OXFORD, England – Pope Benedict XVI expressed support for an archbishop who resigned because of links to communist-era secret police. “I would like, above all, to offer words of encouragement, inviting you to stride forward with confidence and peace in your heart,” Pope Benedict said in a letter to former Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus. “I...Read More

NAIROBI, Kenya – Three FBI representatives are expected to testify in early March at an inquest into the death of Mill Hill Father John Kaiser, a U.S. missionary who died in Kenya in August 2000. Mbuthi Gathenji, a lawyer representing the Catholic Church and Father Kaiser’s family, said Feb. 21 that the officials were expected...Read More

For months, school children, fellow parents, school and parish staff and parishioners of St. Joseph, Fullerton, have been diligently rooting for the Pirozzi family, specifically Xavia Pirozzi, a St. Joseph fifth grader who received a heart transplant Jan. 6. Through fundraisers, personal assistance, and an online hospital “care page,” love, encouragement, and support have poured...Read More

VATICAN CITY – Continuing an 80-year-old papal tradition, Pope Benedict XVI is canceling regular audiences and clearing his calendar to make a weeklong Lenten retreat. The spiritual exercises not only shut down the normal business of his pontificate, but also place the pope in the unusual position of doing all the listening and none of...Read More

ST. LOUIS – The need for states to help inmates turn their lives around was a central but undisputed part of a case before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis Feb. 13. But the question before the judges, including retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, was...Read More

WASHINGTON – At the end of a Feb. 15-19 meeting in Tanzania, the primates of the world Anglican Communion warned of “fracture” in the U.S. Episcopal Church and urged it to abide by a 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution that defines marriage as heterosexual and rejects the blessing of same-sex unions. They asked the Episcopal Church’s...Read More

When the Catholic Family Network began hosting its Catholic Family Expo 17 years ago, the Woodstock group had a small following of mostly home-school advocates looking to broaden their Catholic horizons. Fast forward to 2007 and the organization is planning to host more than 2,000 Catholics at its four-day expo at the Baltimore Convention Center...Read More

As Frank Kasper watched young people in the Transfiguration Catholic Community, Baltimore, after-school program play a lively game of catch, he knew getting them to concentrate on homework would be challenging. The Transfiguration parishioner, a retired computer programmer from Charles Village, was one of two volunteers who helped the five elementary school-aged children who showed...Read More