from Cristina Seda-Hoelle ‘92 Chair, MND Board of Trustees Dear Friend of Mount Notre Dame, As previously communicated, Judy Back Gerwe ’78 is retiring from MND after nine years of dedicated and distinguished service. After a multi-month search process, the MND Search committee, assisted by Shana Rossi our Partners in Mission consultant, is pleased to announce the appointment of Michelle L. Robinson as the next President of Mount Notre Dame High School. Michelle officially assumes the position on July 1, 2024 and in the interim will work with Judy on a smooth transition. In October an ..read more

By Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Apr 20, 2024 / 07:40 am Pope Francis has named Father Reynaldo Bersabal as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento, California. The Vatican announced on Saturday that the priest ordained in the Philippines and incardinated into the Sacramento Diocese in 2004 will be consecrated as a bishop. “I am grateful to His Holiness and honored to have my brother, Bishop-elect Rey Bersabal, as a co-worker for the Episcopal ministry in this favored part of the Lord’s vineyard,” Bishop Jaime Soto of the Diocese of Sacramento said in a Saturday statement ..read more

By Daniel Payne CNA Staff, Apr 21, 2024 / 06:00 am A historic Polish Catholic church in Buffalo, New York — one with a unique connection to St. John Paul II — is facing tens of thousands of dollars in bills that threaten to close the nearly-century-old structure. Father Czeslaw Krysa, SLD, the parochial vicar of St. Casimir, said the Buffalo Diocese has given the church a deadline of August to pay its outstanding accounts. Among those is $55,000 in annual insurance costs, up recently from $32,000. Joe Martone, a spokesman for the Buffalo Diocese, said that the diocesan vicar for renewa ..read more

By Kate Quiñones CNA Staff, Apr 20, 2024 / 06:00 am When Luke Burgis moved to Silicon Valley to start a business, he never expected he would become a seminarian and then go on to launch entrepreneurship programs for Catholic students. Burgis had attended NYU, worked on Wall Street, started several businesses in Silicon Valley, and moved to Las Vegas before deciding he wanted more meaning in his life. With the encouragement of a friend, he rekindled his Catholic faith. After five years in seminary, he ultimately discerned he would not become a priest, but he still found himself in need ..read more

Prayer for Vocations Almighty Father, You have created us for some definite purpose. Grant us the grace to know the path You have planned for us in this life and to respond with a generous “Yes.” Make our archdiocese, parishes, homes and hearts fruitful ground for Your gift of vocations. May our young people respond to Your call with courage and zeal. Stir among our men a desire and the strength to be good and holy priests. Bless us with consecrated religious and those called to a chaste single life, permanent deacons, and faithful husbands and wives, who are a sign of Christ’s love for His Ch ..read more