For priests throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore, hearing confessions for the sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation is one of the most important responsibilities of their ministries.

When Bishop Denis J. Madden served as associate secretary general of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in the Holy Land, he met with Pope John Paul II at least twice a year. Working on behalf of the Holy See, the association built religious and social service institutions and fostered interfaith communication.

As Ms. Mason stood in the former sanctuary not far from where the Nativity window once served as a Christmas beacon of hope, an icy wind whipped through what remains of the church. There is no roof. It was lost in the fire, along with the steeple.

Ms. Gietka is also mulling over the idea of buying commercial time during the Super Bowl to air a prolife message into millions of homes. She does have the money required for such an ad, $76 million in lottery winnings after taxes.

Father John Bauer was looking for a cold drink on a hot day at the ballpark when God threw him a curveball.

A well-known comic who is frequently heard on WIYY 98 Rock in Baltimore, the 1988 graduate of Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore, appears at the Comedy Factory Outlet and local pubs.

Ever since Matt passed his flight test and became Maryland’s youngest hot air balloon pilot on August 24, the nascent aviator has been on cloud nine. Floating on the winds is all he’s wanted to do since he took his first ride at age 6 when his father put him in a hot air balloon at the annual Preakness celebration.

When a doctor told Judy Giangrandi that her 6-year-old son Steven had a 50 percent chance of surviving Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Mrs. Giangrandi wasn’t at all satisfied.

A single woman who graduated from Holy Rosary Elementary School and who had once considered becoming a School Sister of Notre Dame while she attended high school at the Villa Regina Academy in Baltimore, Ms. Gietka said one of her top priorities now is to get to work on her musical.

“Bullets are so terrible now,” said Father Erestain, a lieutenant commander and the only Catholic priest aboard the Comfort as it cruised the Persian Gulf throughout the war. “They come in and they rip the body right through,” he explained, slowly trailing a finger along the length of his abdomen to show the power of the weapons.