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For the thousands of people coming to Baltimore for the National Catholic Educational Association’s 104th convention April 10-13, there will be variety of events and activities to attend after the Baltimore Convention Center doors close for the day. Celebrate the arts with middle and high school students of the Archdiocese of Baltimore at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall at 6:30 p.m. with performances starting at 7:30 p.m on April 9. Witness art, music, drama and dance with talented youths. Complimentary tickets are available for the first 400 out-of-town NCEA guests; inquiries can be made at mhutson@archbalt.org.

SAN DIEGO – In a bankruptcy reorganization plan filed March 28, the San Diego Diocese proposed a $95 million pool to compensate 143 people who claim childhood sexual abuse by priests. Under the proposal 83 victims who say they were forced to have sexual intercourse could receive up to $800,000 each. Forty-four who claim they were touched sexually or forced to masturbate could receive between $176,000 and $575,000. Payments to 16 victims of abuse not involving touch, such as being asked to look at pornography or posing for indecent pictures, could range from $10,000 to $175,000.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Morale is high among priests and soldiers serving in Iraq, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services told Providence diocesan priests gathered March 21 at Our Lady of Providence Seminary. The archbishop noted that, while there has been a decline in the number of priests serving as chaplains throughout all branches of the military, there is a steady increase in the number of soldiers seeking the sacraments in combat and in families requesting the support of Catholic priests.

VATICAN CITY – Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI asked young people not to let the question of God drift out of their lives. The pope opened Holy Week with a procession and liturgy in St. Peter’s Square April 1, blessing palms and olive branches in memory of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem a few days before his death. Dressed in red and gold vestments, the pope carried a braided palm as he walked along the cobbled square at the head of a long line of cardinals, bishops and priests. The choir sang a “Hosanna,” evoking the acclamation of the people of Jerusalem when Jesus arrived in the holy city. Some 50,000 people crowded into the sunlit square and applauded the pope, who turns 80 April 16. It was the start of the year’s busiest period of papal liturgies.

MIAMI – Calling U.S. immigration policy toward Haitians “totally immoral,” Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami has urged “the powers that be” to grant temporary protected status to all Haitian migrants until the political and economic situation in their island nation stabilizes. He also pleaded for the immediate release from detention of 101 Haitians – including 13 children – whose homemade sailboat washed up on Hallandale Beach March 28. One man died during the trip, which the migrants said took 22 days at sea, the last 12 without food or water. A U.S. Coast Guard official estimated the trip took about 12 days. The migrants, some of them suffering from dehydration, are being held by the U.S. Border Patrol at several detention centers in south Florida.

ROME – With prayers, song and formal oaths in Latin, officials of the Diocese of Rome concluded the initial phase of the process for the canonization of Pope John Paul II. During this phase, more than 120 people who knew Pope John Paul were interviewed about his actions and character, and studies were conducted on his ministry, the way he handled suffering and how he faced his death, said Cardinal Camillo Ruini, papal vicar of Rome. “In the certainty of being loved by God and in the joy of responding to that love,” the late pope “found the meaning, unity and aim of his life,” Cardinal Ruini said during a prayer service in the Basilica of St. John Lateran April 2, the second anniversary of Pope John Paul’s death.

Within the last several years, a wave of Catholic school closings has hit several big cities. In 2005 alone, the archdioceses of Chicago and Detroit each closed 18 schools and the Diocese of Brooklyn closed 19 schools. The Archdiocese of Baltimore closed or consolidated 10 schools over the last several years, and the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y., closed or merged 11. To prevent more schools from shutting their doors, many dioceses are looking at alternative approaches to Catholic education. The days are long gone when schools were strictly parish-based institutions that relied on women religious, priests and brothers to serve as teachers and staff.