Seven athletes and one relay team from New Orleans Catholic schools won individual championships in the 2016 state track and field meet. If the results of last week’s regional meets hold true for the May 4-6 championships at LSU’s Bernie Moore Stadium, that number will be reduced to three.

When the Jacksonville Jaguars selected LSU running back Leonard Fournette as fourth-highest pick of the first round on April 27, they made the former St. Augustine great and 2013 “Mister Football” the sixth alumnus of the New Orleans Catholic League to become a first-round draftee in a pro sport.

Are you concerned that the Saints didn’t get the pass rush help they needed in the draft? If so, here’s some numbers. The Super Bowl champion Patriots and the NFC champion Falcons each had 34 quarterback sacks last season.

In boxing jargon, the outcome of Mount Carmel’s three-game sweep of the LHSAA’s Division I softball tournament was a technical knockout of its three opponents. The Cubs, seeded No. 2 in the abbreviated division of just eight teams, dominated their three opponents, and none more than their Catholic League mate and adversary, Dominican.

Christians always have hope, no matter how bleak, bad or uncertain the journey, because they know God is always by their side, Pope Francis said. In fact, “even crossing parts of the world (that are) wounded, where things are not going well, we are among those who, even there, continue to hope,” he said at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square April 26.

I bet you are reading this during the homily. Many Catholics choose homily time to catch up on their bulletin reading. No, browsing the bulletin while Father preaches is not a sin, but it might prove beneficial to your growth in holiness to give the preacher a closer listen.

Sixty-two priests, nuns and brothers serving in the archdiocese celebrated milestone jubilees of ordination or religious profession April 30 with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond at St. Rita Church in New Orleans.

Karen Baker, Contributing Writer Evangelization on aisle four. That’s about how Deacon Ray Duplechain describes the ministry of a deacon: To meet people were they are, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ at all times, even if that means “being present to the laity in the grocery store.” Deacon Duplechain is the director of the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of New Orleans as well as director of the National Association of Diaconate Directors.

Dr. Anselm Augustine, banging the drum, and Father Daniel Green lead a Mardi Gras Indian procession in front of Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s residence April 18. The celebration was a farewell for Augustine, who served as the director of the archdiocesan Office of Black Catholic Ministries.

¿Qué tan satisfecho está usted de que, el Comité Judicial del Senado de Luciana haya votado 6-1 la semana pasada, para pedirle a todo el Senado que discuta un proyecto de ley que derogue la pena de muerte del estado?

CAIRO (CNS) – The only kind of fanaticism that is acceptable to God is being fanatical about loving and helping others, Pope Francis said on his final day in Egypt. “True faith,” he told Catholics, “makes us more charitable, more merciful, more honest and more humane.

Hazel Coleman is 100, and she can’t see or hear, but inside the back bedroom of her daughter’s shotgun house on Magazine Street, as the shoppers and cars whiz by, she has a protected place on God’s holy mountain.

How pleased were you that the Louisiana Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-1 last week to ask the entire Senate to debate a bill that would repeal the state’s death penalty? I feel very positive about this because we as the Catholic Church, along with many other people in the community, have been urging lawmakers to look at this issue and to see it as a pro-life issue.

Tears of joy streamed down Martine Lowe’s face April 28 as she took the oath of allegiance to become a United States citizen at a naturalization ceremony conducted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the Academy of the Sacred Heart.

St. Scholastica Aacademy Bowling team captures state title for second time in three years: Back row, from left to right: coach Peter Bertucci, manager Sarah Estapa, Amy Schneida, Hope Beaver, Emma Davis, Amber Ostarly, Cali Carroll, manager Frankey Leggio and coach John Walsdorf.

At the Junior Classical League competition are St. Mary’s Dominican’s Elizabeth Champagne (seated), English teacher Casey Lefante (standing, from left), students Clare Plunkett, Maggie Conrad, Savanah Rodrigue, Celeste Maffei, Kristen Tholen, Ceci Bourg and Dr. Wayne Rupp.

Eighteen Ursuline Academy students traveled to Baton Rouge to compete against hundreds of the top math students in the state at the Mu Alpha Theta state convention held March 30-April 1. In the area of calculus Integration, four Ursuline seniors swept the category by winning first, second, third and fourth places.

St. Mary’s Dominican High School Color Guard, f ront row, from left: Katie Meyer, Niaya Smith, Ariale Brock, Anabelle Johnson, Lyndsey Jones, and Reva Keller. Picture, m iddle row are : moderators Caroline Boelte and Anne Comiskey.

Michelle Fortier, chair of Cabrini High School’s English Department, has been accepted to the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Summer Institute: Teaching the Humanities through Art in Washington, D.C. During her summer at the institute, Fortier ‘97 will learn about American art from professionals and learn how to integrate art into her daily teaching lessons.