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Catholic Diocese of Little Rock
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Happening Now
The following offers the latest information about events and activities happening in the Diocese of Little Rock.
Osborne to be ordained a deacon May 23
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor will celebrate the diaconate ordination Mass of seminarian Joshua Osborne at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 23 in his home parish, St. Joseph in Conway. A reception will follow in the parish hall. All are invited to attend. Prior to the ordination, all are invited to a special eucharistic adoration and vespers service Friday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m. also at St. Joseph Church. During this time, prayers will be offered for Osborne and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Being ordained a transitional deacon is a major step ... More
More than 800 become Catholic this year
Catholic parishes across Arkansas reported welcoming more than 800 people into the Catholic Church in the past year. Those who were already baptized in another Christian faith were welcomed into the Church throughout the year, as well as on Holy Saturday. They made a profession of faith, were confirmed and received First Communion. The unbaptized were received during Easter Vigil Masses Saturday, April 4. They were baptized, confirmed and received First Communion. These neophytes (new Catholics) prepared for entry into the Catholic Church through ... More
Seminarians take steps toward priesthood
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor is installing eight Diocese of Little Rock seminarians as candidates, lectors and acolytes as part of their journey toward priesthood during special Masses in May at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. The bishop will celebrate the Admission to Candidacy Mass Saturday, May 2 at 4:30 p.m. for seminarians Ryan Carlson, Nghiep Hoang and Benjamin Keating. The admission to candidacy will be conferred on those who have demonstrated the necessary qualifications for ordination. He will celebrate the Installation of Lector Mass ... More
May Lord give peace in Year of St. Francis
Pope Leo XIV proclaimed a universal Year of St. Francis from Jan. 10, 2026 to Jan. 10, 2027 to mark the 800th anniversary of the saint's death. Three parishes in Arkansas have been designated as pilgrimage churches during the Year of St. Francis. Catholics are invited to visit the churches in Arkansas named after the Italian saint in Forrest City, Little Italy and Fairfield Bay. Weekend Mass in Forrest City is at 12:15 p.m. on Sundays. In Little Italy, Mass is at 10 a.m. Sundays. Fairifield Bay has Mass at 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday. All Masses are in English. ... More
Bishop announces 2026 clergy changes
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor announced the following pastoral appointments, April 10, 2026, for the Diocese of Little Rock. Effective April 10, 2026: Rev. Alphonse Gollapalli, as requested by him, he will return to his home Diocese of Nellore, India. Father Gollapalli has lived much of his priesthood in faithful service in Oklahoma and Arkansas. He is relieved of his responsibilities as pastor of St. Mark Church in Monticello, Holy Child of Jesus Church in Dumas and St. Mary Church in McGehee, as previously announced; Rev. Daniel Wendel, appointed administrator of St. Mark Church in Monticello ... More
Easter: All faith flows from the Resurrection
St. Athanasius called Easter "the Great Sunday." The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls it the "Feast of feasts" and the "Solemnity of solemnities." Easter is the celebration of the Jesus' resurrection from the dead. This moveable feast falls on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. By taking on our sin, Jesus, through his passion, death and resurrection destroyed the power of sin and death and made it possible for us to have eternal life. That is the Good News. All faith flows from faith in the resurrection. "If Christ has not been raised, then empty ... More
New life in Christ celebrated at Easter Vigil
While Christ is in the tomb on Holy Saturday, he did something very important that often gets lost in the celebration of the Easter Vigil that evening. In the Apostles Creed we pray: "He descended into hell." Hell in this sense has a very different meaning than how we understand the term today. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: "Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, 'hell' — 'Sheol' in Hebrew or 'Hades' in Greek — because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God." At this point in time, all those who had died ... More
Good Friday puts us face to face with cross
On Good Friday we relive Jesus' suffering and death so we never forget God's unconditional love and desire for us to be saved. "He was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6) We do not celebrate Mass on this day because it is a solemn day of prayer and mourning, which includes fasting and abstinence from meat. The Good Friday service includes ... More
