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Having noticed that men have become a vast minority in Northeast Baltimore Catholic parishes, St. Anthony of Padua parishioner Paul Gerhardt and a group of his friends decided to unite with a mission to lure members of his gender back to church. So was born the Northeast Catholic Brotherhood a little more than a year ago, and with about 25 men from three area faith communities participating, the group has ignited a movement that inspires religious and community involvement. “We’re a pretty informal group, but we’re serious about getting men back in the church and contributing to the community at large,” said Mr. Gerhardt, 50, of Gardenville. “I’m really enthused by what we’ve accomplished in the last year and I think our outreach efforts are only going to grow.”

WASHINGTON – Young adult Catholics have a strong Catholic identity but do not feel much of a commitment to the institutional church or its moral teachings, two sociologists said Feb. 6 in Washington. The seemingly paradoxical assessment came from James A. Davidson of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and Dean R. Hoge of The Catholic University of America in Washington at a Woodstock Forum on the campus of Georgetown University.

VATICAN CITY – A bishop can turn to Catholic lay movements not only when he needs an organized group to implement his pastoral plans, but also when he needs to care for his own soul, Pope Benedict XVI said. When a movement gathers its “bishop-friends” together, it helps them experience “a more intense communion of hearts, a stronger mutual support and a greater shared commitment to showing that the church is a place of prayer and charity, a house of mercy and peace,” the pope said. Pope Benedict spoke Feb. 8 at a joint audience for 80 bishops participating in a conference sponsored by the Focolare movement and 110 bishops attending a meeting organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio.

When Debbie Collins’ wedding ceremony at Sacred Heart of Mary, Graceland Park, concludes June 23, the 26-year-old Dundalk resident plans to toast her nuptials with a sip of champagne. Though she knows that excessive alcohol consumption can be harmful to the liver, the soon-to-be bride isn’t concerned about the effects of the mouthful of sparkling wine and the one Amaretto & Sprite she plans to drink at her wedding reception.

More parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore are turning to a relatively new way of encouraging parishioners to donate to their church: electronic giving. Instead of using weekly envelopes, parishioners agree to have a set amount of money transferred automatically from their checking or savings account to their parish. Some donors choose to have their credit cards charged.

Some 180 sisters of 13 different religious communities listened to experts speak about the topic “Taking charge of your health and wellness,” in the lobby of the Weinberg Center for Women’s Health and Medicine at Mercy Medical Center, Baltimore, Jan. 27. During the forum the sisters were educated on five different topics: gynecologic health, exercising the mind and body, keeping your bones strong, prevention and detection of colon cancer, and breast health. “Our thought behind this event was these are women that take care of others,” said Amy Freeman with executive services at Mercy. “They need a day to think of their own wellbeing.”

Joy Black used to shop so frequently at Talbot’s Outlet that she knew the sales staff by name. For her, the thrill of shopping was in the sheer delight of finding a great bargain. “I liked getting 75 percent off,” said Mrs. Black, 47. “Even if I didn’t need it, I’d have to buy it.” When the St. Francis Xavier parishioner’s third child entered school, she found freedom. “I’d go shopping for no reason at all. I kind of went wild. It lasted a few years.” Yet when the shelves and rods in her closet were crammed and the volume of clothing overwhelmed her, she questioned her shopping habit.

The recent article, “Death penalty ban gains momentum” (CR, Feb. 1), states that Sen. Lisa Gladden and Del. Sandy Rosenberg, Democrats, introduced legislation which would change the death penalty to life without parole. As a pro-lifer, that is certainly something I support.

VATICAN CITY – From the earliest days of Christianity, the faith was nourished and the church grew thanks to the commitment of believing married couples, Pope Benedict XVI said. Continuing what he described as a verbal “portrait gallery” of important figures in the early church, the pope focused his Feb. 7 general audience remarks on Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple who assisted St. Paul in his ministry in Corinth, Ephesus and Rome.