Category: News

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Alissa Hirscher, For the Catholic Herald

Pregnancy Helpline seeks new volunteers

MADISON — Need a purpose? Want to impress your mom? Looking to make a difference in your community?

We know people volunteer for a variety of reasons. This fall, consider doing all that with the Pregnancy Helpline (PH).

Answer calls from home

PH is looking to increase the number of volunteers who staff its phones.

“The nice thing about answering calls on our Helpline is that you can answer all calls from home,” says Jessica Vinson, Pregnancy Helpline phone volunteer coordinator and member of St. Ann Parish in Stoughton.

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Edgewood College president plans to retire

MADISON — As a crowded Anderson Auditorium on the Edgewood College campus waited on September 10 for the day’s “major announcement,” school President Dr. Dan Carey stepped behind the podium.

With a tone of gratitude to the entire college, Carey announced he will retire from his position at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.

Carey said it is a time to “transition to meaningful work” at an age when he is still healthy.

He thanked the Sinsinawa Dominicans, Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, and students for all their help in the successes of Edgewood College during his time there.

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Kevin Wondrash

Al Ringling Theatre, Baraboo, announces Lively Arts Series

BARABOO — The historic Al Ringling Theatre, 136 4th Ave., Baraboo, announces its lineup of shows for the 2013-14 Lively Arts Series. The series features a variety of artists in different performance genres, including some regional favorites.

  • The series opens on Friday, Oct. 4, with the down-home sounds and sweet harmonies of Robin and Linda Williams and their group.
  • Singer and playwright Lisa Rock and her six-piece band are keeping the Carpenters’ holiday traditions alive with spot-on renditions of the unforgettable Christmas tunes on Friday, Dec. 13.
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Katie Robbins, For the Catholic Herald

Fr. Paul Fagan continues missionary work in Tanzania

WESTPORT — Many residents of southern Wisconsin will recognize the name of Fr. Paul Fagan.

Father Fagan was born near Prairie du Chien in 1932. After attending St. Francis Minor and Maryknoll Major Seminary, he was ordained in 1960. For the last 53 years, Father Fagan has served the people of Tanzania in Africa.

Sharing news of his work

Over those 53 years, Father Fagan has returned to Wisconsin and the Diocese of Madison every year to share news about his work in Tanzania.

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Chris Lee

Pope Francis calls for day of prayer and fasting on September 7

pope francis waves
Pope Francis waves as he leads the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican September 1. (CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters)

MADISON — At his Angelus address on Sunday, Sept. 1, Pope Francis called upon the faithful worldwide to join in a day of prayer and fasting on Saturday, Sept. 7, for peace, particularly in Syria, but also in the Middle East and throughout the world.

The pope also announced that the day of prayer and fasting will conclude with a vigil in St. Peter’s Square in Rome from 7 p.m. until midnight, local time. He asked local dioceses to arrange similar gatherings. The pope also called on fellow Christians, followers of other religions, and all men of good will to participate in whatever way they can in this initiative.

Bishop Robert C. Morlino has asked clergy in the Diocese of Madison to arrange for parish Holy Hours of Eucharistic Adoration for the particular intention of the Holy Father for this coming Saturday, Sept. 7, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., concluding appropriately a half hour before the typical anticipatory Mass at 5 p.m. (with applicable time modifications based on local parish Mass and Confession schedules).

“You are welcome to do additional items in conjunction with the Holy Father’s request, but this coordinated effort throughout parishes in the diocese at the direction of Bishop Morlino will show our solidarity with Pope Francis during the same time of the pope’s vigil prayer in Rome,” said Msgr. James Bartylla, vicar general of the Diocese of Madison, in notifying priests of the diocese about the day of prayer and fasting.

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Dennis Chaptman, For the Catholic Herald

Camp Gray 60 years ago was built on faith, fun, and dynamite

BARABOO — Parishioners at St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo helped Fr. Francis Xavier Gray — later Monsignor Gray — buy the land for a Reedsburg youth camp on Shady Lane in the early 1950s.

Not long after, they used dynamite to clear stumps from the athletic field and built cabins from wood they salvaged from crates of ordnance produced at the nearby Badger Army Ammunition Plant just outside of Baraboo.

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