Officials at the New York State Catholic Conference are calling the Reproductive Health Act "worse than we thought it would be."

Archbishop William E. Lori will celebrate this year’s “Life is Beautiful” Mass Jan. 13 at 10:45 a.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore.

Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas? Thought not. Neither did several Catholic organizations, despite the last-minute flurry of legislation typical of a lame-duck Congress.

The Catholic Church teaches that sterilization is morally unacceptable, but a hysterectomy could be morally acceptable if the uterus could not sustain a pregnancy, said the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Rather than "Thou shalt not" as its battle cry, the church can offer a genuinely positive vision of "the joy of love," a holistic understanding of sex and intimacy for a society increasingly despairing about both.

Kimberley Frazer was on hand to accept the Culture of Life Medal of Honor in recognition for her work with pregnant mothers throughout Baltimore.