JERUSALEM – Although a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians may not be reached in 2010, Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, head of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, said he believed there would be movement in that direction.Read More

St. Wenceslaus was born in Prague (in what was then Bohemia and is now the Czech Republic) in 907. The duke of Bohemia came to power after his father was killed in a time of backlash against Christianity. St. Wenceslaus fought the backlash through prayer. His brother, Boleslaus, killed him for political reasons Sept. 28,...Read More

St. Margaret of Scotland was born in Hungary circa 1045.The granddaughter of an English king, Margaret, along with her family, was exiled during an invasion of England. Her family ended up in Scotland when their ship crashed there. Scotland’s King Malcolm III helped the family. Margaret married the Scottish king in 1070 and had eight...Read More

The epiphany came around Thanksgiving. Colleen McDowell had reason to take stock. Her 2009 had been buffeted by a bout with cancer that had tested more than her physical health, shaking her independence, her routine and her self-admitted vanity.Read More

WASHINGTON – The debate over health care reform topped the religious news stories of 2009, and Pope Benedict XVI and President Barack Obama were again the top newsmakers, according to the annual poll conducted by Catholic News Service.Read More

Each year on the first Sunday of Advent, Father Jim would celebrate Mass for several families in our neighborhood at one of our homes. The Mass included the blessing of our Advent wreaths and was followed by dinner. Between Mass and dinner, he would regale us with the biography of an obscure saint – we...Read More

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI shares “the outrage, betrayal and shame” felt by Irish Catholics over cases of clerical sexual abuse and the way abuse claims were handled by church leaders, and he plans to write a special pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland, the Vatican said.Read More

As Monsignor Robert A. Armstrong prepares to retire as rector of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien has named a Glen Burnie pastor to succeed him in the high-profile post.Read More