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.

Anthony Vera, a seminarian of the Diocese of Sioux City, was one of 34 seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome to receive the Ministry of Lector. Archbishop John J. Kennedy, secretary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, conferred the Ministry of Lector on Jan. 12 in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception at PNAC.

(bilingual) Bishop Nickless writes about opportunities to reflect upon the sanctity of life with the Roe v. Wade anniversary Jan. 22 and the recent release of the U.S. bishops' Catholic Elements of Immigration Reform.

Mental health in our world, our country and even in the Diocese of Sioux City is a growing concern. Suicide rates are alarming. Is anyone immune from life and work stressors that can lead to mental health challenges?

Although his own children are grown, Jeff Zyzda mentioned he was “nudged by the Holy Spirit” to explore some type of altar server program that Mater Dei Parish in Sioux City could establish. “I grew up as an altar server at St. Francis, (a Sioux City parish that closed in the late 1990s),” said the member of the parish who is also a candidate for the permanent diaconate. “Like everyone, I enjoyed serving but I didn’t think that much about the impact.” It was about two years ago when Zyzda began to really ponder about what could be done to give altar servers a little more direction and support in their ministry.

The USCCB released a statement from the Department of Migration and Refugee Services Advocacy and Policy Office this week to articulate the Catholic elements of reform based on social teaching - Catholic elements of immigration reform.

Commentary by Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT Most of us could stand to have a little more joy in our lives. In fact, St. Thomas Aquinas said that man cannot live without joy. And if he does not find authentic joy, he will inevitably be drawn to carnal delights (pleasures of the flesh) and the innumerable addictions that derive from them. Pope St. John Paul II speaks of joy this way, “God made us for joy. God is joy, and the joy of living reflects the original joy that God felt in creating us.”

Iowa State University Women's Basketball program announced that Algona Bishop Garrigan graduate Audi Crooks reached 1,000 career points in her 49th career game - the fastest of any ISU women's basketball player to reach this milestone.

Storm Lake St. Mary High School named the 2025 Athletic Hall of Fame athletes that will be inducted at the Jan. 17 homecoming game, including the 1935-36 boys' basketball team. In addition to their athletic victories, 10 of the 12 members served in the military during WWII. Other inductees will include Tim White, Class of 1987 and former boys' basketball coach, Brad Wilkening.

Auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Dallas, Most Reverend J. Gregory Kelly was named Bishop of Tyler on Dec. 20.

(bilingual) Merry Christmas! Christmas begins this evening with vigil Masses held in parishes throughout our diocese. We are filled with hope at the news of our Savior, born of a virgin in humble surroundings. Today is also the first day of the Jubilee Year 2025 – ending Dec. 23, 2025. The Holy Father will open the holy door at St. Peter’s Basilica at 7 p.m. local time (noon for northwest Iowans) on Christmas Eve.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB offered a statement on the president's commutations of federal death row sentences.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called on Catholics to focus their Holy Year 2025 pilgrimages on Jesus Christ, who is both the path and destination for Christian hope. At his general audience Dec. 18, the pope began a new series of talks on "Jesus Christ our hope," which he announced will the theme for his weekly catechesis throughout the Jubilee Year, which is set to begin with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica Dec. 24. Jesus, "is the destination of our pilgrimage, and he himself is the way, the path to be traveled," he said in the Vatican audience hall.

A new video series produced by the Knights of Columbus proclaims the truth and beauty of the Catholic vision of marriage and family life in the modern world. The Into the Breach: Mission of the Family video series is to help people of all ages strengthen and grow in their faith as a family.

A papal Missionary of Mercy brought storytelling and humor to the Advent parish mission – “60 Minutes for Jesus” - held at St. Mary Church in Remsen Dec. 15 to 17 as he presented talks each night for parishioners of Remsen and Marcus. Father Jim Sichko, a native of Texas and priest of the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, each night of the mission featured a 60-minute talk focused on the general themes of kindness, trust and leadership.

(bilingual) We have an opportunity with our good works to make an impact upon the communities in the Diocese of Sioux City every Christmas with our annual Catholic Charities Christmas Eve and Christmas Day special collection at each parish. Tenemos la oportunidad con nuestras buenas obras para hacer un impacto en las comunidades en la Diócesis de Sioux City cada Navidad con nuestra colección especial anual de Caridades Católicas de Nochebuena y día de Navidad en cada parroquia.