As the small jet carrying 10-year-old Xavia Pirozzi’s new heart approached Philadelphia International Airport the evening of Jan. 5, there was a 20 percent chance the aircraft would not be able to land in the dense fog. Inside the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Xavia’s parents, Nicolle Borys-Pirozzi and Ralph Pirozzi, waited anxiously, knowing the fog...Read More
There’s an old saying that has always been a favorite of mine. It goes: “It’s too bad we didn’t get the other fellow’s problems. We all know what he should do!”Read More
BOSTON – Catholics should build networks of reconciliation to nurture and support one another, U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, head of the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary, said during a visit to Boston. The cardinal, a former auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, spoke about penance and reconciliation at St. John’s Seminary, addressing lay people Feb. 3 and priests...Read More
WASHINGTON – Two U.S. senators lauded the work of people in Catholic social ministry and asked for their continued support in working to improve the lot of the poor. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., spoke separately Feb. 13 to the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, as people affiliated with parish, diocesan,...Read More
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti urgently needs a Marshall Plan-style project with U.S. and European backing if the poverty-ridden country is to ever recover from the massive Jan. 12 earthquake, said the vicar general of the Salesians.Read More
What a blessing young Theresa Hanntz of Metuchen, N.J., is to the prolife movement (CR, Feb. 8). However, it is not surprising to hear of the controversy her ideas created with Girl Scouts.Read More
One’s relationship with a school evokes visceral emotions and memories of our youth that others do not. I can only imagine the response of those families immediately involved in this (consolidations) decision (CR, March 4). However, I do appreciate the circumstance that prompted the months-long study of the feasibility of maintaining the archdiocesan schools and...Read More
WASHINGTON – The last prolife bill to be considered by the 109th Congress became one of the first introduced in the 110th Congress when Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., reintroduced the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act. The legislation, which died in the House of Representatives Dec. 6 when it failed to receive the two-thirds majority needed...Read More
The recent article, "Death penalty ban gains momentum" (CR, Feb. 1), states that Sen. Lisa Gladden and Del. Sandy Rosenberg, Democrats, introduced legislation which would change the death penalty to life without parole. As a pro-lifer, that is certainly something I support.Read More
Two months after the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a clinical trial that used adult stem-cell research to reverse sickle cell disease in 90 percent of adult patients, the Maryland Catholic Conference is urging state lawmakers to designate money for similar research in Maryland.Read More