Northwest Catholic

01/12/2025

Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys is the NWC saint of the month. Learn her story:

Growing up in Troyes, France, Marguerite formed a special relationship with Mary. She was turned away by two religious communities, but met the founder of Montreal, Canada, when he returned to France to visit his sister. He invited Marguerite to open a school in the New World; she went, despite misgivings, after praying to Our Lady. From that first school in an abandoned stable, her ministry grew to include teaching women crafts and founding the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. She managed to keep her sisters uncloistered, despite opposition from the bishop, and served as superior for many years. When Pope John Paul II canonized her in 1982, she became Canada’s first female saint.
St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, pray for us!

01/10/2025

The Archdiocese of Seattle represented at !🙌

Participants at the Fellowship of Catholic University Students’ Jan. 1-5 SEEK25 conference in Salt Lake City overwhelmingly expressed hope for the future of the Catholic Church. Approximately 17,000 people joined FOCUS Catholic's main SEEK conference, with university students and young adults from the Catholic Newman Center at UW and Western Washington's Newman Center Viking Catholic.
Read about the conference here👉https://ow.ly/YUBN50UEA1c

01/10/2025

Catholic Charities USA — the official domestic relief agency of the Catholic Church in the U.S. and a member of Caritas Internationalis, the church’s global network of humanitarian organizations — is now accepting donations to its Los Angeles Wildfire Relief initiative, which can be accessed through the agency’s website, link in the story below.

As deadly wildfires ravage Los Angeles, Catholics are mobilizing to help those impacted.

01/08/2025

She now holds two groundbreaking titles: the oldest living woman and the oldest living person in the world, following the death of Japan’s Tomiko Itooka on Dec. 29.

The record broken by the sister was confirmed Jan. 4 by LongeviQuest, a nonprofit that documents the world’s oldest people.

Teresian Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas from Brazil has become the world’s oldest person, reaching 116 years and 210 days.

01/08/2025

A rosary and vigil for Father Jim Lee are scheduled this evening at St. Michael Church. The rosary begins at 6:15 p.m. and the vigil at 7 p.m.; both will be livestreamed here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Ya5iUTFhmvI

The funeral Mass for Father Jim Lee will be livestreamed tomorrow at noon at the link below.

01/08/2025

Father Oliver F. Duggan, recently retired pastor of Assumption Parish in Seattle, died Dec. 26, 2024, at Lake Heights Senior Care in Bellevue. He was 84.

Father Duggan enjoyed making an annual trip back to Ireland to visit family, while the Assumption community also became his family. His determination to serve the Church burned very strongly in him to the very end; few priests are pastors through age 83. Father Duggan’s Irish family is grateful for the Assumption community’s love, loyal friendship and care during his illness that began in July.

A vigil service will be at 6 p.m. Jan. 20 at Assumption Church in Seattle. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 21, also at Assumption Church. Interment will be Jan. 21 at St. Patrick Cemetery in Kent.

In Carlow, Ireland, a requiem Mass for Father Duggan will be celebrated Jan. 19 in the Cathedral of the Assumption.

Please read his obituary here: https://ow.ly/FluE50UBtcr

01/07/2025

She is one of two women Pope Francis appointed in early December to be members of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, the committee that oversees the implementation of the most recent synod and prepares the next assembly

Pope Francis has appointed Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla to be the first woman to lead a Vatican dicastery.

01/06/2025

The 70-year-old Cardinal McElroy — a San Francisco native who pursued degrees at Harvard and Stanford before his 1980 priestly ordination — was appointed as bishop of the San Diego Diocese in 2015. Pope Francis named him a cardinal in 2022. He is also a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life and Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego has been appointed the next archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington.

01/06/2025

And as the first native-born American saint, the 50th anniversary of Mother Seton’s canonization will be celebrated with a full year of spiritually immersive activities — beginning Jan. 4 with an EWTN-televised Mass celebrated by Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori — at the pilgrimage destination bearing her name.

As the first native-born American saint, the 50th anniversary of Mother Seton’s canonization will be celebrated with spiritually immersive activities.

01/04/2025

Father Jim Lee, longtime pastor of St. Michael Parish, died peacefully Dec. 22, 2024, at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, surrounded by his sister, niece and friends. He was 76.

After being diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) seven years ago, Father Lee’s “dedication to serve as a priest never waned,” said Father Gary Zender, the archdiocese’s Vicar for Clergy and one of Father Lee’s closest friends.

A rosary and vigil for Father Lee are scheduled Jan. 8 at St. Michael Church, 1055 Boundary St. S.E. The rosary begins at 6:15 p.m. and the vigil at 7 p.m. The church will remain open all night for prayer and vigil until 7 a.m.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at the church Jan. 9 at noon. (Doors will open at 11 a.m.) A reception will follow in the St. Michael School gymnasium.

Interment will be 11 a.m. Jan. 10 at Calvary Cemetery in Seattle.
Please read his obituary here: https://ow.ly/THMc50UzHZT

01/03/2025

“In assuring the entire community of his spiritual closeness, His Holiness commends the souls of those who have died to the loving mercy of almighty God and prays for the healing and consolation of the injured and bereaved,” said a telegram signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and issued on the pope’s behalf.

Pope Francis was “deeply saddened” to learn of deaths and injuries caused by the attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, which killed 15 people.

01/02/2025

Looking to purchase a cemetery plot? NWCatholic classifieds have posted, and we have Calvary, Holyrood and Gethsemane listings. Check them out. https://nwcatholic.org/classifieds

01/02/2025

Father Horacio V. Yanez died Dec. 14, 2024, at his home at New Haven Senior Living in Seattle. He was 77.

A vigil for Father Yanez will be at 5 p.m. Jan. 3, 2024, at St. Louise Church in Bellevue. A funeral Mass will celebrated at 10 a.m. Jan. 4 at St. James Cathedral in Seattle, followed by interment at 1 p.m. at Calvary Cemetery in Seattle.

Please read his obituary here: https://ow.ly/9axk50Uz38Y

01/02/2025

“May we learn to care for every child born of a woman, above all by protecting, like Mary, the precious gift of life: life in the womb, the lives of children, the lives of the suffering, the poor, the elderly, the lonely and the dying,” he said in his homily during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 1.

Marking the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and the start of the new year, Pope Francis renewed his call for a “firm commitment” to respect all human life.

01/01/2025

“At this time, we want to raise our thanksgiving to God because he has allowed us to work, to work so much, and especially because he has allowed us to do it with this great sense, with this broad horizon that is the hope of fraternity,” he said during an evening prayer service in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 31.

Pope Francis gave thanks for the work that went into the Holy Year 2025 preparation and prayed that it would be a year of peace, justice and fraternity.

01/01/2025

The bishops — Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, Yakima Bishop Joseph J. Tyson, Spokane Bishop Thomas A. Daly and Seattle Auxiliary Bishops Eusebio Elizondo and Frank Schuster — released a statement Dec. 29.

12/31/2024

2025 is a big year for the local Church in Western Washington! To commemorate its 175th anniversary in 2025, the Archdiocese of Seattle will host events and activities from January through May. This will include special Masses with the bishops, culminating in a Solemn Mass and celebration at St. James Cathedral on May 31.

Mark your calendars!👉 https://ow.ly/Eq9c50Uymco

12/31/2024

Marking the feast of the Holy Family Dec. 29, Pope Francis reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Luke in which the 12-year-old Jesus goes missing from his parents and is found in the temple of Jerusalem.