Jumping into parish life at Ss. Philip and James in Baltimore helped convince Father Joseph Cosgrove he might be called to the priesthood.

The Catholic Review received several top honors for news writing, photography, page design and advertising from the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association at the regional press association’s annual awards convocation, April 26-27 in Ellicott City. The Catholic Review competed in a division with non-daily newspapers with a circulation of 20,000 or more.

Sixty-three graduating seniors representing 21 Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore were recognized as “distinctive scholars” for their academic excellence and leadership. The awards were presented April 24 during convocation at Towson Catholic High School. Three students from each school received the award. Bishop W. Francis Malooly, western vicar, led a vespers service at the event and Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder, pastor of Immaculate Conception in Towson, served as emcee at the event.

A new project at St. Athanasius, Curtis Bay, is expected to bring a little more green to the planet, parish grounds and church coffers. With the delivery of a green and orange dumpster in the St. Athanasius parking lot last month, parishioners have been eagerly disposing their discarded paper products by the ton in a recycling effort they hope will create a more vibrant environment locally and globally.

“I was glad to be at a Catholic school where Christ was at the center,” he said. “The students were incredibly resilient. It was really clear that their faith in Christ was the foundation for everything.”

As he sits on the blue couch in his Walkersville home watching “Jeopardy! America’s favorite quiz show,” Scott Weiss knows most of the answers. “Being in front of everyone on the planet on TV on the show – that’s a different kind of thing!” said the assistant professor in the department of mathematics and computer science at Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, who was a recent contestant on “Jeopardy!” The 36-year-old garnered winnings of $63,000 over four rounds.

Sen. Alex X. Mooney knows he’s the man of the hour in the death penalty debate.

The Eucharist was desecrated at St. Anthony Shrine in Emmitsburg after a frustrated thief or thieves apparently exacted revenge for failing to open a safe and poor box, according to Sister Marietta Culhane, O.S.F., temporary pastoral life director of St. Anthony and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Thurmont.

In an unusual move that highlights the priority Maryland’s bishops have placed on abolishing the death penalty, Bishop Denis J. Madden, urban vicar, testified in person during Feb. 21 committee hearings on a bill that would replace the death penalty with life sentences without parole.

Despite the strong temptation to despair, Mr. Bloodsworth said he decided he would fight to prove his innocence. He believes God sustained him through nearly nine years of taxing prison life, sending him otherworldly consolations and leading him into the Catholic Church.