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In the past week, the Archdiocese of Baltimore learned of two allegations of sexual abuse of a minor against Monsignor Richard E. Smith, 67, pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ellicott City. The alleged abuse occurred in mid-late 1960s while Richard Smith was a priest at Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Woodlawn (known as St. Gabriel since 1997).

Let’s look at a new phenomenon you may know very little about. It is the remarkable rise of eucharistic adoration in Catholic parishes and institutions in every part of the world. Why is it happening? And what is it? “The Catholic Church,” says the Catechism, “offers to the … Eucharist… adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts … exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession,” (No. 1378).

DETROIT – Father Anton Kcira first began to notice the absence of more and more of his regular parishioners at St. Paul (Albanian) Church in suburban Rochester Hills back in 2005, and the loss due to deportations has escalated since then. “Last year we lost about 200 families, and Our Lady of Albanians lost 120,” said Father Kcira, pastor of St. Paul’s, of the situation in his parish and at the other Albanian ethnic parish in Beverly Hills, another Detroit suburb.

ROME – God’s mercy and love are great, but those who reject him should know that hell “exists and is eternal,” Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope made the comments during a visit March 25 to a Rome parish that serves a predominantly immigrant population, including the city’s Filipino community. In a sermon, the pope focused on what has become a running theme of his pontificate: the importance of divine love.

WASHINGTON – The “mistaken views” on contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage and other church teachings expressed in two 2006 pamphlets by Marquette University theology professor Daniel C. Maguire “should not be confused with the faith and moral teaching of the Catholic Church,” the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Doctrine said. The doctrine committee’s “Statement Concerning Two Pamphlets Published by Professor Daniel Mr. Maguire” was approved for publication by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Administrative Committee during the latter’s March 20-21 meeting in Washington.

A bill that would have provided business tax credits to businesses that support tuition scholarship programs was defeated on a 15-5 vote in the House of Delegates Ways and Means Committee March 22. The bill would have established a program called BOAST, “Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers in Maryland,” allowing businesses to claim a 75 percent state tax credit for donations to organizations that support Maryland’s K-12 public and nonpublic school students and teachers. The program would have been capped at $25 million.