Here are some of the stories you missed if you didn't read Arkansas Catholic's Aug. 8 issue. Some of the stories and columns in Arkansas Catholic appear only in the print and free digital editions. To read what you're missing, subscribe today.
A graduation to remember
Rector Msgr. Lawrence Frederick (left) helps Bishop Anthony B. Taylor with distributing a diploma to … (Photo)
Pope: Pandemic should raise faith questions
VATICAN CITY — Besides the immediate considerations of trying to stay healthy, to mourn the dead and protect others, the coronavirus pandemic should be prompting Christians to reflect on their faith, Pope Francis wrote.
Pope Benedict ‘extremely frail,’ author says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — An author with a long and close relationship to retired Pope Benedict XVI told a German newspaper that the 93-year-old retired pope is “extremely frail.”
Catholic symbols vandalized
WASHINGTON — A wave of recent attacks on Catholic statues around the country and fires at two churches prompted the chairmen of two U.S. bishops’ committees to decry “the destruction of these holy symbols of selfless love and devotion.”
Baltimore’s Italian American community plans new statue
BALTIMORE — Weeks after protesters toppled a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, members of the city’s Italian American community are developing a plan to reproduce the marble monument so it can be displayed in a more secure place.
Obituaries
Mary Louise Massanelli, 96, a member of Our Lady of Good Hope Church in Hope, died July 23. She is survived by …
Lessons in the Christian meaning of suffering from St. John Paul II
St. John Paul II’s apostolic letter promulgated in 1984 entitled Salvifici Doloris, or “On the Christian Meaning of Suffering,” offers us some profound meditations for how we approach our world today. Let’s situate what an apostolic letter is among other Church documents. (Understanding our Church, Seeds of Faith)
Did early Church ordain women deacons?
Q. A book on lives of the saints which I am reading lists a St. Olympias in the fourth and fifth centuries and says that she was a deaconess of the Church, “an office which existed at that time.” (Question Corner, Seeds of Faith)
Mapping it out: How to learn Catholicism
Fifteen years after Richard Louv’s bestseller “The Last Child in the Woods” was published, it is more relevant than ever. I’m fascinated by his insights on the “nature-deficit disorder” ailing kids. (Columns)
Expectations for strangest school year ever
Ready or not, it’s back to school time. Yet returning to learning this fall will be unlike anything we’ve experienced in recent history. (Guest Commentary)
Put more attention on genocide in China
You are probably not shocked when you learn that the worst offender for religious freedom in the world is China, but you might not have paid close attention to exactly why this is. (Editorial)
