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When it comes to the pride teacher Brendan Bailey and his seventh-grade homeroom, 7C, have in St. Ursula School, Parkville, you can see it all on their shirts. To help celebrate this year’s spirit day, Mr. Bailey’s 29 students purchased blue T-shirts with gold letters that read “7C rox my sox.” The students wanted to do something to make their class stand out at spirit day, said Mr. Bailey.

Father Joseph Rossi, S.J., associate professor of theology at Loyola College in Maryland, Baltimore, has published his second book chronicling the connection between the American Catholic Church and the United Nations.

WASHINGTON – Diplomats who understand the religious sensibilities of Iran are needed to act as translators between Iranian and American officials to resolve peacefully the dispute over Iran’s nuclear weapons program, said the executive director of Pax Christi USA. “We have seen no evidence in this (U.S.) administration to practice any skilled” diplomacy, Dave Robinson told Catholic News Service after a Feb. 26 press conference by U.S. Christian leaders who had returned that morning from a weeklong trip to Iran. Pax Christi USA is affiliated with Pax Christi International, a Vatican-recognized Catholic peace movement.

When the Catholic Family Network began hosting its Catholic Family Expo 17 years ago, the Woodstock group had a small following of mostly home-school advocates looking to broaden their Catholic horizons. Fast forward to 2007 and the organization is planning to host more than 2,000 Catholics at its four-day expo at the Baltimore Convention Center this summer featuring local speakers, Catholic scholars from throughout the U.S. and international celebrities.

It appeared to be the pinnacle of Catholic Robert W. Curran’s political career when eight of his colleagues on the City Council supported his bill Feb. 26 to declare the municipality a smoke-free zone. Calling the 9-2 vote historic, the council vice president and parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi, Baltimore, told his supporters their vote would save thousands of lives and serve as an inspiration for the Maryland General Assembly to follow suit and create a statewide smoking ban.

For almost five years the parishioners of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Crofton, have been waiting for an expansion and renovation of their 26 year-old church. After a few setbacks, construction has begun on a two-story addition with the first floor dedicated for the youth of the parish and the second floor for the new parish offices. “We have never had a room primarily for the youth,” said Father Edward Connelly, pastor. With about 100 young parishioners joining in youth activities, he said, they need a place to call their own. “They don’t want to just sit about a table,” he said.

It’s what Father John Swope refers to as “college prep with a kick.” That is Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Baltimore, where approximately 120 ninth graders literally will earn their education starting in the fall of 2007. The school will add a new class each year until it reaches a maximum capacity of 500. To reach that vision, administrators are forging ahead with fundraising, development plans, and construction options to gather the many pieces needed to finish this educational puzzle in the Cristo Rey Network. Father Swope leads the efforts as school president, overseeing two fundraising committees who are busily soliciting large private donations and corporations in the community.