LORETTO, Pa. – The sainthood cause for the second priest ordained in the United States, a Russian prince who became known as the “apostle of the Alleghenies,” has been initiated by the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. Bishop Joseph V. Adamec of Altoona-Johnstown held the opening session of the diocesan inquiry for the canonization cause of Servant...Read More

NEW ORLEANS – More than 500 students from Jesuit colleges, universities and high schools gathered in New Orleans March 9-11 to discuss racism and poverty and engage in spring-break service work. They were among the approximately 2,000 Jesuit-affiliated students who were to descend on New Orleans in a 10-day period to aid in the city’s...Read More

SAN ANTONIO – The biggest city in the world to be named for St. Anthony of Padua welcomed a relic of the saint to its San Fernando Cathedral for the first time March 3-4. The event marked the close of the jubilee year proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI to mark the 275th anniversary of the...Read More

One may wonder why the sacrament of baptism welcomes an individual into the church as an infant when the other sacraments of initiation, first Communion and confirmation, occur when the person is aware of what is happening. “The Catholic Church believes that the child receives grace at baptism,” said Father Leo E. Patalinghug, associate pastor...Read More

WASHINGTON – Pope Benedict XVI’s post-synodal exhortation on the Eucharist reminds Catholics that “the Eucharist is a mystery to be believed and to be celebrated and to be lived,” said Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl, one of four representatives of the U.S. bishops at the 2005 world Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. “He (the...Read More

Marianne Seibel always knew the last show she ever did at St. Agnes School, Catonsville, would be “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Hans Christian Andersen. After 14 years of rehearsing with young actors, the Sacred Heart, Glyndon, parishioner is closing the curtain on her directing. The final play will be performed April 2-3 at St....Read More

Members of Baltimore’s Hispanic community will honor the late Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of San Salvador in El Salvador with a procession and Mass in Fells Point March 24 on the 27th anniversary of his assassination. An outspoken critic of human rights abuses by the Salvadoran military who was murdered while celebrating Mass, Archbishop Romero...Read More

UPDATED WASHINGTON – In a sharply worded letter to his religious superior, Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino said that a Vatican document criticizing his work is an effort “to put an end to the theology of liberation.” Father Sobrino defended his theology and said that there is an a priori attitude among many Vatican officials and...Read More