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Nearly 100 diocesan Catholic school students participated in the third annual Diocesan Religion Bee held at St. Edmond Catholic School in Fort Dodge. Fifteen teams from Catholic Schools throughout the Diocese of Sioux City participated in the competition. This year, Sacred Heart School in Boone’s Team 1, took home the win. The school is led by Principal Sue Eldridge and that team was guided by Mary Beth Niday, 6-8 grade teacher.

At least 25 priests in the Diocese of Sioux City have a woman praying a holy hour for them every day. Fifteen years ago, the Seven Sisters Apostolate was launched in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Archdiocese and the movement came to the Diocese of Sioux City around 2018. “We all need to pray for our priests and bishop and this has been a wonderful vehicle to promote that prayer opportunity,” stressed Mary Stevens of Sioux City, diocesan contact for the apostolate. “My goal is for each of our priests to have that kind of prayer support.”

An ongoing partnership between the diocesan Office of Faith Formation and the Abounding Joy Ministry is providing another faith-based opportunity to help with healing for separated and divorced individuals.

In this Canon Corner column, Father Davis Esquiliano points out Good Shepherd Sunday 2026 is also World Day of Prayer for Vocations. However, we can go beyond one day for this important prayer intention.

Not long after opening the new Angeline’s Wing for Children and Families, Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Sioux City hired a new therapist who happens to be a religious sister. Sister Gianna Casino, a sister of the Leaven of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (LIHM), started at Catholic Charities on April 1. “It’s been very fruitful. I have found that it’s a deeply compassionate organization committed to serving those most in need with dignity and care,” she said. “I’ve found Catholic Charities to be very mission driven.”

Sioux City Tolerance Alliance sponsored classroom visits by Violins of Hope, a global project built on a private collection of violins connected to Jewish musicians who lived during World War II and the Holocaust. Holy Cross School in Sioux City was one of the area schools to host the Violins of Hope program. A free concert was held April 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City.

In conjunction with the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the USCCB’s Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations released the Ordination Class of 2026 Study conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. According to this survey, four in five ordinands reported regular participation in Eucharistic adoration before entering the seminary. Deacon Thomas Kollasch of the Diocese of Sioux City will be ordained a priest on June 27, 2026.

At Cathedral Parish in Sioux City, the number of weddings has increased to the point where the parish had to rethink the schedule. Father David Esquiliano, pastor, said when he began his assignment in July 2019, the parish had numerous Saturday afternoons on the calendar. After COVID, things really got busy.

Board members of the FIRE Foundation of Northwest Iowa are taking their message of inclusive education on the road. Realizing the growing need to help Catholic schools be more inclusive, they plan to host events around the diocese to share their mission and their impact in the coming months.

Bishop John E. Keehner announced the appointments of seven priests and the retirement of two priests.

For the second year, students from St. Edmond Catholic School in Fort Dodge were among the volunteers assisting as the winter and spring competitions for the North Central Iowa Special Olympics.

The Jubilee of Clergy Ordinations will be held on May 4 at St. Mary’s Church in Storm Lake. Bishop Emeritus Walker Nickless will be the principal celebrant of the concelebrated Mass as Bishop John E. Keehner recovers from surgery.