NEWTON — Thunderstorm warnings earlier in the day and a sweltering heat index had little impact on the hundreds of parishioners, former parishioners and friends who came out Sunday afternoon, July 18, to see Bishop Thomas John Paprocki dedicate a new St. Thomas Church in Newton.

BISHOP CREEK — As a young girl growing up on a farm with six sisters and five brothers, Martha Brummer never gave much thought to her family’s size. There were lots of large families in the Effingham area. From the outset, her parents, Clete and Agnes Brummer taught their children “God is part of our family.”

Totus Tuus, a week-long summer parish mission program for Catholic youth in grades 1-12, is back this summer, after a successful first-year run last summer in the Springfield diocese.

GLEN CARBON — The appearance of heavy construction equipment on the site of the future Father McGivney Catholic High School in Glen Carbon is a telling sign: It won’t be long now.

An overflow crowd filled every available pew at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield and spilled over into the atrium on June 22 to witness Bishop Thomas John Paprocki become the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.

Deacon Stephen A. Thompson and Deacon Paul Kala will be ordained priests for the Springfield diocese on May 29 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield. Cardinal Francis George, OMI, of Chicago will preside at the 10:30 a.m. Mass.

On Corpus Christi weekend, June 4-6, a set of panels of the Vatican International Exhibition of Eucharistic Miracles of the World will be on display in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Atrium, at Sixth and Lawrence streets in Springfield.

GLEN CARBON — With construction set to begin soon for the new Father McGivney Catholic High School in Glen Carbon, its first principal is hired. Mike Scholz, currently assistant principal at St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Champaign, will officially start his new job July 1 as principal of the new school set to open in the fall of 2011.

With 10 regional planning meetings completed and just two more to be held, Marlene Mulford, chancellor and director of pastoral planning in the Springfield diocese, says response so far has been very promising.

BEARDSTOWN — A mobile unit from the Mexican consulate was at St. Alexius Parish Hall April 22 to 24 to help Mexicans living in the area obtain Mexican passports and dual citizenship for their children who are U.S. citizens. Each week two mobile units from the consulate move about the United States, with this particular unit covering the states of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.