The archdiocese reported that 320 catechumens – those like Jay St. John who have not been baptized – and 458 candidates – those who are baptized but have not received one or more of the sacraments of initiation – participated in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion liturgy at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland on March 9.

A funeral Mass for Christian Brother Eric J. Henderson was offered Feb. 21 at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh. Brother Eric died Feb. 13. He was 82.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said March 10 that just 18 percent of programs of the now-shuttered U.S. Agency for International Development will remain intact, and those will now fall under his purview at the State Department.

Syria’s top Christian leaders have condemned the killing and wounding of hundreds of Alawites, many of them civilians, by security forces and gunmen linked to the country’s new Islamist rulers.

In February, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order pledging his administration’s support for in vitro fertilization, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Medical Association and other groups issued statements opposing the move, highlighting the many ethical problems with IVF.