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JERUSALEM – The United States has a responsibility to play a vital role in restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ international policy committee. “We have a certain responsibility. By not being engaged at this level it will certainly involve us in ways we do not want to be involved in (later),” said Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, Fla. “There needs to be a negotiated solution. “The status quo is not tenable,” he said. “The two partners are not on equal strength … and the USA has to prevail on Israel to negotiate in good faith and not take advantage of the Palestinian weakness.”

BOISE, Idaho – Bishop Michael P. Driscoll of Boise urged Idahoans to pray and support Sen. Larry Craig and his family Sept. 1, hours after the senator announced that he was resigning his post. “Seeing his family and friends behind him, I could not help but feel compassion for this man who has served the state well for 27 years in Congress and six years in the state Legislature. This must have been the most difficult decision of his professional career and I can’t imagine the impact it must have on his family,” said Bishop Driscoll.

Monsignor Paul A. Lenz has been advanced to the rank of “prothonotary apostolic” by Pope Benedict XVI.

NEW ORLEANS – With an intense thunderstorm providing eerie sound effects, Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans told hundreds gathered at St. Louis Cathedral Aug. 29 in commemoration of the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina to persevere in their faith despite the pitfalls of a painfully slow recovery.

APPLETON, Wis. – A Catholic schoolteacher who claimed she was illegally fired in 2004 for undergoing in vitro fertilization treatments dropped her discrimination suit Aug. 27 following a settlement in which the terms were not disclosed.

Pastoral musicians have toiled, unsung and alone, without the camaraderie found in workshops and archdiocesan groups.

PITTSBURGH – At age 95, Joseph Martinelli is a regular at daily Mass at St. Colman Parish in Turtle Creek. In the parish bulletin he’s listed as pastoral assistant, just hinting at the many roles he fills.

VATICAN CITY – The sky was no longer the limit when a Rome travel agency started offering specially chartered flights exclusively for globe-trotting pilgrims.

WASHINGTON – After decades of being the behind-the-scenes – and consistently off-the-record – point man for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in lobbying on Capitol Hill, Frank Monahan seemed simultaneously tantalized by and wary at the prospect of talking openly with a reporter about the work he did for 36 years.

Andy Witte, the head boys cross country and boys and girls track and field coach at Archbishop Spalding High School recently traveled to Africa to cross yet another marathon off his list of “things to do.”

MAYWOOD, Ill. – About 10 years ago, Holly Becker’s future appeared bright. At 24, she had just graduated from college, moved out of her parents’ home and taken a job in sales and marketing. But then something went terribly wrong.