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VATICAN CITY – The working world must not just be about competition and productivity; today’s workers must also make room for charity and defending human dignity, said Pope Benedict XVI. “Today more than ever it’s urgent and necessary” to live as Christians in the workplace and to become “apostles among workers,” the pope said. “Becoming more competitive and productive is not the only thing that matters,” he said in a message to young people. “Paying charitable witness” in the workplace and elsewhere is necessary, he said.

The U.S. Department of Education reports that 4 million potential college degree recipients have been “lost” during the past 20 years, due to lack of information available to them about admissions, financial aid, SAT preparation and college application guidance. Many of these students are America’s top-performing, lower-income high school graduates.

Shelia Wharam deserves our applause for her excellent exposé of Plan B, ‘the morning after pill,’ in “Strong Poison” (CR, March 22). She showed that Plan B does not reduce the number of pregnancies or abortions, and in fact it does itself function as an abortifacient. Also, one of its side effects is the life-threatening tubular pregnancy. Ms. Wharam recommends Plan C – chastity – instead of Plan B.

Terrorists attacked the United States the first day Dr. B. Curtis Turner spent with his students as the new principal of The Seton Keough High School in Baltimore in 2001. A week later, two of his students were involved in a serious car accident. A week after that, one of those students died from her injuries. “It was a difficult time, but I saw how the school really integrated God and family into one,” said Dr. Turner, a parishioner of St. Joseph in Largo who is in formation to become a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Washington. “I was glad to be at a Catholic school where Christ was at the center,” he said. “The students were incredibly resilient. It was really clear that their faith in Christ was the foundation for everything.”

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI has named Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, to serve as the camerlengo, the chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church. While the pope is alive, the job is basically just a title. But when a pope dies, the chamberlain is charged with sealing the papal apartments, chairing consultations about the papal funeral, making the practical preparations for the conclave to elect the next pope, and chairing a committee of cardinals taking care of the temporal affairs of the church until a new pope is elected.

FAIRFAX, Calif. – While the Catholic Church in California “does not seek to impose our values on anyone,” it is nonetheless called “to be a strong moral voice on what we believe is necessary for the well-being of society and the good of the human family,” the president of the California Conference of Catholic Bishops told an audience at St. Rita Parish in Fairfax March 27.

JERUSALEM – The faithful must be “more diligent” in searching for the light of God in order to use it to build a better future, said religious leaders in Jerusalem in an Easter message. “We re-search for the light that comes from God, illuminates all creation, guides every true believer in his search, and helps him to find God’s freedom for all his people together with his peace and justice,” the heads of Jerusalem churches said in a statement April 2.

Nancy Fortier Paltell, associate director for the respect life office of the Maryland Catholic Conference, said she was “disgusted” by the Maryland Senate Finance Committee’s rejection of a bill to ban human cloning. In an 8-3 vote March 26, the committee killed the Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2007, sponsored by Sen. Roy Dyson of Southern Maryland.

For the thousands of people coming to Baltimore for the National Catholic Educational Association’s 104th convention April 10-13, there will be variety of events and activities to attend after the Baltimore Convention Center doors close for the day. Celebrate the arts with middle and high school students of the Archdiocese of Baltimore at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall at 6:30 p.m. with performances starting at 7:30 p.m on April 9. Witness art, music, drama and dance with talented youths. Complimentary tickets are available for the first 400 out-of-town NCEA guests; inquiries can be made at mhutson@archbalt.org.

SAN DIEGO – In a bankruptcy reorganization plan filed March 28, the San Diego Diocese proposed a $95 million pool to compensate 143 people who claim childhood sexual abuse by priests. Under the proposal 83 victims who say they were forced to have sexual intercourse could receive up to $800,000 each. Forty-four who claim they were touched sexually or forced to masturbate could receive between $176,000 and $575,000. Payments to 16 victims of abuse not involving touch, such as being asked to look at pornography or posing for indecent pictures, could range from $10,000 to $175,000.