Page 1774 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

LONDON – A Scottish cardinal has announced his resignation from Amnesty International to protest the group’s new policy to fight for the decriminalization of abortion around the world.

Vatican officials say book shows Mother Teresa’s strength

VATICAN CITY – Vatican officials said a new book detailing Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta’s long “crisis of faith” illustrates her spiritual strength in the face of doubt.

Nun chosen most powerful figure in U.S. health care

WASHINGTON – More powerful than bodybuilder-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? It’s true if you’re Sister Carol Keehan. The issue isn’t about who can lift the greatest weight in the gym. It’s about who’s got more muscle in the health care arena.

Religious order recruits male teachers for Catholic schools

ST. LOUIS – The Midwest province of the Christian Brothers has begun a program to combat the growing shortage of male teachers. The province offers the Lasallian Teacher Immersion Program at universities run by the religious community to provide male college students with classroom teaching experience and opportunities to serve those in need while earning college credit.

School year begins with prayers and smiles

As students at Sacred Heart of Mary School, Dundalk, burst out of their various minivans and cars and scampered into the red-brick building for the first day of school Aug. 27, the uniform-clad boys and girls carried with them a colorful array of knapsacks, many of which were on wheels.

U.S. bishops denounce Amnesty’s policy to fight for legal abortions

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops denounced Amnesty International’s recent adoption of a policy to fight for the decriminalization of abortion around the world. Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., president of the conference, said in an Aug. 23 statement that the U.S. bishops urge Amnesty to “reconsider its error and reverse its policy on abortion.”

Salvation is open to all, but the way is not easy, pope says

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy – Salvation through Christ is open to all, but the way is not easy because it requires a real commitment to love and justice, Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope, speaking Aug. 26 to hundreds of pilgrims at his summer residence outside Rome, said that when Christ told his disciples the gate to heaven was narrow he did not mean it was for the privileged few.

Holy Name members of the year honored at Oriole Park

Before the first pitch was thrown at Oriole Park Aug. 24, a Calvert Hall College High School, Towson, student and a parishioner of St. Joseph, Taneytown, were honored during the Archdiocesan Holy Name Union Baseball Game at Camden Yards.

Bishops’ inside man offers glimpses of inner workings

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.

Dank dungeon for common criminals

VATICAN CITY – For the first time in a decade, summer tourists could make their way down steep stone steps deep into the dark, dank interior of a papal fortress and crawl into prison cells that housed countless common criminals as well as Rome’s errant elite. The 1,900-year-old Castel Sant’Angelo, which stands near the Tiber River, was built as a mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian, then was converted into a fortress by medieval popes. At times, the turreted castle served as a refuge for beleaguered and besieged pontiffs and as a high-security prison.

African clergy celebrate unity, diversity of work in U.S.

CLARK, N.J. – Calling for unity among African missionaries and religious in the United States, a New Jersey pastor welcomed “those worthy ambassadors from the African soil” at the eighth annual convention of the African Conference of Catholic Clergy and Religious in the United States.

Campaign for Human Development provides a way out