VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican and the Polish bishops are convinced Warsaw's new Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus was not a spy for the secret police under Poland's former communist regime, the Vatican said. "In deciding to nominate the new metropolitan archbishop of Warsaw, the Holy See took into consideration all the circumstances of his life,...Read More

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- The Archdiocese of Portland will not need to sell off parish or school property under terms of a $75 million settlement between the archdiocese and almost 150 sex abuse claimants. The more than 100-page settlement plan was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Portland Dec. 18, a week after U.S. District...Read More

Imagine living away from family and friends for months, facing isolation, depression, and loneliness while working backbreaking, sometimes 24-hour shifts on a container ship in foreign ports; sometimes with insufficient food, nothing to foster spirituality, delayed paychecks, meager entertainment and limited recreational time. Such is the reality for some merchant marines who labor intensively on...Read More

When approaching the front of Rita Martin’s Randallstown home, one can’t help but notice the attention the New All Saints, Liberty Heights, parishioner has given to the colorful Christmas decorations illuminating the house. But it’s the aroma of baking rum cakes that really lets new arrivers know the spirit of the holidays is alive and...Read More

A Baltimore-based Jewish foundation is pledging $3.5 million to Baltimore City Catholic schools in an effort to boost enrollment and attract even more financial support for urban-based Catholic education. In a Dec. 14 event at the Catholic Center in Baltimore, Cardinal William H. Keeler and Donn Weinberg of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation announced...Read More

After completing the ultimate season in 2005, with a 21-1 overall record, a Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland B Conference title, and a B Conference Prep State title, St. Mary’s, Annapolis, wrestling program has their work cut out for them. Attempting to fill 14 weight classes with a 22-man roster often has head coach...Read More

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (CNS) -- Loretto Sister Jeannine Gramick has been honored as a laureate of the 2006 Mother Teresa Awards, sponsored by the St. Bernadette Institute of Sacred Art in Albuquerque. The award, presented in November in Los Angeles, acknowledges Sister Jeannine's "role as American human rights activist, ministering to Catholic gays and lesbians," according...Read More

When Peter O’Malley walked into Donna’s Café & Coffee Bar in Mount Vernon on a recent afternoon, the staff was immediately thunderstruck by the 36-year-old’s startling resemblance to his brother, Gov.-elect Martin O’Malley. The Mount Washington resident and Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland, parishioner and the 43-year-old future governor share the same megawatt smile....Read More