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OAKLAND, Calif. – Their family home in Fallujah, Iraq, was shelled, burned and looted. They languished for two years in Istanbul, Turkey, within the cultural and vocational limbo accorded refugees who are waiting to be permanently resettled somewhere, sometime. Now that Hana, Wafa and Sana Toma have found a permanent home in the Oakland Diocese with the help of Catholic Charities, they speak with a single voice: “We want to work. Now.” Wafa and Sana Toma have spent their adult lives as educators – Wafa as an English grammar teacher at a technical institute and Sana as an elementary school instructor near Fallujah. Hana Toma worked for many years as a journalist covering culture and archaeology for a daily newspaper before becoming an Arabic/English translator at the Ministry of Culture in Baghdad, Iraq.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman, once married to future president Ronald Reagan, joined the Catholic Church as an adult and became a benefactor to several Catholic causes. Ms. Wyman died Sept. 10 at her home in Rancho Mirage. The cause of death was not disclosed. While her age was placed at 90, other sources suggested she may have been 93. “The death of Ms. Wyman marks the loss not only of a great actress, but a great woman of faith and a personal friend,” said a Sept. 10 statement from Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino. “Her support of the work of the Catholic Church in the Coachella Valley and the Diocese of San Bernardino made possible many wonderful things, including the Blessed Junipero Serra House of Formation,” Bishop Barnes said.

VATICAN CITY – On the feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Pope Benedict XVI said the church is called to be like the mother of God and look to Christ. The church is called to pay witness to the sanctity of life and work toward a future of peace, he said. The pope used his general audience Sept. 12 to share reflections about his Sept. 7-9 visit to Austria. He returned briefly to the Vatican from his papal summer villa south of Rome to greet the estimated 12,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square and thank all those who made his apostolic pilgrimage a success. “It was a great joy for me to return as the successor of Peter” to Austria’s Marian sanctuary at Mariazell, helping celebrate the shrine’s 850th anniversary, the pope said.

When Pamela Protani spent part of her day feeding and playing with children with mental and physical disabilities at a South African orphanage last month, she was stunned by the reception she received on the streets of Pretoria. “It was indescribable,” said Ms. Protani, a parishioner of St. Joseph in Fullerton who was one of 16 Catholics from the Archdiocese of Baltimore to participate in a two-week mission to Africa in mid-August. “Children from all over the neighborhood came up and took us by the hand,” she remembered. “Even on the main street, people were blowing horns, waving and taking photos. It was very humbling.” Representing seven parishes, the Baltimore pilgrims ministered in South African and Tanzanian orphanages, AIDS clinics and schools run by the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. They donated more than 150 pounds of clothing, toys, candy, rosaries, holy cards and other items.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Zimbabwean Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, the most outspoken critic of the country’s leadership who is also facing allegations of adultery. In an undated letter written by the archbishop and released by the Vatican press office Sept. 11, the archbishop wrote that he offered his resignation to Vatican officials in July to spare sullying the image of the church. The Vatican announced that the pope accepted the archbishop’s resignation under Canon 401.2, which covers resignations for illness or some other grave reason. Archbishop Ncube, 60, is being sued for adultery and his case is before the High Court of Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. The adultery lawsuit was made public in July and state-run newspapers published photos they said were of Archbishop Ncube and a woman, taken with a concealed camera placed in the archbishop’s bedroom.

UNITED NATIONS – The poor are disproportionately affected by the environment and are particularly vulnerable to climate change, said Catholic representatives from around the world Sept. 6 at a U.N. conference on climate change. Small groups can adopt good practices to mitigate the adverse impact of climate change and promote human rights, they said in describing current projects in Nigeria, Indonesia, Australia and Newark, N.J. The midday workshop on “Human Rights and Good Practices in the Face of Climate Change” was part of a Sept. 5-7 conference at the United Nations.

A disappointing start to an otherwise hopeful season, The Catholic High School of Baltimore Cubs dropped their first field hockey league game on Sept. 6 to St. Timothy’s, Stevenson, 1-0 in overtime on a penalty flick. The team is coached by Anne Winters, a theology teacher at the school, who brings knowledge and a big dose of enthusiasm to the table. Winters has been a field hockey advocate since her sophomore year at St. Mary’s High School, Annapolis, when the field hockey program got underway.

HEILIGENKREUZ, Austria – In a visit to one of the world’s oldest monasteries, Pope Benedict XVI underlined the power of prayer as a form of “service to the world.” The pope, winding up a three-day visit to Austria Sept. 9, paid a call on the Cistercian Abbey of the Holy Cross, the oldest continuously active Cistercian monastery in the world. He was given a rousing welcome, first by hundreds of local children gathered in the monastic courtyard, then by the monks and faithful assembled inside the stone medieval church. Founded in 1135, the Heiligenkreuz monastic community brought Christianity to the region, and today it has about 80 monks. Its pontifical theological academy is thriving with more than 100 students.

MARIAZELL, Austria – Inspired by a small wooden statue of Mary and the child Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI appealed on behalf of the world’s suffering children, including the poor, the orphaned and those forced to fight in wars. The pope spoke during Mass Sept. 8 for some 30,000 pilgrims at the Austrian shrine of Mariazell, where a linden wood statue of Madonna and child has been revered for 850 years. The liturgy was the centerpiece of the pontiff’s three-day trip to Austria.