Deacon Richard Koppes, who served the diocese for more than 26 years, died on September 9, 2025. He was 79 years old. 

Bishop Rey Bersabal will preside at a funeral mass on Friday, October 3, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. at St. Anthony Parish, 660 Florin Rd Sacramento, CA 95831.

Richard Koppes, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin, and dear friend to many was born on August 20, 1946, in Norfolk, Virginia to his loving parents, William and Mary Ann Koppes, Rich grew up in Lakewood, California and for the past 53 years has made Sacramento his home.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The greatest risk in life is to waste it by not seeking to follow God's plan, Pope Leo XIV said, proclaiming two new saints -- two young laymen of the 20th and 21st centuries.

"Sts. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upward and make them masterpieces," the pope said Sept. 7.

"The simple but winning formula of their holiness," he said, is accessible to everyone at any time. "They encourage us with their words: 'Not I, but God,' as Carlo used to say. And Pier Giorgio: 'If you have God at the center of all your actions, then you will reach the end.'" 

More than 80,000 people gather in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the canonization Mass of Sts. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis celebrated by Pope Leo XIV Sept. 7, 2025.

The September-October 2025 issue of Catholic Herald magazine has been published. The theme for this issue is building marriages that survive. The digital edition of the magazine is available at https://catholicmagazines.org/magazine-archive/catholic-herald/sac0925