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After each monthly Mass at St. John’s Catholic Prep, Frederick, students comment, “This is the best Mass we’ve ever had!” Angie Galleno, director of campus ministry, said the students’ enthusiasm stems from a new facet of school liturgies – the Praise & Worship Band – composed of 15 singers and musicians from within the student body. New for the 2006-07 school year, the band was conceived as a way to make school liturgies more engaging for students.

ROME – Jewish-Christian dialogue is primarily a religious exercise, not simply a political or social exercise, said two rabbis and two cardinals at a Rome conference. “When we respond to the divine in the other, we are revering and respecting God himself,” said Rabbi David Rosen, president of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After out-of-town interests bought local commercial radio stations in rural America, evangelical Christian interests obtained broadcast licenses on that part of the FM dial reserved for noncommercial use, according to Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Ky. As a result, there are now 2,000 evangelical radio stations in the United States, up 85 percent from 1996, when federal laws were changed to permit greater media concentration, Mr. Davis said. “The only format that’s larger is country” music, he added.

Havenwood Presbyterian Church in Lutherville will hold an ecumenical prayer service on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. as part of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Patricia Falter knew at a very early age that her son Matthew was different than her older son. Matthew has autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes him to have a short attention span and obsession over objects, activities and places. From the time Matthew was very young he had to have a visual schedule of the day’s events in a step-by-step process to keep him focused. Every morning Matthew would need to check his schedule, which would include activities he enjoyed doing and those he did not, to show him that not everything in life is fun.

SAN FRANCISCO – The commonality that religious faiths share goes back thousands of years, and Jesus’ intent was for the different faiths to work together, said a San Francisco priest. The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, observed Jan. 18-25, offers an opportunity for religions to celebrate what they have in common and to promote dialogue among them.

The decision to publish the Catholic News Service story on Nancy Pelosi (CR, Jan. 11) is a scandal. Here we have the case of a supposedly Catholic government official who proclaims her support for all the anti-life positions, and the article treats it as minor criticism of someone “we can always talk to.” This is a blatant case of giving to Caesar what is God’s.

WARSAW, Poland – The Polish archbishop who resigned after admitting he collaborated with his country’s communist secret police denied claims that he failed to inform the pope about his past. Meanwhile, another archbishop has rejected accusations that he also acted as an informer and published an explanation of his secret police contacts.

At the end of January, the Archdiocese of Baltimore will introduce an ethics hotline for its employees, volunteers, parishioners, vendors and other interested parties to report financial and human resource issues confidentially. The week of Jan. 15, a brochure and poster detailing the new hotline was mailed to all schools and parishes in the archdiocese, and prior to that, a letter was sent from Cardinal William H. Keeler to all pastors, associate pastors, pastoral life directors and principals announcing the program. “The use of a hotline is growing more common in other Arch/diocesan and nonprofit organizations and we believe will help us achieve our goals of transparency and accountability throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore,” the cardinal wrote.