1844 Visiting priests celebrated Masses for Irish immigrants on the porch of Jacob Klein’s home in Xenia. 1849 Parish created and named for St. Michael the Archangel. Its first pastor was Father James Kearney. 1851 Irish priest Father Thomas Blake appointed as first resident pastor. He began construction of a …

By Jonah McKeown CNA Staff, May 11, 2024 / 06:00 am A rural Oklahoma parish hit this week by a powerful tornado suffered serious damage, especially to its parish hall. But amid the rubble, broken glass, and winds possibly as high as 175 mph, the church’s tabernacle containing the body of …

The Our Lady of Fatima statue at the south end of Logan County’s Indian Lake was a longtime staple in that community, but it was blown away by an EF-3 tornado on March 14, 2024. At 19-feet-6-inches-tall, the fiberglass statue stood on a concrete pedestal as part of the 43-feet …

Just as the workday was winding down on April 3, 1974, an F-5 tornado that was part of what would later be called a super outbreak, touched ground 10 minutes southwest of Xenia. Ten minutes later on that fateful day 40 years ago, the storm charged into the city of …

By Shannon Mullen Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 26, 2023 / 07:20 am Pope Francis on Sunday offered prayers for the victims of a deadly tornado that struck parts of Mississippi and Alabama Friday night. Cutting a swath of ruin across the impoverished Mississippi Delta, the twister killed at least 26 people …

by Kevin J. Jones Owensboro, Ky., Dec 13, 2021 / 19:01 pm The deadly storms that hit nine states in the Midwest and the South produced an image of a statue of the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, seemingly untouched outside the damaged building of Resurrection Catholic Church. Tina Casey, …

  by John Stegeman Catholic News Service DAYTON, Ohio (CNS) — Although Queen of Martyrs Catholic Church in Dayton sustained significant damage from the May 27 tornadoes that swept through the southwestern region of the state, a statue of Mary on the property remained standing next to the ruined bell …

by Mary Farrow Denver Newsroom, Apr 25, 2020 / 04:00 am MT (CNA).- On May 4, the parish community of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Madill, Oklahoma would have celebrated the first anniversary of their new church building. But on April 22, an EF2 tornado pummeled the small-town church, blowing …

by Christine Rousselle Washington D.C., Apr 14, 2020 / 09:31 am (CNA).- The bishops of the United States have offered their prayers in solidarity with the victims of extreme weather over the Easter weekend. At least 30 people were killed due to severe weather across the southern U.S. April 12 …

By Christine Rousselle Nashville, Tenn., Mar 3, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- An historic Catholic church in the Nashville neighborhood of Germantown was among several buildings seriously damaged by a tornado Tuesday night. The tornado’s main path struck about 100 yards away from the Church of the Assumption in the …