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VATICAN CITY – Despite claims there are still secrets connected to the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, Pope Benedict XVI and his secretary of state said the entire message has been published and has been interpreted accurately. The Marian apparitions to three children in Fatima, Portugal, began 90 years ago May 13, and Pope John Paul II ordered the so-called “third secret” of Fatima to be published in 2000. As the Fatima anniversary approached, the Vatican bookstore was selling copies of “The Last Fatima Visionary: My Meetings With Sister Lucia.” The 140-page, Italian-language interview with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, opens with a letter of presentation from Pope Benedict.

VATICAN CITY – If the world is to help stop the spread of nuclear weapons, nations must take positive steps toward nuclear disarmament, a Vatican official said. Nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation “are interdependent and mutually reinforcing,” said Monsignor Michael W. Banach, the Vatican’s representative to the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. “Responsible implementation” of international agreements concerning nuclear weapons represents a crucial step “in the fight against nuclear terrorism” and promoting “a culture of life,” peace and human development, he said in a May 1 address.

WASHINGTON – The International Executive Committee of Amnesty International has declared that a woman should have full, legal access to abortion in cases of rape or incest or if her life or health is at grave risk. The new policy calls for eliminating criminal penalties for anyone who provides an abortion or obtains one. Last fall, when Amnesty was considering such a policy, the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops warned that the human rights advocacy group would risk its “well-deserved moral credibility” if it abandoned its neutral stance on abortion. “To abandon this long-held position would be a tragic mistake, dividing human rights advocates and diverting Amnesty International from its central and urgent mission of defending human rights as outlined in the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights,” wrote the USCCB president, Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., in a letter last September to the organization’s secretary-general, Irene Khan.

ATLANTA – In a presentation at a Jewish academy in Atlanta, a U.S. senator and an archbishop spoke about the role of faith in public life, how it shapes their outlook on public service and how faith should inform but not dictate a politician’s position. The keynote speakers, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory, spoke at a fundraising event at the Katherine and Jacob Greenfield Hebrew Academy of Atlanta, which is headed by Matt Lieberman, the senator’s son. The event, sponsored April 29 by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and Greenfield Academy, raised more than $130,000 for a fund for teacher excellence for the Jewish school founded in 1953.

WASHINGTON – With immediate plans to shelter families in Los Angeles, New York and San Diego, an interfaith coalition calling itself the New Sanctuary Movement announced plans to try to protect families from deportation in churches and other faith-affiliated places around the country. Following the example of the 1980s church-based network that sheltered Central American immigrants who sought refuge from civil wars at home, the New Sanctuary Movement hopes to enlist religious congregations around the country to publicly shelter people who are at risk of deportation. The organization is particularly focusing on “mixed-status” families, or those that include a combination of people who are in the country illegally and legal residents or U.S. citizens. Among the initial steps announced by the organization May 9:

VATICAN CITY – Members of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes met May 8 to consider the cause of Pope Pius XII and apparently voted to recommend that Pope Benedict XVI formally declare him venerable. Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Vatican press office, confirmed the congregation had met, but since the result of the vote still had to be presented to the pope he would not say May 9 what the result was. Italian newspapers, citing unnamed sources, said the congregation’s cardinals and archbishops recommended that Pope Benedict formally recognize that Pope Pius lived the Christian virtues in a heroic manner.

Catholic colleges in the archdiocese have secured an archbishop, a magazine editor, and a seminary president as commencement speakers for this year’s graduation ceremonies in May. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States appointed by Pope Benedict XVI, will give the commencement address at Mount St. Mary’s University’s 199th commencement exercises May 20 for approximately 580 graduates. Archbishop Sambi is a native of Italy and speaks four languages. He has served The Holy See in Italy, Africa, Cuba, Nicaragua, Belgium, India, Cyprus, Indonesia, and Israel. “As we look ahead to the university’s bicentennial in 2008,” said Mount president Thomas H. Powell, “speakers such as Archbishop Sambi offer us the chance to reflect on our mission and our promise of service to God and our nation.”

The kids are bored, it’s hot and the pavement is scorching your feet but you have already been to the beach this summer, how do you stay cool? For many adults and children a pool is the best place to be on a hot and humid Maryland summer day. “One of the best things about having an above ground pool is it’s not just a two week summer vacation. It lasts all summer long,” said Sue Lapp, advertising agent for ABC pools since 1978. “It keeps kids at home and its good exercise.”