“Protocol develops over time, and this has never happened before,” the director of the Vatican press office kept repeating in the days after the death of retired Pope Benedict XVI.

While we know for sure that sins are forgiven through the sacrament, God is of course free to extend his grace beyond even what he has promised.

A quiet hush covered the vast expanse of St. Peter’s Square even though it was filled with thousands of people slowly winding their way around the colonnade into St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their last respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI.

With the support of Archbishop William E. Lori and parishioners of Ss. Philip and James, Father Michael Weibley converted a chapel formerly used for daily Mass into a new adoration chapel. Daily Mass moved to the main church during the coronavirus pandemic.

An 11 a.m. funeral Mass for Christian Brother William Fealy will be offered Jan. 2 at McManus Theatre at Calvert Hall College High School in Towson. Brother William died at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson Dec. 26. He was 80.