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WASHINGTON (CNS) — During a special meeting with Jewish representatives, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the special bond Catholics and Jews share and reaffirmed the church’s 40-year commitment to dialogue with the Jews.

The Bon Secours Spiritual Center, Marriottsville, will hold its 40th anniversary celebration 2-4 p.m. April 20 at 1505 Marriottsville Road. Tours of newly renovated areas of the spiritual center, including hospitality centers and bedrooms, will be available from 1-2 p.m. and again following a talk by Sister Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B. Participants may register for an optional $6 lunch. For more information, call 410-442-1320 or visit the Web site www.bonsecoursspiritualcenter.org.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-2 vote April 16 upheld Kentucky’s use of lethal injection as a method of execution.

At the Teachers’ Award Banquet on April 10, the honorees on the following list celebrated the most years of service in education within the archdiocese:

A funeral Mass for Sister Anne Pickard, I.H.M., was offered April 11 in Scranton, Pa. Formerly Sister M. St. Gerald, Sister Anne died April 6. She was 89.

A funeral Mass for Brother Thomas Allen Miller, F.S.C., was offered March 28 at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Baynesville. Brother Thomas died March 24; he was 60.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming visit to the White House to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush does not signal Vatican support of the Bush administration’s foreign policies, a Vatican official said.

WASHINGTON – Pope Benedict XVI appointed Auxiliary Bishop Richard E. Pates of St. Paul and Minneapolis to head the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, and Father Anthony B. Taylor, a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, as bishop of Little Rock, Ark., April 10.