Without uttering a word, nine teens from Central Maryland conveyed their love for their church using signs and gestures during a first-ever archdiocesan confirmation liturgy for the deaf community May 13.

Paul McMullen, a Baltimore native with four decades of experience in the newspaper business, has been appointed managing editor of The Catholic Review.

One day after attending an April 24 White House summit on preventing faith-based schools from closing in the inner-city, Dr. Ronald J. Valenti, Baltimore superintendent of Catholic schools, welcomed a renewed proposal from President George W. Bush to establish a “Pell Grant for Kids.”

As part of an ongoing celebration of the 200th anniversary of the elevation of Baltimore to archdiocesan status, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien introduced the John Carroll Lecture series April 22 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Baltimore. The series focuses on the history and heritage of Catholicism in America.

Father Wayne G. Funk, the longtime pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Frederick who was known for his encouraging, pastoral presence, died Feb. 16 at Frederick Memorial Hospital. The 70-year-old priest had battled cancer for nearly five years.