Parish practices emergency evacuation

After Masses May 25 – 26, a Northeast Portland congregation practiced evacuations for scary scenarios — earthquakes, bomb threats, fires, active shooters. The goal at The Madeleine Parish was to help worshippers find the best way to get out of the church and to a safe meeting site.
PrinciPALS

They were part solemn educational collaborators, part comedy team. As the school year ended, the principals of two Portland area Catholic high schools dropped the mic on a decade of mutual innovation, common causes and horsing around at meetings.
Bishops' actions at spring meeting called a 'work in progress'

BALTIMORE — The gathering of U.S. bishops June 11-13 in Baltimore was anything but business as usual.
New priests inspire joy, confidence

As 50 priests quietly queued up June 15 to bless two men who’d just been ordained, the noontime bells pealed at St. Mary Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It was as if the joy happening inside were bursting out across the city.
Baseball rivalry, track and field mastery

Spring prep sports wound up this month, with Catholic high schools in the hunt for titles, often succeeding.
Celebrate the feast of St. Benedict with Benedictines

ST. BENEDICT — The public can spend a summer afternoon with the monks of Mount Angel Abbey at the annual St. Benedict Festival.
Eighth graders give physics a whirl

MILWAUKIE — St. John the Baptist School's eighth graders attended physics day at Oaks Park in Southeast Portland May 10. Students have been studying physical science all year, and the annual event at the amusement park is an opportunity to feel the forces and collect data on various rides. All kinds of analysis can be done, including calculations of speeds, accelerations, forces and energies.
A journey to STEM leadership

BEAVERTON — The Valley Catholic Middle School graduation for 83 eighth graders is at 7 p.m. Friday, June 7, in the Valiants Gym. The middle school is positioned to chart a course as a leader in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning, according to school staff.
St. Mary’s Academy grads honored

St. Mary’s Academy in Southwest Portland celebrated 166 women during a June 1 graduation at the University of Portland Chiles Center. This year’s valedictorian was Lauren Phillips and the salutatorian was Claire LeBlanc.
Art connects past, present, future at Valley Catholic

BEAVERTON — Valley Catholic will hold its graduation for 96 seniors at 2 p.m. Saturday, June 8, in the Valiants Gym.
Priest reassignments 2019

UPDATED JUNE 14, 10 A.M.

The Archdiocese of Portland has announced clergy reassignments to take effect July 1, unless noted otherwise. In all, 22 priests are making a move.
WATCH: U.S. bishops take action to respond to church abuse crisis

BALTIMORE — During the June 11-13 spring assembly of the U.S. bishops in Baltimore, it was clear the bishops had to respond to the sexual abuse crisis in the church -- and on the last day of their gathering they approved a series of procedures to begin this process.
Annual conference aims to inspire, give educators tools to serve more students with special needs

There were nationally known speakers at a conference last month on inclusive Catholic education. But Central Catholic junior River Sampson got to the heart of the gathering when he stepped up to the mic.
Recognizing the sacrifice of dads

“When I was a child, I thought like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”
De La Salle North students ‘Enter to learn, leave to serve’

De La Salle North Catholic congratulates 54 graduates this year. The baccalaureate Mass was May 31 at St. Andrew Church in Northeast Portland. Graduation was the following day, Saturday, June 1, at 5 p.m. at the University of Portland Chiles Center.
Central Catholic says goodbye to beloved teacher along with grads

After 43 years of teaching and coaching at Central Catholic, beloved social studies teacher Steve Halligan retires at the end of the school year.
Archbishop to lead eucharistic procession June 23

A sequel to last year’s eucharistic procession in central Portland will take place June 23, the feast of Corpus Christi, and will be led by Archbishop Alexander Sample.
‘How much I’ve grown’

MILWAUKIE — La Salle Prep will graduate 167 seniors this year at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 8, at Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin. Brigid Hanley is valedictorian, while salutatorians are Ting-Chien Huang, Lenora Mathis and Reed Metzler-Gilbertz.
Ordination for two on June 15

Archbishop Alexander Sample will ordain two men as priests of the Archdiocese of Portland Saturday, June 15, 11 a.m. at St. Mary Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.
WATCH: Response to abuse crisis looms large

BALTIMORE — At the start of the June 11-13 spring assembly of the U.S. bishops in Baltimore, it was clear the bishops had a task at hand: to respond to the sexual abuse crisis in the church.
Mount Angel confers degrees on 55

ST. BENEDICT — Mount Angel Seminary’s graduating class of 2019 celebrated a baccalaureate Mass May 10 and commencement the following morning. Bishop Kevin Vann of Orange, California, gave the commencement address, speaking to more than 300 family and friends assembled in the abbey church.
Gender ideology is opposed to faith, reason, Vatican office says

VATICAN CITY — Catholic schools must help parents teach young people that biological sex and gender are naturally fixed at birth and part of God's plan for creation, said the Congregation for Catholic Education.
‘No one can do this alone’

Father Dave Zegar, pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Northeast Portland, and other community leaders held a press conference this morning to urge people to contact their legislators about Oregon House Bill 2508, also known as the Refugees Welcome Act.
Pope says he wants to visit Iraq in 2020

VATICAN CITY — Announcing his desire to visit Iraq in 2020, Pope Francis called for a peaceful resolution to crises in the Middle East.
Keeping traditions alive

It was 1966 on Chicago’s southside when the dress was first worn. Fifty-three years have passed and the dress has been worn twice more, uniting four generations of Catholic women.
Bishops urged to pass 'effective' policies on accountability, transparency

WASHINGTON — When the bishops gather in Baltimore starting June 11, Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, said he's "hopeful we will have some progress made in moving the football" on the church's response to the abuse crisis by approving several proposals to hold the bishops accountable.
Bishop bars Illinois Catholic lawmakers who back abortion from Communion

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Springfield Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki issued a decree June 6 stating that Catholic lawmakers in the Illinois Legislature "who promoted or voted for extreme abortion legislation" cannot receive Communion in churches in his diocese.
Community leaders honored by ecumenical group

Oregon’s ecumenical organization this spring honored a group of community leaders for moral leadership, including several Catholics.
Spring a time for fun and deeper thought

It’s springtime in Oregon and that means outdoor festivals and events are starting up. Also on the spring and early summer agenda are some events that will get people thinking, even praying.
Toronto Raptors' player took a shot at priesthood training

WASHINGTON — When Pascal Siakam was in his young teens attending a minor seminary in Cameroon — and mostly playing soccer in his free time — he likely never imagined he'd be playing in the NBA Finals.
Eugene Catholic bookstore now shuttered

EUGENE — A Catholic bookstore here has closed, leaving the Carmelite Sisters west of town as the sole purveyor of church goods in the area.
Confirmation: A sacred renovation

Archbishop Alexander Sample raises his hands, asking the Holy Spirit to fill the candidates standing before him at the University of Portland’s Christ the Teacher chapel.
A man for others

Jesuit High School’s head football coach, Ken Potter, wasn’t surprised to hear the news about former Jesuit star football player Keanon Lowe, now football and track coach and head of security at Parkrose High School. Lowe tackled a gunman in a Parkrose classroom May 17, probably saving lives. Lowe, who graduated from Jesuit in 2010, had responded to a routine call from the school office and ended up wrestling a shotgun away from the distraught 18-year-old.
Sports as it should be

Catholic Youth Organization track and field last month held its final contest of the season, the Meet of Champions. With 22 teams competing, athletes achieved nationally qualifying marks, distinguishing CYO as one of the strongest youth programs in the country.
In recalling soldiers' D-Day sacrifice, archbishop prays for world peace

WASHINGTON — In remembering the estimated 4,400 Allied troops who died storming the beaches of Normandy, France, 75 years ago on D-Day, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services said that "Jesus Christ reminds us there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends."
Blazer, Archbishop Sample alums of same school

Zach Collins, a 7-foot-tall Portland Trail Blazers center, is a product of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, the same diocesan-run school the future Archbishop Alexander Sample attended in the 1970s.
Knights cook up steaks, and relaxation, for seminarians

MOUNT ANGEL — The Oregon Knights of Columbus state officers and past state deputies and their spouses have served pie and ice cream at Mount Angel Seminary for many years, usually during mid-terms in early December.
Week to focus on religious freedom

The nation’s Catholic bishops have called for a week highlighting the need for religious freedom globally. Set for June 22-29, the week has the theme “Strength in Hope.”
Laity not playing 'gotcha' with bishops on abuse, review board chair says

WASHINGTON — The path to rebuilding the U.S. church's credibility as it emerges from the lingering clergy sexual abuse scandal rests in embracing the role of laypeople as important collaborators, said the chairman of the National Review Board.
Rupp inducted into CYO Hall of Fame

Catholic Youth Organization of the Archdiocese of Portland last month inducted one of the nation’s great distance runners into the CYO Hall of Fame. Galen Rupp, an Olympic medalist, got a start in track and field with his CYO team at All Saints School in Northeast Portland, where his mother was the coach. When he was in eighth grade, he helped the All Saints team to a Meet of Champions title.
WATCH: Challenges to seal of confession attributed to clergy sex abuse scandals

WASHINGTON — For centuries, the Catholic Church has maintained that what a penitent says to a priest in the confessional is strictly confidential, but in 2019 that rite continues to be challenged by governments.
New home for Mater Dei Radio

Oregon’s Catholic radio station is planning to expand its communications ministry from a new building atop Sylvan Hill in Southwest Portland.
Pope Francis’ new law concerning the sexual abuse crisis

Most of you are aware by now that Pope Francis has recently issued an Apostolic Letter in the form of a motu proprio that addresses in a significant way the current sexual abuse crisis plaguing the Church. Being issued in the form of a motu proprio means that the Holy Father is making these new directives universal law for the whole Church throughout the world. As I said in my initial statement upon the release of the pope’s letter, I am very encouraged by the Holy Father’s action.
Knights elect new leaders

LEBANON — Ron Boyce of the Knights of Columbus council in Tigard was elected state deputy during the 111th annual Oregon Knights of Columbus convention held April 26-28 at the Boulder Falls Events Center here.
WATCH: Freedom, mercy are lasting legacy of martyred bishops, pope says

BLAJ, Romania — The memory and witness of Romania's martyred bishops are a reminder that Christians are called to stand firm against ideologies that seek to stifle and suppress their cultural and religious traditions, Pope Francis said.