Page 1767 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

CHICAGO – Violence can happen anywhere. But when Israel Morales, a neighborhood organizer and parishioner at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish on Chicago’s Southwest Side, was gunned down this summer near the church, community members decided they had to do something. The first thing they did was have a Mass outside, near where Morales was killed. Since then, the parish has had three more street Masses, with another set for Sept. 27, all on blocks where violence has occurred. The first Masses drew 120 to 150 people; one in late August had more than 200 in the congregation.

Sister Mary Camillus Smith, R.S.M.

A funeral Mass for Sister Mary Camillus Smith, R.S.M, was offered Sept. 15 at The Villa in Baltimore. Sister Mary Camillus died Sept. 12. She was 88.

Staying in touch is a healthy habit

Stay in touch with your friends, not just because you like them but because having them correlates with better health.

Mount St. Mary’s partners with Frederick Catholic school

Aspiring teachers from Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg are getting first-hand experience teaching in the Catholic school system thanks to a new partnership between their college and St. John Regional Catholic School in Frederick.

Catholic leaders welcome documents on artificial nutrition

WASHINGTON – Catholic health care and ethical groups thanked the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for clarifying its stand on artificial nutrition and hydration for patients in a persistent vegetative state in a pair of Sept. 14 documents.

Relevant Radio seeks to blunt impact of FCC penalty

WASHINGTON – Relevant Radio, which calls itself the United States’ largest Catholic radio network, is negotiating with the Federal Communications Commission to erase a proposed $4.7 million penalty levied after the network withdrew its bid in an Arizona radio spectrum auction.

Children must be guided early on with God’s law

VATICAN CITY – Young children must be guided from a very early age with moral law so that they will have direction as they weather life’s storms and resist its temptations, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Maryland Court rules in favor of traditional marriage

Extolling the Maryland State Court of Appeals for upholding the state’s definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, the leader of the Maryland Catholic Conference said the high court “made a significant and wise judgment to protect the vital institution of marriage.”

Rome Dominicans surprised at Dutch proposal

VATICAN CITY – The general curia of the Dominicans expressed surprise over a booklet published by its order in the Netherlands recommending that laypeople be allowed to celebrate Mass when no ordained priests are available.

Nun: time in prison showed her difficulty of life behind bars

VILLA MARIA, Pa. – Serving a prison sentence in a federal penitentiary is something that Sister Sheila Salmon will never forget. But she learned some life lessons there that she will carry with her wherever she goes. Among them: that federal prisoners are treated as things, not as people; that many people in prisons should not be there; and that “being imprisoned was a special gift from God.” Sister Sheila, a Sister of the Humility of Mary, was back at her motherhouse in western Pennsylvania recently and was interviewed by the Catholic Exponent concerning her misdemeanor sentence in Florida for protesting at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the U.S. Army School of the Americas, in Fort Benning, Ga.

MCC statement on marriage decision

On September 18, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled on Conaway v. Deane, the lawsuit by homosexual couples for the right to marry in Maryland. The law suit said that the state’s law defining marriage as between one man and one woman is unconstitutional. However, the Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s decision (which said it was unconstitutional) and upheld traditional marriage. The following is the statement from the Maryland Catholic Conference.

Pope: Northern Ireland is an example