A weekend is a long time to go without food. It’s hard to come back to school on a Monday, ready to learn, when there has been not quite enough food to go around for a family for two and a half days. When a long-time Backpack Buddies program ended in Fort Dodge at the start of the 2024-25 school year, the precarious balance of food insecurity tipped in the wrong direction for many area families. St. Edmond students went to work to help feed their classmates.

Lumen Message Column by Dawn Prosser: Amongst other February comemmorations, such as feast of the Presentation and throat blessings on Feb. 3, we as a nation celebrate Black History Month. The National Black Catholic Congress commemorates Venerable Father Augustus Tolton and six other Black Catholic holy men and women on the journey towards canonization.

An estate gift worth $3.8 million has led Gehlen Catholic leaders to research and prioritize plans to prosper the school for future generations. In 2023, Paul Brauch left over 250 acres to Gehlen Catholic School and All Saints Parish in his estate. Brauch was known as a quiet man, who was deeply rooted in his Catholic faith. He loved God and his country, and was said to talk about how important it was for this generation to help the next. “A gift of this magnitude provides a real legacy on behalf of the donor to assure the ability of the parish and school continue to provide for the practice of and growth in the faith,” said Father Doug Klein, priest president of Gehlen Catholic School.

Catholic composer, singer and national speaker Steve Angrisano will serve as keynote speaker for the April 5 Annual Men’s Conference held in Le Mars at St. Joseph Church, All Saints Parish. The conference is co-sponsored by the All Saints Men’s Ministry as well as the Diocese of Sioux City.

As pastoral planning continues to move forward in the Diocese of Sioux City, more parish groupings are working toward a canonical merger of parishes. Among the groups presently undertaking that step is the one led by pastor Father Paul Kelly. The parish grouping consists of Holy Family Parish in Emmetsburg with church building Ruthven Sacred Heart, St. Patrick Parish in Estherville with church building Armstrong St. Mary and Immaculate Conception Parish in Graettinger.

Youth of the Diocese of Sioux City in 6th to 12th grades are invited Into the Garden this Lent. Into the Garden is a Lenten retreat to be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on April 6 at Sacred Heart Church in Sioux City. According Danielle Fennessy, a faith formation coordinator for the diocese and a member of the team organizing this retreat, the event will be led by Steve Angrisano. He is singer, songwriter and storyteller – who has been described as one of the most effective and versatile ministry leaders in the Catholic Church today and one of the most recognized faces in Catholic youth ministry.

Father Lingle recounts how the Jan. 26 Sunday Masses proceeded safely during a lengthy standoff two blocks from the church: As the 9 a.m. Mass began I could see the arrival of a lot of law enforcement officers at the scene and from my place in the sanctuary I had a pretty good view of what was happening.

Fifteen students from Sacred Heart School in Spencer recently learned some new life skills while having fun in an after-school program called Adventures with Kay, offered by the school’s food service director. For the month of January, Kay Rose held classes on Thursdays for students in fourth to sixth grade to dabble in cooking and learn other skills.

A ministry at Ascension Parish in Boone County has been spreading comfort and warmth one shawl at a time for the last 20 years. The prayer shawl ministry was established in 2005 in what at the time was Sacred Heart Parish of Boone. The idea of starting the ministry in the parish came from Beth Judge after a close friend’s mother received a shawl while battling cancer.

As of Jan. 11, there are three Catholic radio station towers serving the faithful in the Diocese of Sioux City. Iowa Catholic Radio Network launched KCSL 89.9 FM, licensed in Spencer. Trinity Catholic Radio 103.1 FM covers the Carroll area and Siouxland Catholic Radio has towers in Ponca, Nebraska and Storm Lake, covering a 50-mile radius from each site. The new KCSL 89.9 FM will cover communities in the diocese including Arnolds Park, Emmetsburg, Estherville, Graettinger, Hartley, Lake Park, Laurens, Milford, Okoboji, Paullina, Primghar, Sanborn, Spencer and Spirit Lake. The signal will also reach Jackson and Worthington, Minnesota in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement on its long-time partnership with the federal government to serve refugees.

(bilingual) I write to assure the people of our Diocese in Northwest Iowa of my concern for all of you, but especially at this time, our immigrant brothers and sisters. Escribo para asegurar a la gente de nuestra Diócesis en el noroeste de Iowa mi preocupación por todos ustedes, pero especialmente en este momento, a nuestros hermanos y hermanas inmigrantes.

Our Lady of the Plains Parish is just in its infancy, erected as of July 1, 2024, by a decree merging St. Francis of Assisi in Rockwell City, St. Thomas Parish in Manson and St. Mary Parish in Lake City. There are 536 families registered in Our Lady of the Plains, covering all of Calhoun County and a corner of Southern Sac County. Along with providing for the sacramental needs of his parishioners, Father Brian Feller, pastor, recognized a need to effectively communicate with his flock that is not centered in one community. He has created a parish communications task force as of January with staff and volunteers.

In response to this week’s Executive Orders signed by President Trump, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offered a statement Jan. 22. Shortly after that release, Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, chair of the Committee on Migration offered a statement, stating that the executive actions will subject vulnerable families and children to grave danger. Bishop Seitz released a second statement Jan. 23, stating that human dignity is not dependent upon a person's citizenship or immigration status.

When Miranda Knobloch kicked off Divine Mercy’s new Meals for Moms ministry in the summer of 2024, she just wanted to give new moms a night off from kitchen duty. She didn’t expect that it would also be a ministry of socialization, bringing together members of what is still a relatively newly-combined parish family from many historic churches and helping them get to know one another just a little bit better.

Catholic schools throughout the Diocese of Sioux City are joining with schools throughout the nation to celebrate Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 26 to Feb. 1. Listed here are just a few activities planned for schools within the Diocese of Sioux City. Most schools incorporate a mixture of prayer, service and ​recreational activities ​to mark the week. Bishop Walker Nickless will visit several schools as well.

(bilingual) Bishop Walker Nickless explains the 2025 Jubilee Year, Pilgrims of Hope, will officially open Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. at the Sioux City Cathedral of the Epiphany with a Mass in English. Diocesan pilgrimage sites will be the Cathedral, Trinity Heights Queen of Peace Shrine in Sioux City, Grotto of the Redemption Shrine in West Bend and St. Joseph Church in Milford.

Although no longer required by church law, in recent years, women veiling for Mass has become more commonplace in the Diocese of Sioux City. Small numbers of women throughout the diocese are returning to the tradition of covering their heads for Mass, often younger women who are drawn to traditional practices.

Leadership from Holy Name Parish in Rock Rapids and St. Mary Parish in Larchwood and Father Sunny Dominic, pastor, have been meeting for several months in preparation for a proposed parish merger as of July 1, 2025. Due to the continued reduction in registered Catholics, participation in the sacraments and the number of priests, diocesan parish groupings are being restructured to accommodate these changes. Deacon Mark Prosser, director of pastoral planning and Bishop Walker Nickless’s chief of staff, asked Father Dominic to work with his leadership to canonically merge the Larchwood and Rock Rapids parishes with parish records and administration centered in Larchwood.

The latest in pastoral planning/church status - Sanborn St. Cecilia Church will be reduced to profane but not sordid use. Bishop's appeals regarding petitions against merger decrees in Marcus and Pomeroy were both overturned.