NWI Catholic Stories

Women bring offertory gifts to the altar during the African National Eucharistic Congress Unity Mass July 22, 2023, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. (OSV News photo/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Archdiocese of Washington)
Eucharist should inspire work for justice, Cardinal Gregory says at Unity Mass for African National Eucharistic Congress
Pope Francis greets 100-year-old Lucilla Macelli before celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, marking World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly July 23, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope to young people: To tackle life's ups and downs, look to the elderly
Kathleen Mishow of Gitchitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis holds a shawl with a picture of her daughter, Kateri Marie Mishow, sewn on the back during the first day of the Tekakwitha Conference July 20, 2023, in Bloomington, Minn. Kateri has been missing since 2007. (OSV News photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)
Tekakwitha Conference opens with calls to protect Indigenous women and girls from violence
Pope Francis poses for a photo with children in the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall July 18, 2023. About 250 children of Vatican employees are attending a summer program July 3-Aug. 4. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope visits summer camp for kids of Vatican employees
Metropolitan Police Department personnel are seen Dec. 10, 2019, on the campus of The Catholic University of America in Washington. The Catholic University of America has requested emergency meetings with Metropolitan Police, following off-campus attacks July 13 and July 17, 2023, days after a Kentucky teacher was killed in front of a university building. (OSV News photo/Tyler Orsburn)
Catholic University calls for emergency meetings with Washington police after nearby attacks
Vitya, a retired music teacher seen in this photo from June 29, 2023, became an unlikely catechist after Russian troops occupied his village near Borodyanka, Ukraine, for several weeks. He sheltered a woman raped by a Russian soldier and taught her and husband prayers; he also tried to "plant a seed" of humanity in the hearts of the Russian soldiers with whom he spoke. (OSV News/Gina Christian)
Invoking Mary's protection, Ukrainian villager shared faith under brutal occupation
Inspiring Presence logo
Diocese of Gary planning an inspiring event for all ages
Visitors gather in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to pray the Angelus with Pope Francis July 16, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Sow seeds of faith, even when their fruits are not immediate, pope says
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ACTS XXIX video presentations ignite faith in parishioners
Jim Caviezel in Sound of Freedom Movie
'Sound of Freedom' Movie Review
Outreach LGBT Mass
Global synod's first-ever discussion of 'LGBTQ+ people' raises important pastoral questions
Pope Francis greets Archbishop Robert F. Prevost, a Chicago native, during a private audience at the Vatican Feb. 12, 2022. The pope will elevate Cardinal-designate Prevost, who is prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, to the College of Cardinals during a special consistory at the Vatican Sept. 30. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope names 21 cardinals, including U.S.-born Archbishop Prevost
St. Joseph Soup Kitchen volunteers Mary Jo Mazur (left), of Hammond, and Marge Kovacik (center), of Schererville, greet a visitor at the door of the church in Hammond on July 3. The food-for-the-needy initiative was launched in 1985 and now, due to public health concerns, offers to-go lunches. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
Soup kitchen volunteers guide ministry to fourth decade
Migrants from Venezuela and Haiti get ready to board a boat in Necoclí, Colombia, April 28, 2023. (OSV News photo/Manuel Rueda, Global Sisters Report)
Religious congregations help US-bound migrants stranded near the Darién Gap
Everyone checks the numbers on their bingo card to see if they are still in the game during the Religious Sisters Picnic hosted by the Serra Club of NWI on June 30 at St. Bridget in Hobart. Club members were joined by more than a dozen nuns who serve in the Diocese of Gary, as well as several seminarians and theur families. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Serra Club fetes religious sisters with dinner and games
Discalced Carmelite Fathers including (left to right) Father Bronislaw "Bruno" Socha, O.C.D., Second Councilor Father Franciszek “Francis” Czaicki, O.C.D. and Prior Father Andrzej “Andrew” Gbur, O.C.D. pray the Litany of the Hours in the Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy in Munster on June 30. Serving Region faithful since the World War II era, the Polish-born priests and brothers assist local clergymen with sacramental duties and, on their picturesque monastery grounds, host Masses, Confessions and cultural cel
Munster friars continue to serve Poles, faithful with new leadership
Bishop Robert J. McClory celebrats the Liturgy of the Eucharist during the St. Josemaria Feast Day Mass at St. Mary the Immaculate Conception on June 26. (Mary Wellinski photo)
Mass celebrates the life and ways of St. Josemaria Escriva
Cardinal-designate Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, gives the annual Cardinal Darden Lecture at The Catholic University of America in Washington April 26, 2023. Pope Francis will elevate Cardinal-designate Pierre to the College of Cardinals during a consistory at the Vatican Sept. 30. (OSV News photo/Patrick Ryan, The Catholic University of America)
USCCB 'rejoices' at announcement of two cardinals-designate with 'deep ties' to U.S.
In this June 29, 2023 image, Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich and Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia inspect a memorial near Irpin, Ukraine made of cars shelled by Russian troops as Ukrainian civilians attempted to flee the area in 2022. (OSV News photo/Gina Christian)
Ukraine 'inspires us all to stand in solidarity' for freedom, says Cardinal Cupich
Father Benny Chittilappilly stands in his garden plot in Newport, Vt., May 25, 2023, before planting. For Father Chittilappilly, a Vocationist priest from southern India, gardening is about more than growing vegetables. (OSV News photo/Cori Fugere Urban, Vermont Catholic)
In gardening and parish life, 'we need God's grace to add to the effort,' says priest
Bishop Robert J. McClory gives his homily during Holy Family Parish's Mass in the Park on June 25. The Mass, followed by a parish picnic, was held at the Dennis F. Smith Amphitheater in LaPorte's Fox Park. (Bob Wellinski photo)
Holy Family Parish, Bishop McClory celebrate Mass in the Park
A sizable crowd of 40+ Catholics took an in-depth look at the Beatitudes thanks to a Theology Uncorked program presented by Father Greg Bim-Merle at St. Michael the Archangel in Schererville on June 27. He explained each of the eight statements taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, saying "We should want to follow them, because there is a reward connected to each one," Father Bim-Merle, administrator of St. James the Less in Highland. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Beatitudes hailed as ‘The greatest of Jesus’ sermons’
Margie Slamkowski, Kim Milner and Gina Faith begin to bag grocery items that were distributed as part of the food panty at Nativity of Our Savior in Portage. The pantry assists more than 400 individuals/families each month. (Erin Ciszczon)
Faith and generosity lead to growth of parish food pantry 
Pope Francis gives his homily during Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 29, 2023. The pope wore red vestments to recall the martyrdom of the two saints. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Pope institutes commission to share the stories of new martyrs
A child's bicycle, seen in a still image from video, lies on a lawn as a police office walks down a residential street in Baltimore July 2, 2023, after a mass shooting at a Fourth of July holiday weekend block party. Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore asked for prayers for the victims after the mass shooting left two dead and injured more than two dozen others, most of whom were teens. (OSV News photo/Reuters)
Baltimore archbishop asks for prayers for victims of mass shooting at a neighborhood block party
People who fled their homes due to fighting between the Afar Special Forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front in Berhale, Ethiopia, wait for food near a makeshift compound in Afdera district, Feb. 23, 2022. (OSV News photo/Tiksa Negeri, Reuters)
Bishop: Suffering from war, hunger 'beyond human imagination' in Ethiopia's Tigray region
Diaconate candidates who were instituted as lectors include front row:Anthony Bondi, Brad Hendrickson, Frank Gasaway, Ruben Ortiz, Rob Petro, Pete Wood, Paul Wilk, Bob Sandilla, and Gilbert Sanchez. Back row: Albert Burgos, Doug Noveroske, Robert Gromala, Bill Grimes, Bishop Robert J. McClory, Father Leo Gajardo, Bill Zientarski, Jeff Smolinski, and Bob Wellinski.
Bishop McClory confirms 16 diaconate candidates into ministry of lector
Pope Francis blesses an ambulance to donate to the Ukrainian city of Lviv, in this file photo taken at the Vatican March 26, 2022. Also pictured is Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, who drove the ambulance to Lviv. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Aid to Ukrainians tops charity funded by Peter's Pence in 2022
Bishop William F. Medley of Owensboro, Ky., greets a small child in a receiving line of Burmese parishioners outside Holy Spirit Church in Bowling Green June 18, 2023. The Myanmar community was celebrating 14 years of being part of the parish. (OSV News photo/Elizabeth Wong Barnstead, The Western Kentucky Catholic)
Myanmar community celebrates 14 years in Kentucky parish with joy, 'spirit of love'
Diane McKern (left), vice president for the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, District Council of Gary, views homemade family art with her husband Dan McKern (right) at the couple's home in Hammond on May 25. A convert to the Catholic faith and longtime charitable advocate, Diane McKern is recignized by Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishioners and faithful throughout the diocese as a generous and innovative leader. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
Local Vincentian with big heart delivers care, compassion
Father Jay Nuthulapati, then a member of the order of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, was appointed a Missionary of Mercy in 2016 by Pope Francis, and met with the pontiff in 2018 during a biannual conference in Rome (above). Created for the Jubilee of Mercy in 2016, the pope decided to prolong the service of the Missionaries of Mercy given the many testimonies of conversion attributed to their special ministry. Recently, Father Nuthulapati was incardinated, which means he is now a diocesan priest.
Missionaries of Mercy continue bringing forgiveness to God’s people
Marian Weeks has retired - for the second time - after almost a half century as faith formation director and youth minister at Nativity of Our Savior in Portage and later St. Mary in Crown Point, where she established and improved numerous catechetical programs and service projects. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
Decades of dedicated leadership bring Catholics closer to God
Andrean High School softball players (left to right) Abbey Bond, Maggie Voliva, Sadie Drousias and Libby Voliva view a proposed ring design to commemorate their 2023 state champion runners-up season, at the AHS athletic office in Merrillville on June 21. The Lady 59ers came up shy of a title, losing 3-0 to the North Posey Vikings of Poseyville to close out their 29-8 season. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
59ers wrap historic season with hope for future
Pope Francis greets visitors in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to pray the Angelus June 29, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
'Real' people with strength from God better than superheroes, pope says
Scaffolding surrounds the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris July 28, 2022. Four years into the devastating fire, Notre Dame will get the spire back by the end of 2023. (OSV News photo/Geoffroy Van Der Hassel, pool via Reuters)
Meet the two American carpenters who are helping rebuild Notre Dame’s spire
With Warrior football and girls soccer players backing him up, Bishop Noll Institute president Paul Mullaney (Noll '77) explains the outdoor athletic facilities upgrade before groundbreaking ceremonies took place on June 20 at the Hammond school, the largest of the Diocese of Gary's three high schools. Phase I of the $9 million project will involve a new turf field for football and soccer, the addition of a regulation eight-lane track and field event areas, plus a grandstand/press box with seating for 1,500
Noll breaks ground on first phase of athletic field rebuild
Christ in the City missionaries Hailey Prevost and Julie Kelnhofer (front row) Luke Salyer, Brad Pike, and Andy Fischter (back row) pose for a photo during their visit to Queen of All Saints on June 4. (Bob Wellinski photo)
Changing lives through encountering friends on the street and in community
Pope Francis greets a participant in an audience with more than 200 artists in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican June 23, 2023, to mark 50 years since the inauguration of the Vatican Museums' modern and contemporary art collection. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Artists, like prophets, must share truth for a better world, pope says
With the Washington Monument in the background, a crowd gathers at the Lincoln Monument in Washington June 24, 2023, for the National Celebrate Life Day rally to commemorate the first anniversary of U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, the court's 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. (OSV News photo/Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters)
Pro-lifers call for action at 'National Celebrate Life Day' rally on Dobbs anniversary
Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group pull out of the headquarters of the Southern Military District to return to base, in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24, 2023. (OSV News photo/Alexander Ermochenko, Reuters)
Following Wagner Group's now-halted march on Moscow, bishop sees 'hope and danger' ahead for Ukraine
Totus Tuus missionary teacher Jennifer Villarreal (right) supervises young students of the Catholic summer day sessions on June 16 at a playground near Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Hammond. Villarreal, a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, said she is discerning how to best serve the Lord, and models herself after the "total gift of self" that the Blessed Mother gave God. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
Kids and teens grow in faith with Totus Tuus missionaries 
Students at Aquinas Catholic School hold oversized scissors as they cut a ribbon during a celebration marking the official opening of a
Ribbon cutting marks opening of $3M Aquinas school addition
A painting depicts Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, the world's first sustained women's religious community for Black women. Pope Francis signed a decree June 22, 2023, recognizing the heroic virtues of Mother Lange and declaring her "venerable." (OSV News photo/courtesy Catholic Review)
Mother Lange, who is now 'venerable,' is nation's 'greatest model for evangelization,' says deacon
A printed copy of the "Instrumentum Laboris," or working document, for the world Synod of Bishops on synodality is seen in the Vatican press office June 20, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
U.S. bishops encourage Catholics to 'read, pray and discuss' Synod on Synodality working document
The RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912. The "unsinkable" ship hit an iceberg on April 15, and went down into the Atlantic Ocean within hours. (OSV News photo/public domain)
Recalling Father Thomas Byles, 'priest and martyr' during new Titanic crisis
Pope Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31, 2022, is pictured praying with Mustafa Cagrici, the grand mufti of Istanbul, as he visits the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Nov. 30, 2006. A pectoral cross given by pope when he resigned in 2013 to the parish church of St. Oswald in Traunstein, Germany, was reported stolen by police June 20, 2023. (OSV News photo/Anatolian News Agency via Reuters)
Late pope's pectoral cross stolen from Catholic church in Traunstein, Germany
A large wooden cross stands atop a ridge at Camp Lawrence in Porter County on May 26. The diocesan retreat grounds, which opened in 1957, have been renovated and beautified in recent years to provide improved conference and camping experiences for the hundreds of guests who visit annually. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
After renovation, ‘beautiful property’ ready for summer season
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston prepares to vote June 16, 2023, during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' spring plenary assembly in Orlando, Fla. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
U.S. bishops advance pastoral initiatives to strengthen church amid discussions on Eucharist, priesthood, synodality
Pope Francis blesses a four-foot-tall monstrance, a chalice and a paten as Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., looks on during an audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace June 19, 2023. The blessing took place during the pope's meeting with members of the organizing committees of the U.S. National Eucharistic Congress and Eucharistic Revival. (CNS screengrab/Vatican Media)
Adore Jesus' real presence in the Eucharist, pope tells U.S. Catholics
Pope Francis meets Archbishop Georg Gänswein, personal secretary to the late Pope Benedict XVI, in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican in this May 19, 2023, file photo. Pope Francis has directed Archbishop Gänswein to return to his home diocese of Freiburg in southwest Germany without an assignment by July 1. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope sends predecessor's longtime secretary home without assignment