EFFINGHAM — At a Jan. 15 gala dinner sponsored by the Greater Effingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Msgr. Leo Enlow accepted the 2011 Citizen of the Year award from the Effingham Daily News. The daily newspaper presents the award each year to a person who has made a difference in the Effingham community.

Over 425 young people and adults from throughout the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois are preparing for a pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., to participate in the March for Life, Monday, Jan. 24.

OREANA — Several priests, deacons and a religious sister joined local Catholic radio station organizers Dec. 7 to bless the future site of WDCR 88.9’s radio tower. The station is set to premier March 1 on Central Illinois airwaves.

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki took to the ice at the Nelson Center in Springfield Dec. 6 to help adult hockey players in the area raise $3,100 for the Catholic Charities Springfield Area Office. Over 300 turned out to watch, as did members of the Sacred Heart-Griffin High School hockey team, who wore special T-shirts for the occasion promoting “Hockey with Paprocki.” The charity benefit game preceded the SHG-Glenwood game.

A groundbreaking ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, at the Sacred Heart-Griffin High School West Campus, 1601 W. Washington, will begin the first phase of its renovation and construction, which includes a St. John’s AthletiCare facility.

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will switch from his usual clerical attire to a hockey uniform, ice skates, face mask, helmet, catching mitt, and protective pads to play goalie in a charity hockey game Monday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Nelson Center in Springfield.

The sainthood cause of Father Augustine Tolton (also known as Augustus) adds a new dimension to retirement life for Father Roy Bauer in Quincy — pilgrimage guide. The Chicago Archdiocese Office for Black Catholics, Chicago Bishop Joseph Perry's office and the Tolton Program at the Chicago Theological Union (CTU) sponsored a pilgrimage Sept. 17-19 to learn more about the early year's of Father Tolton's life, and to pray for his beatification. Father Bauer, a locally recognized Tolton historian and the author of They Called Him Father Gus, served as a guide for the pilgrimage directed by Vanessa White, director of the Tolton program at CTU.

Over 600 students, chaperones, teachers, principals and PSR leaders from throughout the diocese joined missionaries Oct. 4 to fill the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield for Bishop Thomas John Paprocki’s first Mission Mass celebration in the diocese. School awards and Parish School of Religion awards for highest per capita donations to the Holy Childhood Association are presented at the annual Mass, organized by the Office for the Missions.

MADISON — A new religious community of men recently moved into the Springfield diocese, setting up residency in what was once the convent at St. Mary and St. Mark Parish in Madison. Dominican Missionaries for the Deaf Apostolate (DMDA) is a seminary training program to prepare deaf candidates who are studying to become Catholic priests.

GLEN CARBON — The new Father McGivney Catholic High School, which its supporters had hoped to see open its doors in 2011 on its purchased site, or in a temporary location, is not going to happen. The McGivney board of directors met Sept. 14, and voted to postpone the opening.