Page 1883 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Leaders of 29 national Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations issued a joint call for the Bush administration and the new Congress to make Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace a top foreign policy priority. Peace is “an essential of faith” in all three religious traditions, they said.

Australian Parliament legalizes embryonic cloning

SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) — Australian legislators legalized the use of embryonic cloning for research despite objections from Australian Prime Minister John Howard. A Dec. 6 parliamentary vote lifted a four-year ban on human cloning by allowing the cloning of embryos through somatic cell nuclear transfer, commonly called therapeutic cloning.

Excommunicated archbishop ordains two more married men as priests

Raymond A. Grosswirth of Rochester, N.Y., and Dominic Riccio of Newark are the latest married men to be illicitly ordained Catholic priests by excommunicated Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo. Like the married Zambian archbishop who ordained them, the two were automatically excommunicated for participating in an ordination ceremony not sanctioned by the church.

Moving in fast forward: 2006 saw acceleration of Benedict’s papacy

The year 2006 saw an acceleration of Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate, highlighted by publication of the pope’s first encyclical, four foreign trips and important appointments at the Vatican and around the world. For what was supposed to be a pared-back papacy, it was a busy 12 months.

Lunchtime Mass provides spiritual boost for city workers

On a recent frigid December weekday, Tina Tekirian of Frederick slipped out of her laboratory at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine in downtown Baltimore, walked the few blocks to Shrine of St. Jude and settled into a pew shortly before the noon Mass was set to begin. With a workplace identification card dangling in front of her warm purple sweater, the neuroscientist and parishioner of St. John the Evangelist, Frederick was deep in prayer as the priest made his way to the altar.

Celebrating culture at Our Lady of Guadalupe

Dressed as the Indian peasant St. Juan Diego, who was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary nearly 500 years ago, 2-year-old Brian Balbuena of Westminster helped several hundred Maryland Hispanics celebrate the annual Mass for Our Lady of Guadalupe Dec. 10 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland.

Vatican officials say they found St. Paul’s tomb in Roman basilica

After years of archaeological work, Vatican officials announced they have identified the tomb of St. Paul beneath the Rome basilica dedicated to the apostle.

Kidnappers release two Chaldean Catholic priests in Iraq

The kidnapped rector of the Chaldean Catholic seminary and a kidnapped parish priest in Baghdad, Iraq, have been released. The Rome-based AsiaNews agency reported Dec. 11 the reasons for the priest’s abduction and release were still unknown, but it said the rector’s health “was fine.”

St. Vincent volunteer encourages gift giving

Full of energy and with the gift of gab, St. Joseph, Cockeysville, parishioner Geri Olsen is the perfect volunteer for St. Vincent Center in Timonium.

In the blink of an eye, the 65-year-old can start up a conversation with someone and have them making a donation to St. Vincent, a 70¬ bed residential facility for abused children with serious behavioral, psychiatric and/ or emotional problems.

“No matter where I am I just find I’m able to come into giving to St. Vincent’s,” said Mrs. Olsen. “I just think it’s a great cause. I’m always looking for new people who are interested.”

Pope says Christians are urged to become immaculate in love like Mary

All Christians are called to become “holy and immaculate in love,” just as Mary was, Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope celebrated the Dec. 8 feast of the Immaculate Conception by reciting the Angelus prayer at the Vatican and by making an afternoon visit to a Marian monument in the center of Rome.

During his afternoon visit, the pope blessed a large basket of pink roses set at the foot of a column topped by a statue of Mary. The statue commemorates Pope Pius IX’s proclamation in 1854 that Mary was conceived free of original sin.

Vatican officials gauge life span, geographic reach of Turkey visit

Buoyed by Pope Benedict XVI’s successful visit to Turkey, Vatican officials began trying to gauge its long-term effect on ecumenical and Catholic-Muslim dialogue in other parts of the world. Would the rave reviews and upbeat headlines carry over into coming weeks and months? And in the case of Islam, would the pope’s outreach to a Muslim population on the edge of Europe make a similar impact in Arab and East Asian countries?

Christian dalits fast in India’s capital to protest for equal rights