By John Stegeman When Miley Azbill, 17, took the stage Nov. 23 in front of 3,000 young Catholics, she wasn’t nervous. Dressed in a “Serve like Teresa” sweatshirt, sweatpants, a knee brace and carrying a borrowed guitar, the teen wowed the crowd with her original song, “Revealed,” winning NCYC’s Top …

By John Stegeman For almost 20 years Cincinnati’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish (IHM) has partnered with the Cultural Center Batahola Norte in Managua, Nicaragua, but that support took on new importance in April of 2018. Police and paramilitary groups violently suppressed a series of political protests, and the resulting …

By John Stegeman The grieving process after the death of a child is unique for everyone. For Catholics, the funeral and burial are important steps, but it doesn’t stop there. The need for ongoing opportunities to heal is why Gate of Heaven Cemetery hosts an annual Candlelight Service for Deceased …

Story by John Stegeman • photos by Jeff Unroe Early on Aug. 4, a gunman killed nine people and wounded 30 other. Responding immediately, police shot and killed the shooter in Dayton’s Oregon Historic District. In the days before the shooting, however, it was a very different scene. Music drifted …

By John Stegeman In a different age, members of the Salesian Guild of Greater Cincinnati would call out writers or reporters who published incorrect information about the faith, sometimes with public refutations. These days the Salesian Guild is more cordial, with its whole mission wrapped up in annual event that …

What’s the difference between a frozen dinner and a millennial? The frozen dinner needs a couple minutes to be ready. Millennials are ready now. That’s what we tell our elders right? We say we’re ready for more responsibility at work, more money, more stuff to do. We go on about …

Millennials at Mass aren’t aren’t extinct, but they seem to be an endangered species. A recent Pew Research Center study noted that in 2014, just 16 percent of millennial Americans identified themselves as Catholic. The same study noted 35 percent of millennials identified themselves as “nones,” a term meaning they …

When you ask why millennials aren’t attending church on a regular basis, you get a variety of answers. Because of the music, or the sermons, or because we have the attention span of a gnat, some say. Because an hour for God is just too much, after all we’ve gotta …

By all rights, I didn’t deserve a Catholic education. Catholic education is a privilege and it requires commitment from school, parents and student to succeed. My parents and the school of my youth did their part, but it took years until I began to do mine. I’m a Catholic school …

As a young child, my older sister and I would battle for the right to blow out the Advent candles after our pre-dinner prayers. Mom and dad would handle the lighting, but the kids got to blow it out. If It wasn’t our turn, we’d fight until mom and dad …