January 19, 2023
‘A saint on earth’: How one Oakland priest comforts the grieving during city’s most violent, tragic moments
Just before midnight on Dec. 9, Father Jayson Landeza was settling into his bed at the rectory of St. Benedict Church in East Oakland when his phone rang. It was the Oakland police. Two people had been shot less than a mile away, including a 16-year-old who was killed. Police wanted to know if Landeza could go to the scene …
Read More
September 10, 2020
Diocese of Honolulu Joins Catholic Funeral & Cemetery Services
During a time when so many are suffering and the Catholic Church is facing many unique challenges, CFCS brings an innovative plan to transform the funeral and cemetery system in Honolulu, Hawaii. Click here to read more.
Read More
August 12, 2019
Diocese of Portland names Director of Cemeteries
Community Author: Dave Guthro, Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland PORTLAND—The Diocese of Portland is pleased to announce that John Fencik has been named the new director of cemeteries. Most recently, Fencik was the director for Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services (CFCS) for the Diocese of Spokane in Washington from 2014 to 2017. CFCS is a division of Catholic Management Services …
Read More
August 12, 2019
Archdiocese acquires well-known mortuary in central Denver
Newly acquired Caldwell-Kirk Mortuary enables archdiocese to expand services By Roxanne King To fulfill its corporal work of mercy of burying the dead, the archdiocese operates two cemeteries — Mount Olivet in Wheat Ridge and St. Simeon in Aurora — as well as Archdiocese of Denver Mortuary located at Mount Olivet. To better serve the community and expand services, the …
Read More
August 12, 2019
Mt. Olivet cemetery offers spiritual, corporal works of mercy
By Moira Cullings On Hart Island in the Long Island Sound of New York City, more than one million unclaimed people’s remains are buried. It is the largest tax funded cemetery in the world. The city’s Department of Corrections maintains and operates the island, and its prisoners bury the anonymous bodies. Visitors are welcome just once a month. It’s examples …
Read More
August 12, 2019
Why does the Church have boundaries on cremation?
By Therese Bussen Last October, the Vatican released an instruction on cremation stating that, while the Church does allow it, the body must still be buried in a cemetery or other sacred space, and that ashes should not be kept in private houses or scattered on land or sea. The document, titled Ad resurgendum cum Christo (to rise with Christ) …
Read More
August 12, 2019
Cemeteries’ director offers support, assistance to families
Kristen L. Byrd, Special to The Catholic Virginian One day in 2018, a pregnant mother went into labor and delivered quintuplets. It should have been a happy day of smiles and balloons, but it was not. Two of the children were stillborn and the other three lived just long enough to be held and baptized. All were loved, but all …
Read More
August 9, 2019
Likely last burial section opens at Oakland cemetery
By Carrie McClish The Catholic Voice – Staff writer Oakland’s St. Mary’s Cemetery marked a milestone June 24 when the newest, and most likely the last, burial section was blessed. Staff members of the Catholic Funeral and Cemetery Services, which operates cemeteries, mausoleums and funeral centers in the Diocese of Oakland, marked the occasion by bringing an altar, crucifix and …
Read More
November 6, 2018
Catholic Church honors lost loved ones in “Gather Them Home” service
Twenty sets of cremains were blessed during a special Mass held Friday at St. Joseph Cemetery. After Robyn Hansen’s mother died in May, she couldn’t bring herself to scatter her ashes. Instead, the Monroe resident wanted a place she could come and visit and pray for her loved one. Laverne Fender was 72. On Friday, Fender’s ashes were among 20 …
Read More
October 29, 2018
In this cemetery, after dark, students pray for the dead
Denver, Colo., (CNA).- An after-dark walk through a cemetery in late October seems like a night pulled straight from a Halloween movie or a scary novel. But when Colorado teens make nighttime visits to Mount Olivet Cemetery this week, it won’t be for ghost stories or a haunted house. Instead, they’ll learn about saints, pray together for the dead, and …
Read More
RECENT ARTICLES
- ‘A saint on earth’: How one Oakland priest comforts the grieving during city’s most violent, tragic moments
- Diocese of Honolulu Joins Catholic Funeral & Cemetery Services
- Diocese of Portland names Director of Cemeteries
- Archdiocese acquires well-known mortuary in central Denver
- Mt. Olivet cemetery offers spiritual, corporal works of mercy
- Why does the Church have boundaries on cremation?
- Cemeteries’ director offers support, assistance to families
- Likely last burial section opens at Oakland cemetery
- Catholic Church honors lost loved ones in “Gather Them Home” service
- In this cemetery, after dark, students pray for the dead