News - September 2025 RSS Feed

Nine middle and high school age parishioners of Storm Lake St. Mary Parish tried something new on Sept. 9 – attending 7 a.m. daily Mass as a group. After the Mass, they enjoyed donuts together in the parish center before heading off to their respective schools.

The Diocesan Ministries Conference held Sept. 22 at Kuemper High School and Holy Spirit Church in Carroll provided an opportunity for about 600 educators from all Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sioux City to come together for learning, prayer and networking. According to Patty Lansink, diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools, the theme of the conference was Embracing Innovation & Empowering Learners. She said the overall impression of the day was extremely positive. “We have gotten great feedback from teachers and administrators on the content,” said Lansink. “The Catholic Schools Office staff and Kuemper staff did a great job ensuring everything that day went smoothly. We were also grateful to Bishop Keehner for spending the day with us.”

The current director of the Catholic Mission Office in the diocese is making an effort to bring back participation in the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA), previously known as the Holy Childhood Association (HCA). Father Mark Stoll, J.C.L., director of the Catholic Mission Office for the diocese who has served in that position since 2021, pointed out that for many years student involvement in the missions was a tradition.

(Bilingual) National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the contributions of Americans tracing their roots to Spain, Mexico, Central America, South America and the Spanish-speaking nations of the Caribbean. In 1968, Congress set aside a week for this observance and two decades later expanded it to a month stretching from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. In the Diocese of Sioux City, the number of Hispanic parishioners continues to grow. Diocesan wide, 13% of Mass attendees participate in a Spanish Mass. There are pockets of great diversity such as the Cathedral Parish in Sioux City where 84.82% attend Spanish language Masses.

Bancroft native and diocesan seminarian Thomas Kollasch is preparing for his ordination to the transitional diaconate on Oct. 2 at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Studying at The Pontifical North American College (PNAC) in Rome, he is one of a class of 17 to be ordained as deacons next week.

Three Catholic schools in the Diocese of Sioux City will have increased access to mental and behavioral health care due to a three-year grant from the Wellmark Foundation totaling $232,500.

A little-used school courtyard is now home to a statue of St. John Bosco, new soil, plants and flowers thanks to the hard work of the Class of 2028 of Fort Dodge St. Edmond School and generous donors. Most notable is a life-sized bronze statue of St. John Bosco, blessed this week by Father Jake Rosenmeyer.

Mary's Choice pregnancy and family resource center based in Sioux City is hosting their annual Giving Hope fundraising banquet Oct. 14 at Country Celebrations in Sioux City.

Denison St Rose of Lima School now has a rosary hall, in the school.

Kuemper Catholic High School of Carroll captured the championship at the annual CYO volleyball tournament held recently in Le Mars. Sioux City Bishop Heelan High School finished second, followed by Remsen St. Mary High School, Le Mars Gehlen Catholic, Algona Bishop Garrigan and Fort Dodge St. Edmond.