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VATICAN CITY – The abundant life Jesus promised is not immortality on earth or heaps of nice things, but rather it is an eternal relationship with God, who is infinite love, Pope Benedict XVI said.

As pallbearers solemnly carried the casket of Monsignor James J. Cronin from St. Isaac Jogues at the end of the former pastor’s March 5 funeral, more than 75 priests and deacons waited outside the Carney church for one final tribute to a much-loved priest.

The 23rd rector of the nation’s first Catholic cathedral was installed March 9 before a cheering crowd. Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien officially installed Father Jeffery S. Dauses during the 10:45 a.m. Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Baltimore, which was overflowing with parishioners, friends and family of the new rector.

ANNAPOLIS – Armed with a new study that shows the death penalty has cost taxpayers at least $186 million, opponents of capital punishment urged a Senate committee to ban the death penalty in Maryland or at least commission a study to look at the issue.

The Diocese of Gonaives, Haiti, showed its appreciation for Cardinal William H. Keeler by naming a newly built trade school after him.

VATICAN CITY – Four centuries after he was called by church officials to retract teachings deemed suspect of heresy, the 17th-century Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei will be returning to Vatican City.

ROME (CNS) — Logistical details are being finalized in an attempt to fly the body of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati to Sydney, Australia, for veneration by young people at World Youth Day in July.

Holy Orders: A Sacrament at the Service of Communion The memory of Saturday, June 26, 2004 will be with me forever as a special day. It was the day of my priestly ordination at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. I remember promising respect and obedience to Cardinal Keeler and his successors as Archbishop of Baltimore. I remember my hands being anointed with sacred oil. I remember being vested in the chasuble and stole by my brother Jon. I remember the priests of Baltimore sharing in the celebration that day. And I remember concelebrating the Eucharist for the first time.