Pilgrimage is planned on Jan. 22 to the St. Paul Cathedral and Capitol

On Jan. 22 the 46th anniversary of Roe v Wade will be commemorated as a day of prayer and witness to the sanctity of all human life. Bishop John LeVoir has granted a partial indulgence to all who attend the Cathedral Prayer Service and March for Life in St. Paul, to pray for the culture of life. See the Family Life page at dnu.org for further information about the indulgence.

The pilgrimage will start at 6:45 a.m. from the northwest corner of the Market Street Mall parking lot in Marshall and will stop at St. Catherine’s in Redwood Falls. People are invited to join the pilgrimage and ride the bus. The bus is sponsored by area Council of Catholic Women and Knights of Columbus. The Prayer Service for Life is at the Cathedral of St. Paul at 10:30 a.m. and then participants can ride the bus or walk to the public rally at the Capitol at noon. The bus will return after the rally. Dress warmly and bring a sack lunch. To reserve a seat on the bus contact Lori Timmerman at 507-476-0070 or ltimmerman@holy-redeemer.com.

Bishop John LeVoir invites everyone to join him on the pilgrimage, either in St. Paul or commemorating it at home or at work.

Principal who banned Christmas from school won’t return

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska principal placed on leave after a Christian group threatened legal action over her ban on Christmas and holiday symbols has been moved into a different district job.

Elkhorn Public Schools Superintendent Bary Habrock told parents and staff Monday evening that Jennifer Sinclair won’t be returning to Manchester Elementary School in Omaha.

Habrock said the district supports Sinclair “as a leader and educator,” and that she’ll spend the rest of the school year in a curriculum position.

Sinclair didn’t immediately return a message Tuesday from The Associated Press.

Sinclair sent a memo to staff in November that, among other things, barred Santa and Christmas images . She said her intent was to create an inclusive environment for students of varied religious beliefs.

Florida-based Liberty Counsel, which represents evangelical Christians, later sent a letter demanding a reversal of the ban.

Pioneering black Catholic bishop buried in Mississippi

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — Hundreds of mourners are saluting the legacy of the first African-American to lead a Catholic diocese in the 20th century as he’s laid to rest in Mississippi.

WLOX-TV reported the Diocese of Biloxi held a funeral and burial Wednesday for Bishop Joseph Howze, who died last week at age 95.

Born in Daphne, Alabama, Howze led the diocese from 1977 until 2001.

First a Baptist and then a Methodist, Howze said he was drawn to Catholicism by a student he taught at Central High School in Mobile. Ordained in 1959 as a priest in North Carolina, Pope Paul VI appointed Howze as auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson. When split into dioceses of Jackson and Biloxi in 1977, Pope Paul VI named Howze to lead the Biloxi church.

Ex-state worker loses lawsuit over religious accommodation

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former state of Iowa worker who’d used the words “In Christ” in his work emails has lost his lawsuit against the state.

The Sioux City Journal reported that a federal jury in Sioux City found Wednesday that the state Department of Human Services did not fail to accommodate Michael Mial’s religious practices. Mial sued the department and several individuals at the sex offender unit in Cherokee in January 2017, saying his firing violated his rights to free speech and religion.

The lawsuit said Mial, a psychiatric security specialist, was fired in April 2016 after a performance review in which supervisors told him his religious faith was beneficial to patients at the sex offender unit. But they asked him to keep his religion separate from his work because he’d been using “In Christ” in the personalized signature block that appeared in internal emails sent to other employees.