Bishop J. Mark Spalding was ordained and installed as bishop of the Diocese of Nashville on Feb. 2, 2018, and that was the first time that many people of the diocese were introduced to the much-loved pastor from Kentucky.

St. Katharine Drexel was an heiress who established a religious order, the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. She used her fortune to build schools and churches across the country to serve Native American and African-American communities.

The Diocese of Nashville will kick off the 2019 Bishop’s Annual Appeal for Ministries the weekend of Feb. 24, hoping to build on the 2018 campaign, the most successful ever.

You can follow Bishop J. Mark Spalding on Twitter, and “like” the Diocese of Nashville on Facebook, but you only get the full story by subscribing to the Tennessee Register newspaper.

Father Augustus Tolton, the first African-American priest ordained in the United States, was born into slavery and endured myriad obstacles, both inside the Catholic Church and out, as he relentlessly followed his call from God.

After more than 30 years with St. Mary Villa Child Development Center, executive director Clarie Givens has retired.

Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on Alabama’s death row for a crime he did not commit.