JOLIET, Ill. – In keeping with the springtime theme that celebrates the wealth of new life found throughout nature – blooming flowers, budding trees and newborn bunnies – the pro-life ministry at St. Patrick Parish in Joliet fits right in. For the fifth year in a row, St. Patrick Parish entered a respect-life float in...Read More

VATICAN CITY – It’s not every day a person gets a call from the Vatican, and most people would be bowled over when it happens. The late Mario Luzi, who as a prolific Italian poet shouldn’t have been at a loss for words, was “flabbergasted” when the Vatican called him up saying Pope John Paul...Read More

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI encouraged today’s priests to be inspired by Christ’s sacrifice and love for others as they face their “tremendously heavy” burden of pastoral responsibilities. The pope made the comments April 5 at a chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, where he led more than 1,000 priests and bishops in a...Read More

PERTH, Australia – The Catholic doctor who with his wife pioneered a revolutionary new church-backed method for couples to avoid or achieve conception died April 1 at a retirement home in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. No cause of death was given for Dr. John Billings, who was 89.Read More

The Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat House, Sparks, was awarded $7,500 from the Koch Foundation in Florida to support 60 confirmation retreats for parish religious education programs. In turn, the retreat house awarded 20 retreats (an overnight stay and two meals) each to three parishes demonstrating a financial need: Our Lady of Hope, Dundalk; St. Bernardine, Baltimore;...Read More

In the bitter cold, Charlie Fink and volunteers from the South County Faith Network built a large ramp for an elderly man who was having trouble getting in and out of his house. About three years ago Father Mark Logue, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, Owensville, asked Mr. Fink, a retired nuclear engineer and...Read More

Chris Cook’s grandfather and uncle both thought about becoming priests. Each joined the seminary before falling in love and getting married. Now at the age of 13, Chris feels a calling to the priesthood and he thinks the third time could be a charm.Read More

Third-grade teacher aide and lunchroom monitor Maureen Bodensteiner can still do splits and cartwheels, talents leftover from her days as a cheerleading squad captain. Wearing a 1960’s flip-styled hair and sporting pom-poms, she played cheerleader along with 11 other teachers during the first annual Resurrection/St. Paul School, Ellicott City, student and faculty/staff basketball game held...Read More