Catholic parishes throughout the United States will rally in support of their priests on Sunday, October 31, 2004 with prayer, dialogue and celebration. "Priesthood Sunday", a one-day celebration of the American priesthood, is backed again this year by a wide array of Catholic organizations seeking to show their support for priests.

The major sponsor is The Christian Foundation on Children and Aging. Priesthood Sunday was first observed in October of 2003 as a reaction to the shadows cast over all priests by the sex abuse crisis. "The purpose of Priesthood Sunday is to engage every level of the church in the U.S. in a national conversation about the priesthood," said Rev. Robert J. Silva, President of the National Federation of Priests'Councils, organizer of the event. Only 4 thousand of the 19 thousand parishes in the U.S. currently have more than one priest. Some priests serve two or more parishes by themselves.

Priesthood Sunday is meant to be led by a parish's lay leaders. Last year, an estimated 10% of U.S. parishes took part in the event. Rev. Silva predicted as many as 25% of parishes may be involved in the 2004 event.

The lay faithful of each parish, school or other ministry are asked to develop their own special way of marking the day and honoring both the priesthood and their own priests. For further information visit www.priestsunday.org.

An extraordinary collection of Catholic religious artifacts will be on display in Duluth in late October. "The Vatican Comes to Duluth" will be staged Oct. 29-31 in Somers Hall at The College of St. Scholastica. The event will include a visit by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations, as well as other Catholic leaders.

The exhibit's objects belong to the Rev. Richard Kunst, a priest of the Duluth diocese. He is an avid collector of Vatican and Catholic objects. The exhibit's hundreds of items include: A walking stick, chasuble or Mass vestment, and zucchetto or "skull cap" used by Pope John Paul II; a handwritten prayer by Blessed Mother Teresa; a Vatican Swiss Guard uniform, whose original designer was Michelangelo; Papal manuscripts dating to the 13th century; Signatures of various saints; coins, medallions, jewelry and other objects dating back centuries.

"The purpose of the event is to help the public gain knowledge and appreciation of the Vatican," said Ronda Hughes, chair of the event's steering committee, "and to help raise money for education of Catholic seminarians and for Catholic schools in the Duluth diocese. The show is co-sponsored by the Diocese of Duluth and The College of St. Scholastica. Admission is $10, children under 12 free. Family admission is $30. For more information call (218) 723-6635 or visit www.css.edu/VaticanDuluth.