The September-October 2021 issue of Catholic Herald magazine has been published. The theme for this issue is "Hope through finding the spouse God has chosen for me." The digital edition of the magazine is available at https://www.scd.org/catholic-herald-magazine.

In the cover story of this issue, Juan Carlos and Bridget share "A Pandemic Courtship" as they met online and fell in love. "It was my last month on CatholicMatch," recounts Juan Carlos. "I thought, maybe this is it Lord." The couple were wed earlier this summer at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Sacramento.

On Friday, August 13, 2021, Bishop Jaime Soto issued the following instructions to the priests and deacons of the Diocese of Sacramento regarding religious exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines:

Dear Brothers:

I instruct you not to sign any letter affirming or granting a religious exemption for those who choose not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Convocation of Parish Pastoral Councils continues journey toward collaboration between clergy and laity

As chair of the Diocesan Pastoral Council (DPC), Adam Bowers envisions a significant role for the laity with their pastors in shared responsibility and accountability through developing strong parish pastoral councils.

“The essence of the idea is that all of us are being called by the Church to holiness,” says Adam, who has served on the DPC since 2016 and is a member of Sacred Heart Parish in Gridley for the past 12 years. “As laity, we have a role to play in the Church in pursuit of her mission and we understand very well as Catholics that we belong to a hierarchical structure beginning from the time of the disciples.”