Bishop J. Mark Spalding, joined by several priests and deacons of the Diocese of Nashville, gathered on Monday, June 19, at St. Henry Church in Nashville, to lay to rest Msgr. Patrick Connor, who passed away on Tuesday, June 13. Bishop Spalding, along with the priests of the diocese, gather in the narthex of St. Henry as part of the commendation after the funeral Mass.
For the second year, the Thea Bowman Ministry, a collaboration between Christ the King Church and St. Vincent de Paul Church, both in Nashville, came together for a Juneteenth Celebration on Monday, June 19, at Christ the King. Juneteenth celebrates the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed enslaved African Americans in the Confederates states. The proclamation was issued on Jan. 1, 1863, but enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, did not learn of it until Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed them on June 19, 1865. African Americas have been celebrating on that date since 1866, and Congress voted in 2021 to make it a federal holiday. The event included live music, food, and fellowship. The Erik Blue Band, including, Dave Boisvert on saxophone, Manny Cole on bass guitar, Raquel Jackson on vocals, and Erik Blue on keyboards, provided the live music.
Pope Francis leads Benediction during a prayer service on New Year's Eve in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in this Dec. 31, 2019, file photo. The connection between the missionary call of every disciple and the gift of Jesus present in the Eucharist were at the center of the pope's message for World Mission Sunday, which will be celebrated Oct. 22. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)