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Participants in the June 28-July 1 Catholic Family Expo in Baltimore will be among the first to preview the much anticipated movie “Bella” during a June 30 screening at the Baltimore Convention Center at 7 p.m. The producer and the movie’s lead actor – both of whom are featured speakers at the expo – will also be on hand to discuss how their shared Catholic ideology shaped their professional alliance.

ATLANTA – The Georgia International Convention Center became “the cathedral of Atlanta” June 9 as Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory processed into the cavernous building bearing the Blessed Sacrament in a golden monstrance with sunburst rays. A record of about 30,000 people – 10,000 more than last year – came to the convention center near Atlanta’s airport June 8 and 9 for the archdiocese’s 12th annual eucharistic congress. The theme of the 2007 congress, “The Food That Endures for Eternal Life,” drew from the passage in St. John’s Gospel in which Jesus, shortly after feeding a large crowd with a few fish and loaves of bread, says: “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

LONDON – About 50 Catholics sang hymns and chanted prayers outside Westminster Cathedral to protest the premiere of a concert they believed glorified Allah. The protesters were angry that the London cathedral – considered to be the mother church of the 4.3 million Catholics of England and Wales – was being used to honor the Islamic notion of God. The group was objecting to the performance of “The Beautiful Names,” a concert featuring the singing of the 99 names of Allah to solemn music composed by Sir John Tavener and commissioned by his friend, Prince Charles. With Prince Charles among the guests, security outside the cathedral was unusually tight June 19, with a large police presence and airport-style scanning machines.