Nathaniel, now 13, will be confirmed by Bishop Mark E. Brennan April 30, right on schedule with his peers – and in the same month dedicated to National Autism Awareness.

The coaches and presidents from Calvert Hall College High School and Loyola Blakefield echoed the point: the Turkey Bowl is about more than football.

A Ministry Enrichment Gathering, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Office of Divine Worship and facilitated by Liturgy Training Publications of Chicago, attracted participants from approximately 26 parishes March 30.

Sponsored by the Faith and Abilities ministry and supported by additional parish groups, the day brings together those who care for family members with illness or disability.

On Maryland Day, a treasured artifact of early U.S. Catholic history – a 17th century iron cross believed to have been hammered together by a blacksmith on board either the Ark or the Dove – returned to St. Clement’s Island in Southern Maryland.

Norbertine Father Brian A. Zielinski, who served as pastor of Our Lady, Queen of Peace in Middle River and St. Thomas More in Baltimore, died March 24 at age 78.

The proposed closure of three Western Maryland churches, all part of Our Lady of the Mountains Parish in Cumberland, was announced at Masses over the weekend of March 23-24.

Archbishop William E. Lori commended the Maryland State Senate for defeating what he called a “deeply-flawed” bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Maryland.

The Orchestre d’Harmonie de Saint-Omer will present a concert April 12, 7 p.m., at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore to celebrate 300 years of Franco-American cooperation and history.

Twenty-four young men, including three who intend to enter seminary in the fall, were among the inaugural recipients of the Monsignor Valenzano Service Award March 24.