Archbishop William E. Lori on April 16 urged civility and prayer following recent public exchanges between the U.S. president and Pope Leo XIV, warning that harsh rhetoric risks deepening divisions and undermining the common good.

Across the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Catholics are finding creative ways to care for God’s creation, transforming parish grounds, churchyards and personal backyards into vibrant, life-giving spaces.

A memorial service for Xaverian Brother Charles (Dean) Warthen will be offered April 18 at 11 a.m. at the Mount St. Joseph High School Chapel in Irvington. His funeral Mass was previously offered in Virginia Beach, Va. Brother Charles died March 16. He was 92.

School leadership announced April 13 that St. Michael-St. Clement School in Overlea, which serves preschool through eighth grade, will not reopen in the fall for the 2026-27 academic year.

Visitors to the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, don’t even have to go inside the basilica to be inspired. The exterior of the basilica itself is a “Bible in stone in the facades,” according to Mauricio Cortés Sierra, the lead architect for the basilica’s Tower of Christ that was completed earlier this year.

Our God is a merciful God, and that is ever-present especially in the sacrament of reconciliation or confession. Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talked with Father Michael DeAscanis, pastor of St. Louis Parish in Clarksville and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fulton, about his great joy in bringing people back into communion with God through confession.

For three-quarters of her life, Gabriela Huff, 16, has made her birthday about giving rather than getting. 

Echoing Pope Leo XIV’s repeated calls for an end to the war in the Middle East, Archbishop William E. Lori insisted during an April 11 prayer vigil that peace is more than the absence of conflict.

After President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran earlier this week that threatened a “whole civilization will die” if certain conditions were not met, Archbishop William E. Lori announced he will celebrate a Vigil for Peace at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland April 11 at 6 p.m.

On a warm April 6 evening in Annapolis, Mayra Rodriguez – Planned Parenthood’s 2016 Employee of the Year – stood before several hundred participants at the 47th annual Maryland March for Life with a starkly different message. She urged those gathered to confront what she described as the truth about abortion and its consequences.