Sister of Christian Charity Irma Dreger, who taught in the 1940s at St. Francis of Assisi School in New Orleans, died on May 19, at Sacred Heart Convent, Wilmette, Illinois. Sister Irma was 97 and had served for 80 years in religious life.

Sister of Mount Carmel Bartholomew “B” DeRouen, a teacher for many years and former principal of St. James Major School, died June 15 at Evangeline Oaks Guest House in Carencro, Louisiana. She was 81 and had served for 61 years in religious life.

Jesuit Father Francis X. Pistorius, a former novice director, counselor, teacher and chaplain, died July 13 at Our Lady of Wisdom Healthcare Center in New Orleans. He was 75 years old and had served as a Jesuit for 56 years and as a priest for 44 years.

Oblate Father Clarence C. Menard, who taught on the faculty at Notre Dame Seminary from 1989 to 2006, died March 4 in San Antonio, Texas. He was 84 and had served for 64 years in religious life. A native of Mooers, New York, Father Menard entered the Oblate novitiate in 1952 in New Hampshire.

Daughter of Charity Sister Mary William Vinet, a native of New Orleans who served for 75 years in religious life, died March 8 at her community’s Laboure Residence in Los Altos Hills, California. She was 97.

The Jesuits’ 36th General Congregation is now in full swing, with the group of delegates having elected a new global superior and now making some of the decisions that will lead the society for years to come.

Christ in the City, an evening of eucharistic adoration, benediction, reflection, Scripture reading and reconciliation for young adults 18-39, will be held Nov. 1, 7-9 p.m., at Notre Dame Seminary Chapel.

Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) students helped residents in the Baton Rouge area recover from their recent catastrophic flooding. Thirty-one XULA students – including athletes Elex Carter, Seth Jackson, Innocent Kukulu, Lucas Martin-Julien, Wesley Pluviose-Philip and Chris Ward from men’s basketball, and Clarke Allen, Keairez Coleman, Katelyn McMorris and Darrick Williams from men’s and women’s track and field/cross country teams – traveled to Baton Rouge on Aug. 20.

Confirmation is a beginning, not an end, to life in the church. If I had a nickel for every single time I’ve heard someone talk about the sacrament of confirmation as if it were the end of something, I’d be in the money.

Emmy award-winning journalist and Telemundo anchor, Maria Celeste Arrarás, 55, returned to her alma mater, Loyola University New Orleans, in preparation for her 30th anniversary in broadcast journalism.

Cabrini High School’s “Science Squad” was invited to St. Christopher School in Metairie to give a presentation on the water cycle. Science Department chair Ann Smart, senior Lauren Blady and junior Elizabeth Favret explained to the 59 students in St. Christopher’s three sixth-grade classes how water cycles through the environment and the processes it goes through.

Academy of Our Lady’s Student Council hosted a Color Run Nov. 5 to benefit the nonprofit organization, Cleft for a Cause. More than 175 people throughout the community participated in the 5K race, where runners were covered with colored powder along the course on the school’s Marrero campus.

Mount Carmel Academy students recently participated in the “Cross Catholic Box of Joy” program, a Christmas gift outreach organized by Catholic schools, parishes and groups nationwide. By packing Boxes of Joy with toys and other gifts, students bless children suffering from extreme poverty by sharing the joy of Christmas and planting seeds of hope through the Gospel.

During the week of Oct. 24, the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Club at Academy of Our Lady organized daily activities to bring awareness to important issues such as texting and driving, driving under the influence, drug and alcohol use and cyber bullying.

In a visit to St. Mary’s Dominican High School, Cabra Dominican Sister Maeve McMahon, an educator and author of “A Dream of Fire: A Story about Dominic Guzman,” shared with the eighth-grade class her inspiration for the book.

Members of the St. Dominic Mothers’ Club along with the help of the St. Dominic Men’s Club raised $5,400 for the Council of Catholic School Cooperative Club’s ”Clothe-a-Child” campaign. Mothers’ Club members attend the annual Council of Catholic Schools Co-Operative Clubs shopping for clothes event for needy youth.

n 1986, broadcaster Geraldo Rivera spent two hours of live television milking the opening of Al Capone’s “secret” vaults, which turned out to be as empty as Rivera’s pre-show promises of finding untold riches.

St. Joachim Church in Marrero is known as “The Little Church in the Woods,” but pastor Father G. Amaldoss, left, and parishioners have big plans for their expanded church. “I’m here to preach the word of God,” Father Amaldoss said.

Before imparting his final blessing at the end of the 175th Anniversary Mass for St. Augustine Parish in Treme Oct. 2  – where two hours went by in a flash – Archbishop Gregory Aymond stated the obvious: “We truly had church today.” With its establishment dating to 1841 and its church to 1842, St. Augustine is the third-oldest parish in New Orleans outside the French Quarter.