Mass ends with the Concluding Rites, which consists of announcements, the priest’s greeting and blessing, the dismissal, and the kissing of the altar by the priest. These are not merely incidentals that can be ignored. They are an important part of the transition from the Mass back into our lives.Read More

Stopping short of a merger, St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore and St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson are joining forces in a new strategic alliance hospital leaders say will improve quality and increase access to medical care in the Baltimore area and beyond. The partnership, called “Mission Health Partners,” will initially be made up of...Read More

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- An Italian cardinal and a Muslim scholar from India tried to answer a question that has plagued humanity throughout history: "Why are we here?" Cardinal Angelo Scola, the patriarch of Venice known for his lengthy texts and theological passion, shared Christian thinking on creation, humanity, freedom and finite existence. Muzammil Siddiqi, former...Read More

ARLINGTON, Va. – Two members of the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia remained in critical condition Aug. 4 following an accident that killed another member of their religious community.Read More

LONDON – A group of traditionalist Anglican bishops has admitted that Anglo-Catholic clergy are sharply divided over how to respond to the ordination of women as bishops.Read More

Idalia Peraza should not have lived past the age of 20. Over the last 36 years Ms. Peraza, a developmentally disabled woman from Honduras, has been suffering from a common congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot. When Ms. Peraza was born she had a hole in her heart causing her to literally turn blue...Read More

When Muriel Johnson started her Why Catholic? group at St. Cecilia, Baltimore, she had 12 people attending. The program quickly expanded, and eventually Mrs. Johnson ran out of materials for all of the people gathering on Sunday mornings before church. She said her group used the African American and Archdiocesan versions of Why Catholic? and...Read More

NOGALES, Mexico – Victor Hernandez Martinez, a blacksmith with his own business near Seattle, was on his third day at the “Centro para Atenci›n a los Migrantes Deportados,” the Center to Help Deported Migrants, a few hundred yards inside the Mexican border from Arizona.Read More