VATICAN CITY – The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow, died Dec. 5 at his home outside the Russian capital. He was 79.Read More

WASHINGTON – As a Sept. 30 deadline looms for Congress to extend the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and presidential candidates roll out the details of their plans for health care reform, new evidence is emerging that churches play an important role in filling the gaps in the current system.Read More

To make a long story short: a priest of 11 years, I returned to my native Archdiocese of New York in 1976 with a doctorate in moral theology, all the while expecting I would be assigned to the faculty of our Archdiocesan Seminary of St. Joseph, Dunwoodie, in Yonkers. Such was not to be.Read More

WASHINGTON – Relevant Radio, which calls itself the United States’ largest Catholic radio network, is negotiating with the Federal Communications Commission to erase a proposed $4.7 million penalty levied after the network withdrew its bid in an Arizona radio spectrum auction.Read More

WASHINGTON – About the only thing everyone with a stake in it is likely to agree on about the Freedom of Choice Act is that the legislation has languished in Congress for 20 years, only once rising – just barely – above the fate of hundreds of bills that are introduced each session and never...Read More

VATICAN CITY – After a three-day trip to Austria in early September, Pope Benedict XVI is putting away his traveling shoes and settling in for a long fall and winter at the Vatican. The next foreign trip fixed firmly on the pope’s calendar is mid-July of 2008, when he plans to fly to Australia for...Read More

Two evenings of fun, fellowship and blanket-making in the parish center of St. Mark, Catonsville, resulted in sending more than 130 fleece blankets to Soldier’s Angels (www.soldiersangels.org), an organization distributing blankets before Christmas to 180,000 deployed soldiers.Read More

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman, once married to future president Ronald Reagan, joined the Catholic Church as an adult and became a benefactor to several Catholic causes. Ms. Wyman died Sept. 10 at her home in Rancho Mirage. The cause of death was not disclosed. While her age was placed at 90,...Read More