All forms of clerical abuse begin with a priest thinking he is better than others and somehow over them, Pope Francis said.

The archdiocese celebrated a Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Feb. 8 as a citywide call to prayer for its move to the initiative’s “discernment phase.” In his homily, Archbishop William E. Lori noted that tough decisions lie ahead for parish and archdiocesan leaders during the next four months.

Characterized by a remarkable and yet prevailing spirit of bipartisanship urgency, Democratic and Republican senators alike spent over four hours forcefully and often loudly interrogating the tech titans of major social media platforms

Jennie Libertini, the oldest resident of St. Martin’s Home for the Aged in Catonsville and one of the oldest people in the country, celebrated her 109th birthday Feb. 5, complete with cake, a performance by a choral group from The Catholic High School of Baltimore, a television crew and, of course, bingo.

The importance of women in the Catholic Church cannot be “reduced” to the question of ministry, Pope Francis told members of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.