Page 1822 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

St. Gregory the Great, Baltimore, parishioner Alenthia Epps may live in sleepy Woodstock, but gun violence has preyed on a member of her family and she is applauding her parish’s efforts to rid city streets of firepower. The Sandtown-Winchester parish will be giving $50 rewards for each workable gun turned in between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. May 26 – with no questions asked – the same day St. Bernardine, Baltimore, will be hosting a Peace Prayer Vigil at the Edmondson High School baseball diamond in an effort to purge the city of violence. More than 100 people have been murdered in Baltimore since the start of 2007 and Ms. Epps said churches and members of the community need to rally round the police and political leaders’ efforts to stop the violence.

Oak Crest invests in student employees

On May 9, 49 student employees at Oak Crest Retirement Community in Parkville received more than $96,000 in scholarship money. Oak Crest’s Scholars’ Fund provides scholarships for local area students who work at Oak Crest. To be eligible for the scholarships, students must work at the community for a total of 1,000 hours over a consecutive two year period in one of the community’s five restaurants. They must also meet the criteria of having exemplary work records, good grades and plans for attending college or trade school on a full-time basis.

Pope tells reporters church must keep fighting abortion, poverty

UPDATED ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO BRAZIL – On the plane taking him to Brazil, Pope Benedict XVI called Latin America “the continent of life and hope” and said the church must keep up the fight against abortion, poverty and injustice. Speaking to reporters aboard his chartered Alitalia jet May 9, the pope spent more than 25 minutes answering questions, his longest in-flight press conference to date. He said the late Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar A. Romero deserves to be beatified, denounced the Latin American drug trade and said liberation theology has changed with the political times. In remarks about the recent legalization of abortion in Mexico, the pope appeared to support Mexican church leaders who held out the possibility of excommunication for Catholic legislators who voted for the legislation.

Pope wants to help reinforce Christian values, counter threats

UPDATED SAO PAULO, Brazil – Arriving in Brazil on his first papal trip to Latin America, Pope Benedict XVI said he wanted to help reinforce Christian values and counter new threats to the poor, the abandoned and the unborn. “I am well aware that the soul of this people, as of all Latin America, safeguards values that are radically Christian, which will never be eradicated,” the pope said May 9. The pope addressed several hundred civil and church dignitaries at an airport welcoming ceremony outside Sao Paulo, where his plane touched down after a 12-hour flight from Rome. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva greeted the pope warmly as he descended from the aircraft. In their brief remarks at the airport, the pontiff and the Brazilian president highlighted the importance of family, the challenges facing young people, and the Catholic Church’s contribution to social programs in Latin America’s most Catholic and most populous country. Da Silva told the pope that the country needs spiritual and moral leadership “to face the challenges of this new millennium.”

Pope wants to help reinforce Christian values, counter threats

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Arriving in Brazil on his first papal trip to Latin America, Pope Benedict XVI said he wanted to help reinforce Christian values and counter new threats to the poor, the abandoned and the unborn. “I am well aware that the soul of this people, as of all Latin America, safeguards values that are radically Christian, which will never be eradicated,” the pope said May 9. The pope addressed several hundred civil and church dignitaries at an airport welcoming ceremony outside Sao Paulo, where his plane touched down after a 12-hour flight from Rome. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva greeted the pope warmly as he descended from the aircraft.

Church leaders call for prayers for new government

DUBLIN, Ireland – Christian leaders in Northern Ireland have encouraged citizens to pray for the success of the region’s fledgling Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government. Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh issued a statement with the heads of the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist churches, calling May 8 a “historic day” when enemies joined together to form the power-sharing government. The new government returns home rule to Northern Ireland after a five-year suspension. “We recognize that much work still remains if all people in Northern Ireland are to share the future together,” they said. “We are especially aware of those for whom the pain of the past is a constant living reality.”

Bioethicist calls suicide bill ‘implicitly anti-Catholic’

SAN FRANCISCO – Calling proposed California physician-assisted suicide legislation “strongly and implicitly anti-Catholic” and accusing its advocates of “trying to bend the Catholic Church’s moral teaching to the will of the culture of death agenda,” an international expert on bioethics urged listeners at a May 7 lecture to do everything in their power to help defeat the controversial bill. Titled the California Compassionate Choices Act, Assembly Bill 374 would allow physicians to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to people diagnosed with a terminal illness, given less than six months to live and declared mentally competent.

You, me and Wii

More than a handful of people gathered around the television set at Oak Crest Village Retirement Community May 1, waiting for their chance to play the new Nintendo Wii, which was recently donated to the Parkville retirement community. The small crowd laughed and applauded as a man attempted to play golf on the new system. The Nintendo Wii, which uses a wireless controller to translate players’ motions onto the screen, is designed to make gaming accessible to people of all ages and abilities, said Jane Powell, public relations director for Oak Crest. A large plasma T.V. is being installed in a designated room so the residents can play whenever they would like. The large screen will also aid those with poor eyesight.

WWII Marine Veteran plans to help honor fallen

As a U.S. Marine who served during World War II, St. Casimir, Canton, parishioner Emil Kozlowski found that serving with valor means supporting fellow brothers in arms despite ones personal feelings of the conflict itself. It’s a notion he will keep with him during the Memorial Day Mass, breakfast and reflection ceremony as he and his fellow Catholic War Veterans raise the flag at their parish and pay tribute to the men and women who have died during military service.

Bridesmaid bingo to benefit day shelter

Women in frilly bridesmaids’ dresses, a wedding cake and a traditional bouquet toss are just some of the trappings of a wedding – minus a bride or groom – that will mark the fourth-annual Bridesmaid’s BINGO, a May 23 wedding-themed fundraiser for Catholic Charities’ My Sister’s Place.

Embryonic stem-cell research doesn’t help

The article “New, Natural Breast Reconstruction Following Mastectomy” (Editor’s note: The article to which the author is referring is an advertisement on page nine of the CR, April 26) reporting on the shift from using muscle tissue to using fat tissue and the benefits of the switch, was closely followed by an Internet report that surgeons in Japan and Europe are using fat tissue and autologous stem cells.

Five Sailors set to play college lacrosse