ACADEMY OF OUR LADY, 537 Avenue D, Marrero – Academy of Our Lady is the signature Salesian high school in the greater New Orleans area for girls in grades 8-12. Centrally located on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish, the campus is easily accessible from both the Crescent City Connection and Huey P. Long Bridge.

THE ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL, 917 S. Jahncke Ave., Covington – Since 1680, educational institutions in more than 80 countries have been influenced by the vision and innovative spirit of St. John Baptist de La Salle, the founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and the patron saint of teachers.

ST. AUGUSTINE HIGH SCHOOL, 2600 A.P. Tureaud Ave., New Orleans – St. Augustine High School was constructed by the Archdiocese of New Orleans with funds solicited from Catholics of the archdiocese through the Youth Progress Program.

JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL, 4133 Banks St., New Orleans – Jesuit High School is a one-of-a-kind high school for young men. Located in the heart of Mid-City, Jesuit is in the business of educating boys who enter as eighth or ninth graders and graduate as young men prepared for college and equipped for the world beyond.

HOLY CROSS SCHOOL, 5500 Paris Ave., New Orleans – Founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1849, Holy Cross School has the mission of educating the entire student – mind, heart, body and soul. For nearly 163 years, this mission has been accomplished through a challenging, yet caring, college preparatory academic regimen that is supplemented by an extensive athletic and extracurricular program for the young men of New Orleans, grades 5 to 12.

The Catholic School Athletic League’s girls’ indoor ball finals were held April 15 at St. Dominic. The varsity title was earned by Christ the King. The varsity runner-up was Immaculate Conception. St. Dominic also hosted the CSAL boys’ indoor ball finals on May 10.

Members of the Speech and Drama teams at St. Rita School in New Orleans presented the Passion on April 21 in St. Rita Church. The actors, led by Johnny Fisher in the role of Jesus (at left, being offered sour wine on the cross, and at right, being carried to the tomb), incorporated interpretive dance, singing, dramatic monologues and prayer into the riveting production.

The building project was important to Maureen and Lee Poche. In 2013, with Lee contentedly retired from his financial oversight of a New Orleans business, the Poches decided to do a backyard makeover at their home near St. Rita Church in New Orleans.

Know your faith. Live your faith. Share your faith. Three simple suggestions that Greg Willits shared with those attending the recent Catholic Media Conference in Denver. Willits, a writer, radio show host, ministry leader and director of Evangelization and Family Life Ministries for the Archdiocese of Denver, is fired up about being a Catholic, and his new book, “The New Evangelization and You – Be Not Afraid,” ventures to ignite the faith in others.

The annual call for nonperishable food for the Covington Food Bank was overwhelmingly answered by St. Paul’s School students this Thanksgiving season. Student Council moderator Joanna Case, who also teaches English III honors and English IV, said St. Paul’s donated 13,257 pounds of food on Nov. 15.

Prayers and support for St. Paul’s junior football player Michael Doherty were offered at the Wolves’ Nov. 18 playoff football game against Evangel. Doherty suffered a fractured cervical vertebra in a previous game and is convalescing at a Covington hospital where he underwent surgery.

Their ministries include educating the young at St. John Berchmans Early Childhood Program and St. Mary’s Academy; befriending the elderly residents of Delille Inn and St. John Berchmans Manor; shepherding Lafon Nursing Facility – the oldest continuously operating Catholic residence of its kind in the U.S.; and giving spiritual counsel to inmates at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel.

Redemptorist priests and Catholics alike have entreated Mary’s intercession at one time or another in their lives, says Redemptorist Father Allan Weinert, parochial vicar at St. Alphonsus Parish in the Irish Channel.

Alice Snee was already convinced the Teresian sisterhood was in God’s plan for her, but a recently unearthed family photograph sealed the deal in the most beautiful way. The 1981 photo showed the toddler-aged Snee sitting with her mother, brother, great aunt and a Teresian sister whom relatives identified as Mother Maria Mejia.

Dominican Fathers Thomas Schaefgen and Francis Orozco gained a new appreciation for the lowly pine needle during the boldest journey of their lives: a 480-mile pilgrimage from New Orleans to Memphis completed entirely on foot, with little more than the clothes on their backs.

When Pope Francis ushered in the Year of Mercy last November,  he emphasized both in his daily homilies and weekly audiences the importance and gift of the sacrament of penance. Msgr. Ronny Jenkins, the former general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the annual Priests’ Convocation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Sept. 20 that the pope, whose own vocation to the priesthood was sparked by a life-changing experience in the confessional, continues to hammer home the point that in confession, God’s mercy is boundless.

Dr. Jan Daniel Lancaster, who has served since 2011 as superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of New Orleans  and directed a strategic plan to set a course for the future of local Catholic education, will step down at the end of the academic year.

A call to be missionaries by baptism in the Catholic faith was a belief that was strengthened during Vatican II in the 1960s. And the idea that it isn’t necessary to travel the world to spread the Gospel to others in today’s world was the theme shared Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at the Maryknoll Affiliates’ Southern Regional Conference, “Mission as Accompaniment,” held at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center in Metairie.

Steve Angrisano tried every imaginable way to convince his toddler daughter that she would be safe and dry inside their car as it glided through their local carwash. He would ask her to pretend that it was a “bath” for their car.

In 2003, when drafters of the European Union Constitution were asked to summarize the historical roots of modern Europe’s commitment to democracy, human rights, the rule of law and other hallmarks of western civilization, the “biblical religion” of Judeo-Christian belief didn’t make it into the final write-up.