Priests of the Springfield diocese will gather Sept. 20-24 at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel for their annual convocation.

Alveda King, niece of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, will speak at a free lecture titled “Helping the Dream Survive!” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, at the Springfield Howlett Building, 501 S. Second St., in the state capitol complex.

Bishop Paprocki to preside at ecumenical prayer service for life

Dr. Alveda King, pro-life proponent and niece of the late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, will join Bishop Thomas John Paprocki at an ecumenical prayer service for life at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The service will be followed by a prayerful walk and peaceful protest at the Planned Parenthood of Springfield.

The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois is already preparing for the First Sunday in Advent in 2011, when the new English translation of the Roman Missal will be used for the first time, according to Eliot Kapitan, director of the Office for Worship and the Catechumenate.

Bishop Thomas John Paprocki has reassured a victims’ rights group that there are no priests with proven, admitted or credible accusations of child abuse currently in ministry in the Springfield diocese.

Recent state legislation has the potential to make big changes in the way Catholic cemeteries operate, said speakers at a July 28 meeting at Ss. Mary and Joseph Parish in Carlinville. The meeting was held for those who serve Catholic cemeteries in the diocese, including pastors of parishes with cemeteries, cemetery managers, cemetery board members and volunteers who work in Catholic cemeteries. An estimated 100 people were in attendance.

Series of Masses of Welcome in deaneries will be held in September

The June 22 Rite of Reception and Installation of Bishop Thomas John Paprocki as ninth bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois will be streamed live on the Internet on the diocesan website www.dio.org.

SHERMAN — St. John Vianney Knights of Columbus Council #14024 in Sherman won an award for best church program at the Illinois Knights of Columbus State Convention, held May 1 in Peoria. Grand Knight Dan Blentlinger said that the project comprised a new, more visible sign for the entrance to the parish as well as the reconstruction of a nearby Marian shrine.

Because of limited space, seating will be by ticket only

Celebrations welcoming the Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki as ninth bishop of Springfield in Illinois will begin with evening prayer at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 21, at the Cathedral Church of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield.

Now that Pope Benedict XVI has given  approval to the new English translation of the Roman Missal dioceses in English-speaking countries throughout the world — including the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois — are preparing for its use.