The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be coming to the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois next month. It will travel around the diocese from Tuesday, April 10 through Monday, April 30, said Emma Brandon of Springfield, who helped secure the statue's presence.

Madison County Catholic Charities will hold its 12th annual benefit starting with a 6 p.m. cocktail hour, on Saturday, April 14 at Julia's Banquet Hall in East Alton. This year's event will once again benefit the Catholic Charities MedAssist Program which provides critical medication for severe health conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

The diocesan Office for Social Concerns is supporting Life Advocacy Days, the Catholic Conference of Illinois' (CCI) legislative agenda, for the 2012 spring legislative session.

CARLINVILLE — Attendance at the Diocesan Youth Conference earlier this month in Carlinville was down a little from last year, but organizers are pleased with feedback they are getting from participants and their parents.

LITCHFIELD — One of two quilts created as part of Hospital Sisters Health System's (HSHS) "Threads of Our Community" project is now on display at St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield. Facilitated by Sister Monica Laws, OSF, vice president, Mission Integration, the quilt project celebrates the diversity of faiths and cultures among hospital patients, families, colleagues and health care professionals. St. Francis Hospital is one of 13 hospitals operated by Hospital Sisters Health System in Illinois and Wisconsin.

ALTON — Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will address the regional Catholic Men's Prayer Breakfast (CMPB) on Saturday, March 24 at St. Mary's (Immaculate Conception) Church. The morning begins with Mass at 8 a.m. followed by a breakfast and Bishop Paprocki's presentation. The program runs until 11 a.m.

Bishop Paprocki welcomes elect, candidates to journey through Lent to Easter Vigil

As is the norm the first weekend of Lent, catechumens and candidates attended the Rite of Election of Catechumens and of the Call to Continuing Conversion of Baptized Candidates at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26.

QUINCY — Quincy Notre Dame High School will have an alumnus as its principal starting July 1. Mark McDowell was named to take over the reigns at the school when QND principal Ray Heilmann steps down in July.

CHARLESTON — An original play based on the biography of Blessed Frederic Ozanam, founder of the Society of St. Vincent DePaul, was performed last weekend at the Newman Center at Eastern Illinois University. The play's author is Geoffrey Zokal, an EIU senior and a member of the Newman Center.

A presentation on the Catholic position on immigration will take place on Wednesday, March 14 in the St. Frances Cabrini Parish Center, 1020 N. Milton Ave. in Springfield. The Lenten evening will begin with a soup supper at 6 p.m. followed by prayer, a presentation on what the church teaches on immigration, a personal account of immigration and a roundtable dialogue.

DECATUR — The St. Teresa High School drama department will present Disney's Beauty and the Beast at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, March 9 and 10 in the St. Teresa gymnasium. Tickets are $7 general admission and $10, reserved, and can be purchased through the school office, by calling (217) 875-2431.

It's taken prayer and decades of discernment, but Karen Siciliano of St. Joseph Parish in Springfield finally feels she's found her calling as a member of the Company of St. Ursula.

Bishop Paprocki speaks to pope about political climate in Illinois

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When bishops come to the Vatican for their ad limina visits, they bring with them concerns and ideas that arise in their ministry and in the lives of their people.

In collaboration with the Presbyteral Council, the Diocesan Review Board and a consultation focus group of lay people, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki has approved changes to the Pastoral Policy on Sexual Abuse of Minors by Church Personnel for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

DECATUR — Decatur Catholic Radio WDCR and Relevant Radio will broadcast a live episode of the popular Father Rocky: Go Ask Your Father show on Wed., Feb. 29, at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 520 E. North St., in Decatur. The broadcast will take place between 5:30-8 p.m., during a fundraiser dinner, to support Catholic radio on the air in the Decatur area.

The Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) will hold its annual Lenten retreat on Wednesday, March 21 and Thursday, March 22 at the Villa Maria Catholic Life Center on Lake Springfield. All women of the diocese are invited.

The Springfield Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW), an affiliate of the National Council of Catholic Women, is again offering Diocesan Leadership Scholarships that recognize outstanding Catholic female high school seniors. This year, four $500 scholarships will be awarded. Applicants will be judged on how they exemplify DCCW's mission values of leadership, faith, and service.

February's observance of Black History Month takes on a local perspective this year in the Springfield diocese. Cathedral parishioner Lyman Hubbard, who passed away Jan. 12 at age 85, was a member of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black World War II fighter pilot squad.

For the second year in a row, Springfield Right to Life and the Diocesan Office for Social Concerns is sponsoring a 40 Days for Life campaign outside of Planned Parenthood in Springfield. The campaign will run from Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22 to Palm Sunday, April 1.

The season of Lent begins this year on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, and ends just prior to the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, April 5, when the Easter Triduum begins. Lent is the principal penitential season in the church year.

ALTON — Even though the school year doesn't normally coincide with the usual Illinois growing season, fourth-graders at Ss. Peter and Paul School in Alton still learn about agriculture from autumn to spring.

The Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph in Maple Mount, Ky., are celebrating their 100th anniversary as a community this year. However, closer to the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, the Ursuline Sisters of Belleville merged with the Sisters of Mount St. Joseph in 2005. One of those women, Sister Mary Ellen Backes, OSU, is a pastoral assistant at St. Joseph Parish in Springfield.

Pax Christi Springfield (PCS) will screen When the Bough Break at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 23, in the Do Porres Center at Sacred Heart Convent, 1237 W. Monroe St. in Springfield. Dessert and discussion will follow the film.

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will be leading a Legal Conference Day of Reflection at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Monday, Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The conference will be held in the Atrium of the cathedral at 524 E. Lawrence Ave., in Springfield and will include lunch.

Alton — St. Mary Parish in Alton and Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Bethalto will co-host the fourth annual Women's Prayer Breakfast on Saturday, March 3. The day will begin with Mass at 8 a.m. at St. Mary Church, 519 E. Fourth St. in Alton.

The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois will add a new dimension to its presbyterate on May 26 when Bishop Thomas John Paprocki ordains three priests at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield. One of the men is transitional Deacon Scott Snider, a married, former Protestant minister.

Icy roads and hazardous driving conditions delayed buses from the Springfield diocese from starting out as planned for the March for Life on Jan. 20. For a caravan of buses from the southern half of the diocese, it meant rather than arriving in Washington as planned on Saturday morning, they got into the nation's capitol at 3 a.m. on Sunday.

When Bishop Thomas John Paprocki visits Rome in February, he will be on his first official ad limina visit as head of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

QUINCY — The Quincy Catholic Elementary Schools Foundation has announced the establishment of the Father Augustine Tolton Scholarship.