ROME - Like many Roman Catholic immigrant families from southern Italy, I grew up with a devotion to the patron saint of my family’s ancestral town. Every Italian city, town and village has one. As a general rule, the smaller the village, the more obscure the saint.

OAKLAND, CALIF. - Bishop Michael C. Barber was able to do what general manager Billy Beane could not: Call Grant Desme to Oakland.

Growing up in Nigeria, Fr. Maurice Emelu never imagined his calling would take him around the world and eventually put him in front of TV cameras that reach up to 230 million homes in 144 nations.

EDMONTON - The gold stars on his report card are many. Now 83, celebrating his 65 years of religious life, Br. Donatus Vervoort is hard pressed to reply when asked what the greatest joy has been in his life. 

And together we work wonders 

SASKATOON - Saskatoon Bishop Donald Bolen is accepting the recommendation of a 12-member committee to move ahead with a permanent diaconate program for the Prairie diocese. 

OTTAWA - Fr. Bryan Sabourin, a member of the Companions of the Cross order, recalls a time when he was embarrassed to bring his friends home. 

I was 17, and had just finished high school in Nigeria. The world had opened up to me with all its beauty, charm and possibilities. I had to consider what I would do with my life. I needed the best that the world could offer. I spent time with my friends. We talked about our future and the kind of profession we wanted. 

TORONTO - Going home to South Korea for Fr. Anselmo Park will mean getting back to evangelizing his countrymen in the name of peace. 

Catholic actor and evangelist Elisa Lollino looks out from the stage to find silence and stillness has descended upon her audience.