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NANJING, China (CNS) — About two dozen students clad in red sweat suits danced around the small room, twirling brightly colored fans in rhythm with the music. The students ranged in age from 13 to 43, but their mental capacity did not surpass age 12. Thirty-two students attend the Ark-Nanjing Special Education Center, run by the Nanjing Diocese with support from the local government; about 10 students live at the center and go home every other weekend.

FUSHUN, China (CNS) — Ninety-year-old Sister Peter has worked in a bus factory, built houses, reinforced river embankments and spent time in jail and a mental institution. Bishop Pius Jin Peixian of Liaoning, 83, spent 10 years in prison and later was sent to a work farm. In 1966, at age 19, Cecilia Tao Beiling was sent to a work farm “for re-education,” because she was Catholic. She spent eight years and four months there. Today, she is the deputy chief editor of the Shanghai Diocese’s Guang Qi Research Center.

BEIJING (CNS) — As China’s veteran bishops die, the government appears to be stepping up pressure on the new generation of church leaders. Many of the older bishops spent time in prison during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution and found the strength to resist government pressures once China began allowing Catholics to practice their faith in the early 1980s, said people familiar with the situation of the Catholic Church in China.

BEIJING (CNS) — Sometime after Easter, Pope Benedict XVI will issue a letter to Chinese Catholics that many hope will call for reconciliation and unity between those who have registered with the government and those who have not registered. In some places in China, that might cause surprise — but for different reasons in different areas. Some priests and nuns reported not even knowing there was more than one church community as they grew up.

Dr. Diane Dippold MacIntosh wanted to give something back to her high school because, she said, it gave so much to her. That’s the reason she funded a collection of books and library materials for the Mother Philemon Doyle Library in Notre Dame Preparatory School, Towson. The collection by, for, and about women consists of titles of biographies of famous women, studies of 18th century women in England, famous women scientists, and women in the Catholic church.

WASHINGTON – Results of a survey released April 30 show that the average age of the 475 priests expected to be ordained in the United States this year is 35 and one-third of this year’s new priests were born in another country, primarily Vietnam, Mexico, Poland or the Philippines. The national study of the ordination class of 2007 also shows that the men are well educated. More than six in 10 completed college before entering the seminary and some have advanced degrees in law, medicine and education.

LONDON – Catholic bishops from four continents are appealing to leaders of the world’s richest countries to honor their commitments to combat extreme poverty. The eight church leaders met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair April 30 and were scheduled to meet with government leaders in Germany and Italy before meeting with Pope Benedict XVI.

In honor of National Stroke Awareness month, St. Agnes, Baltimore, will host a free seminar, “new Rehabilitation Advances in the Treatment of Stroke,” May 15.

Mary Regina Bolgiano, a student at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson, was the grand-prize winner of Safeway’s Lucerne® Art of Diary™ “Cows & History” art contest. A junior from Lutherville, Mary was chosen from a pool of 30 national finalists from 11 states who were vying for the $22,000 grand prize which includes a $20,000 donation to her school, along with $1,000 in prize money each to her and her art instructor, Anne Walker. Her submission, “Revol-Moo-Tion,” incorporated historic images of Paul Revere’s historic ride (in this case, on a cow) and George Washington crossing the Delaware River, which is depicted as a river of ice cream. A ceramic cow featuring her design is currently on display at Safeway’s store at 10335 Reisterstown Rd. in Owings Mills, where it will remain until Monday, May 7.