BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC Thirty-five years after giving The Western Kentucky Catholic its name in 1985, Robert “Bob” Devine has kept up with the diocesan newspaper, and says “it’s really been good.”

Though the Diocese of Owensboro was established by a decree of Pope Pius XI in 1937, it was not until 1985 that a diocesan newspaper was created.

In January 1985, the Diocese of Owensboro published the inaugural issue of the newspaper you are reading right now. While a newsletter had been printed since 1974, founding editor, Mel Howard, and Bishop John J. McRaith, determined that the diocese needed to take the next step and have its own newspaper. On page 2 of…

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC When Bishop William F. Medley was in Rome for his ad limina Apostolorum visit from Dec. 1-8, his favorite part was getting to be in the presence of Pope Francis – the successor of St. Peter.

BY WKC STAFF Referencing Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on young people, “Christus Vivit,” the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, proclaimed that young people “are the now of the Church.”

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC Pope Francis has spoken frequently on the necessity of Christians to have joy, and two priests from the Diocese of Owensboro are joyfully accepting new roles to promote a greater awareness of vocations.

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC As a teenager taking Latin classes for fun at Owensboro Catholic High School in the 1980s, Christopher Graney did not expect to one day become a member of the Vatican’s own astronomical institute.

BY WKC STAFF On Saturday, Oct. 26, around 80 middle school youth and adults from the Diocese of Owensboro joined 1,600 middle school youth and adults from surrounding dioceses for Holy Fire Nashville 2019.

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC On the windy but sunny morning of Nov. 4, 2019, several figures could be seen carefully carrying boxes from the archives office of the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph, into a truck parked outside.

Canon law (the law of the Roman Catholic Church) requires that every five years a diocesan bishop is bound to make a written report to the Holy Father on the state of the diocese entrusted to him. Canon 400 stipulates that the bishop is to go to Rome to present this report and while there…

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC Editor’s note: The following is the first in a two-part series about the diocese’s Office of Worship and Office of Music, which assist the bishop in coordinating and overseeing diocesan liturgies and other functions. For this first installment, we spoke with Lauren Johnson, who with Fr. Brandon…

In our Catholic tradition we observe the month of November as a special time of remembrance and prayer for the dead.

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC From Oct. 3-12, 2019, 12 students and three teachers from Trinity High School in Whitesville traveled to Spain and Portugal as part of the school’s Traveling Classroom program, which takes a select number of students to countries outside of the United States every other fall break. The…

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC On Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, women religious from around the Diocese of Owensboro gathered with Bishop William F. Medley at St. Martin Parish in Rome to honor several of their own who were celebrating jubilees of religious life. Those honored that day were Sr. Cecelia Joseph Olinger,…

Diocese makes history with its first ordination of primarily Spanish-speaking deacons BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC Several years ago, Bishop William F. Medley received what he called a “daring request” – to ordain to the permanent diaconate a group of men exclusively from the Hispanic community.

BY WKC STAFF Every other year, all of the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Owensboro gather at Owensboro Sportscenter to have Mass with Bishop William F. Medley.

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC According to Msgr. Scott Friend, vocations director for the Diocese of Little Rock, Ark., fundamental to fostering vocations in any diocese is that “all of us have to believe.”

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC Fr. Aloysius Francis Powers, a priest of the Diocese of Owensboro, passed away on Sept. 4, 2019 at age 98. He was born in Daviess County on Jan. 4, 1921 to the late Joseph H. Powers, Sr., and Teresa M. McCarthy Powers.

October is observed as “Respect Life Month” in the Catholic Church in the United States.