A friend texted me after reading Archbishop Robert J. Carlson's message in the August-September issue of Catholic St. Louis magazine: "...was surprised to read that we are only the 40th largest archdiocese in the country. Would love to know the 39 that are larger.. Do you know where I could find such a list? "Could not find one on Google.)" Well, there isn't such a list. Not an accurate one, anyway. The website catholic-heiarchy.org lists one with 10-year-old data. But we don't need an online source. We have John Schwob, director of pastoral planning for the archdiocese.  John is our Read More

By the staff of St. Francis Community Services “What can we do to get along?” This question was asked to 76 children and teens at the beginning of last year’s summer camp at St. Francis Community Services – Midtown Center. Their answers often reflected the impact of growing up amid violence and conflict in city neighborhoods. There were a number of thoughtful responses. One of the children suggested we consider “forgiveness.” Staff asked if this meant we should give someone a chance to apologize before responding to a bump in line. Or if someone hits us or calls us names, Read More

As a reporter, I'm often faced with the task of making quick decisions. Covering this year's March for Life was probably one of the biggest stories that put my decision-making to the test. This year's march was scheduled on a Friday, January 22. In preparation, photographer Lisa Johnston and I arrived in Washington, D.C., a day ahead of the 2,200 teens from St. Louis who were part of the Generation Life pilgrimage. We had some leads on a few other stories with local and national ties, so we knew we'd be at work right away. After meeting up at the Read More