Page 1765 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

When amateur actor and former Benedictine priest Benet Hanlon began working in a Fells Point theater in the late 1970s, he noticed a number of homeless men along the then-scrappy waterfront streets, got to know several of them and eventually rented a small row house on Aliceanna Street in 1977 in an effort to feed them.

Pope’s refusal to meet Rice should not be seen as snub

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI declined to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during his August vacation, but Vatican officials said it should not be interpreted as a diplomatic snub. “The only reason she wasn’t received was that she came during a period when the pope doesn’t receive anyone. It was a purely technical question of protocol,” an informed Vatican source told Catholic News Service Sept. 20. The source said it was “absolutely not” the Vatican’s intention to rebuff Ms. Rice or signal disagreement with U.S. policy on the Middle East.

Stewardship a path toward deeper spirituality, holiness

LOS ANGELES – The Archdiocese of Los Angeles officially launched an initiative to renew the local church with the release of a new pastoral letter on stewardship Sept. 8.

Mass celebrated on streets near shootings

CHICAGO – Violence can happen anywhere. But when Israel Morales, a neighborhood organizer and parishioner at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Parish on Chicago’s Southwest Side, was gunned down this summer near the church, community members decided they had to do something. The first thing they did was have a Mass outside, near where Morales was killed. Since then, the parish has had three more street Masses, with another set for Sept. 27, all on blocks where violence has occurred. The first Masses drew 120 to 150 people; one in late August had more than 200 in the congregation.

Sister Mary Camillus Smith, R.S.M.

A funeral Mass for Sister Mary Camillus Smith, R.S.M, was offered Sept. 15 at The Villa in Baltimore. Sister Mary Camillus died Sept. 12. She was 88.

Staying in touch is a healthy habit

Stay in touch with your friends, not just because you like them but because having them correlates with better health.

Mount St. Mary’s partners with Frederick Catholic school

Aspiring teachers from Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg are getting first-hand experience teaching in the Catholic school system thanks to a new partnership between their college and St. John Regional Catholic School in Frederick.

Catholic leaders welcome documents on artificial nutrition

WASHINGTON – Catholic health care and ethical groups thanked the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for clarifying its stand on artificial nutrition and hydration for patients in a persistent vegetative state in a pair of Sept. 14 documents.

Relevant Radio seeks to blunt impact of FCC penalty

WASHINGTON – Relevant Radio, which calls itself the United States’ largest Catholic radio network, is negotiating with the Federal Communications Commission to erase a proposed $4.7 million penalty levied after the network withdrew its bid in an Arizona radio spectrum auction.

Children must be guided early on with God’s law

VATICAN CITY – Young children must be guided from a very early age with moral law so that they will have direction as they weather life’s storms and resist its temptations, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Maryland Court rules in favor of traditional marriage

Extolling the Maryland State Court of Appeals for upholding the state’s definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, the leader of the Maryland Catholic Conference said the high court “made a significant and wise judgment to protect the vital institution of marriage.”

Rome Dominicans surprised at Dutch proposal