November 21, 2009 |
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 February 2009 Stations of Cross coloring book ready to printThe Florida Catholic knows parents and catechists are always on the lookout for tools to help children learn about their faith. So for Lent this year, we’ve brought back our printable Stations of the Cross coloring book. Please click HERE to download it. Denise O’Toole Kelly | 02.23.09 | Return To Top Justice, life, education on Catholic agendaTALLAHASSEE | When Tim Kane agreed to help some of his older peers break into an empty house, steal some cash and leave, he was 14, adjusting to his parents’ recent divorce and seeking inclusion, according to his advocates. “So they get into the house and there were two occupants ... one guy had a gun which Tim didn’t know, and that guy killed the two occupants,” said Sheila Hopkins, who, as the Florida Catholic Conference’s associate director for social concerns/respect life, is among those with compassion for Kane. Now, 16 years later, with no disciplinary reports in his prison record, a high-school equivalency diploma and several certifications, Kane is 30 years old, and his ninth-grade yearbook photo has become a poster for the cause of giving model prisoners, convicted when children, a second chance. A bill that would do that is one of the Florida Catholic Conference’s priorities for this year’s regular session of the Florida Legislature, which begins March 3 and is scheduled to run through May 10. The conference lobbies on behalf of the state’s bishops on issues involving life and death and the common good. Read about the Florida Catholic Conference’s other priorities here. Evonn Gibbs | 02.18.09 | Return To Top Knights of Peter Claver marks century of serviceORLANDO | Their patron saint is credited with evangelizing 300,000 people in the 1600s and members of the Knights of Peter Claver have been serving their church, their communities and their families for nearly a century. That makes the predominately black fraternal Catholic organization – which will mark its 100th anniversary this November – a big part of faith history as well as a big part of the African-American history being celebrated across the nation this month. “We try to be a good example as men in the Catholic Church,” explained Thoreau Nellum, past grand Knight of Tampa Council 379, “to get young men, especially fathers involved in their faith; to get their families more involved.” MORE... Laura Dodson | 02.18.09 | Return To Top Passenger prayed chaplet as plane plunged toward riverORLANDO | Frederick Berretta humbly admits to being away from the church, to his “half-hearted approach to living the faith and not trusting in God.” He acknowledges that he was living a life of “all” – a pilot’s license and private plane, a corporate executive in the financial world. And on Jan. 15 aboard U.S. Airways flight 1549, everything changed. MORE... Laura Dodson | 02.12.09 | Return To Top More parishes embracing Divine Mercy SundayThough the feast of Divine Mercy is still months away, now is the time to learn how and plan to observe the feast and receive the resulting graces, said Robert Allard, who is promoting a conference in Orlando Saturday, Feb. 21, to help parishes do just that. The daylong Divine Mercy Conference at the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe is open to everyone and is expected to draw priests and other parish leaders from throughout Florida and beyond. Read more about the feast and the upcoming conference here. Laura Dodson | 02.12.09 | Return To Top Long–Sleeve Relief and Food Drive InformationThe Florida Catholic is sponsoring its fourth annual Long–Sleeve Relief Drive and upon request of outreach organizations have added a Food–Diaper–Personal Hygiene Drive during Lent. The drives will begin Ash Wednesday, Feb. 25, and run until Palm Sunday, April 5. In consideration of the economic times, we greatly appreciate your commitment to helping feed and clothe our brothers and sisters in Christ. Mary St. Pierre | 02.11.09 | Return To Top State’s bishops again decry use of death penaltyUpdate The Associated Press reported Feb. 11 that Wayne Tompkins died by lethal
injection at 6:32 p.m. TALLAHASSEE | As the Feb. 11 scheduled execution of convicted killer Wayne Tompkins approaches, Florida’s bishops have repeated their plea to Gov. Charlie Crist to “set a new standard of decency for the state of Florida by abandoning executions and commuting death–row sentences to life in prison without possibility of parole.” In a written statement, the nine bishops of the Florida Catholic Conference asked the governor to spare the life of Tompkins, 51, who was on death row for the March 1983 strangling death of 15–year–old Lisa DeCarr of Tampa, his then–girlfriend’s daughter. “We pray for healing for Ms. DeCarr’s family and friends who have suffered the pain of losing their loved one. No punishment, no matter how severe, can ever erase the grief caused by her wrongful death,” the bishops wrote. “While it is the duty of the governor to uphold the laws, you have the singular ability to change the course of action to be taken by the state in death–penalty cases. In pursuing justice for victims of violent crimes, the state must not be blinded by politics that diminish human dignity and the sacredness of all life, including that of convicted criminals.” Tompkins’ is the third death warrant to be signed by Gov. Crist since last summer, when legal wrangling was resolved over the constitutionality of the lethal–injection method used by Florida and other states. A U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Kentucky case cleared the way for executions to resume after an 18–month hiatus that began before the governor took office. The bishops expressed similar sentiments in advance of the other two executions, which also spawned peaceful protests and prayer vigils by Catholics and others across the state. Tompkins is scheduled to be executed Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 6 p.m. in the death chamber at the Florida State Prison near Starke. 02.09.09 | Return To Top Time to share recipes for Lent, deadline extendedUpdated: 02.09.2009 
ORLANDO | We really need your help preparing our Lenten cookbook. To date, we have received one new recipe. It sure sounds tasty, but Fridays of Lent will be a little boring with only one new selection, so we’ve extended the deadline until this Friday, Feb. 13. C’mon, click on the icon at the left and share your meatless recipes. The Florida Catholic’s editors again this year seek to share readers’ favorite meatless recipes for Lent. We’d also like to know where you got the recipe, and whether making it brings back any memories. To view the recipes we collected last year or to read last year’s story visit the links at the close of this post. Selected recipes for this year and some of the stories behind them will be published just in time for the first Friday of Lent in Feb. 27–March 12 print editions and also will be included in our online “Lenten Cookbook” which is growing annually with new recipes. Submissions may be made through the Web site HERE or by mail to Lenten Recipes, Florida Catholic, P.O. Box 4993, Orlando, FL 32802–4993. Please include an e–mail address and/or daytime phone number so a reporter may contact you. Submissions must be received by Monday, Feb. 9. 02.01.09 | Return To Top | 2008 Readers’ Recipes | Modest ingredients make for memorable Lenten meals Sunday Word goes videoBeginning with the readings for Sunday, Feb. 1, the Sunday Word column on the Florida Catholic’s Web site features two– to three–minute video reflections on Sunday Mass readings presented by priests from around the U.S. who are noted for their knowledge of Scripture. The page also includes links to the Sunday readings from the New American Bible. Print editions will continue to carry the written reflections of Florida–based Scripture experts. 02.01.09 | Return To Top Super Bowl is super for fundraising, evangelizationTAMPA | Whenever the Super Bowl comes to Tampa, as it does again this year, it’s cause for excitement at Jesuit High School. The NFL’s championship game not only brings one of the world’s highest profile sporting events to Jesuit’s neighborhood, but also about 600 cars that will park at the school, only a block from Raymond James Stadium. At $60 each, the parking money provides a nice boost for the Catholic boys high school scholarship fund and operating costs, said Nick Suszynski, director of alumni and development. “We’re really blessed with location,” Suszynski said. As Super Bowl XLII arrives Feb.1, the city’s fourth since its inception in 1967, Catholics from around the Diocese of St. Petersburg are involved in related activities ranging from collecting food and sporting goods for the needy, to joining games and meeting players at the NFL Experience at the stadium. CONTINUED... Steven Girardi | 01.29.09 | Return To Top Florida’s own March for LifeAbout two years ago, pro–life supporters in the St. Augustine area — including many Catholic parishioners in the Diocese of St. Augustine — created an alternative for people from Florida and south Georgia who want to take a stand for life each year around the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, but can’t make it to the national March for Life in Washington, D.C. The third annual March for Life St. Augustine took place Jan. 17. Organizers estimate more than 1,000 people of many faiths, backgrounds and ages walked the half mile from the Mission Nombre de Dios to the public plaza in downtown St. Augustine to show their opposition to abortion and desire for reversal of the Jan. 22, 1973, Supreme Court ruling that legalized it through the U.S. Photojournalist Jennifer Surgent was in the nation's oldest city to document this year's March for Life. Her slideshow is here. Denise O’Toole Kelly | 01.20.09 | Return To Top |
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