Articles by Paul A Barra | The Catholic Miscellany

SIMPSONVILLE — “Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how did this doctrine grow?” Michael Cumbie made up that little ditty when he was an anti-Catholic Southern Baptist preacher for almost 30 years. When he learned that Mary […]

GREENVILLE — The 2009 Hesburgh Alumni Lecture was about suffering, how to deal with it in others, and maintaining one’s compassion in the midst of it. The April 23 lecture and PowerPoint presentation at Furman […]

GREENVILLE — Hundreds of people filled the Peace Center for the Performing Arts June 26-27 to listen to and interact with a line-up of stars in the field of inspirational speakers. The occasion was the […]

SPARTANBURG — By the time Father Michael J. Polewczak found out he had cancer in late May, it was too late to do anything about it. The disease had insinuated its way into most of […]

“My friends, who are mostly Protestant, think it’s a scandal,” said Rosemary Bergeron of Jesus Our Risen Savior Church in Spartanburg. “They want to know what the church is going to do about it.” Bergeron […]

GREENVILLE — Vietna­mese Catholics of South Carolina celebrated Mother’s Day and the feast of Our Lady of La Vang on May 10 at Our Lady of the Rosary Church. The crowd was so big that […]

ANDERSON — Five years ago, the kindly then-pastor of St. Mary of the Angels Church invited a homeless man into the rectory, which he shared with his fellow Franciscan friars, for a shower and breakfast. […]

MAULDIN — When Mary first appeared to the sainted peasant Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin in the highlands of Mexico in 1531, she came loaded with symbolism for the New World. Mary appeared as a mestiza, or […]

GREENVILLE — Kerrie Sijon likes to run. She likes it so much that she runs 30 to 50 miles every week across the rolling foothills of South Carolina. She has competed in 33 marathons and […]

GREENVILLE — Two of the top five runners on the state champion cross-country team from St. Joseph’s Catholic School share more than the ability to run like the wind. They share the same genes.Identical twins […]