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Catholic Diocese of Little Rock
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Happening Now
The following offers the latest information about events and activities happening in the Diocese of Little Rock.
Diaconate inquiry meetings begin this fall
The Diocese of Little Rock is starting to prepare for its next permanent diaconate class, which will graduate in 2028. Inquiry meetings will be held at seven locations this fall. Catholic men in good standing with the Church who will be at least 35 years old by 2028 are invited to attend. The five-year diaconate formation program, which is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2023, will be explained. The meetings will be presented in English and Spanish at the same location and time, but in separate rooms. Those discerning a vocation to the permanent diaconate should attend one of these ... More
Schools' staff honored for years of service
Fifteen Catholic school teachers, staff members and administrators were recognized for serving 25 and 50 years in Catholic schools in Arkansas recently. These honorees are usually recognized by the Catholic Schools Office during its Professional Day for Teachers, but this event was not held in 2020 or 2021. 50 Years — Sister Joan Pfauser, RSM, director of archives and Mercy charism at Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock. She previously served at Mercy High School, St. Louis; St. Alphonsus School and Holy Name of Jesus School, both in New Orleans; and Mount ... More
Newest Catholics join during the pandemic
Catholic parishes in the Diocese of Little Rock welcomed 382 new Catholics into the Church from May 2020 through the Easter Vigil Masses on Saturday, April 3, 2021. Normally, all would have entered during the Easter Vigil, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the process was disrupted when public Masses were suspended in 2020. These neophytes participated in their parish's Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) process and fell into two groups: the elect and candidates. The elect had not been baptized or formed in the Christian faith and life. ... More
90 years later we celebrate Divine Mercy
St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun, wrote in her diary that she witnessed a vision of Jesus on Feb. 22, 1931, while she was living at a convent in Plock, Poland. She wrote that Jesus had one hand raised in benediction and the other resting over his heart, from which emanated two rays of light. On the 90th anniversary of this first apparition, Pope Francis wrote a letter to the bishop of the Diocese of Płock, Poland. In his Feb. 22 letter, the Holy Father recalled the words of Jesus heard by St. Faustina: “Paint a picture according to the pattern you see, with the caption: 'Jesus, I trust in You.' ... More
Bishop releases pastoral changes April 9
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor announced the following pastoral appointments, April 9, 2021, for the Diocese of Little Rock: Effective June 2, 2021: Daniel J. Wendel, to be ordained a transitional deacon on May 26, 2021, appointed to serve as deacon at Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith during the summer 2021; José Jaime Nieto Bautista, to be ordained a transitional deacon on May 21, 2021, appointed to serve as deacon at Sacred Heart Church in Morrilton and St. Joseph Church in Center Ridge during the summer 2021. Effective June 15, 2021: Deacon Omar Galván ... More
Support our seminarians on Holy Thursday
The annual Holy Thursday Collection for Seminarian Education will be held April 1. The money from this collection supports the immediate educational and housing expenses of the diocese's seminarians. Bishop Anthony B. Taylor has ordained 38 diocesan priests in the past 11 years and is scheduled to ordain five more to the priesthood next month. As a result, the median age of active, diocesan priests serving in Arkansas has dropped from 65 to 48. These new priests make up nearly half of all priests currently in active ministry. Msgr. James E. O’Connell started an endowment fund ... More
Bishop: Mass protocols to change April 1
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor announced modifications, Thursday, March 25, to the COVID-19 protocols for public Masses he issued last May. In the following letter, addressed to the "people of the Diocese of Little Rock," he said these changes go into effect on Holy Thursday, April 1. “Thanks to the cooperation of our people with the protocols we have had in place to mitigate the danger of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing number of people who have been vaccinated, we are now in a position to make a few modifications in the protocols to be observed effective April 1. ... More
Bishop Taylor's brother dies March 15
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor addressed the following letter, March 15, 2021, to clergy and diocesan staff regarding the death of his brother, Michael Taylor. "My brother, Michael Taylor, age 65, died today at MD Anderson (Cancer Center) in Houston following two years of illness. He had leukemia and I was his donor for a successful stem-cell transplant. This was followed by a rigorous course of ongoing chemotherapy and other treatment to prevent rejection, one result of which is that, as expected, he lost all immunities and was thus vulnerable to infections against which he had very little ... More
