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Identity theft is a problem that affects many Americans, including the 50-plus crowd. According to a 2006 press release from the Department of Justice, about 3.6 million households in the U.S. learned that had been victims of identity theft during a six-month period in 2004.

Veterans and their spouses may qualify for a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pension when “aid and assistance” is needed with assisted living, day care, home care or nursing home care.

When parishioners contribute to the second collection in churches throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore Sept. 1-2, their money will go to the Peter’s Pence Collection – a fund that enables Pope Benedict XVI to quickly provide aid when disaster strikes.

In response to the letter, “Churchgoers should give respect to God,” (CR, Aug. 16), the letter writer was critical of those who come to church in less than their “Sunday best.”

The three Catholic colleges in the Archdiocese of Baltimore were ranked among the region’s best colleges in U.S. News and World Report’s annual college rankings.

HONG KONG – Chinese officials have arrested a bishop who is not registered with the government and have been pressuring other unregistered bishops and priests, sources told the Asian church news agency UCA News.

The vaults at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg will be opened this week and the historic chalices used at Mass will be brought out in honor of the school’s 200th anniversary. The Mount was founded in 1808 by French émigré priest Father John DuBois who picked Emmitsburg as his location for a Catholic university and seminary.

VATICAN CITY – Accusing the Vatican of manipulating entries on Wikipedia, a Web site billed as an encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to or edit, “lacks any seriousness and any logic,” the Vatican spokesman said.

WASHINGTON – Two years after Hurricane Katrina, Catholic schools and colleges in the Gulf Coast region are recovering, but enrollment figures have still not been restored to what they were prior to the storm. At Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, which was severely damaged by floodwaters from the breached levees following Katrina, school officials anticipate for the 2007-08 school year an overall enrollment of 3,100 students, including students in the College of Pharmacy and graduate students.

DILI, East Timor – Officials of the Diocese of Baucau have expressed dismay over the rape of girls at a convent and the burning of church property following the announcement of the appointment of East Timor’s new prime minister. Father Francisco Pinheiro da Silva, vicar general of the Baucau Diocese, told the Asian church news agency UCA News that unidentified men raped about nine girls – one of them only 8 years old and the others 15-17 – at around 2 a.m. Aug. 10 in the Canossian convent in Baucau.

My family and I were appalled by the offensive cartoon (CR, July 26).