W. King Pound, a parishioner of St. William of York in Baltimore who obtained national ads for Catholic newspapers and magazines during most of his 57-year career in advertising, died May 8 at his home in Baltimore. He was 82. A memorial service was to take place May 15 at Loudon Park cemetery in Baltimore,...Read More

PARIS – When Nicolas Sarkozy is inaugurated as the president of France May 16, Catholics in the country will have some reasons to celebrate and some reasons to be wary. Sarkozy, the 52-year-old head of the Union for a Popular Movement political party, defeated Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal in the French elections May 6,...Read More

VATICAN CITY – If the world is to help stop the spread of nuclear weapons, nations must take positive steps toward nuclear disarmament, a Vatican official said. Nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation “are interdependent and mutually reinforcing,” said Monsignor Michael W. Banach, the Vatican’s representative to the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization....Read More

WASHINGTON – The International Executive Committee of Amnesty International has declared that a woman should have full, legal access to abortion in cases of rape or incest or if her life or health is at grave risk. The new policy calls for eliminating criminal penalties for anyone who provides an abortion or obtains one. Last...Read More

HERODIUM, West Bank – After three and a half decades of scouring this dusty, heat-scorched mountainside, Israeli archaeologists said they have finally found the elusive tomb of King Herod the Great. The location and unique nature of the finds as well as the historical record leave no doubt that the finds are the remains of...Read More

WASHINGTON – With immediate plans to shelter families in Los Angeles, New York and San Diego, an interfaith coalition calling itself the New Sanctuary Movement announced plans to try to protect families from deportation in churches and other faith-affiliated places around the country. Following the example of the 1980s church-based network that sheltered Central American...Read More

LONDON – Church leaders in the United Kingdom acknowledged the ups and downs of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decade in office. While they commended Blair for helping to secure peace in Northern Ireland, church leaders also raised questions over the wisdom of taking Great Britain to war in Iraq. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster,...Read More

More than 200 religious education directors, catechists and priests filled the meeting room at St. John the Evangelist, Columbia, May 9 for an all day Bishop’s Summit on Confirmation, sponsored by the Division of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. “This is an opportunity to encourage and increase enthusiasm for confirmation,” said Scott Miller, coordinator of...Read More