Page 1778 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

LIMA, Peru – People left homeless by the magnitude 8 earthquake that struck Peru Aug. 15 face an immediate shortage of food and water, said Bishop Guido Brena Lopez of Ica, one of the cities hardest hit. “The situation is dramatic, because many houses have collapsed and many people have died. It’s very difficult,” Bishop Brena told Catholic News Service by telephone Aug. 16. More than 500 people are known to have been killed and 1,500 injured in the earthquake, which caused houses, shops and churches made of adobe to collapse. Rubble blocked streets in Chincha, Pisco and Ica, coastal towns along the Panamerican Highway between about 125 and 185 miles south of Lima, the Peruvian capital.

Bishops tell citizens to elect honest candidates

NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya’s bishops, saying the country’s future was at stake, have advised citizens to vote for candidates with a track record of honesty in the December general elections. They also expressed concern that corruption was still a major issue in the government of President Mwai Kibaki, who plans to seek re-election.

Many seek small Christian communities

ST. PAUL, Minn. – In an age of cavernous megachurches, where parishioners sometimes outnumber pastors 2,000 to 1, it can be easy to get lost in the masses, so to speak. Mounting evidence suggests, however, that a worldwide movement to reclaim the sense of community upon which the church was founded is taking shape.

Father Wood faces joys and challenges in Iraq

The first time Father Tyson Wood went on a ground convoy after arriving in Iraq earlier this summer, a roadside bomb exploded nearby. No one was hurt and no significant damage was sustained, but the incident was a sudden and sobering reminder that the 40-year-old military chaplain’s ministry would be one of his most challenging ever.

Father Hilgartner to work for U.S. Bishops Conference

After serving two years as chaplain and director of campus ministry at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Father Richard Hilgartner has been named the new associate director for the Secretariat for Liturgy at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. In his new role, the 39-year-old priest will support the work of the bishops’ committee on the liturgy as it helps dioceses implement liturgy texts and directives disseminated from Rome.

Rescue workers search rubble for survivors

Rescue workers searched the rubble of houses about 100 miles south of Peru’s capital city, Lima, in search of victims and survivors of a magnitude 7.9 earthquake that struck Aug. 15 at 6:40 p.m. Officials reported at least 337 people killed and more than 1,000 injured, but the figures were expected to rise.

Bill to make motherhood easier for college students

As the debate rages on about whether abortion should be restricted or made more available, Feminists for Life sees clearly that abortion is a choice that no woman wants to make. Members of the organization were on Capitol Hill Aug. 14 to explain their support for the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Pregnant and Parenting Student Services Act of 2007, which was reintroduced to both houses of Congress this year.

John Carroll sophomore ponies up talent

When The John Carroll School, Bel Air, sophomore Kristen Dukes competes in her sport, she doesn’t just shoot for success – she also jumps, swims and runs for it. Dukes has been training for the National Tetrathlon competition, a precursor to the Olympic Modern Pentathlon, which involves running cross country 3,000 meters, swimming 200 yards freestyle, pistol shooting from 10 meters and riding a jumping course over fences and other obstacles.

Consumerism, hedonism will be defeated by God’s love

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy – The seemingly invincible ideologies of consumerism and hedonism and the reign of violence and terror will all be defeated by God’s love, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Shortage of management could hamper nonprofits

WASHINGTON – Nonprofit organizations will face a serious shortage of senior leaders in the next decade unless efforts are made now to recruit and retain outstanding managers, a consultant to nonprofits told the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management.

Rizzuto known as supporter of school for blind

NEWARK, N.J. – Yankee legend Phil Rizzuto, who died Aug. 14 at age 89, will be remembered for many things, not the least of which will be the amount of money he raised for St. Joseph’s School for the Blind in Jersey City, a private Catholic institution founded and sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. He raised more than $2 million through his work organizing celebrity golf tournaments as well as through his own family’s donations.

Father Peterson celebrates 60th anniversary