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Rapid City Diocese to promote better preaching

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Rapid City has announced that the diocese has been awarded $100,000 in grant funding to promote excellence in preaching in his diocese. The three-year project, called “To Preach the Good Word Well,” will focus on how the word of God transforms the lives of clergy and laity and forms their vision as people of God. The purpose of the project is to assist clergy and laity in more effectively preaching and listening to the word of God.

Pope encourages peace in Central African Republic

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI encouraged the bishops of the Central African Republic to continue efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in their country. “Peace and national harmony are among the most urgent challenges to which the church in your country must respond,” the pope told the bishops June 1 at the end of their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI set to meet Bush

VATICAN CITY – U.S. President George W. Bush is coming to the Vatican for his first formal audience with Pope Benedict XVI, a meeting seen on both sides as immensely important. Vatican officials said the June 9 encounter would give the pope and the president a chance to sit down for a survey of dramatic situations around the world, including Iraq, where thousands of Christians have been forced to flee. The Bush administration believes the audience will highlight the shared values and common objectives of the Vatican and the United States.

Anti-smoking campaign earns awards for students at 20 Catholic schools

As 12-year-old St. Bernardine Catholic School, Baltimore, seventh grader Katrina Freeman developed her award-winning Tobacco Use Prevention Contest entry, she prayed her efforts would free her father from his decades-long cigarette habit. Though her mega-watt smile sparkled as she was given a $50 gift certificate May 30 in the parish center at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland, for winning first place at her school, the Edmonson Village resident said her crusade to persuade her father to quit smoking will persist.

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