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UPDATED ROME – The Rome diocesan office charged with promoting the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II has exceeded its postage budget because of increased requests for prayer cards and relics of the late pope. “We were getting about 50 requests a day, but overnight it grew to between 500 and 1,000 requests,” a spokeswoman for the office said March 2. “We could not have foreseen this demand,” she said. “It’s an avalanche.”

For almost 10 years, the people of St. Stephen, Bradshaw, have had a special relationship with the parishioners of St. Steven in Mombasa, Kenya. So when St. Steven could only finish two floors of a church addition they were building, they called for help from their friends across the ocean. The parishioners of St. Stephen were eager to buy the wood carvings sent over from Kenya to support the tower building fundraiser. According to Mary Bauer, committee chairperson for the Kenya partnership committee, the parishioners loved the carvings and the fundraiser was a success. The parish has had many generous donors who have given thousands of dollars toward the building project, a church addition of a large tower with four floors and a bell at the top.

While sitting in her cozy dining room with pictures and articles scattered across the table, Regina Curran, 81, reminisced about her many years of involvement in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Baltimore City. Ms. Curran has been walking in the St. Patrick’s Day parade for more than 30 years, and this year will be no different. Although her doctor said she may have to sit this parade out because she recently underwent surgery to have a tumor removed from her leg, the St. Joseph, Fullerton, parishioner is determined to continue the tradition. “I’ll get there some way,” said Ms. Curran, who grew up in Baltimore and was a parishioner of St. John the Evangelist, Baltimore, before it closed in 1966. “I’ll ride in a float if I have to!”

AMMAN, Jordan – Seen as allies of the West, Christians and their institutions have become targets of extremist Islamic groups in Iraq, say Iraqi Christians. “Christians are facing a big problem in Iraq. Maybe all Iraqis are facing big problems, but I am talking about the Christians now,” said Ra’ed Bahou, the Pontifical Mission for Palestine’s regional director for Jordan and Iraq. Saddam Hussein’s regime – no matter how cruel and despotic – kept the lid on any sectarian violence, said one Iraqi Catholic refugee in Jordan, who asked that his name not be used. He said Saddam, a secular leader, was especially good for Christians, as long as they stayed out of the way. “Saddam (controlled) everything. Nobody could say anything bad especially (about) us Christians,” he said. “Christians in the Middle East are very good people. We are peace-loving people.” Another refugee said that after years of living in fear and daily bombings many Iraqi Christians felt they were actually safer with Saddam.