St. Timothy Awards are presented every spring and summer to deserving youth by parishes and schools of the Diocese of Rockford. This national recognition is given by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, this year in collaboration with the diocesan Catholic Education Office. It is the highest recognition from the NFCYM to a teenager […]

ROCKFORD—This year, 2026, is a big year for the United States of America, marking the 250th anniversary of its independence. And all people are invited to share in the celebration. Since there were many historical events that led to and followed our Declaration of Independence, not all celebrations will happen on July 4, and Sharing […]

DIOCESE—There are currently openings on the Diocesan Pastoral Council (DPC) for a lay representative from the deaneries of DeKalb, Elgin, Freeport, Rockford and Sterling and also three lay openings to represent young adult Catholics (single or married people in their late teens, twenties or thirties). The deanery boundaries may be identified by consulting the diocesan map […]

ROCKFORD—Janet Jensen has a long title: Safe Environment Coordinator and Hiring/Human Resources and Compliance Specialist. She comes to the Diocese of Rockford with lots of experience: 37 years of human resource management experience and more than 20 years of compliance work, mostly in for-profit companies and most recently in a skilled nursing care setting. She […]

ROCKFORD—Three men were ordained to the diocesan priesthood in front of a packed-full Cathedral of St. Peter on Saturday, June 6. The diocese now faces a three year “drought” before its next priesthood ordination in 2030. But on a new, positive note, the diocesan vocations office has received over 780 responses from parishioners across the […]

FREEPORT—After receiving a petition from Freeport area pastors, scores of impassioned letters and a final recommendation from a special task force charged with examining demographics, enrollment and financial status, Bishop David Malloy accepted the final recommendation to close Aquin Catholic Academy. School staff were informed of the decision on May 22 and will be assisted […]

ROCKFORD—Several different ethnic groups joined together for Pentecost Mass on May 24 at St. James Church here. The multicultural celebration included parishioners from Burma, Tanzania, Mexico, India, Ukraine and Poland who presented parts of the Mass in their native languages. The multicultural Masses are held five times a year on the Church feast days of […]

Priests from three religious orders new to the Rockford Diocese have been assigned with permission from their religious superiors, to work and serve here. Heralds of the Good News Fathers Peddineni Arogyaswamy and Maddala Jayanthi Babu, who will be serving at St. Michael Parish and St. Mary in Galena and Holy Trinity in Scales Mound, […]

HANOVER—St. John the Evangelist parishioners joined Bishop David Malloy, pastor Father Joachim Tyrtania, native son Congregation of Holy Cross Father Stephen Wilbricht, and retired Father Howard Barch and Canon Stanislaw Kos to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Hanover parish. As he began the Mass, Bishop Malloy noted “three privileges” of the day beginning with […]

By FATHER JACK REICHARDT, Director of Vocations Office The Observer staff, The Observer As we at The Observer attend ordinations, parish missions and Masses at parishes hosting seminarians, we hear a variety of questions from supportive family members and parishioners. “How did you know you wanted to be a priest? How many years will you […]