News Archives - Page 1611 of 1759 - Archdiocese of Baltimore

Criticism grows over Rhode Island governor’s ‘holiday tree’ label

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A 17-foot Colorado blue spruce is standing tall at the center of controversy in the Rhode Island Statehouse rotunda for what it is being – or more importantly, not being – called.

Black Catholics’ survey finds strong ties, strong engagement in church

WASHINGTON – African-American Catholics are much more engaged in their church on a variety of levels than are white Catholics, concludes the first National Black Catholic Survey.

Religious advocacy measured less in dollars than in effectiveness

WASHINGTON – The degree to which religiously based organizations push for change in Washington will likely always be open to debate and differing interpretations, but the truer measure may be their effectiveness, even in the midst of a cranky Congress dealing with cash-short coffers.

Catholic campaign aims to bring Catholics back to church

ATLANTA – A new advertising campaign aims to bring Catholics back to church with ads airing on major television networks Dec. 16-Jan. 8.

University of Arkansas football player recalled as ‘an amazing soul’

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Catholic community in Little Rock and Fayetteville joined the rest of the state in mourning the death of University of Arkansas football player Garrett Uekman.

Vatican exhibit displays inspirational elements of Gaudi church

VATICAN CITY – Without leaving the Vatican, visitors exiting St. Peter’s Basilica can gain firsthand exposure to another impressive church, Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia.

HHS defends decision on funding trafficking victims program to Congress

WASHINGTON – A U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops program aiding victims of human trafficking was denied funding after its administrators declined to propose alternatives to a government requirement that female victims receive “the full range of legally permissible gynecological and obstetric care,” a Department of Health and Human Services official told a congressional committee.

Feast of Immaculate Conception Dec. 8

Parishes across the Archdiocese of Baltimore will mark the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Masses Dec. 8, a holy day of obligation. The feast celebrates that Mary, by special divine favor in anticipation of her role in salvation, was without sin from the moment she was conceived.

Obama said to seek balance on contraceptive coverage, religious beliefs

WASHINGTON – A White House spokesman said the Obama administration is working to “strike the right balance between expanding coverage of preventive services and respecting religious beliefs” as it decides on a religious exemption to the mandate that all health plans cover contraceptives and sterilizations by Jan. 1, 2013.

CHURCH CHATTER: Hunt Valley parishioner benefits Aquarium

Greg Pierce, a parishioner of the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier in Hunt Valley, produced “Sea Notes,” a music CD that features songs written specifically for the National Aquarium in Baltimore’s exhibit “Jellies Invasion: Oceans Out of Balance.”

Chinese priest ordained coadjutor with approval of Vatican, government

YIBIN, China – With police officers and dogs monitoring the crowd at St. Mary’s Church, Father Peter Luo Xuegang was ordained coadjutor bishop of Yibin Diocese in southwestern China’s Sichuan province.

Youth ‘Focus’ on Vocations

A study conducted in the 1980s indicated that most priests and religious first seriously thought about ministry around the age of 11 and then again in their junior year of high school. Two years after that study, “Focus 11” was born. First instituted in the Archdiocese of Detroit, the program had two components: one aimed...