ORLANDO | Adrian and Mary Ann Zaccardi are not used to asking for help. After an unfortunate series of events, the elderly couple turned to Catholic Charities of Central Florida and the team came to their rescue.
It started in …
Donations provide beds for recovering homeless
CASSELBERRY | The care and compassion of parishioners from Nativity Parish in Longwood facilitated the purchase of 34 hospital beds for Pathways to Care, a non-profit assisted living facility for homeless persons recovering after illness or surgery.
Members of the …
Compassion fuels volunteers who serve callers
ORLANDO | The St. Gabriel Call Center at Catholic Charities of Central Florida receives approximately 150 calls for assistance per day for family stability program support. There is not enough time to answer all of them, but two volunteers try …
For one council member, to work is to pray
ORLANDO | Her motto, frequently spoken to inspire others is “to work is to pray.” For 64 years, Rita Billingsley, a parishioner of Ascension Parish in Melbourne, has worked and prayed tirelessly for and with women, priests and bishops of …
Seminarians learn to be healers of the heart
The family that prays together, stays together
VIERA | The family that prays together, stays together. The phrase was coined by Venerable Father Patrick Peyton, the Holy Cross priest who created The Family Theater Productions in 1947. Healed from tuberculosis after asking the Virgin Mary for that …
Assignment teaches seminarian how to be a priest
Part two of a three part series. Read part one.
ORLANDO | Imagine being invited to dinner and offered a smorgasbord of delicacies to tantalize your palate. That’s how seminarian Josué Reyes Díaz describes his summer assignment at …
Immersion project offers hands-on look at serving the needy
Part one of a three-part series.
ORLANDO | Every summer seminarians for the Diocese of Orlando receive different assignments based on their stage of formation. Over the next several weeks, Florida Catholic will follow different seminarians as they share their …
Refugee student receives scholarship
ORLANDO | By age 14, the Colombian guerillas threatened Gerardine H.’s family. Her father and brother received death threats. After a tumultuous year, living with relatives and trying to plan for their safety, her parents moved the family to Ecuador …
Military chaplains share ministry of presence
ORLANDO | The moniker of “Soldiers of Christ” is sometimes used for priests. It is especially fitting for priests who bring Christ to soldiers.
According to a report offered by the Orange County (Calif.) Catholic, fewer than 200 active-duty Catholic …