Page 1668 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

More than a year after a fire severely damaged St. Ann Church in Grantsville, the tiny faith community in Garrett County is moving ahead with plans for a new church. The damaged church, built in 1977, was recently razed to make way for a new building that parish leaders say will be bigger and better than the destroyed one.

MacMillan to lead BSO in his own works

Scottish composer James MacMillan, who is Catholic and a political activist, will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in performing two of his works at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on April 4 to 6.

World now has greater number of Muslims than Catholics

VATICAN CITY – A Vatican official said that, for the first time, the world’s Muslim population is greater than the number of Catholics.

Pope to get ‘official papal skateboard’ from youths

NEW YORK – When Pope Benedict XVI returns to the Vatican, he’ll be toting a gift not generally associated with an 81-year-old pontiff. He’ll take home the “official papal skateboard,” a gift from the youths of New York.

Anxiety grows as Zimbabwe awaits election results

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Anxiety is growing in Zimbabwe, where the results of March 29 elections are not yet known and the opposition has claimed a resounding victory over President Robert Mugabe, church officials say.

The Gaza I Live

Most Americans think of Gaza as a place of suffering and militancy, but the reality is that Gaza is home to some of the most inspiring and creative people in the Middle East. For the past two years, as the area’s representative for Catholic Relief Services, I’ve traveled there as much as I can. I see what the front-page newspaper photos don’t show you: this tiny sliver of land on the Mediterranean is a place of energy and dynamism, of humor and warmth and unbelievable hospitality, of delicious fish and crabs and the romantic fragrance of apple tobacco.

America must play even-handedly to stop cycle of violence

The Catholic News Service quotes Father Artemio Vitores, former director of Jerusalem’s Franciscan seminary (CR, March 13). When asked about the deadly attack by a gunman on Mercaz Harav Seminary students, he described the attack as “monstrous.” It was indeed. No word could better describe what happened.

Challenge lukewarm Catholics to help church in U.S.

It used to be said that Roman Catholics were the largest religious body in the United States and ex-Roman Catholics the second largest. Now that needs revising. It seems that former Catholics are only the third largest group, behind Catholics and Southern Baptists. Is this progress?

Archbishop calls for more vocations on Carroll County tour

WESTMINSTER – In a year when only one man will be ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien praised the parishioners of St. John, Westminster, for having three of their own currently enrolled as seminarians for the archdiocese.

James Curran, 1930-2008

A funeral Mass for James Walter Curran Jr., a longtime board member of The Cathedral Foundation, was offered March 31 at Immaculate Conception, Towson. Mr. Curran Died March 25. He was 77.

Festival of the Arts to provide evangelization tool

St. Bernardine, Baltimore, will use its April 13 Festival of the Arts event as both an evangelization tool and to help ring in the parish’s 80th anniversary.

Liberalized use of Tridentine Mass is bearing fruit