For Matt White and Kelsey Jones deciding on which college to attend is just one of the many choices they will have to face in the next four years. The youth group at St. Francis of Assisi, Fulton, is attempting to make the transition from high school to college a little smoother.Read More

VATICAN CITY – On the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, three U.S. Catholic peace activists paid a discreet but significant visit to the Vatican. The officers of the Indiana-based Catholic Peace Fellowship were in Rome in mid-March to promote the issue of conscientious objection to war. They didn’t know what kind of reception...Read More

PHOENIX – Nearly two years after parishes in the Phoenix Diocese were asked to restore the order of the sacraments of initiation and begin confirming third-graders before they receive the Eucharist, students, families and parish leaders are still adjusting. Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said the restored order “has gone remarkably well,” thanks to everyone...Read More

Philip J. Forte will step down at the end of the current school year as principal of The Cardinal Gibbons School in Baltimore to take on the newly created position of director of Lasallian mission. The school has begun a search for a new principal. Brother Kevin Strong, F.S.C., president of the all-boys middle and...Read More

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo urged Zimbabweans to continue their protests against government oppression and said he was willing to risk his life by leading them. “We must be ready to stand, even in front of blazing guns,” Archbishop Ncube said at a March 22 news conference in the capital, Harare. “I...Read More

VATICAN CITY – Church leaders, along with the World Health Organization, have expressed concern over the increased rates of drug-resistant tuberculosis worldwide. Pope Benedict XVI, speaking at his general audience March 21, said the latest reports show that more work is still needed to effectively treat those who suffer from the disease. World Tuberculosis Day,...Read More

WASHINGTON – In a spirited exchange with victims of child sex abuse, the head of the U.S. bishops’ child protection committee said March 20 that bishops must work together to prevent cover-ups of clergy child sex abuse. Cover-ups cannot be condoned and several bishops and priests have resigned over cover-ups, some after being told to...Read More

ST. PAUL. Minn. – Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis said he barred celebration of Mass at a national meeting on homosexuality and Catholicism because the sponsoring organization dissents from aspects of church teaching. People with homosexual orientation “are children of God, not outcasts,” but the truths of the Catholic Church need to be...Read More