Just pulling some Catholic-related news stories from around the country:
The Schoenstatt Wayside Shrine offers people of all faiths a tranquil spot to pray or meditate.
Dedicated in October 2005, the shrine to the Blessed Mother is across from Dave’s IGA, off West U.S. 421.
The shrine, which is visible from the road but set back, has become a refuge, especially for Roman Catholics who venerate Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ.
"It is special to me," said Sister Ann Astell, a member of the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary. "I ask for guidance."
The West Lafayette nun is an English professor at Purdue University and a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Church.
"Every time I’ve been to the shrine, there has been another pilgrim praying," she said.
"It is one of those expressions of genuine devotion that generates life. It comes from the heart of people
Maronites in Tulsa build a church:
Abi-Sarkis called it a miracle that the 30 families of St. Therese Maronite Catholic Church could build the $1.6 million church building debt-free, in a little over a year.
"It was like a puzzle," he said. "It just came together. Everything was done miraculously."
Archbishop Lipscomb (Mobile) robbed:
Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb’s gold crosier shepherd’s crook, his pectoral cross, four mitres, a gold antique chrism vessel and other valuable symbols of his office were stolen Christmas Eve from his parked car, police said.
Bishop Thomas Doran, who heads the Rockford Diocese, has returned home to recuperate from Dec. 14 surgery on his lung.
It still is unclear when Doran, 70, will resume his day-to-day duties as bishop for the 11-county Catholic diocese, which includes McHenry and Kane counties.
Doran was a patient at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. for 11 days after the emergency surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his left lung.
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