The morning after Barack Obama became the first African-American ever elected president of the United States, Skipp Sanders and fellow black Catholics in Baltimore rejoiced.Read More
BLUEFIELDS, Nicaragua – Thousands of people living in Nicaragua’s remote northeast lost everything to the winds of Hurricane Felix, but a bishop in the affected area said the church would accompany them as they rebuild. “The winds and flooding have destroyed a lot. People will have to start with nothing. And since flooding has destroyed...Read More
Spiritual directors and social scientists sometimes summarize all human behavior under the three wants: wanting approval, wanting control and wanting to be safe. Most of our efforts on the ego level are seeking to attain one of these three wants.Read More
While supporters can scarcely contain their euphoria over Sen. Barack Obama’s historic win of the U.S. presidency – the first for a black man – I am still stuck chewing on the fact that Obama was a major political party’s nominee for president in the first place, let alone the victor in the 2008 epic...Read More
PITTSBURGH – At age 95, Joseph Martinelli is a regular at daily Mass at St. Colman Parish in Turtle Creek. In the parish bulletin he’s listed as pastoral assistant, just hinting at the many roles he fills.Read More
A simple soup bowl – and the person who donates or buys it – can alleviate hunger. Or it can remain empty, as do the stomachs of too many people right here in Baltimore.Read More
VATICAN CITY – The death of a loved one brings pain and sadness, but Christians believe their loved ones will have eternal life in Jesus Christ and that they will be united again with them in heaven, Pope Benedict XVI said.Read More
WASHINGTON – The number of Americans living in poverty went down slightly last year, according to the Census Bureau’s annual report, but the number of uninsured Americans rose a bit.Read More
ANNAPOLIS – Karen Wingard had never lobbied her lawmakers before, but hearing that Maryland was on the verge of legalizing same-sex marriage provoked her.Read More
VATICAN CITY – For the first time in a decade, summer tourists could make their way down steep stone steps deep into the dark, dank interior of a papal fortress and crawl into prison cells that housed countless common criminals as well as Rome’s errant elite. The 1,900-year-old Castel Sant’Angelo, which stands near the Tiber...Read More
VATICAN CITY – Eighty years ago, a persistent pope and a scientific pioneer teamed up to create Vatican Radio, launching an evangelization tool that reached virtually every corner of the globe.Read More