When Father Herb Kiff, pastor of Mater Dolorosa Parish in New Orleans, first met Galina Kuleshova-Baricev from Ukraine four years ago, he could see pain through her tears, even though he didn’t understand all the words spoken in her language.

Dennis Adams was attending St. Peter Church in Covington in 2004 when it looked as though his dream of becoming a permanent deacon might be going up prematurely in smoke – and it was not the kind of white smoke emanating from the Sistine Chapel.

Mirabile Dictu – the International Catholic Film Festival in Rome – bestowed high honors last week on a local documentary by Storyville Films entitled “The Monumental Journey.” The 40-minute documentary depicts the “journey” associated with the crafting of a white Carrara marble statue of Pope John Paul II by Italian-born sculptor Franco Alessandrini, right, who has lived in New Orleans for the last 50 years

Hundreds of Catholic faithful venerated first-class relic of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, during the weekend of Dec. 1-2 at St. Rita Church in New Orleans. A relic is a physical object associated with someone who has been declared a saint. The object is not worshipped but venerated as a sign of the person’s holiness.

The numbers are awe-inspiring – $1.6 million raised locally and $5.6 million raised nationwide for participating ministries, parishes, schools and nonprofits during the 24-hour, #iGiveCatholic online giving campaign on Nov. 27.

“African hair is very fragile,” Connie Dorsey Abdul-Salaam, a history professor at Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO) and curator of a current exhibit “Reclaiming Our Heritage: Traditional West African Coiffure Exhibit,” explained to students recently at St. Mary’s Academy.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, On Dec. 8-9, our parishes will be conducting the Retirement Fund for Religious collection. This annual appeal benefits 31,000 elderly Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests – women and men who have consecrated their lives to serving God and the Church. 

A contingent from Xavier University of Louisiana’s Concert Choir traveled from New Orleans to Philadelphia to honor, in song, St. Katharine Drexel, the Blessed Sacrament order founder who made their education possible by opening Xavier University in 1925.

He had the flashy sports car and the luxury apartment in midtown Atlanta, befitting a professor of neonatology at the Emory School of Medicine. If his life were an open book, observers would say Dr. Anthony Lazzara, a graduate of Jesuit High School in Tampa, Spring Hill College in Mobile and the Tulane University School of Medicine was doing his Catholic thing very well – teaching medical students in the 1970s and early 1980s how to care for the most vulnerable patients imaginable.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) –Pope Francis named U.S. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago to be part of the organizing committee preparing for a meeting of the world’s bishops’ conferences and representatives of religious orders to address the abuse and protection of minors.

Like everyone else accustomed to potential computer scams, Marianite Sister Marjorie Hebert, the president and CEO of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, is aware of the danger of responding to an email congratulating the recipient for winning a multimillion-dollar lottery and requesting only a banking account and a Social Security number to complete the transaction.

The Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans invites everyone to kick off the charitable season by taking part in the fourth-annual #iGiveCatholic Giving Day on Tuesday, Nov. 27. The 24-hour online giving event is held in conjunction with #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media. 

Archbishop Gregory Aymond, above, accompanies Tania Tetlow down the aisle of Holy Name of Jesus Church Nov. 16 following her formal inauguration as the 17th president of Loyola University New Orleans. Tetlow, who grew up in Holy Name of Jesus Parish and graduated from Harvard Law School, is one of four women to lead the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S.

BALTIMORE (CNS) – The U.S. bishops overwhelmingly approved a pastoral letter against racism Nov. 14 during their fall general meeting at Baltimore.

BALTIMORE (CNS) –  U.S. bishops admitted during a wide-ranging discussion during their fall general assembly that parishioners are angry and continually ask how a charismatic clergyman was able to rise through church ranks despite widespread knowledge of allegations that he sexually abused seminarians and boys.

NOVEMBER 24 St. Augustine Church, 1210 Governor Nicholls St., New Orleans, Christmas Angel Toy Drive continues. Toy collection ends Dec. 8 and will be distributed Dec. 15 at 10 a.m. in the parish hall for ages 3-12. Contact Debra Jackson. For more info, call the office, 520-0642, or the rectory, 525-5934.

“Adoption is life-changing for a child, providing not only a family but a sense of belonging that can buoy a child’s spirit and serve as the foundation they need to reach their fullest potential,” said Louisiana First Lady Donna Edwards at the state’s 20th annual Adoption Celebration held in November in Baton Rouge. November is National Adoption Awareness Month.

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Dominic Carmon, S.V.D., was remembered Nov. 17 at his Funeral Mass at St. Louis Cathedral as a humble, dedicated priest and bishop who always put the needs of others before his own.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, offered the following statement at the close of the Fall General Assembly Nov. 12-14: Brothers, I opened the meeting expressing some disappointment. I end it with hope.

Travelers to foreign lands usually spend their time engaged in a mix of recreational and cultural activities. But on her first trip to the United States, Londoner Jaiydeen Campbell-Deeble devoted most of her 10-day “vacation” to a home construction site in the Lower 9th Ward. The 17-year-old was either atop a ladder painting the house’s eaves, or learning her way around a nail gun.