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Three years ago, Elizabeth Monaghan was simply enjoying her job as an English professor at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg.

Cardinal Gibbons Cardinal James Gibbons served as Archbishop of Baltimore for 44 years (1877-1921) in his hometown. When named a bishop, he was the youngest one in the American church. Cardinal Gibbons served as advisor to several presidents on Catholic issues, and he helped generations of Catholic immigrants join American society, rallying for labor unions. He defended the poor and preached morality. A statue in his honor was dedicated in 1967 on the grounds of the Baltimore Basilica.

ANNAPOLIS – Clergy members criticized the death penalty as immoral in testimony before a commission that will make recommendations to state lawmakers by year’s end.

VATICAN CITY – The current financial crisis pummeling the United States and beyond is a sign that the so-called “new economy” and its risky investments have failed, the Vatican newspaper said.

WASHINGTON – Despite evidence that sex-selection abortions may be occurring in the United States, U.S. law affords “less protection from sex-based feticide” than India or China do, according to proposed legislation that is to be introduced soon in the House of Representatives.

This wasn’t the column I had planned – I changed my mind on Sunday, and I hope it doesn’t get me run out of town.

You likely did not know Marie Rolfes. She was one of those many people who were too great to be famous. She died last month at the age of 93. I had the privilege of celebrating her funeral liturgy.

As early as 1917, the Oblate Sisters of Providence, at the request of Bishop William T. Russell, began missionary work among the black Catholics in the unique city of Charleston, S.C. Previously, the Sisters of Charity of Charleston taught the black children. However, in the mid 1830s, Bishop John England, after attending the First Provincial Council and visiting the Oblates School for Colored Girls, decided to start such an institution in his diocese. The bishop encountered much opposition and threats and as a result, closed the school.