Page 1830 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

Cardinal Gibbons School’s head track coach, Donald Davis, is in his sixth and final season at the Baltimore school with a team that he has built from scratch. The nuts and bolts of the football and track programs, Davis has been a mainstay for the Crusaders and looks to lead his track team to yet another Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference title. In the early days of Coach Davis’ reign, the team was built from off-season football players looking to stay in shape and the pick-up athletes cut from the spring baseball and lacrosse teams. With hard work and determination, the Crusaders won three back-to-back MIAA B Conference championships in 2002, 2003 and 2004 before Baltimore Lutheran took the title in 2005.

Archbishop says morale is high among chaplains, soldiers

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Morale is high among priests and soldiers serving in Iraq, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services told Providence diocesan priests gathered March 21 at Our Lady of Providence Seminary. The archbishop noted that, while there has been a decline in the number of priests serving as chaplains throughout all branches of the military, there is a steady increase in the number of soldiers seeking the sacraments in combat and in families requesting the support of Catholic priests.

Bishop Walsh student’s free throws net title

Where was 13-year-old Ashley Turnbull when the women’s top-ranked Duke Blue Devils had one-tenth of a second left on the clock in the NCAA quarterfinals March 24 and had the chance to win or tie by sinking either of her two free throws? Duke’s Lindsey Harding missed both shots, and the Blue Devils headed back to North Carolina. But enough about Duke. What about Ashley Turnbull?

Pope asks young people not to forget ‘question of God’

VATICAN CITY – Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI asked young people not to let the question of God drift out of their lives. The pope opened Holy Week with a procession and liturgy in St. Peter’s Square April 1, blessing palms and olive branches in memory of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem a few days before his death. Dressed in red and gold vestments, the pope carried a braided palm as he walked along the cobbled square at the head of a long line of cardinals, bishops and priests. The choir sang a “Hosanna,” evoking the acclamation of the people of Jerusalem when Jesus arrived in the holy city. Some 50,000 people crowded into the sunlit square and applauded the pope, who turns 80 April 16. It was the start of the year’s busiest period of papal liturgies.

Archbishop calls U.S. immigration policy ‘totally immoral’

MIAMI – Calling U.S. immigration policy toward Haitians “totally immoral,” Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami has urged “the powers that be” to grant temporary protected status to all Haitian migrants until the political and economic situation in their island nation stabilizes. He also pleaded for the immediate release from detention of 101 Haitians – including 13 children – whose homemade sailboat washed up on Hallandale Beach March 28. One man died during the trip, which the migrants said took 22 days at sea, the last 12 without food or water. A U.S. Coast Guard official estimated the trip took about 12 days. The migrants, some of them suffering from dehydration, are being held by the U.S. Border Patrol at several detention centers in south Florida.

Conclusion of first phase of late pope’s sainthood cause

ROME – With prayers, song and formal oaths in Latin, officials of the Diocese of Rome concluded the initial phase of the process for the canonization of Pope John Paul II. During this phase, more than 120 people who knew Pope John Paul were interviewed about his actions and character, and studies were conducted on his ministry, the way he handled suffering and how he faced his death, said Cardinal Camillo Ruini, papal vicar of Rome. “In the certainty of being loved by God and in the joy of responding to that love,” the late pope “found the meaning, unity and aim of his life,” Cardinal Ruini said during a prayer service in the Basilica of St. John Lateran April 2, the second anniversary of Pope John Paul’s death.

NCEA convention comes to Baltimore

More than 10,000 registrants and exhibitors will attend the 104th annual National Catholic Educational Association convention in Baltimore April 10-13. “This is an opportunity for educators from across the country to exchange ideas,” said Dr. Michael Murphy, president of Archbishop Spalding High School, Severn, whose students will be performing at the Celebration of the Arts and the NCEA convention. “We are all doing the same type of work, just in different parts of the country.”

New approaches aid Catholic schools

Within the last several years, a wave of Catholic school closings has hit several big cities. In 2005 alone, the archdioceses of Chicago and Detroit each closed 18 schools and the Diocese of Brooklyn closed 19 schools. The Archdiocese of Baltimore closed or consolidated 10 schools over the last several years, and the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y., closed or merged 11. To prevent more schools from shutting their doors, many dioceses are looking at alternative approaches to Catholic education. The days are long gone when schools were strictly parish-based institutions that relied on women religious, priests and brothers to serve as teachers and staff.

Hundreds expected at Holy Rosary

Busloads of Catholics seeking absolution are expected to flock to Holy Rosary, Fells Point, April 15 for its annual Divine Mercy Sunday Mass and chaplet. As the official Archdiocesan Shrine of Divine Mercy, Holy Rosary has been host to hundreds of Catholics from Maryland and throughout the Mid-Atlantic states for the service the Polish parish has been celebrating since 1993 – seven years before Pope Paul II proclaimed the Sunday following Easter Divine Mercy Sunday.

Trappistine monastery to be focus of new show

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey, near Dubuque, is known for the lives of prayer the Trappistine Sisters lead there and for the delicious caramels they make. Now an even wider audience will get a glimpse into their lives. A four-part television series, “The Monastery,” filmed in Dubuque a year ago, will be shown on the TLC cable channel. It was to debut at 2 p.m. EDT on Easter, April 8, and continue for three more Sundays at the same time. Five women who answered a casting call were chosen to spend 40 days and nights in a women’s monastery somewhere in the United States. That “somewhere” turned out to be Our Lady of the Mississippi.

Use faith to help survive ‘the blitz’

WORCESTER, Mass. – California businessman Tom Brady Sr. didn’t come to the seventh annual Worcester Diocesan Men’s Conference to tell Hollywood-ready tales about a Super Bowl-winning son and a family leading perfect lives. He came to tell the truth – and to challenge area Catholic men to use their faith to deal with life’s pressures.

Work must not just be about productivity, but also charity