WASHINGTON—A national survey of permanent diaconate offices in Catholic dioceses in the United States found that one-quarter of active permanent deacons (28 percent) have a graduate degree. Given that the diaconate is a ministry of service and charity, the vast majority of deacons are not paid for their ministry. Even still, their number continues to rise and they stay active for a very long time.

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Father F. Richard Spencer, 58, a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and up until now vice commandant of the military chaplains of the U.S. Forces in Europe, as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese for Military Services, USA, and Titular Bishop of Auzia.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops called for steps to protect the lives of the most vulnerable, provide fairness for immigrants and guarantee conscience protections for individual and institutions in a statement on health care reform issued May 21.

WASHINGTON—Congress should support a bipartisan bill that will remedy the abortion and conscience flaws in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), according to the Chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. In a May 20 letter to Congress, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said PPACA was an important step toward ensuring access to health coverage for all Americans but was “profoundly flawed in its treatment of abortion, conscience rights, and fairness to immigrants.”

WASHINGTON— This year’s Catechetical Sunday theme is “Matrimony: Sacrament of Enduring Love.” Materials for Catechetical Sunday 2010 are now available online at www.usccb.org/catecheticalsunday. Among the online materials, parishes participating in Catechetical Sunday can find prayer resources, art, catechist commissioning materials, plans for a catechist in-service, and an array of materials for teachers, pastors, catechists and others working with couples preparing for marriage.

WASHINGTON-The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has pulled out of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition group founded in 1950.

WASHINGTON—Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Archbishop Rafael Romo Muñoz of Tijuana, Mexico, head of the Mexican Episcopal Conference Migration Commission, issued May 19, a joint statement on the occasion of President Felipe Caderón  of Mexico visit to the United States.

WASHINGTON—Individualism and porous boundaries mark today’s faith practice and religious identification, members of a Jewish-Catholic Dialogue heard at a recent meeting.

WASHINGTON—Representatives of bishops’ conferences of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other Latin American and Caribbean countries will convene June 2-4 in Washington for the 2010 Regional Bishops’ Consultation on Migration. Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People at the Vatican, and Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States, are also slated to attend.

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Jesuit Father James McCann, 61, as rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

WASHINGTON—Interreligious education and the danger of stereotypes were discussed at the 14th annual meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Dialogue between Catholics and Muslims, in Somerset, NJ, May 5-6.

WASHINGTON—Diane Knight, MSW, chair of the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, notes ten points that National Review Board members have learned in dealing with victim/survivors of sexual abuse of minors by clergy.

WASHINGTON—The Office of Media Relations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offers the following Q&A on Canon Law as it relates to sexual abuse of minors. This resource also can be found at: www.usccb.org/comm/q&a-canonical-process-sexual-abuse.pdf

WASHINGTON— In observance of the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Mariners and people of the Sea, a Mass will be celebrated May 22 at 12:10 PM at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (in the Crypt Church). The Mass is sponsored by the Apostleship of the Sea (AOS) and the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington will be the main celebrant and homilist.

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Timothy Doherty, 59, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, in Dundee, Illinois, as Bishop of Lafayette in Indiana, and accepted the resignation of Bishop William Higi, 76, from pastoral governance of the diocese.

WASHINGTON—The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS) has partnered with The Catholic University of America to develop an educational Website that highlights the significant role that the U.S. Catholic bishops and the institutional Church in the United States have played on immigration related issues, especially since the early twentieth century.  The Website, “U.S. Catholic Bishops and Immigration,” can be found at http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/packets.html.

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Father Eduardo A. Nevares, 56, Vice-Rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio, and a priest of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, as Auxiliary Bishop of Phoenix, assigning him the Titular See of Natchez.

NOTRE DAME, Ind.—Catholic leaders from across the United States participating in the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, on the last day of their meeting, sent an open letter to the Catholic bishops of Arizona, expressing their support for the bishops’ leadership in raising opposition to Arizona Law SB 1070.

NOTRE DAME, Ind.—Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta weighed in on the issues of unity and diversity in the Church during the homily, May 7, at a Mass for the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation at meeting at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

WASHINGTON—By extending and improving trade preferences for Haiti, Congress “will send a clear signal that the United States is prepared to take the necessary steps to improve the lives of thousands of Haitians both in the short-term and in the long-term,” said Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y. In a May 4 letter, Bishop Hubbard, Chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, thanked the sponsors of the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010 for introducing the bill (HR 5160 and S 3275) and called on the House and Senate to move swiftly to approve the legislation.

WASHINGTON—Building unity in diversity and linking it to a robust sense of Catholic identity for the sake of the Church’s future is the topic of the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation (CCDNC) that will meet later this week at the University of Notre Dame.