NWI Catholic Stories

Raquel Martinez, a catechist at Our Lady of Guadalupe in East Chicago, shares a phone app that helps in her ministry with Michael Barron, a catechist at St. Thomas More in Munster. The duo met at the Diocese of Gary's Catechetical Conference hosted by St. Patrick in Chesterton on March 8. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Catechists urged to proclaim the hope of Christ
Bishop Robert J. McClory (center) converses with members of Sacred Heart, Whiting, as the diocesan shepherd signs the Book of the Elect, following the Rite of Election for Catechumens at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary on March 9. The Whiting faithful were among 94 catechumens and a full cathedral of family and friends ready to support their brothers and sisters in Christ. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
Bishop declares 94 as newly elect during Rite of Election
Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration members take time to speak with women during Franciscan Health-Michigan City’s Beloved Brunch on March 3. (Deacon Bob Wellinski photo)  
Brunch allows women opportunity for spiritual growth and a glimpse at religious life
Worshippers are gathered before the Blessed Sacrament at St. Paul church in Valparaiso during a vespers service in March 2024. The parish's Lent Vespers and Soup Dinner, hosted weekly this Lent promotes prayer and fellowship during the season of repentance leading up to Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday, and revolves around the simplicity of a basic meal and Eucharistic adoration before the Bread of Life. (Provided photo)
Adoration and meal draw Lenten journeyers
Jennifer Gwiazda, who teaches both art and science classes at Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, measures some materials for ceramics class students last month. She will be taking a ceramics retreat in Sicily, Italy in 2026 and also spend a week absorbing the art and culture of Rome thanks to a Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Fellowship she recently received. (Provided photo)
Noll teacher to broaden horizons with art fellowship
Bishop Noll Institute alumna and theater teacher Nora Wragg (left) provides tips for the application of makeup on actor Noah Hahn (center) for artist Isabella Garza (right), both juniors, at an after-school session at the Hammond school on Feb. 28. Wragg, BNI Class of 2020, began her full-time teaching career at her alma mater at the time of the passing of a beloved, long-time teacher and has since taught a variety of theater classes and has generally given of her time as a measure of thankfulness to her sc
BNI graduate, theater teacher plays part of thankful mentor
After Sunday Mass, longtime Ss. Monica and Luke parishioners Minnie Durosseaux (front, left), 95, James Henley (front, center), 90, and Anne Thompson (front, right), 95, stand in their pews in Gary on Feb. 23. A combined church since 1982, Ss. Monica and Luke brought together a parish with a long history of being home to many of Gary's black Catholics who not only serve among their fellow parishioners in word and sacrament, but also offer charitable initiatives such as a food pantry and soup kitchen for th
Ss. Monica and Luke elders offer inspiring stories of parish roots
Speaker Father Jerry Schweitzer had the perfect one-liner for a clever listener who asked him, "What is the meaning of life?" during a Pre-Lenten Retreat on Feb. 22 at Holy Spirit in Winfield. His answer likely resulted in a smile from God above. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Pre-Lenten Retreat: Faithful urged to make a personal commitment to reconciliation
St. Thomas More School teacher Brian Olmetti (left) shakes hands with Superintendent of Catholic Schools Collen Brewer (right), who annouced the teacher won the St. Hildegard of Bingen Innovation Award at the Professional Development Day for Catholic educators on Feb. 14 at St. Thomas More parish in Munster. Known as "PD," more than 400 teachers and administrators from 20 diocesan schools participated in the day-long event hosted by the Office of Catholic Schools, which included Mass, fellowship, motivation
Youthful language promoted as way to connect at development day
Father Gregory Bim-Merle, pastor of St. James the Less church, raises a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament during a benediction at the weekly Eucharistic Adoration on the evening of Feb. 17 in Highland. At churches and chapels throughout the diocese, opportunities for the worship of the Eucharisitc Lord have been increasing as a response to expressed interest of the faithful and the efforts of local clergymen. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
New Eucharist Adoration opportunities warm the hearts of faithful
Katherine Carlson, a staff member at St. John the Evangelist in St. John on a 2024 mission trip, interacts a young girl who was taken off the streets of Mexico City through the ministry and work of Hope of the Poor. Carlson will return with a group of up to 40 on a Diocese of Gary mission trip in September. (Provided photo)
Diocese to host first mission trip to Mexico City
Kennedi Edgington
Noll senior visits nation’s capital for education in government
Bishop McClory
Bishop tells Hispanic community Jesus offers comfort in times of uncertainty
Father Coriden
Priest remembered as nationally renowned Canonist and author
Deacon Bob Bucheit places ashes on the forehead of Lucille Gardner during on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14 at Settlers Place in LaPorte. (Bob Wellinski photo)
Lent begins with a call for prayer, fasting and almsgiving
Andrean High School sophomores Madeline Linkliter (front, left) and Armani Green (front, right) stand at the head of their theology class at the Merrillville campus on Feb. 18. The 59ers are among the students who participate in not only their academic, athletic and extra-curricular activities, but also engage in the many volunteer charitable opportunities afforded to them through the campus ministry and theology departments. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
Andrean students step up to meet charitable opportunities
Bishop Robert J. McClory accepts the offertory gifts at St. Stephen, Martyr's closing Mass on Feb. 15 from two specially chosen parishioners, Isabel Ramirez (left), age 100, who attended the parish's first Mass 57 years ago, and Ann Janda, the first baby baptized in the new church building 55 years ago. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Bishop joins parishioners to celebrate St. Stephen, Martyr
Brian Pillar (center), a teacher at Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, was nominated for the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award by Business Honor Society vice president Julian Villagomez (left) and president Jonathan Johnson. (Provided photo)
Educator and community leader receives presidential award
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Clergymen recall Jubilee 2000 Holy Doors opening in Rome
Ciszczon, Erin
Our diocesan newspaper will no longer be printed, what’s next?
Bishop Robert J. McClory, Diocese of Gary, spoke to those gathered at a press conference sponsored by the Indiana Catholic Conference in support of proposed legislature to discontinue the death penalty. (Photo by Sean Gallagher/The Criterion)
Faith leaders, lawmakers call for end to death penalty in Indiana
Catholic married couples packed into Don Quijote restaurant in Valparaiso to enjoy the annual Marriage Date Night hosted by the Diocese of Gary on Feb. 7. The conversation was lively, the music was melodic and the dinner was delicious heading into a talk about finding "Pilgrim Hearts" that focus on the Blessed Mother. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Annual dinner has Spanish flavor and Blessed Mother focus
Bishop Robert J. McClory greets Brother Shaun Gray in the Marquette Catholic High School Scholl Center prior to the start of the all-city Catholic Schools Week Mass on Jan. 30. The bishop thanked Gray for his service to the Michigan City community. (Deacon Bob Wellinski photo)
Sausage maker and school bus driver two of the many hats worn by Br. Shaun
Participants write down asset ideas during St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish’s asset-mapping event on Jan. 23. (Deacon Bob Wellinski photo)
Workshop brings parishioners and community together to map assets
St. Francis Xavier parishioner Elizabeth Zepeda (left) holds her three-year-old son Oliver Zepeda (center) as Bishop Robert J. McClory imparts a blessing and a high-five at the conclusion of Mass during the diocesan shepherd's pastoral visit to Lake Station on Feb. 2. Gary bishops have made pastoral visits key parts of their ministry and Bishop McClory strives to connect with the diocesan faithful in four counties as best as his schedule permits. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
Bishop McClory makes pastoral visit to St. Francis Xavier
Claudia F. Sadowski, Ph.D., coordinator of intercultural ministry for the Diocese of Gary, listens as attendees share their background in hospitality at the parish level during a Coffee and Coffee event. Sadowski delivered a presentation titled "Fostering Empathetic Relationships in Ministry" on Jan. 24 at that Pastoral Center in Merrillville which was organized by the Office of Missionary Discipleship and Evangelization. (Erin Ciszczon photo)
Hospitality talk focuses on fostering empathetic relationships in ministry
Father Edquist
Called By Name campaign leads to many possible discerners
Participants of the St. Matthias Walking Prayer Group including (front, left to right) Justine Garza, Rosealee Snyder and Deb Simko set the pace in the parish hall in Crown Point during a weekly meeting in November. The faith and fitness group was re-formed from antecedents that had been largely shelved since the pandemic. (Provided photo)
St. Matthias parishioners step up to new walking prayer group
A young Queen of All Saints student gives a thumbs up during the all-city Mass at Marquette Catholic High School’s Scholl Center on January 27. (Deacon Bob Wellinski photo)
Bishop urges students to share the light of Christ with others
Catholic Schools Week Mass - Marquette
St. Casimir school of Hammond second-grade teacher Abigail DeJesus Hernandez (right) and one of her students Martin Mendoza Becerra (center) look at a program as they sing a hymn at a diocesan Catholic Schools Week Mass hosted at Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond on January 29. Presider Bishop Robert J. McClory encouraged students gathered from Our Lady of Grace, St. Casimir, St. John the Baptist, St. John Bosco and St. Stanislaus to be like the seeds that took root in the day's Gospel reading from Mark chap
Students gathered at BNI hear message of support and nourishment
Catholic Schools Week Mass - Bishop Noll
Bishop Robert J. McClory accepts a cruet of water from Vincenzo Pomilia, an eighth grader at St. John the Evangelist School in St. John, during a Catholic School Week Mass at Andrean High School in Merrillville on Jan. 31. Also carrying up the offertory gifts at the Mass were Arianna Patiks, and eighth grader from St. Michael School in Schererville, and Siboney Sanchez-Mojica, an eighth grader at Aquinas Catholic Community School in Merrillville. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Catholic students celebrate the trust they find in Jesus
Catholic Schools Week Mass - Andrean
A group of Vietnamese Catholics present flowers and Offertory gifts to Society of the Divine Word Father Nhan Tran (right) during Mass at a Tết, or Lunar New Year's gathering, which included a fellowship meal at St. Michael the Archangel parish in Schererville on Jan. 26. The Vietnamese observance of the Tết is the most prominent holiday in that culture, and Catholics celebrate it as not only a time for gathering and wishing for prosperity, but also a time to give thanks to God for His many blessings. (Anth
Lunar New Year event shows faith, culture of Vietnam
A file photo shows some of the more than 100 couples renew their wedding vows on World Marriage Day during a 2014 Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. World Marriage Day is observed Feb. 9. (OSV News file photo/Victor Aleman, Via Nueva)
Polka dancing, Hershey's Kisses and novenas for World Marriage Day
St. Matthias parishioners and Crown Point residents (from left) Linda Plewniak, Ugochi Okoro and Beth Cooke compare notes of what makes each of them "fiercely unique," like wildflowers are, during the Celebrate Women Event held on Jan. 26 at the Parish Center. Keeping with the theme, the attendees each took home a packet of flower seeds in a small pot, with a miniature shovel for planting. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Parish women gather to share food, drink and fellowship
The leading throng of mainly Catholic youth carry a pro-life banner near Monument Circle during the Indiana March for Life on Jan. 22 in Indianapolis. The state march, in its eighth year, is a localized version of the National March for Life, which, since 1974, has brought together millions of concerned Americans who wish to publicly proclaim the Gospel of Life – to establish legal protections for the unborn from abortion and promote a womb-to-tomb respect for human life. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
Local faithful, students rally at March for Life in Indianapolis
Queen of All Saints teacher Diane Gasaway congratulates a small group of former students including Ashley Sparks, Julia Zerbes, Annaliese Vazquez, Emily Buskirk, Alex Aguirre and Erin Piazzisi following their high school graduation in 2024. (Provided photo)
QAS teacher among nine educators to receive prestigious award
Angela Paul, executive director of Sojourner Truth House, a women's resource center in Gary, talks with Pam Schopp-Young, parishioner at St. Maria Goretti in Dyer, at the STH 25th Anniversary Celebration on Sept. 16, 2022 at Avalon Manor in Hobart. Paul recently receivced the Torchbearer Award from Women Organizing Women Inc., a national group (File Photo/Marlene A. Zloza)
Women Organizing Women Inc. honors STH head with Torchbearer Award
Dr. Colleen Brewer
Schools have plenty to celebrate during Catholic Schools Week
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Catholic schools offer students the opportunity to grow academically and spiritually
Sergio Meza (second from left), a senior at Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond, was surprised last month when the school announced that he is one of only six Lake County students to earn a prestigious Lilly Scholarship. On hand for the announcement are his parents, Maria and Aurelio Meza, and his older brother and BNI alumnus Ulises Meza. (Provided photo)
BNI senior earns prestigious full-tuition college stipend
Enhance your prayer life by coming to God as you are, giving over all that dwells within you. Add a religious statue to your prayer space as a focal point in directing your prayers to God. (Provided photo)
Resolution: Renew your prayer life in 2025
St. Mary’s Thrift Shop manager Mary Davis discovers a sweater among other women’s fashions at the ministry in Michigan City on Jan. 6. The thrift shop, which was founded in 1976, has been housed in three locations, presently on the first floor of the former St. Mary Elementary School, and is known for its wide variety of clothing and household items offered at low prices. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
Local shop provides clothes, comfort for 50 years
Bill Harmon, Sharing Meadows executive director, stands in front of a new pavilion being constructed near Tucker Lake on the grounds of Sharing Meadows. The pavilion is one of many projects under way for the Sharing Meadows community. (Deacon Bob Wellinski photo)
Sharing Meadows’s first thirty years provides solid foundation for serving other-abled
Volunteers John Zamora (left), Bernadine Barrett (center), and Veronica Fuerte (right) gather at the Monsignor Robert B. Weis Center during a Teens Gather In Fellowship (T.G.I.F.) meeting on the campus of St. Thomas More in Munster on Jan. 13. The coordinators of the youth group are hoping to get the club for high schoolers off the ground and establish a sustainable ministry. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
St. Thomas More volunteers seek to (re)launch faith group for high schoolers
"Google yourself and you will be shocked at the information about you that is available to anyone online!" Yolande Sobkowicz (right), of Cedar Lake, told fellow Boomers and Beyond members (from left) Marge Gasior and Judy Grenawalt, both of St. John during a luncheon program on Jan. 8 about how to protect children and teenagers from online sexual exploitation. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Federal investigators fight to safeguard children from predators
Jeannine Quigley (second from right), an adult youth leader at St. Michael the Archangel in Schererville, explains some of the events and activities available at the National Catholic Youth Conference that she has attended in past years with young people from her parish. "It's an experience you and your team will never forget," she told other youth leaders (from left) Bernadette Barrett from St. Thomas More in Munster, Diocese of Gary youth and young adults coordinator, and Gianni Niece, campus ministry app
Young people invited to say ‘I Am/Yo Soy’ at NCYC
A view of the ceiling and catwalk shows original features and new enhancements to St. Mary church in Crown Point in 2024. Undergoing more than a year of assessment, reinforcement and construction, the circa 1890 building features a new truss frame, ceiling and roof necessitated by the discovery of compromised timber in Nov. 2023. (St. Mary parish photo)
Unexpected roof abnormality leads to reconstruction at St. Mary
Tamara and Marsha Browne, who earlier led the congregation in reciting "The Memorare," participate in a candlelight vigil for Michael and Pegg Sangerman on Dec. 30 at St. Mary of the Lake in Gary. "It was Pegg's favorite prayer," said Tamara Browne of the shooting victim who succumbed to her injuries on Dec. 18. An estimated 200 community members attended the prayer vigil as Michael Sangerman remained hospitalized. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Prayer vigil brings community together to support family
Ross family
Training Day kicks off Catholic Services Appeal for 2025
Father Roque
Make a resolution to grow in holiness this year