Mike Kish, principal of Immaculate Conception Grade School in Columbia, Ill., talks about The Messenger and its importance in his life.
“The Messenger connects me to what we’re thinking about in Rome, to what we’re thinking about in Belleville with Bishop Braxton and what happens in our parishes.

Approximately ten cities in the Diocese of Belleville have been seriously affected by the unprecedented rise of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The flood, which has taken a tremendous toll in property and an unrecorded number of human lives, has caused heavy damages to churches, schools, church property and homes in the extreme southeastern and southern portions of the Diocese.

Parishioners at SS. Peter & Paul Parish in Waterloo and St. Augustine of Hippo East St. Louis are using their faith as a cornerstone to build relationships with one another.