“I am the pastor of people who are suffering,” Pope Francis told Catholic News Service Feb. 1 during a discussion about his Iraq trip. In a sign of his determination to travel to Iraq, the pope indicated to CNS that he would consider taking a regular commercial flight to get there if needed.

Students from St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict gathered Feb.28 for what likely was the first student Mass ever on the ice of Lake Sagatagan.

Nearly five years after St. Mary Church in Melrose was heavily damaged by fire, parishioners dedicated their new building.

Seven men were admitted to candidacy for the permanent diaconate and three men continued their journey to ordination, one being instituted as a reader and two as acolytes during a special Mass with Bishop Donald Kettler at St. Mary’s Cathedral Jan. 22.

The churches of St. Anthony in Watkins and Assumption in Eden Valley will host an outdoor depiction of the Nativity story. “The Story of Jesus’ Birth: A Drive Through Christmas Event,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 23.

St. Mary of Mount Carmel Parish in Long Prairie celebrated the eve of the feast Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 11 with a special Mass and telling of the story of the Virgin Mary’s appearance before Saint Juan Diego in a vision in Mexico in 1531.

The Compassion Connection is looking for help to provide a merry Christmas to children living in foster care in Stearns County.

A year-and-a-half after breaking ground, members of St. Mary Church in Melrose celebrated the dedication of their new church Nov. 21.