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Prayer cards, a coloring book for children, a self-guided pilgrimage, catechetical presentations, articles in The Catholic Commentator, shows to be aired on Catholic Life Television and one-minute spots on Catholic Community Radio are some of what is planned as the Diocese of Baton Rouge celebrates its 60th anniversary simultaneously with the Year of St. Joseph, its patron saint. The theme of the year will be “60 Years in the Year of St Joseph,” Episcopal Vicar Father Jamin David said.

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge suspended use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Tuesday, following the recommendation of the Centers of Disease Control and the Food and Drug Association. "Upon the CDC recommendations and in consultation with the Louisiana and Mississippi Departments of Health, we have immediately halted use of the J&J vaccine,” Dr. Stephen Gremillion, chief medical officer of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, said in a statement.

The Catholic bishops of Louisiana have appointed Tom Costanza executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops. Costanza succeeds Rob Tasman, who served in that position for 12 years. Costanza has served in church ministry since 1992 and most recently with the Office of Social Apostolate (1996-2002) and with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans since 2002 as director of the Office of Justice and Peace.

Fourteen young men from the Diocese of Baton Rouge and the Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama, recently gathered for a Come and See weekend at St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Cristo Rey Baton Rouge Franciscan High School works through concerns of Corporate Work Study Program

Charles Barbre records video with daughter to spread rosary devotion

One year after a global pandemic shut down public gatherings during Holy Week and Easter Sunday, churches in the diocese of Baton Rouge opened under guidelines issued by Bishop Michael G. Duca. The protocols for Holy Week as well as the triduum, which are considered the “holiest three days” of the liturgical year, were similar to what had been issued by the Holy See, according to Episcopal Vicar Father Jamin David.

Father Jason Palermo, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in French Settlement and St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church in Maurepas, baptizes eight-year-old Jackson Harper during the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Joseph on April 3. Churches in the Diocese of Baton Rouge were able to celebrate the Easter Vigil this year, albeit with some protocols in place, after being able to do so in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Easter Vigil celebration is generally considered as one of the most beautiful Masses of the year. Photo by Richard Meek | The Catholic Commentator

Father Toni Thomas IMS, administrator at St. Jules Church in Belle Rose and St. Elizabeth Church in Paincourtville, leads the Stations of the Cross walk on Good Friday.

Father Chris Decker, Pastor of St. Joseph Church in Grosse Tête, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Maringouin, and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini in Livonia, reposes the Blessed Sacrament at the conclusion of The Mass of the Lord's Supper at St. Frances Cabrini Church. Photo by Richard Meek | The Catholic Commentator.

Bishop Michael G. Duca pours balsam, a sweetly scented essence, into oil to be blessed during the Chrism Mass celebrated March 30 at St. George Church in Baton Rouge. Photo by Richard Meek | The Catholic Commentator

Palm Sunday, March 28, kicked off Holy Week, which commemorates the Jesus’ passion and the events immediately preceding it.

We need the power of Christ’s resurrection to lift us out of our sadness and grief.  This hope is not a panacea that will protect us from the hard work before us to heal, restore and inspire our broken world.  But it is a hope that will sustain our mission in difficult times because our hope is in Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead who is greater than any difficulties we may face.  

Karen Carmody, her husband Chris and four children, are stationed in Aguada, Puerto Rico.  Missionaries live on not many dollars a month, so they don’t have much money to distribute to beggars.  At the same time, however, they often come upon individuals who, like Lazarus in Jesus’ parable of the neglected beggar, have no one to help them.  The story of how they brought Christ’s love to Nelson the beggar is one of inspired almsgiving.

On a July day this past summer, Victor Howell eased into his favorite chair, settling in to watch an afternoon of golf, mindful of a few sniffles he had been recently experiencing. Two hours later, Howell was in the Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge emergency room, with doctors asking him if he had a living will.

One year after Catholic schools closed their doors on the 2019-2020 school year, principals, teachers, staff, parents and students have adjusted, altered and adapted to one of the biggest learning curves in their lives: how to educate more than 14,000 students during a global pandemic. 

Holy Week beckons us to set aside our sufferings and struggles, which have likely been many in this past year, and accompany Jesus in his Passion and death to save humanity. 

As the novel coronavirus began to spread its carnage in the Northwest and Northeast corners of the country a year ago, bishops in Louisiana began to meet to discuss their own plans. Bishop Michael G. Duca soon gathered Episcopal Vicar Father Jamin David, Vicar General Father Tom Ranzino and several other diocesan leaders to discuss the practical realities of what a lockdown might look like. By mid-March the diocese had drafted its own set of protocols. Churches were soon shuttered, church bells silenced, and choirs muted as Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a statewide lockdown. 

Bishop Michael G. Duca has issued guidelines for Palm Sunday and the Easter triduum, urging parishioners to wear masks at all times and continue to practice physical distancing.  Episcopal Vicar Father Jamin David said the bishop’s protocols are quite similar to what has been issued by the Holy See. Regarding Palm Sunday, which is March 28, Father David said the church has discouraged the traditional procession of palms at the beginning of Mass. 

The Vatican’s doctrinal office on March 15 clarified that the Catholic Church does not have the power to give liturgical blessings of homosexual unions. Answering the question “Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?,” the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded, “negative.”