St. Louis Cathedral is the third church to stand at the head of Jackson Square. When New Orleans was laid out in 1721 according to a plan prepared by Royal Engineer Le Bland de la Tour, the site of the future cathedral was designated for a Catholic church, which under the Code Noir was the only faith legally allowed in the colony.

“I don’t know if you know what a gift you are to the world, but you really are,” Dr. Tim Hogan, a psychologist, author and certified Imago relationship therapist told catechists and religious leaders as the keynote speaker Jan. 12 at the annual Go! Gulf Coast Faith Formation Conference, held Jan. 11-13 at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner.

Clarence Acosta is 94 years old. His next project is cracking the concrete that forms the base of his carport so that he can repair a 50-year-old buried sewer line that hasn’t been cooperating lately. All he needs is a little more time.

Pornography is detrimental to both the physical and spiritual life of each individual and the greater community. To directly address the harms of pornography and to provide resources to support and protect individuals, marriages and families in overcoming pornography and making their homes safe, I am asking all parishes to celebrate, for the first time, “Safe Haven Sunday” beginning with the first Sunday of Lent (Feb. 17-18).

The news media is buzzing with reports of what President Trump said or did not say about Haiti and Africa during a meeting with Congressional leaders in the Oval Office. The president says he did not use the offensive words that have been attributed to him by some participants in the meeting. There is no recording of the conversation.

When you are the interim head coach who is promoted, you are fighting a perception problem. For the last 21 games, LSU’s Ed Orgeron has fought that battle. As so it is for new offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger.

GOD’S NORTHSHORE BLESSINGS, special Mass celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond, Jan. 21, 2 p.m. Five children will receive their first Communion, and three will be confirmed. Our Lady of the Lake Church, 312 Lafitte St., Mandeville.

La pornografía es perjudicial tanto para la vida física como espiritual de cada individuo, y para la comunidad en general. Para abordar directamente los daños de la pornografía y proporcionar recursos para apoyar y proteger a las personas, los matrimonios y las familias, para superar la pornografía y proteger sus hogares, les pido a todas las parroquias que celebren, por primera vez, “Safe Haven Sunday,” comenzando con el primer Domingo de Cuaresma (17-18 de febrero).

The federal holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is “an important time to recommit ourselves to the Gospel message he preached,” said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Approximately 500 individuals on 10 buses from the Archdiocese of New Orleans will participate in the 45th annual March for Life 2018 trip to Washington, D.C., Jan. 16-21. This year’s theme is “Love Saves Lives.” Joey Pistorius, outgoing director of the CYO/Youth and Young Adult Ministry Office, and Timmy McCaffery Jr., who will take over as CYO director March 1, will lead the trip.

One of the many reasons I love my job as a professor is that the start of each new year feels like a new year: new students, new courses, new materials. It also causes me to reflect. At the end of each course, I ask myself what I could have  done differently? What could be more engaging?

This season, the Saints have discovered a consistent winning formula. Now, they play a team who knows that formula, too, and does it a little better.

Today, people find themselves so busy that no one has time to do much of anything else. Society has placed an unhealthy amount of strain on all individuals, leaving no time to step back and examine their faith lives and relationships with God. The distractions that exist today are endless.

Fear and the shame of admitting one’s own sins leads to pointing fingers and accusing others rather than recognizing one’s own faults, Pope Francis said.

Holy Cross Father Thomas E. Chambers, who combined deep spirituality and kindness with a keen sense for finance and total quality management, died Jan. 2 at Holy Cross House in South Bend, Indiana. He was 83 and had served as a priest since 1961.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond delivered the following homily Jan. 7 at the opening Mass at St. Louis Cathedral for the Tricentennial of the City of New Orleans. We are very grateful for the GPS as a great invention, so we don’t get lost as much as we used to.

Last year was a rough one in many ways. President Donald Trump’s and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s exchange of insults and violent threatening language, put the world on edge that nuclear war was, and still is, quite possible.

New Orleans Academic Games League announced winners in its recent Propaganda and Equations tournaments Dec. 11. Teams: St. Pius Blue team members Isa­belle Anderson, Matthew Conant, Meredith Kononchek, Trey Menasco and C.C. Truxillo, first.