VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI announced that he planned to attend World Youth Day celebrations in Australia in July 2008, and he encouraged young people to prepare for “this marvelous celebration of the faith.” Speaking at the end of his general audience July 4, the pope confirmed hopes that he would make the 10,000-mile...Read More

NEWTON, Mass. – Like Catholic educators, Chris Hansen of the “To Catch a Predator” segments on “Dateline NBC” seeks to inform young people. Raising awareness and debunking myths about sexual predators have been the aims of the 11 reports he has worked on thus far, he said.Read More

Sarah’s Hope Outreach Center, a homeless shelter in Rosedale operated by St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore, has expanded its services to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Read More

As 8-year-old Darrell Truesdale scampers down the corridors of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore on a recent summer morning, the inner-city youth prepares for a lesson about Mahatma Gandhi, the slain political and spiritual leader of India who advocated nonviolent solutions. The session is part of a forceful curriculum at the school’s summer-long Peace Camp,...Read More

On a warm afternoon in mid-June, Mary Ella Marion sat in her office at Mercy High School, Baltimore, flanked by two of her three children, Maggie, a rising junior at Mercy, and Matt, a recent graduate from Salisbury University. They were wrapping up a morning session from the weeklong Mercy Magic Summer Basketball Camp for...Read More

WASHINGTON – Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver urged those gathered at the Tekakwitha Conference Mass June 30 in Washington to follow in the footsteps of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and follow Jesus Christ as she did.Read More

SYDNEY, Australia – Hundreds of youth, clergy and laity watched the World Youth Day cross and icon of Mary and Jesus pass from young New Zealanders to youth representatives from every Australian diocese.Read More

Parish leaders at St. Paul in Ellicott City have completed a master plan that calls for the demolition of a duplex on parish grounds and replacing it with a two-story parish center. As part of the master plan, the entrance on College Avenue will be widened to allow for safer ingress and egress.Read More