COLORADO SPRINGS. When Catholic couples discover years or decades after being married civilly that their marriage is not considered to be valid by the Church, it can come as a surprise and leave them wondering what steps to take. Fortunately, the Diocese of Colorado Springs is equipped to help such couples enter into a valid Catholic marriage so that they can live a complete sacramental life.

COLORADO SPRINGS. With new cases of coronavirus on the rise in Colorado, it could be another six months before long-term care facilities — including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, senior residences and rehabilitation centers — will be open to outside visitors. When that does finally happen, however, the Diocese of Colorado Springs will have a plan in place to better reach Catholics who are unable to regularly attend Mass.

Editor’s Note: Following is the next installment of the Herald’s monthly series profiling priests and deacons serving in the Diocese of Colorado Springs. Featured this month is Father Francisco Quezada, pastor of St. Patrick Parish.

Father Francisco Quezada is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, and was the third oldest in a family of six children.

“My vocation was born from us attending Mass together early on Sunday mornings, all six of us,” Father Quezada said.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Although weddings during the coronavirus pandemic look much different than in the past, couples are continuing to attend marriage preparation classes and enter into the sacrament of matrimony. Because so much of the diocesan marriage preparation program is available online, couples are able to finish the classes, including education in natural family planning (NFP), at their own pace while still observing social distancing requirements and travel restrictions.

COLORADO SPRINGS. As the Catholic Church in the United States gets ready to celebrate Vocations Awareness Week Nov. 1-7, a parishioner in the diocese is preparing to enter religious life.

Holy Apostles parishioner Catherine Logan has been accepted as a postulant for the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She plans to enter as soon as she has raised enough money to pay off her student debt.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Like many other Catholic organizations, the Inferno Men’s ministry in the Diocese of Colorado Springs has had to switch to virtual meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But when it came time to plan the group’s annual conference — which has drawn upwards of 400 men in recent years — leaders struggled to find a way to hold an in-person event.

COLORADO SPRINGS. The phrase “chaos is a ladder” has been tossed around a lot during the coronavirus pandemic, but for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado’s Marian House, that really has proven to be the case.

(Editor’s note: The following is part of a year-long series highlighting the 15th anniversary of the Office of Marriage and Family Life.

COLORADO SPRINGS. A decree establishing diocesan-wide norms for marriage preparation and the sacrament of matrimony was promulgated by Bishop Michael Sheridan on Oct. 3, 2019, and those who work with engaged couples say that it is already having a positive impact on their ministry.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Roughly five months after the coronavirus pandemic caused them to switch to online instruction virtually overnight, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Colorado Springs welcomed students back for full-time, in-person instruction during the third week of August.

COLORADO SPRINGS. When Christian and Christine Meert were named co-directors of the Diocese of Colorado Springs’ newly- created Office of Marriage and Family Life in 2005, they essentially started with a blank slate. Now, 15 years later, the two can look back and see how their efforts have born fruit.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Diocese of Colorado Springs Finance Officer Bob Doerfler, who has a combined 43 years of service to Divine Redeemer Parish and the diocese, retired June 5. Doerfler worked side by side with Bishop Emeritus Richard Hanifen to establish the diocese’s finance and accounting operations when it was created in 1984.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Call it a silver lining or unintended consequence, but one good thing to come out of the coronavirus pandemic is that engaged couples now have more time to focus on the sacrament of matrimony and the Catholic Church’s teaching about marriage.

DENVER. The Colorado Catholic Conference issued an “Action Alert” on June 9 asking people to contact their state legislators to request that the Colorado Department of Education release COVID-19 relief funds for nonpublic schools based on federal guidelines.

COLORADO SPRINGS. Even though parishioners at St. Gabriel the Archangel weren’t able to attend any Masses during the month of April, the parish not only held its regular monthly food drive but held an extra drive that resulted in a 3,500-pound food donation to Marian House soup kitchen.

COLORADO SPRINGS. The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic will ripple through society for years to come, but one of the groups most immediately and directly affected by the pandemic are engaged couples who were planning weddings this year. These couples have been faced with a difficult choice — move forward with a wedding where only their parents and possibly siblings can attend, or postpone it for an indeterminate period of time.