In the News

ANNAPOLIS – Hundreds of pro-marriage supporters converged on Annapolis Jan. 30, passionately calling on state lawmakers to oppose legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage. During an evening

ANNAPOLIS – Framing his support for same-sex marriage in the context of respect for human dignity, Gov. Martin J. O’Malley testified before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Jan. 31 in favor of

By Cathy Weaver As a public policy issue, education is a high-cost and a high-stakes venture. Race to the Top funds in Delaware are being used to implement common core standards, tie student

Maryland First Lady Katie O’Malley has apologized for calling members of the House of Delegates who opposed voting on changing the definition of marriage in 2011 “cowards.” A bill that would have

The release of legislation today to redefine marriage once again attempts to impose the influence of special interest groups on the people of Maryland, despite the vehement protest of faith groups and

By The Dialog With Maryland’s new legislative session opening today, Jan. 11, the state’s Catholic bishops are reminding lawmakers of the devastating impact that hunger, homelessness and unemployment

By John Garvey December 7, 2011 There has been a lot of discussion in these pages about a recent statement on religious liberty issued by Maryland's Catholic bishops. Unfortunately, the discussion

Maryland’s Catholics joyfully offer our congratulations, prayers and heartfelt praise to Cardinal-designate Edwin F. O’Brien, Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He could not be

By George P. Matysek Jr. gmatysek@CatholicReview.org The Maryland Catholic Conference is hailing the late-December arrest of two abortion doctors who were involved in a botched abortion

By Steve Kilar, The Baltimore Sun In response to a botched abortion last year that led to a semiconscious teenager being transported to a hospital in the back of a Chevy Malibu, the state health department

By Joan Frawley Desmond Bishop William Lori is the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, established this fall to direct and fortify the Church’s

Religious opponents of a planned push to bring same-sex marriage to Maryland have launched a new coalition, bringing their organizing efforts into two Democratic strongholds that are expected to be a

By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service BALTIMORE (CNS) -- After a lengthy report from the chairman of a new Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic

By Mark Zimmermann Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Maryland's Catholic bishops issued a statement Nov. 9 urging Catholics and all people of good will to safeguard and defend religious freedom

By Catholic News Service WASHINGTON – Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., has named 10 bishop-members and 10 consultants to join him on the recently established Ad Hoc Committee for Religious

Faced with a General Assembly and a string of governors who have mostly opposed pro-life legislation in the last decade, Nancy Paltell doesn't have the easiest job in Annapolis. That doesn't stop the

It is with a mixture of happiness and regret that we congratulate Archbishop O'Brien on his appointment today as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. His acceptance

Denise Crowe, a 21-year-old mother, secretly sought an abortion at a clinic in Severna Park in 2006, but died on the way to the hospital after she overdosed on an anesthetic. The clinic did not have

Since the unfortunate day New York passed a bill to redefine marriage, national and local media have poured unabated attention – not to mention pressure – on Governor Martin J. O’Malley to thrust his

The Maryland Catholic Conference has expressed its "great disappointment" with Gov. Martin O'Malley's July 22 announcement that he will be the lead sponsor of a same-sex marriage bill in the 2012 General

ANNAPOLIS – Gov. Martin J. O’Malley said he will take a leadership role in passing same-sex marriage legislation in Maryland next year, promising in a July 22 press conference that he will sponsor legislation

Responding to a newly launched effort to pass same-sex marriage in Maryland, the Maryland Catholic Conference issued a July 12 statement noting that the “successful coalition that upheld the time-honored

Proponents of same-sex marriage re-launched their effort on July 12 to change the legal definition of marriage in Maryland by 2012. Although members of Maryland's General Assembly do not meet until January,

I would like to thank Senator Durbin for making it possible for me to be here today to be part of this event. I am proud to participate and support his efforts on behalf of the DREAM Act. His commitment

Church officials from across Maryland formed a task force last month to help educate state residents about the Catholic Church's position on immigration. The Maryland Catholic Conference announced

Standing side-by-side with other faith leaders at a June 30 press conference, Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski said the Catholic Church in Maryland firmly supports the DREAM Act – a controversial law that

WASHINGTON – It was a fight involving an age-old definition of marriage, with several Catholics playing key roles. But in the end, the effort to stop a same-sex marriage bill in the New York Legislature

Otis Rolley, a Democratic challenger to Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, wants to give $10,000 education vouchers to students in the city’s worst-performing middle schools – vouchers that could

ANNAPOLIS — Supporters of a law that grants in-state tuition to illegal immigrants are revving up their efforts to head off opponents from bringing the measure to referendum, but purely educational campaigns

The need for people of faith to stand up for religious freedom is especially critical today, as legislative encroachments on religious liberty are increasingly taking place at the state and national levels,

As religious freedom is being increasingly challenged across the United States, priests have a key role in educating the laity about those threats and encouraging them to stand up for religious liberty,

Often, when the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis is discussed, some defender of the church will accurately point out that no other institution has done more to study itself and to create safeguards

Sixty-five thousand, nine hundred and sixty four. That is the number of children sexually abused in the United States in one year (2009), according to reports from the United States Department of Health

TOWSON – John Hugh Garvey is convinced that religious freedom will be the most important issue facing the Catholic Church in the United States over the next half century. “This is so because our culture

Few issues elicit such vehement and vitriolic responses from the Catholic faithful like those dealing with immigration. Such was the case recently when our Maryland Catholic Conference pledged the support

The Maryland General Assembly's 2011 session wrapped up on April 11 with several victories for the Catholic Church, including the defeat of same-sex marriage legislation and the passage of an in-state

It was a good 90 days in Annapolis for the Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC). At the April 11 close of the 2011 legislative session, the public-policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops got much

When the story of the appalling incident involving a young woman’s injuries at an abortion clinic in Elkton, in Cecil County, first surfaced last fall, voices on both sides of the abortion issue raised

Advocates said today they remain skeptical about a commitment made by Maryland's Health Department to come up with stricter rules regulating abortion clinics, saying the department has long ignored the

In the span of three days, the power of concerned faith communities of Maryland was on display as people of varying religious traditions recently came together to positively impact the political process

On March 16, 200 students, mostly from Maryland Catholic schools but also from other religious and nonpublic schools, came to visit the Maryland State Capitol with a goal in mind. The uniformed youngsters

On March 16, the Maryland State House Ways and Means Committee heard a reading of the proposed Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers (BOAST) Maryland Tax Credit. While the State Senate

Yolanda Vargas Barba’s dream of becoming a doctor begins with education. The 18-year-old Bolivian immigrant fears that dream might be out of reach unless Maryland provides in-state tuition rates for high

A bill that would more tightly regulate Maryland abortion clinics appears stalled in the General Assembly. Lawmakers are instead relying on the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to review

Legislation that would have redefined marriage in Maryland is effectively dead for the rest of this year after the Maryland House of Delegates voted on March 11 to send a same-sex marriage bill back to

Maryland citizens made a difference this past week, helping to convince the House of Delegates to table legislation that would have redefined marriage in the state. By a voice vote, that chamber sent

Much of the same cast of characters from previous debates over repealing Maryland’s death penalty were present in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday afternoon. At the hearing, those speaking

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (CNS) -- A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland is effectively dead for the current legislative session after a member of the House of Delegates asked that it be recommitted to

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A bill to legalize gay marriage in Maryland fell short Friday after supporters failed to find enough votes to overcome Republican opposition and misgivings by some Democrats in the

Over the past several weeks, the public debate over proposed legislation that would drastically alter the definition of marriage in Maryland has been heated and, in the case of the Catholic Church’s position,

ANNAPOLIS – Her voice filled with emotion, the mother of a woman who died while undergoing an abortion implored a Maryland Senate committee March 2 to pass tighter regulations of abortion clinics. “I’m

Denise Crowe dropped her toddler off with a sitter in February 2006 and drove with a friend to an Anne Arundel County clinic to get an abortion. It cost about $800. "She thought that she'd just have

"Why doesn't the Church do more?" "Why isn't the Church more involved?" This past week, a pastor called to share with me these questions that were directed to him. He said a number of parishioners, in

Already the mother of a 3-year-old son, Denise Crowe didn’t think she could afford another child when she was suddenly faced with an unplanned pregnancy. Fearing that her unborn baby would have the same

For many Catholics, there are some issues on which the Church’s teaching is difficult to accept. Immigration is seemingly one of these issues. Yet the underpinning for this teaching is the same that justifies

Last Sunday, at a mostly-full Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, hundreds of couples from throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore came together to celebrate the sacred call that is the vocation to married life. The