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Last week I met with more than 200 of our lay people at the end of their full-day conference, “Co-Workers in the Vineyard.” These dedicated people, many of whom are employed at some level of Archdiocesan and parish administration, were called together to discuss the December 2005 U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document, “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord: A Resource for Guiding the Development of Lay Ecclesial Ministry.”

Del. Eric Bromwell of Baltimore County has withdrawn a bill that Catholic leaders feared would have devastated parishes, schools and ministries had it become law.

With the support of the Catholic Church, the House of Delegates unanimously passed a bill Feb. 22 requiring law enforcement agencies to notify nonpublic school superintendents or principals when one of their students is arrested for a serious crime. The Senate version of the bill is now under consideration in Annapolis.

SAN FRANCISCO – Eliminating much of the world’s worst poverty within a decade would become a principle of U.S. foreign policy for the first time under a Catholic-led legislative push gathering force with a growing interfaith alliance.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A bill to allow embryonic stem-cell research in New Mexico has been turned back for the second time in two years. “Life at its utmost vulnerable state has once again been successfully defended,” said a Feb. 22 news release from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

It’s one of Jack Degele’s favorite times of the year. Degele, the commissioner for the Baltimore Catholic League, is ready to head to Reitz Arena at Loyola College in Maryland, Baltimore, for the start of the Baltimore Catholic League Tournament.

VATICAN CITY – Society and labor laws should give concrete support to family members so they can attend to terminally ill loved ones, Pope Benedict XVI said. While guarantees must be made for all people to receive necessary medical care, special provisions also must be put into place for the patient’s family members, he said.

VATICAN CITY – Catholics and Muslims must learn more about each other’s religions if they want to get along better, said the Vatican ambassador in Egypt and former president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Gib Lease has noticed a definite pattern about who is most active in his church. No matter the ministry, he said, chances are pretty good that women outnumber men. More women teach religious education at his parish, he said. More girls are altar servers. And Mr. Lease is the only man in his Bible studies program.

The Maryland Catholic Conference called for the elimination of state funding for embryonic stem cell research during a Feb. 21 hearing on the issue in Annapolis.