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When Brian Whaley, his three siblings and his parents sing happy birthday, they belt it out beautifully in five-part harmony. As singers and musicians, the Whaleys frequently break out into song – “Amazing Grace” is their favorite – when their family joins together. “My mom taught me how to sing harmony at age 5,” said Mr. Whaley, 50, a Loyola College of Maryland, Baltimore, graduate. “Our entire family is musical. We’ve been in and out of bands growing up.”

Youth group members at New All Saints, Liberty Heights, know what their moms want for Mother’s Day – a little pampering. On May 13, the young people of New All Saints will hold their third annual Mother’s Day Tea featuring a “Colors of the Rainbow” fashion show to honor the women who brought them into the world.

FLEMINGTON, N.J. – Hundreds of friends, classmates and family members filled St. Magdalen de Pazzi Church in Flemington for the April 24 funeral Mass for Michael Steven Pohle Jr., one of 32 victims of a student gunman who went on a shooting rampage April 16 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. The Mass was celebrated by Father Timothy Christy, pastor of St. Magdalen and Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski of Metuchen. Acting New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey attended the Mass. In his homily, Father Christy said that in the wake of such a tragedy it is difficult to find the words to express how one is feeling, but that the Gospel can provide guidance.

MEXICO CITY – Despite an intense opposition campaign by the Catholic Church, the Mexico City Assembly has approved an initiative legalizing abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Following a heated session April 24, the legislature voted in favor of the new law, which will allow hospitals run by the city government to provide abortions. The bill, passed 46-19 with one abstention, will become law when it is signed by the mayor.

VATICAN CITY – In its recent document on unbaptized children, the Vatican’s International Theological Commission demonstrated how church teaching can be responsive to changes in theological thought, Christian beliefs and the “signs of the times.” The document, published April 20, critiqued the traditional understanding of limbo, arguing instead that there was good reason to hope unbaptized babies who die go to heaven.

ROME – Abortion, which leads to the deaths of innocent humans, is just as evil as killing innocent bystanders in a suicide attack, said the secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Some evil, like the shootings at Virginia Tech, are obvious and visible, said Archbishop Angelo Amato in an April 23 speech on terrorism and evil.

Calling partial-birth abortion a “gruesome procedure virtually indistinguishable from infanticide,” Cardinal William H. Keeler hailed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision April 18 upholding a ban on the late-term abortion procedure. The cardinal, former head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said the court has “taken an important step in reorienting the moral culture of our country.”

As it did on most U.S. campuses, the American flag flew at half-staff on the grassy area of Doyle Circle on the campus of College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore, April 17 – one day after 32 people were gunned down some 300 miles away at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va. Across the nation, learning institutions from elementary schools to colleges reacted to the tragedy and faced their own vulnerability.

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – God’s people need time to unwind the mystery of the liturgy, both during Mass and over time, said Cardinal Godfried Danneels during a lecture at Boston College April 17. Cardinal Danneels, the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, Belgium, was co-author of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (“Sacrosanctum Concilium”), approved by the Second Vatican Council. It called for the translation of the Mass from Latin to the vernacular.

CHICAGO – Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago has begun dismantling its foster care program after announcing that it will stop providing foster care services as of June 30. The decision, which Catholic and state welfare officials called “tragic,” came after Catholic Charities was unable to get liability insurance for its foster care program.