As we celebrate Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week July 21-27, Catholic Times is highlighting the physical, spiritual, and psychological benefits of NFP, the health risks associated with birth control, and the reasons why the Catholic Church promotes NFP. So, what is NFP? The United States Council of Catholic Bishops writes that NFP is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid pregnancies. These methods are based on observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Couples using NFP to avoid pregnancy abstain from intercourse during… Read More

10 reasons why NFP beats birth control Natural Family Planning (NFP) refers to the scientific, fertility-awareness based methods of — you guessed it — family planning. Unlike artificial contraception, NFP takes an all-inclusive approach and is proven to work better than its synthetic counterparts. Read More

On July 21, Chris Malmevik, the director of the Office for Catechesis, will observe her 25th anniversary at the Springfield Catholic Pastoral Center. The very next day she will begin her retirement, bidding farewell to friends in the Springfield office and in parishes throughout the diocese. Although her titles have changed over the years, Malmevik, who is a member of St. Joseph Parish in Springfield, says she always has been responsible for faith formation and catechesis and all that they involve. It is something she understands well. Read More

Beatification to take place in Peoria PEORIA ― A little more than a week after the mortal remains of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen were transferred from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria, on July 6, Pope Francis formally approved a miracle attributable to Archbishop Sheen’s intercession, paving the way for Archbishop Sheen’s Beatification, which will grant him the new title of “Blessed.” Read More

ALTON — The Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George will celebrate the first profession of a novice and the reception into the novitiate of three postulants during holy Mass at 10 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 2. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will be the main celebrant of the Mass, held at St. Mary Church in Alton. He will be joined by several bishops and local and visiting priests. Read More

Collinsville — The ladies of Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Collinsville invite you to Women’s Day 2019: “Prove it, God! And he did.” The event will be held Saturday, Aug. 10 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the parish fellowship hall, 207 Vandalia in Collinsville. Nationally known speaker Patty Schneier will be on hand to describe her journey of discovery, repentance and renewal. The presentation will be enlivened by the strong sense of God’s presence, the power of his Word, and the amazing way he worked to bring a “cafeteria Catholic” to conversion. Through song, Scripture, and journal writing,… Read More

Official appointments from the Office of the Bishop Read More

My name is Kevin, and I am a perfectionist. Some will read this and wonder why I seem to be boasting. Many people think that being a perfectionist is a good thing. Read More

The second phase of discernment is to live constantly in God. The special ability that enables us to easily recognize and respond to the divine movements of God is the development within our interior of a spiritual sense. This spiritual sense is almost nonexistent at the beginning of our life; however, a person can refine this sense with experience by resolutely and faithfully following the path of Jesus Christ. This grace-filled gift allows us to recognize the unmistakable voice of Jesus. It is a loving instinct that permits us to distinguish the voice of the Spouse more easily in concert… Read More

This is an often difficult and confusing moral question. The church teaches that the sexual act is expressed in accord with the intention of our Creator when it is open to the transmission of life between a man and woman united in marriage. Therefore, using chemical or physical “barriers” to interrupt one of the intended purposes of human sexuality, that of the transmission of human life (the other being the expression of love through physical unity between spouses), we change the meaning of the act of sexual intercourse, whether we know it or not. Read More

Bishop Paprocki's public schedule for the weeks of July 21 and 28. Read More

Daily events occuring throughout the Diocese Read More