Senate DREAM Act vote falls short
Oct 25 2007
WASHINGTON – The Senate Oct. 24 fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to bring the DREAM Act to the floor, closing down an attempt to pass even a small piece of immigration legislation that has enjoyed bipartisan support.
Bishop laments decision on contraceptives
Oct 21 2007
PORTLAND, Maine – Bishop Richard J. Malone of Portland criticized an Oct. 17 vote by the Portland School Committee to allow girls as young as 11 years of age at one of its middle schools to obtain birth control at the school’s health center.
Archdiocesan Institute proves moving experience
Oct 15 2007
You gotta move – especially when ValLimar Jansen sings and speaks in a way that gets you on your feet.
Ms. Jansen, the keynote speaker at this year’s Archdiocesan Institute, brought her Broadway-caliber soprano and considerable performing arts experience to the Oct. 13 event.
Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman dies
Sep 12 2007
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman, once married to future president Ronald Reagan, joined the Catholic Church as an adult and became a benefactor to several Catholic causes.
Ms. Wyman died Sept. 10 at her home in Rancho Mirage. The cause of death was not disclosed. While her age was placed at 90, other sources suggested she may have been 93.
“The death of Ms. Wyman marks the loss not only of a great actress, but a great woman of faith and a personal friend,” said a Sept. 10 statement from Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino.
“Her support of the work of the Catholic Church in the Coachella Valley and the Diocese of San Bernardino made possible many wonderful things, including the Blessed Junipero Serra House of Formation,” Bishop Barnes said.
Two ‘freshmen’ from France hope to touch hearts
Sep 08 2007
MONTCLAIR, N.J. – They’ve traveled a great distance to open doors and touch hearts, one person at a time.
Sister Faustine of Jesus and Sister Jeanne Marie, from the Community of the Apostolic Sisters of St. John in Burgundy, France, recently arrived in Montclair to serve as Catholic campus ministers at Montclair State University’s Newman Center.
Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, the archdiocese in which the university is located, invited the sisters to serve in the archdiocese several months ago.
Teaching program is in its second generation
Sep 08 2007
WASHINGTON – The University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education program has been placing college graduates as volunteer teachers in Catholic schools since 1994. That means the current participants were in elementary school when the program started and could have been taught by ACE teachers.
Photographer examines 'Bible Road'
Sep 01 2007
ST. LOUIS – “Bible Road: Signs of Faith in the American Landscape” visually captures what happens when America’s love of commercialism intersects with its deep-rooted Judeo-Christian faith.
Witte’s passion for running takes him around the world
Aug 31 2007
Andy Witte, the head boys cross country and boys and girls track and field coach at Archbishop Spalding High School recently traveled to Africa to cross yet another marathon off his list of “things to do.”
Holy Name members of the year honored at Oriole Park
Aug 27 2007
Before the first pitch was thrown at Oriole Park Aug. 24, a Calvert Hall College High School, Towson, student and a parishioner of St. Joseph, Taneytown, were honored during the Archdiocesan Holy Name Union Baseball Game at Camden Yards.
More young women open to religious life
Aug 23 2007
WASHINGTON – Girls often dream of saying “I do” at the altar to their future spouse.
Katrina Gredona hopes she’ll be saying those words to Jesus as a religious sister.
“When I look at a community of religious women, I see women who contribute fruitfully to the church and to the world in a very special way and in a very essential way, and I think that’s exciting,” said Gredona, a student at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
Ten years ago, Gredona’s interest in religious life would have been unique in comparison with the majority of other Catholic girls, as reports indicated a decline in the number of religious sisters in the United States. But recently campus ministers and the vocations directors of some women’s religious communities have been noticing a new trend of more young women looking into religious life.
Maintenance supervisor cares for his parish like his home
Aug 23 2007
John E. Berg pointed into the distance ahead of him where the “old” cemetery could be seen on the slope of a hill on the 45-acres that encompass the parish of St. Joseph in Fullerton.
“My great-grandparents are buried there,” said St. Joseph’s maintenance supervisor who, together with three full-time staff members, cares for the buildings and grounds of one of the largest parishes in the archdiocese with a membership of some 4,500 households.
In the foreground lies the newer cemetery, and it is there that Mr. Berg’s grandparents and parents are buried.
“And I’ll be buried there too,” he said. “My wife, Lois and I have plots here.”
Peruvian earthquake: scope of damage begins to emerge
Aug 20 2007
LIMA, Peru – When a violent earthquake shook southern Peru in 2001, it jolted the Ica River out of its bed, flooding part of the city of Ica and forcing Celinda Terrones and her children to spend the night on the roof of their house.
When a magnitude 8 quake struck Aug. 15, however, their former refuge turned deadly.
The initial tremor swelled to a rolling shudder, buckling the walls of their adobe dwelling. As Terrones and her family fled, her adult daughter fell while carrying her 5-year-old son. The daughter stumbled and fell in such a way as to try to protect her son, and falling bricks battered her arms.
Then they were in the street, watching as the roof caved in.
“Everyone ran out of their houses screaming and holding their children,” Terrones said. “Our house just collapsed.”
Novak explains his Catholic conversion in new book
Aug 12 2007
WASHINGTON – Syndicated columnist Robert Novak has made a living writing articles containing information from his carefully cultivated sources, and when he first became interested in Catholicism, it was, coincidentally, a former source who aided him in his conversion.
His story about a source turned priest who baptized him, as well as many other stories about his life and his work as a journalist, appear in his new book, “The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington.”
Maryknoll announces student essay contest
Aug 10 2007
Maryknoll announced the sponsorship of the 2007 Maryknoll Student Essay Contest for grades 6-12. Winners will receive nearly $3,000 in scholarship money, as well as coverage in “Maryknoll” magazine and on the Maryknoll Web site www.maryknoll.org/winners.