Page 1859 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

TORONTO – The second person ever to serve as poet laureate for Toronto is also the first Catholic priest to hold the title. It’s an opportune pulpit for Father Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, 57, a priest-poet-philosopher who is now spreading ideas about how individuals, government officials and even business leaders can make cities and communities more livable as they give more thought to the “poetry” of their lives.

Lobby night is Feb. 19

Maryland Catholics are urged to rally at Lobby Night in Annapolis Feb., 19, Presidents’ Day, to learn about important public-policy initiatives and meet their elected state officials. The 23rd annual Lobby Night, sponsored by the Maryland Catholic Conference, will begin at 3 p.m. at St. Mary’s School, Marian Hall, with issue briefings. The briefings will also be offered in special sessions for youths and Spanish-speaking constituents. They will acquaint participants with proposals on the following:

Wedding favors run the creative gamut

The average wedding favor costs about $6, said Anne Berman, a special events and wedding planner in Baltimore. It doesn’t seem like much, but multiply that by 200 guests and it is a lot of money. This is why many couples choose to get the most for their money when purchasing favors. Some couples give guests chocolate in a personalized wrapper. Others add a special touch with fresh-baked cookies wrapped in decorative paper.

Preparation program gives couples a hand in marriage

Single people who plan to marry in the Catholic church are required to attend a marriage preparation program in some form, whether participating in an organized program through a parish or in another arrangement that their priest deems appropriate to cover “the five Cs” of marriage preparation: community, conflict resolution, commitment, children and church.

JC grad makes music

Will de Rosset hasn’t had a weekend off in a very long time. The full-time disc jockey is busy on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays making sure guests are enjoying the music at the weddings he services weekly.

Pope consoled by stories of apostles, disciples arguing

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI said he finds consolation in the New Testament stories of the apostles and first disciples arguing with each other. Continuing his series of audience talks about the leaders of the early church, Pope Benedict spoke Jan. 31 about St. Paul and St. Barnabas arguing over whether they should take another person with them on a mission.

Zimbabwe church worker says strike must end

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – A strike by doctors and nurses in Zimbabwe is causing “untold human suffering and loss of life,” said the country’s Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace. Sick and injured people are turned away from the main state hospitals “and their only other option is to go to private hospitals, which is unaffordable for most Zimbabweans,” Alouis Chaumba, who heads the commission, said in a Jan. 28 telephone interview from the capital, Harare.

Baltimore City hospitals work together

Mayor Sheila Dixon and the leaders of 11 Baltimore City hospitals announced an agreement for cooperation in the event of a bioterrorist attack or other public health catastrophe, on Jan 23. “Just as our first responders talk to each other through interoperable communications equipment, this step means that our hospitals can collaborate efficiently in the midst of a serious event,” said Mayor Dixon, in a recent press release.

In Latin America, church still influences state

LIMA, Peru – When Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told Archbishop Roberto Luckert Leon recently that he would “see him in hell,” he was fanning the coals of an ongoing war of words with Catholic leaders. And when Bolivian President Evo Morales’ government picked a fight with that country’s bishops shortly after his inauguration, he seemed to be biting the hand that had helped the country’s grass-roots movement put a president in power

Father Drinan, ex-congressman, dead at 86

WASHINGTON – Jesuit Father Robert F. Drinan, the first Catholic priest to vote in the U.S. Congress, received praise and censure during his lifetime for his active involvement in politics. Father Drinan, 86, died Jan. 28 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, where he had been treated for pneumonia and congestive heart failure for the past 10 days. Funeral arrangements were pending Jan. 29. “Few have accomplished as much as Father Drinan and fewer still have done so much to make the world a better place,” said T. Alex Aleinikoff, dean of the Georgetown University Law Center, where Father Drinan had taught since 1981.

Eastern Europeans discuss communist collaboration

WARSAW, Poland – Many Eastern European church officials said they lack procedures for handling claims of clergy collaborating with communist secret police nearly 20 year after the collapse of communism. Father Laszlo Nemeth, secretary-general of the Hungarian bishops’ conference, told Catholic News Service that although Hungarian bishops had debated the issue in the early 1990s the communist police archives are still closed to researchers.

Hibernians honor St. Brigid