MOSCOW – Harvard University will return a collection of historic bells to the Russian Orthodox Church more than seven decades after they were seized and sold by the regime of Josef Stalin. “These bells are not only a witness, but also a victim of history, a symbol of the independence, greatness and identity of the...Read More

The fire that devastated St. Ann in Grantsville two days before Christmas may have taken the tiny faith community’s church building but it failed to claim the parish’s spirit. Parishioners now worship in the chapel at Newman Funeral Home in Grantsville and the religious education program has adopted a home-based approach under the direction of...Read More

Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, instituted 37 seminarians of the Pontifical North American College in Rome as acolytes during a celebration of the Eucharist on March 11.Read More

JERUSALEM – A Catholic Palestinian legislator praised the new Palestinian Cabinet and said it was likely to succeed. “This is a good start,” said Bernard Sabella, a Fatah member of the Palestinian Parliament. “In effect it is a government which combines the more practical and pragmatic elements of Fatah, the independents and second-rank Hamas” members....Read More

ALLENDALE, N.J. – A New Jersey health care initiative has reached its goal of getting Catholic hospitals in the state to donate umbilical-cord and placenta blood for adult stem-cell research. During a March 9 press conference at the Elie Katz Umbilical Cord Blood Program facility in Allendale, Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark and Father...Read More

When it comes to the role of godparents in a child’s life, Church of the Holy Apostles, Gambrills, pastor Father Jeffrey S. Dauses wants sponsors to heed their lifelong responsibility to be an active and present support in the life of the child. “In the rite of baptism, there’s a question specifically directed toward the...Read More

VATICAN CITY – As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2005, U.S. Cardinal William J. Levada has found that most of his work is behind the scenes. The recent action against Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino was an exception: He was the first theologian to be publicly censured during Cardinal Levada’s...Read More

Over the past two baseball seasons, Calvert Hall College, Towson, has yielded an overall record of 58-9, collared back-to-back conference title championships and developed a system that turns out talented ball players year after year. The man behind the magic is head coach, Lou Eckerl. Eckerl became the first coach to win Maryland Interscholastic Athletic...Read More