Next steps proposed to attract new generations to religious life
Oct 03 2010
WASHINGTON – At what one participant called a “critical juncture in consecrated life,” dozens of religious and Catholic lay leaders gathered in Chicago recently to hash out the next steps needed to attract young people to religious life today.
Loss of Language, Loss of Catholic Identity?
Sep 23 2010
This past August, an Associated Press-Univision poll found that “younger Latinos, as well as those who speak more English than Spanish, are much less likely to identify as Catholics than older Hispanics who mostly speak Spanish.” The article affirmed a highly visible reality among our Latino youths across the country. However, seeing the data was in fact disconcerting for all those involved in ministry. The article alluded to the repetitive reality of immigrant communities of faith in the United States throughout history. The piece led the Department of Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Baltimore to initiate a dialogue regarding the lessons learned from the dwindling of different ethnic expressions of Catholicism (Irish, Italian, Polish, German, etc.). Above all, the article started the conversation about how to equip adults of diverse cultures to evangelize the emerging cultural and ethnic demographics of our Catholic communities.
Pope expresses sorrow, sense of shame to sex abuse victims
Sep 20 2010
LONDON – In a personal meeting with five victims of clerical sexual abuse, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his “deep sorrow and shame” over their suffering and promised the church would do “all in its power” to investigate cases of abuse and safeguard the young.
Youth present ideas on HIV management
Sep 20 2010
An international delegation of more than 20 young people “infected or affected” by HIV met at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore Sept. 16 to exchange ideas on preventing and managing HIV in young people throughout the world.
Immigration advocates seek passage of DREAM Act, other reforms
Sep 17 2010
WASHINGTON – Participants at a Sept. 15 rally near the U.S. Capitol were invigorated in their fight for immigration reform by the previous day’s announcement of an upcoming Senate vote on a measure to help children of undocumented immigrants work toward legal status and get a college education.
Miller to lead Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Aug 20 2010
The young church has its leader.
D. Scott Miller, who served as interim director of the Division of Youth and Young Adult Ministry during the last year, will permanently have the role starting Sept. 1.
Catholic schools careful with social media
Aug 12 2010
Doug Heidrick wasn’t so sure Calvert Hall College High School should get into Facebook, a popular online social media page. The school’s communications director wasn’t convinced it was an appropriate venue for a Catholic school and he feared a presence on Facebook would siphon visitors from the school’s well-established website.
Combier-Donovan to head Office of Worship
Aug 09 2010
Paulist Father John E. Hurley, executive director of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Department of Evangelization, announced the appointment of Catherine Combier-Donovan as the new director of the Office for Worship.
Teens taught to hear leadership call at High LI
Aug 04 2010
Encircled by 48 teenage attendees of the High School Leadership Institute inside the Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat House in Sparks July 30, Paulist Father John F. Hurley looked pensive. He walked about a blue cloth that looked like a body of water.
Church’s work on disabilities helped bring about law marking 20th year
Jul 25 2010
WASHINGTON – When the Americans with Disabilities Act was being debated in the U.S. Senate 20 years ago, excerpts from the pastoral statement on people with disabilities issued by the U.S. bishops 12 years earlier were read on the Senate floor in support of its passage.