When third-grader Tabitha Gregory considered selections for a biography project at Mother Seton School, Emmitsburg, her mother helped her decide on first lady Laura Bush. Tabitha said she found it interesting that the first lady grew up in Texas, worked at a library, liked reading, attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II, and has...Read More

WASHINGTON – Hanley Denning, known in Guatemala as “the angel of the garbage dump” because she helped poor children escape garbage picking as a livelihood, died in a car crash in Guatemala. Five days after her Jan. 18 death at age 36, a documentary featuring Ms. Denning was nominated for an Oscar. Ms. Denning died...Read More

LIGONIER, Pa. – While sixth-grader Chad Scanlon has been battling a cancerous brain tumor he has kept his focus on other things, including collecting postcards from all 50 states and every country around the world. The student at Holy Trinity School in Ligonier became intrigued with atlases and geography, so much so that he created...Read More

BEIRUT, Lebanon – When clashes broke out during a nationwide strike in Lebanon, some of the worst fighting rocked Christian areas, where rival factions live cheek by jowl. Some Lebanese Christians support the Syrian-backed Hezbollah movement and its Shiite Muslim allies, whose strike aimed to topple the country’s U.S.-supported Cabinet. Others have aligned themselves with...Read More

WASHINGTON – For today’s Catholic schools to thrive, school officials must rethink traditional ways of operating and try innovative approaches, said a report highlighting the current challenges facing Catholic schools. The report also calls on the Catholic community at large to play a key role in restoring its schools. The 32-page report, “Making God Known,...Read More

Seventh grader Cecelia Cellini was concerned with more than playing during recess one weekday afternoon. Instead, she busily collected students’ signatures who were as frustrated as she with the quality of the computers in their school’s computer lab. The result culminated in a “St. John 2007 Calendar” which has raised more than $10,000 to date...Read More

When it comes to the worth of St. Ursula School volunteers, Sister Joan Kelly, S.N.D. de N., says she could never “put a dollar figure on it.” “They help as classroom volunteers, they work in the library, and they work in the lunchroom and schoolyard,” the principal of the Parkville school said. “They assist in...Read More

WASHINGTON – “A true culture of life cannot be built by changing laws alone. We’ve all got to work to change hearts,” President George W. Bush told tens of thousands of participants in the 34th annual March for Life Jan. 22. President Bush spoke by phone at the beginning of a two-hour rally on the...Read More