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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.
Bishop issues clergy changes April 5
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor announced the following pastoral appointments, April 5, 2024, for the Diocese of Little Rock. Effective June 1: Joel Brackett, to be ordained to the transitional diaconate May 15, appointed to serve as deacon of St. Theresa Church in Little Rock during the summer 2024. Effective June 17: Rev. John K. Antony, JCL, relieved of his responsibilities as pastor of Our Lady of the Ozarks Shrine in Winslow. He remains pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Fort Smith; Rev. Balaraju Akkala, relieved of his responsibilities as associate pastor of Our Lady ... More
Mass for sex abuse survivors to be April 14
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor will celebrate the annual Mass for Hope and Healing for survivors of child sexual abuse Sunday, April 14, at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. Anyone who wishes to pray for victims, their families and friends is welcome to attend. The Mass is being held in April for National Child Abuse Prevention Month, which is dedicated to raising awareness of and preventing child abuse (whether sexual, physical or emotional). This event is sponsored by Safe Environment Program of the Diocese of Little Rock. For more information, contact ... More
Partake in Divine Mercy Sunday holy hour
The celebration of Christ's resurrection continues with Divine Mercy Sunday, which recognizes that God's love and mercy endure forever and overcome any sin that separates us from him. This year, we celebrate this feast on April 7. 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. The apparitions to St. Faustina formed the basis of the worldwide ... More
Bishop issues clergy changes March 22
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor announced the following pastoral appointments, March 22, 2024, for the Diocese of Little Rock. Effective April 8: Rev. Martin Dara, a priest of the Diocese of Nellore, appointed associate pastor of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock; and Rev. Kiran Kishore Ingilela, a priest of the Diocese of Nellore, appointed associate pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Morrilton and St. Elizabeth Church in Oppelo. Effective May 1: Rev. Mauricio Carrasco appointed prefect of the House of Formation in Little Rock. He is relieved of his responsibilities as pastor of ... More
Bishop addresses 'white flag' comments
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor issued the following statement, March 25, 2024, regarding Pope Francis’ “white flag” comments March 9, 2024. "Not a few people were perplexed by Pope Francis’ comment in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RSI, taken out of context that Ukraine should have what he called the courage of the 'white flag' and negotiate an end to its war with Russia. The way the comment unfolded was as follows: In the interview, Pope Francis was asked for his position on a debate between 1.) those who say Ukraine should give up its fight — fly a white flag ... More
Easter: All faith flows from the Resurrection
St. Athanasius called Easter "the Great Sunday." The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls it the "Feast of feasts" and the "Solemnity of solemnities." Easter is the celebration of the Jesus' resurrection from the dead. This moveable feast falls on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. By taking on our sin, Jesus, through his passion, death and resurrection destroyed the power of sin and death and made it possible for us to have eternal life. That is the Good News. All faith flows from faith in the resurrection. "If Christ has not been raised, then empty ... More
New life in Christ celebrated at Easter Vigil
While Christ is in the tomb on Holy Saturday, he did something very important that often gets lost in the celebration of the Easter Vigil that evening. In the Apostles Creed we pray: "He descended into hell." Hell in this sense has a very different meaning than how we understand the term today. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: "Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, 'hell' — 'Sheol' in Hebrew or 'Hades' in Greek — because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God." At this point in time, all those who had died ... More
Good Friday puts us face to face with cross
On Good Friday we relive Jesus' suffering and death so we never forget God's unconditional love and desire for us to be saved. "He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6) We do not celebrate Mass on this day because it is a solemn day of prayer and mourning, which includes fasting and abstinence from meat. The Good Friday service includes ... More
