Deacon John “Jack” Ames Jr., who helped the healing pathway of hundreds of people who have endured the post-abortion journey and who served in ministry at St. Agnes in Catonsville, died Feb. 8. He was 74.

The bishops of Cuba have postponed their planned “ad limina” visit to Rome after government authorities announced that airlines could no longer refuel due to U.S. tariff threats against countries supplying oil to the island nation.

New Jersey-based rock legend Bruce Springsteen and Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton got together recently for an impromptu lunch in Federici’s Restaurant in Freehold.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, retired archbishop of New York, is the new co-chief chaplain of the New York Police Department, sharing the role with the Rev. A.R. Bernard of Brooklyn’s Christian Cultural Center, a nondenominational megachurch.

Rev. King’s 7,000-word response, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” written in the margins of a newspaper and smuggled out by his attorney, has become a classic of the Civil Rights Movement and a good reread during Black History Month.