<p>must be excited about the name taken by the new Pope.</p>
<p>Geaux Francis!</p>
<p>Yes, but do we know if the new pope is taking his name after St. Francis of Assisi or St Francis Xavier - a Jesuit?</p>
<p>Cardinal Dolan said he heard the Pope say he was taking the name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.</p>
<p>Anyway, why can’t it be both?</p>
<p>I wondered the same, mom2. He is the first Jesuit Pope, but I also heard Dolan say it was after Francis of Assisi. Either way, it’s a good choice. Praying for him.</p>
<p>Said on the Today Show that he chose Francis after Assisi. After hearing that he had chosen (and led) a rather austere life it makes sense. Sitting at school board last night (I am a catholic educator, a member of a catholic non-for-profit board and Jesuit educated) the excitement in the room was electric!! We are so glad to have a Jesuit Pope!!!</p>
<p>Slippy, I agree. It could (maybe should) be both…lol.</p>
<p>Anyway…it’s all very exciting!</p>
<p>the parish may need to “name” something in the new church bldg in honor of the new pope.</p>
<p>Heard this joke yesterday: “At last they’ve found a Jesuit loyal to the Pope.”</p>
<p>ONLY kidding, LOL. (My husband attended a Jesuit college for his undergraduate degree – Holy Cross. That was back when it was still all-male, which will give you some idea of how ancient we are!)</p>
<p>Yep, have heard that the new pope refused to live in the episcopal palace in Buenos Aires. He lived in a tiny apartment instead. Cooked his own meals. Drove his own car (no chauffeur). Very Franciscan (for a Jesuit :)).</p>
<p>Did y’all hear that the Saint Francis kids “chalked” the names of all the popes, from Peter to Francis, all along the Quad walkways? LOL. It got erased, though. :(</p>
<p>My son was in on the chalking. They took pictures. One of them is now his facebook cover photo.</p>
<p>How very cool!!! LOL!</p>
<p>Son told me that the chalking had been removed before they got up this morning.</p>
<p>Clearly this is the work of the oppressive state.</p>
<p>Or worse…</p>
<p>PROTESTANTS!!</p>
<p>Is there a large Catholic community at U of A? Or is it just the frequent posters are Catholic? My DS will be touring next week and it’s comforting to see that at least the Catholic Ministry on campus must be active!</p>
<p>There is a good-sized number. Not as huge as schools in states that have a large Catholic population (Calif, NY, MA, etc), but Bama and Tuscaloosa have a much higher percentage Catholic population than the state at large. </p>
<p>I think Fr. Holloway says that there are over 3000 undergrad Catholic students at Bama. There are also a good number of Catholic faculty. </p>
<p>the population has grown so much recently that the campus church is building a new, much larger church next to the existing one. The current church will become a larger student center. There is also a large parish that is south of the campus…that’s where the K-12 Catholic schools are.</p>
<p>St. Francis has a Tuesday night Student Mass and Meal…and a Thursday Night Movie and Activity Night. </p>
<p>[St</a> Francis - Social Activities](<a href=“http://www.stfrancisuofa.com/index.php?page=social-activities]St”>http://www.stfrancisuofa.com/index.php?page=social-activities)</p>
<p>Love to hear that the Catholic students have so many opportunities to come together. Does anyone know if there are “welcoming” events for the incoming Freshman?</p>
<p>LOL, Slippy! But I hear the chalking was reapplied later…? DS was part of both chalkings. Just chalk it up to his mischievous spirit. :)</p>
<p>MomofTriplets…</p>
<p>During past Week of Welcomes (WOW), St. Francis has hosted a welcome event. </p>
<p>You might want to email Susan Nelms for more info:
<a href="mailto:susan.nelms@stfrancisuofa.com">susan.nelms@stfrancisuofa.com</a></p>
<p>I know that when we first moved to Alabama from Calif, I was a little concerned that we might be heading into anti-Catholic territory. However, not only have we not found that to be the case, we’ve found that the good-sized cities in Alabama have substantial Catholic populations - Huntsville, B’ham, Cullman, Mobile, Montgomery, etc.</p>
<p>Not to mention the fact that EWTN is based in Alabama! ;-)</p>