Mauricio and Evelyn Melara were 18 when they left civil war-torn El Salvador in 1988. They walked to the Mexico – U.S. border and eventually ended up in Buffalo, New York, hoping to gain entry to Canada. But a backlog of refugees left them, and hundreds of other asylum seekers stranded in Buffalo with little
12/26/2019 BY HAWAII CATHOLIC HERALD By Anna Weaver Hawaii Catholic Herald Two new faces can be seen in the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace. Specially commissioned portraits of St. Marianne Cope and St. Damien de Veuster went up in December on each side of the crucifixion scene on the high altar. Read more
In Her Own Words: Sister Ann Helene Koenig The Christmas Gift Project, also known as the Santa Claus Project, began in 1983 while I was a Principal at St. Agnes School and Parish in the Buffalo area. My telephone rang one day; a representative from St. Joseph’s Hospital in Cheektowaga wanted to know if I
When Sister Conchetta LoPresti began teaching sign language classes at Resurrection Church in Cheektowaga, New York, the goal was to keep the parish from dividing along hearing and deaf. Ten years later, Sister coordinates the Deaf Ministry for the entire Buffalo Diocese; this year, the sign language classes have gone beyond the parish and its
By Marion C. Moeser This December, two Sunday gospel readings from Matthew are about John the Baptist. Who was John and what do we know of John and his interactions with Jesus? An important source about John, outside of the New Testament, is the Jewish historian Josephus (36/37-100 AD). He wrote to justify the Jewish
December 12 will find Sister Martha Torbik in the Santa Fe National Cemetery in New Mexico. There she will lay Christmas wreaths on the graves of 14 Navajo Code Talkers and speak their names in honor of their service to the U.S. during World War II. “These Code Talkers used the Navajo language, unwritten at
A Message from Sister Barbara Jean Donovan I have always thought that Thanksgiving Day is the best day of the year. That’s because it is the day that God is remembered and thanked at church services, family gatherings and in general conversation. The world we live in is very loud and busy, and so we
Each year, we invite our generous benefactors to a celebration that includes prayer, fellowship, and a token gift of our appreciation. We are blessed as benefactor support and gifts come in so may different forms!
Join national organization in condemning President Trump’s action The more than 320 Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities joined the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) in expressing their deep disappointment in President Trump’s actions this week to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. “As followers of St. Francis of
Sisters Mary Robert and Mary Clare Bernet are featured in a Catholic New York article titled "Twin Nuns Who Are Franciscan Sisters Thankful for 70 Years of Religious Life." Armando Machado writes their story celebrating their love of their vocation as religious sisters who shared their faith throughout their ministries. He states "In a joint