Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore condemned "revisionist history" of the Holocaust, the systematic efforts by Nazis during World War II to do away with Jews also known as the Shoah, a Hebrew word meaning devastation or catastrophe. The cardinal took particular exception to a Dec. 11-12 conference in Iran during which speakers "sought to...Read More
A Polish archbishop told a group of nuns to leave their convent after the Vatican expelled them from their order for refusing to accept a new mother superior. "There are no private religious orders in the Catholic Church where everyone can set their own rules," Archbishop Jozef Zycinski of Lublin told Poland's Catholic information agency,...Read More
Maryland Gov.-elect Martin O’Malley heads the list of participants expected at the 14th Annual New Year’s Eve Interfaith Service at St. Ignatius, Baltimore, Dec. 31. The traditional Jewish, Christian and Muslim interfaith service will begin at 8 p.m. with a 30-minute musical program, followed by prayers for blessings in the New Year.Read More
When the Angel Gabriel brought news of an “unexpected pregnancy” to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the young woman responded with a humble “yes” to bringing a new life into the world. In “Welcome the Child,” a newly released Christmas CD that features the music of area parishes, the decision of modern-day women to choose life...Read More
Currently posting a record of 4-2-1, the Archbishop Curley, Baltimore, Friars are turning their ice hockey program around. With only two wins on the books in 2005, the team is beginning to believe in themselves. This recent team confidence played out in a preseason tournament title win in Frederick, Maryland. “I thought they won the...Read More
The small woman wearing layers of clothes, a worn jacket and a ragged knit cap has been homeless for the past five years and has yet to qualify for public assistance to move into a stable living situation. She has slept in shelters, transitional housing and even city public parks, but has found that being...Read More
The archbishop of Denver decried the immigration raids conducted at meatpacking plants in six states Dec. 12 by federal authorities to arrest workers in the country illegally who were suspected of participating in an identity theft scam. "The mass arrest of unauthorized workers in Colorado and across the country this week once again puts a...Read More
On a recent sunny afternoon, the stained glass windows at St. Louis in Clarksville sparkled with a radiance few could have imagined when they stood in their original home at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore. Illuminated by the mid-day sun, brilliant shades of cobalt...Read More
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Leaders of 29 national Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations issued a joint call for the Bush administration and the new Congress to make Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace a top foreign policy priority. Peace is "an essential of faith" in all three religious traditions, they said.Read More
SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- Australian legislators legalized the use of embryonic cloning for research despite objections from Australian Prime Minister John Howard. A Dec. 6 parliamentary vote lifted a four-year ban on human cloning by allowing the cloning of embryos through somatic cell nuclear transfer, commonly called therapeutic cloning.Read More
Raymond A. Grosswirth of Rochester, N.Y., and Dominic Riccio of Newark are the latest married men to be illicitly ordained Catholic priests by excommunicated Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo. Like the married Zambian archbishop who ordained them, the two were automatically excommunicated for participating in an ordination ceremony not sanctioned by the church.Read More
The year 2006 saw an acceleration of Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate, highlighted by publication of the pope's first encyclical, four foreign trips and important appointments at the Vatican and around the world. For what was supposed to be a pared-back papacy, it was a busy 12 months.Read More