PHOENIX – Nearly two years after parishes in the Phoenix Diocese were asked to restore the order of the sacraments of initiation and begin confirming third-graders before they receive the Eucharist, students, families and parish leaders are still adjusting. Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said the restored order “has gone remarkably well,” thanks to everyone...Read More

LONDON – Spokesmen for the Vatican and the Catholic Church in England worked to downplay remarks by a former Vatican official who compared Britain to a “Third World country” in the grip of a “new and aggressive atheism.”Read More

BOULDER, Colo. – When Boulder County Sheriff deputies and fire officials appeared on Michelle Murphy-Pauletto’s doorstep to tell her family to evacuate their home near Fourmile Canyon, she and her husband made one last request of their three children after most of the rushed packing was done.Read More

ROME – Pope Benedict XVI visited a Rome juvenile detention center and told young people that true happiness involves discipline as well as freedom. The pope celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Casal del Marmo Prison for Minors March 18, then met with the 49 young detainees in a gym. Greeting them individually, he...Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – “It is a mistake to judge Islam on the basis of terrorists, just as it is (unfair) to judge Christianity from the Crusades,” an Islamic scholar told a San Francisco audience. Mona Siddiqui, founder and director of the Center for the Study of Islam at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, made...Read More

As part of the global nursing program at College of Notre Dame of Maryland, 15 registered nurses will bring their medical expertise to Tanzania Oct. 5-19 – providing hands-on assistance while learning about key health care concerns in the East African nation.Read More

When the Baltimore Ravens reached Super Bowl XXXV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Dave Wohlfort was there.Read More

Anyone looking for a quick way to send a card for the Lenten season online should check out the Web site of the Redemptorists of the Denver Province. The site, www.redemptorists-denver.org, now offers electronic cards, called e-cards, for the Lenten season, Easter and Good Friday. There are also cards for respect for life, birthdays, Mother’s...Read More