FCC News Desk As three airliners smashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, and Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, Joaquín Navarro-Valls, at the time the director of the Vatican press office, delivered the news to Pope John Paul II. "I remember that terrible afternoon as if it were yesterday. I called the Pope, who was at Castel Gandolfo, I gave him the news. He was shocked not only by the tragedy itself, but also because he could not explain how man could achieve this abyss of evil..." he recalled in a 2011 ...

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Pope, John, Paul, 9/11

By Ryan Blessing Saint Joseph School in North Grosvenordale celebrated a "grand" day on Sunday, September 8, by commemorating National Grandparents Day and celebrating the dedication of its new Bishop Vincent Hines Learning Center. The school celebrated all "Grandparents and Grand Friends" at its breakfast fundraiser to start the 2019-20 school year. Putnam restaurant Jessica Tuesday's and the Chrzanowski family sponsored the breakfast in memory of Ronald Chrzanowski, who passed away last year and who was the grandfather of several st...

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Saint, Joseph, Spirol, Hines

By Ryan Blessing Teachers both past and present within the diocese were honored Sunday, September 8, with a special Mass for Educators at the Cathedral of St. Patrick in Norwich. The 24th annual educators' Mass, celebrated by the Most Reverend Michael R. Cote, Bishop of Norwich, also marked an observance of the 18th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. "Let us rededicate ourselves to our mission as parents, teachers, administrators and support staff in education, confirming and strengthening each other's efforts in o...

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Mass, Education, schools

Students across the Diocese returned to school last week. Teachers and parents were there to document the first day with their cameras, and they shared their photos. The September issue of the Four County Catholic will have a section featuring photos of students from the Diocese schools on their first day back.   To see a gallery of Back to School photos, click here or on the photo to the right.   

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Norwich

FCC News Desk Pope Francis arrived in Maputo, Mozambique on Wednesday, kicking off a Sept. 4-10 trip to sub-Saharan Africa. The pope was greeted by government officials at a welcoming ceremony, with singing crowds lining the streets. On the nearly 11-hour flight to Africa, Pope Francis offered prayers for victims of Hurricane Dorian, which tore through the Bahamas this week, causing widespread devastation. He encouraged people to pray “for the victims of the hurricanes in the Bahamas, poor people who in one day lost their homes, lost everything and lost their...

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NDCCW Award Scholarships to Mercy Freshmen Two incoming Mercy High School freshmen were each presented a scholarship by the Norwich Diocesan Council of Catholic Women(NDCCW).  Marian Hall of St. Bridget of Kildare Parish in Moodus and Isabella Baldassini of St. Mary Częstochowa Parish in Middletown submitted applications in the spring.  The $500 scholarships are awarded to eighth grade girls who will be attending a Catholic high school in the fall. Isabella, the daughter of Paul Baldassini and Susanne Lee-Baldassini, graduated from St. John Paul II School...

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Sister Mary Rita Clare Hoffner, 91, a Sister of Mercy, died on August 17, 2019 at St. Mary Home in West Hartford after a brief illness. Born of the late William and Olivine (Gardner) Hoffner in Manchester, CT she was also raised there. After graduating high school, Rita became a Sister of Mercy on December 28, 1946 and pronounced her vows on June 28, 1949 taking the religious name, Sister Mary Rita Clare. She began teaching primary grades in parish schools within the Hartford Archdiocese, earning a B.S. degree in education, studying on a part time basis. She continued to...

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Students around the diocese returned to school starting August 27th, when St. Bernard School in Uncasville opened its doors for a new year of classes. Then on Wednesday, August 28th, more than 1400 students in the 11 Catholic elementary schools throughout the diocese began the new academic year. The Academy of the Holy Family resumes classes on August 29th, with Mercy and Xavier schools doing so on Sept. 3. Teachers and staff greeted students with enthusiastic smiles, ready to embark on another fun year of learning. Henry Fiore Jr., who heads up ...

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Andrea Hoisl I saw this prayer while visiting the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. The prayer directly spoke to me because it addressed healing for everyone in the Church – the victims, those who love them and everyone who is “broken” from these unfortunate events.  It became crystal clear to me that all of us who are faithful believers are also “broken.”  We need wisdom and grace from God to heal and become whole again. For it is only in our healing that we can see the fut...

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healing, Prayer

FCC News Desk At the Angelus on Sunday, August 25, Pope Francis noted the universal concern for the “vast fires” that are raging throughout the Amazon region. The Holy Father prayed that, “with the commitment of all,” the fires “might be contained as soon as possible.” “That forest lung is vital for our planet,” the Pope said. In a statement released on August 22, the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM) expressed their deep concern for destructive fires burning the world’s forests. Th...

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