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Meg Bowerman has spent decades offering loving presence to those on the margins, and empowering Oakland Catholics to do the same

More than 80,000 people filled St. Peter’s Square in Rome to celebrate the canonization of St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati on Sunday, Sept. 7.

Join Emmy-nominated producer and award-winning author Dr. Ansel Augustine as he discusses his new book, Praying With Our Feet: Encountering God in the Margins. Dr. Augustine's book has been described as a "rallying cry" for those who believe that faith should be expressed openly. During the discussion, he will share insights from his ministry roots in New Orleans and his current role at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC. He will explain how these experiences relate to the Jesuit value of *cura personalis* (care and understanding for each person) and how they contribute to the mission of being co-creators for a better world.

The relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Cathedral of Christ the Light, 2121 Harrison Street, Oakland Wednesday, Oct. 22, 7 a.m.-1 p.m.

To celebrate the canonization of Carlo Acutis on Sept. 7, the Cathedral of Christ the Light is displaying an exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles. The 120 panels in the collection are printed using designs and information compiled by the saint himself. About half of the collection is on display in the Upper Room, and cathedral rector Father Erick Villa hopes to rotate them during the exhibition so all panels, written in both English and Spanish, will be displayed. The exhibition will be open an hour before and an hour after the 12:10 pm daily Mass and from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sundays until Oct. 12. All who visit are invited to leave a prayer on the prayer wall.

“That is great to be able to teach the faith, but also on a personal level, you have to show it.” Carmen Navarro is the director of religious education at St. Paul Parish in San Pablo. She has walked with countless people who have learned about and experienced God’s love in their lives.

In a world where narratives often focus on challenges and adversity our Homecoming Celebration of Unspeakable Joy and Unshakeable Faith will emerge as a Beacon of Hope and Fellowship in East Oakland.

Missionary Oblate Father John Mark Ettensohn, pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 13, 2025. Public visitation is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 25, followed by a vigil service at 7 p.m. Mass of the Resurrection will be on Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 10:30 a.m. All services will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Oakland, CA.

“Our children have this encounter with Christ on a daily basis in school,” says Dr. Andrew Currier, superintendent of schools for the Oakland Diocese, “and that's why we're here.” That sentence may capstone what the 45 schools within the diocese accomplish, but it barely skims the surface of what students, teachers, principals and everyone who touches school life co-create within the lives of the nearly 15,000 young people they encounter each day during the academic year.

Brian Swanson, Principal of St. David of Wales School, and Dr. Chiquita T. Tuttle, Director of the African American Pastoral Center, presented two students at St. David of Wales with scholarships for the 2025-2026 School Year.

Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ: We Catholics believe the Church is the Body of Christ. As St. Paul teaches us, “ If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually parts of it (1 Cor. 12:26)."

The Order of Malta Clinic of Northern California welcomed special guests on July 10. Three of the five founding board members, Herman Carmassi, Tom Greerty and Jack Hockel, DDS, returned to the clinic, some of them seeing it for the first time since its expansion.