COLORADO SPRINGS. Catholic Schools Week will be observed Jan. 28 - Feb. 3. Following is a listing of the various activities planned by schools in the diocese for Catholic Schools Week 2024. 

ROME. This year, Catholics will be able to receive a plenary indulgence from Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to Feb. 2, 2024, the feast of the Presentation in the Temple of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by praying before a Nativity scene in a Franciscan church.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Nearly 30 years ago, a Catholic priest from Ukraine visited Colorado Springs and forged a lifelong friendship with a local pastor — a relationship that led to the creation of a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the Ukrainian Catholic Church rebuild after decades of Soviet oppression.

Last August, the same priest returned to Colorado Springs — this time as a bishop — to give local Catholics a first-hand account of conditions in his war-torn country and ask for their ongoing support.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland. The National Black Catholic Congress convention (NBCC) occurred this year from July 20-23 at the Gaylord National in National Harbor, Maryland. The Congress XIII theme was “Write the Vision: A Prophetic Call to Thrive.” The spiritual basis for the theme comes from Habakkuk 2:2-4: “Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write down the vision; Make it plain upon tablets, so that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is a witness for the appointed time, a testimony to the end; it will not disappoint. If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. See, the rash have no integrity; but the just one who is righteous because of faith shall live.’”

COLORADO SPRINGS. A Catholic bishop, priest and religious sister from Ukraine will visit the Diocese of Colorado Springs in late August to raise awareness of the plight of Ukrainian citizens living through the war with Russia. The visit is being sponsored by Colorado Springs-based Catholic Outreach to Neighbors in Ukraine (CONU), an organization founded by the late Father Paul Wicker in 1994 to help the Catholic Church rebuild in the previously Communist country.

PHILADELPHIA.  Two newly appointed Vatican consultants on evangelization told OSV News that prayer, humility and authentic friendship are key to spreading the Gospel, particularly among youth and young adults.

COLORADO SPRINGS. The House of Hope Single Mothers’ Home has provided love and support for pregnant and unwed mothers in Ukraine for decades, but now more than ever it fills a critical need.

COLORADO SPRINGS. The recent news from Ukraine would keep most travelers far from eastern Europe, but not Ken Rackers.

Rackers, who is vice present of the board of directors of Catholic Outreach to Northern Ukraine (CONU), visited the wartorn country last October to get a first-hand assessment of the situation and help get the word out regarding the plight of citizens there.

Although the name of Thomy Lafon is not widely known outside of Louisiana, at one time he was the wealthiest Black man in the United States and one of the country’s great philanthropists.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Father Tomasz Jamka, pastor of Holy Apostles Parish, has been named the new chaplain and executive director of Catholic Outreach to Northern Ukraine, (CONU) the organization founded by Father Paul Wicker in the mid-1990s to help the Catholic Church in Ukraine rebuild after decades of Communist oppression.