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SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco Board of Supervisors resolution harshly critical of official Catholic teaching on adoption by same-sex couples crosses the constitutional line between church and state and should be thrown out as unlawful, an attorney for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights told a federal appeals court panel.

Yes, several Oblates Sisters of Providence and most of their boarders had to spend some time in the state prison, located on Eager Street across from the school. No, the Sisters and students were not arrested for breaking a law or even for protesting. This was before the Civil Rights movement. The group went to jail of their own free will!

Reading, the cliché goes, is fundamental.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is welcoming 14 new principals and one interim principal for the 2008-09 school year.

It’s hard to imagine a less auspicious time for the reception of a papal encyclical on the morally appropriate means of family planning than the summer of 1968. Now, 40 years after it was issued, Pope Paul VI’s letter, “Humanae Vitae,” may finally be getting the hearing it deserves.

Amid the parade of worst-evers in the natural and manmade spheres, I suggest a humble instrument for coping, at least to some extent, that of a sense of scale. As we live our daily lives, historic developments are going on at almost incomprehensible speed, and our highly developed means of communication do a remarkable job of keeping up. It is our minds that buckle under the strain, not to mention our morale (that familiar feeling that there is nothing we can do.)

The mystery stories of life are often better than the ghost stories of fiction. This is a mystery story that began as a tragic story.

From time to time, I will invite guest columnists to share their “Thoughts on our Church.” I am especially anxious to introduce members of our Archdiocesan staff, given the extraordinary expertise they offer me and all our Archdiocesan efforts. Harold (Hal) Smith has been Executive Director of Archdiocesan Catholic Charities since 1976 and has gained national respect in building one of our Nation’s leading private charitable organizations. The more than 80 programs of Baltimore Catholic Charities span the whole Archdiocese and address the needs of children and families, the poor, the elderly and people with developmental disabilities. I am pleased that he has contributed this week’s column.