Gene Kranz

Gene Kranz was an unsung hero of NASA’s golden age of manned spaceflight. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us that as director of mission control, he oversaw dozens of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo flights, including Apollo 11 and 13. And his Catholic faith underpinned his “failure is not an option” spirit that characterized his tenure.

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Happy Easter from StarQuest

From all of us at StarQuest, we wish you a Happy and Blessed Easter with this brief message from our chaplain, Fr. Cory Sticha.

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Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra was perhaps the greatest catcher in baseball history, but he might almost be better known for “Yogi-isms,” his homespun, head-scratching bit of wisdom. As Tom and Noëlle Crowe discuss Yogi was also a Catholic who was devoted to his faith and freely shared it with others.

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The 1918 Spanish Flu and Philadelphia’s Catholics

The Influenza pandemic of 1918 hit Philadelphia particularly hard, killing up to 16,000 people. Tom and Noëlle Crowe explore how the Catholic Church in the city stepped up to help the overwhelmed city services, with over 2,000 nuns filling in as nurses and going door to door in neighborhoods.

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John Dubois

Bishop John Dubois is one of the most important figures in American Catholic history that most people don’t know. Tom and Noëlle Crowe follow his escape from the French Revolution to his early time with two Founding Fathers to his founding of Mt. St. Mary Seminary to his leading the Diocese of New York at a crucial moment.

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St. Josaphat Basilica

At the beginning of the 20th century, Polish Catholics in Milwaukee planned to build a massive new church for their community. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us construction was set to begin when they discovered Chicago’s federal building was for sale. They just had to move it from one city to another.

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Fr. Pierre Gibault and Francis Vigo

Two Catholics–a priest and a layman–were instrumental to the American victory over the British in the Northwest campaign of the Revolutionary War. Tom & Noelle Crowe tell the stories of how Fr. Pierre Gibault and Francis Vigo rallied Catholic settlers and helped Gen. George Rogers Clark to victory in the Illinois campaign.

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Mother Beasley

Mother Beasley was a free Black woman who married into wealth and then gave it all away as a widow in order to found one of the first Catholic religious orders for Black women in the US. Tom and Noelle Crowe tell the story of this courageous woman who also defied the law to educate enslaved children and spent her life serving others.

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Pierre Toussaint

Pierre Toussaint was a slave brought from Haiti to New York City in the late 1700s, where he became a celebrated and in-demand hairdresser and even more celebrated philanthropist. Tom and Noëlle Crowe relate how, even after he had the means to buy his freedom, he elected to remain a slave to care for his widowed mistress, among other notable charitable works in his life.

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Julia Greeley

Julia Greeley was a former slave and Catholic convert who lived much of her life after the Civil War. Tom and Noëlle Crowe relate her zealous devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, her evangelistic fervor, and her service to the poor that led to her being declared a Servant of God in 2017.

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Daniel Rudd

Born a slave before the Civil War, Daniel Rudd was a Catholic journalist, who was the first black man to own a national newspaper of any kind. Tom and Noëlle Crowe reveal how his newspaper and activism both promoted the civil rights of blacks and evangelized the benefits of Catholicism to the black community in the 19th century.

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Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich

Bl. Miriam was the first American to be beatified on US soil in 2014, but before that, as Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell us, she was a Ruthenian Catholic Sister of Charity known for her profound spiritual insight and writings, even as a novice, before she died at just 26 years old.

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Father Peter Whelan: The Angel of Andersonville

Fr. Peter Whelan was an elderly Irish priest in Georgia and South Carolina who brought Christ to the sick and imprisoned during the Civil War. Tom and Noëlle Crowe tell how brought Christ to both Confederate POWs in the North, and Union POWs at the most notorious prison camp in the South, Andersonville.

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Blessed Stanley Rother

Bl. Stanley Rother was an Oklahoma farm boy who became a priest and then missionary in Guatemala during the height of its civil war. Tom and Noëlle Crowe share his story of courageous service to his people and Jesus, including giving up his life and becoming the first US-born martyr for the Faith.

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Cinderella Man

James Braddock was a rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches story of the 1920s and 30s, and was heavyweight boxing champion, winning in a stunning upset victory. But as Tom and Noelle Crowe tell us, he was also a devoted family man and devout Catholic who never forgot the charity he received at his lowest time of his life.

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Annie Moore and Catholic Immigration

On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore was the first immigrant to pass through the gates of Ellis Island and as Tom and Noelle Crowe tell her story, they also tell the story of Catholic immigration to the US in the late 19th century, including the hopes, the challenges, and the helping hands.

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Frank Capra

You may know his name as director of It’s A Wonderful Life, but as Tom and Noelle Crowe reveal, Frank Capra was a talented Catholic storyteller dedicated to revealing the truths of the Gospel through the cinema and thus created an enduring character that remains part of Christmas traditions today.

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St. Mary’s, Galveston

St. Mary Cathedral in Galveston is the Mother Church of the Catholic Church in Texas. Tom and Noelle Crowe tell the story of St. Mary’s and of Catholics in Galveston, who endured together through rapid growth and upheaval, fatal epidemics, and devastating storms.

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Fr. Leo Heinrichs, OFM

Fr. Leo Heinrichs was a Franciscan martyred during Mass in his Colorado parish in 1908. Tom and Noëlle Crowe reveal the story of this humble German friar who was slain by an anti-Catholic anarchist during Holy Communion and at the feet of a statue of Our Lady, where he had said he would choose to die.

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William Grace

William Grace was an Irish immigrant to the US, founder of a successful company that remains to this day, a generous philanthropist, and first Catholic mayor of New York City. Tom and Noelle Crowe explore how Grace stood up to political corruption and worked to make a better life for the people of his businesses and city.

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