Page 1798 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

The temperature in Baltimore City was 85 degrees and rising and the humidity was even worse the week of July 24-29. However, 32 youths from St. William of York, Baltimore; St. Mark, Catonsville; and Resurrection of Our Lord, Laurel, braved the heat to participate in BASE Camp, Baltimore-Act-Serve-Evangelize. The young people donned T-shirts and gloves as they worked to clear weeds away from empty lots in an effort to beautify the streets of Baltimore. According to Sarah Councill, 16, some young people conducted tree surveys, determining if trees were dead, still growing, or if more trees needed to be planted in a certain area.

Vocations camp for boys raises awareness about priesthood

Twelve-year-old Daniel Cohn doesn’t dream about becoming a major league baseball player or a Hollywood movie star. His goal in life is to become a priest and minister with soldiers as a U.S. Army chaplain. “I want to serve my country and preach about God,” said Daniel, a homeschooled parishioner of St. John the Evangelist, Severna Park. “I want to tell them they’re not there to kill, but to save lives and protect people.” Daniel was one of 10 boys who attended “Operation Genesis,” a daylong vocations camp sponsored by the archdiocese June 26 at St. John, Westminster.

Institute focuses on need to invite young people to be church leaders

WASHINGTON – Approximately 70 leaders of youth, young adult and campus ministries from 13 U.S. dioceses met June 25-29 in Washington to discuss ways of more effectively inviting the youths of the Catholic Church into leadership positions within the church. The leaders met at a training institute held by the Washington Theological Union.

Pope gives pallium to 46 archbishops as sign of unity with him

VATICAN CITY – Placing the pallium, a woolen band, around the shoulders of 46 archbishops from around the world, Pope Benedict XVI prayed that they would be true shepherds of their flocks and always united with the pope. “May this pallium be for you a symbol of unity and a sign of communion with the Apostolic See,” the pope said as the archbishops named in the past year knelt before him during the June 29 Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Christian Family Movement encouraged by bishops’ marriage campaign

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – A top leader of the Christian Family Movement in the United States called an initiative by the U.S. bishops to strengthen marriage “good for couples and good for society.” “It’s very exciting to see the Catholic Church encouraging people to treasure their own marriages,” said Lauri Przybysz, who shares the CFM presidency with her husband, John. The national office of CFM is in Evansville.

U.S. bishop calls for an end to violence against Iraqi Christians

WASHINGTON – A U.S. bishop, who described the situation of Christians in Iraq as “particularly dire,” called for an end to the continuing violence against the country’s religious minorities.

Environmental face-off: Church workers get ammunition for their fight

LIMA, Peru – From the forests of Honduras and the highlands of Guatemala to the Andes Mountains and the Amazon rain forest, church leaders and grass-roots Catholics are facing off against loggers, gold miners, ranchers and oil companies. Some have paid with their lives. Others, such as Bishop Erwin Krautler of Xingu, Brazil, have received death threats.

Zyskowski says CPA can help Catholic media be ‘even more vital’

WASHINGTON – At the top of Bob Zyskowski’s to-do list as the new president of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada is “making association membership more valuable to everyone who works for Catholic publications.” “I think we need to offer members more programs and services that make Catholic media so good that they are even more vital and valuable to readers and viewers,” he told Catholic News Service in an interview in June.

Politics, Communion, Catholic teaching: A tale of two politicians

VATICAN CITY – When Tony Blair came to the Vatican to meet Pope Benedict XVI in June, there was excited speculation that the outgoing British prime minister might be preparing to become a Catholic. Across the ocean, meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani, a lifelong Catholic, was taking heat from some church leaders for his stand on abortion. Abortion is wrong, Mr. Giuliani has said, but the government shouldn’t be enforcing that moral decision on women.

Faith groups urge U.S. restore habeas corpus for noncitizen detainees

WASHINGTON – A host of Catholic organizations have joined similar Protestant, Jewish and Muslim groups in a coalition to urge a reversal of one part of last year’s Military Commissions Act that eliminates habeas corpus for noncitizens held in custody.

Missionaries visit more than 50 parishes throughout July

When parishioners attend Mass at Sacred Heart, Glyndon, July 14 and 15, they will hear from a missionary working in Argentina about the continuing labors of the Catholic Church in that region. Members of the congregation will then be asked to generously contribute in the second collection to help fund those ongoing efforts.

Pope meets bishops, discusses decision on pre-Vatican II liturgy