Home Page

SYDNEY, Australia – The head of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council has reiterated calls for the release of an Australian imprisoned at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Bishop Christopher Saunders of Broome, the justice council head, joined the increasing criticism of the Australian government’s efforts on behalf of David Hicks, a 31-year-old imprisoned at Guantanamo. U.S. forces captured Hicks in Afghanistan in 2001 and charged him with providing “material support” for the international terrorist organization al-Qaida.

A series of Lenten radio retreats is being offered to radio stations by the U.S. Bishop’s Catholic Communication Campaign in association with Franciscan Radio. The programs will also be streamed on the Internet for online listening and available in downloadable formats for saving and sharing.

“Come, See, Investigate. Who Do You Say That I Am?” is the theme of the ninth annual Central Maryland Formation Day to be held March 10 at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg.

MOBILE, Ala. – Almost 18 months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the Little Sisters of the Poor still have not received a $1.4 million reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for first responders’ emergency use of Mary Joseph Residence for the Elderly in New Orleans after the hurricane.

WASHINGTON – Pax Christi USA has been gathering signatures for an advertisement that will call for “a complete reversal of U.S. policy” in Iraq, including a withdrawal of U.S. troops. “The U.S. is not the honest broker who can craft peace among the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. Our continued military presence is counterproductive,” says the ad, which Pax Christi plans to run in the March 16 issue of the National Catholic Reporter. “Four years after launching an illegal and immoral war, it is time to bring the U.S. occupation of Iraq to an end,” the ad says.

Sugar seems to be in everything from fruit to candy, but are some sugars good for you and others not? According to Barbara Bailey, M.S., R.D., L.D.N., a registered dietitian at the Good Health Center and Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore, there are different kinds of sugars in the foods we eat. White table sugar is not the same as the sugar in a fresh orange.

Is there such a thing as a caffeine addiction? Yes, according to a growing number of governors and mayors around the country. And as with any addiction, there’s also withdrawal, according to the latest scientific research.

CHICAGO – The National Catholic AIDS Network, which recently formed a partnership with Loyola University Chicago, has announced that it will close following its 20th annual AIDS ministry conference this summer. The decision comes at a time when more and more people in the United States are living with HIV or AIDS, as the numbers of new infections are holding steady or rising and the death rate has gone down. The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States is now estimated to be more than a million.

St. John Regional Catholic School, Frederick, recently spent a busy Monday reaching out to others…