News - February 2024 RSS Feed

Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi and Bishop Steven J. Raica of Birmingham declared support for the Creating Hope & Opportunity for Our Students’ Education (CHOOSE) Act in a letter to Alabama legislatures.

CANTON, Miss. — Sculptor Mary Davidson and her co-artist-husband Dr. Kenneth Davidson watched as the “Black Christ” was being erected on the wall behind the altar at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Camden, Miss. Suddenly the voice of a parishioner spoke to Mary, almost in a whisper. It was 2007.

​​​​​​​Muchas veces, cuando la gente se refiere a los hispanos que vivimos al sur de la carretera interestatal I-85 en Alabama, lo primero que les viene a la mente es personas de origen mexicano. Y con razón, durante muchos años la mayoría de los hispanos en los 28 condados más al sur en el estado de Alabama eran de México.

Two items came across my radar screen recently, as we commence the holy season of Lent. The first was a short video of a disco rave that took place (I’m not making this up) in Canterbury Cathedral in England. The clip showed hundreds of young people gyrating to throbbing dance music, cups of beer in their raised hands, as lights flashed all around them. You could plainly see above them the gorgeously decorated ceiling of the cathedral and receding into the background the hauntingly beautiful gothic nave. Having visited Canterbury Cathedral a number of times, I knew that not at all far from where this nightclub scene was playing out was the site where St. Thomas Becket was murdered by agents of King Henry II in 1170. In other words, the present-day managers of the cathedral felt it was just fine that very near the place where one of England’s greatest saints gave his life for the faith a disco should break out.

McGill-Toolen Catholic High School and St. Michael Catholic High School are both home to National Merit finalists.

It’s that time of year again; my favorite and most dreaded time of the year.  I don’t like the discipline of Lent.  That is precisely why Lent is so important to me.  Look, if Lent required me to give up things I am not attached to it would be easy.  The fact is that my heart is attracted to many manmade things. 

MOBILE — McGill-Toolen Catholic High School Director of Advancement, Kim Dunne, has announced her retirement, effective at the end of June.

Congratulations to Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School sixth-grader Justin Lee, who became the three-time Montgomery County Spelling Bee champion on Feb. 12.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. As we begin the season of Lent, I wish to share some thoughts with you. Lent is more than how we will live during the next 40 days. Instead, it is about how we will live for all eternity.

Next month, God willing, I will celebrate a birthday that has special significance to bishops. I will be 75 years old on March 27, 2024, and Church law requires that all archbishops and bishops submit their letter of retirement upon reaching 75 to the Pope. The letter of retirement is almost always accepted. Some are accepted in a short amount of time, others take longer. It is completely at the discretion of the Pope and he appoints all bishops in this country.

MOBILE — Providence Hospital on Airport Boulevard in Mobile is no longer a Catholic hospital, but its Catholic heritage can still be found throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile and beyond.

While Mardi Gras continues throughout the Archdiocese of Mobile, the reason for the frivolity is because of Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14. Here is information to help make this a meaningful and holy Lent for all.

The Archdiocese of Mobile celebrated World Day for Consecrated Life on Feb. 4 at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Those who have chosen consecrated life were honored.

Congratulations to Brendan Schott, a sixth-grader at Christ the King Catholic School in Daphne, for winning the 61st annual Mobile/Baldwin Spelling Bee presented by the Department of Catholic Education on Jan. 25 at St. Pius X Parish.

We rejected God in the Garden of Eden, but the Lord is good and forgiving — He built a bridge so we can fully enter into communion with Him. He longs to be with us and so He found another way to come to intimacy with us here and now.

Love never fails. Naturally, love is the foundation for living the life of a Christian steward. After all, stewardship is responding to God’s call to give with a loving heart. Everything we have, such as our intellectual gifts, financial resources, time and talents are all generous gifts from our loving God. We are called to share them with love.

On Dec. 18 2023, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, head of the Vatican office — “The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith” — issued a document, Fiducia Supplicans which was approved by Pope Francis. The document addressed blessing couples in irregular unions, including couples who are in a same-sex marriage. I stated on Dec. 18 that I would comment upon this document once I had the opportunity to speak with the Presbyteral Council (Council of Priests) of the Archdiocese of Mobile. I did so at the first meeting of 2024 which was on Jan. 24.