VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Everyone is curious about the cardinals.

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) -- En sus reuniones generales de congregación, en las procesiones litúrgicas y en la Capilla Sixtina todo cardenal tiene un lugar y todo cardenal conoce su lugar.

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) -- Entonando la Letanía de los Santos, pidiéndole a una legión de santos y santas que los ayuden, los cardenales entran a la Capilla Sixtina en procesión conscientes de su enorme responsabilidad de elegir un nuevo papa.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A major issue facing today's U.S. Catholic Church is that many people express "absolutely no problem with faith, but they do have a problem with religion," said New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When 115 cardinal electors gather in the Sistine Chapel for the conclave to elect a new pope, they will be praying and voting four times a day.

Diocese of Corpus Christi seminarian Eric Chapa has a better vantage point than most on the historic events unfolding in Rome. Chapa is a second year theology student at the Pontifical North American College (NAC) located just outside the walls of the Vatican. He recently shared some observations on Pope Benedict’s resignation.

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) -- El pontificado del papa Benedicto XVI el estuvo marcado por fuertes lazos de amistad y estima con líderes ortodoxos y cristianos anglicanos del mundo, pero su papado también coincidió con un momento difícil en la búsqueda de la plena unidad cristiana.

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) –- Se fijó el calendario para que los cardenales empezaran sus reuniones en el Vaticano el 4 de marzo; y mientras que los observadores tienen su atención fija en quién será el próximo papa, los cardenales tienen que atender a charlas de tipo administrativo.

ROME (CNS) -- Two U.S. cardinals who will vote in the upcoming papal election say there is no rush to set a date for voting, which could start as late as March 20.

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Three Republican members of the House of Representatives March 5 introduced a bill to protect conscience rights for both workers in the health care industry and for employers in light of the federal mandate requiring employers to cover contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.

Incarnate Word Academy held its annual benefit gala on Saturday, March 2, at the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center.

Joseph Patrick Hardeman, age 72, was called home by the Lord on Feb. 28. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Nancy Drouin Hardeman; daughter, Cheryle (Grant) Flournoy; granddaughters, Megan and Abigail Flournoy; sister, Carolyn (Gary) Thurmond and numerous other loving family members.

On Sunday, March 3, the Pontifical North American College installed 62 seminarians to the ministry of acolyte during a celebration of the Eucharist at the school’s chapel. Eric Chapa a seminarian with the Diocese of Corpus Christi and a second year student of theological studies was among those seminarians instituted.

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, in his Dec. 13, 2012 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, argues that eliminating the required doctor’s visit to get a prescription–making contraception available “over the counter,” could reduce the cost of birth control.

In his acute analysis of the character and institutions of the United States, “Democracy in America,” Alexis de Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century French liberal, stressed the importance of what we call “civil society.”

The Dominican Sisters of Saint Thomas Aquinas are a religious Congregation founded in Mexico in 1913 and are celebrating their centennial this year.

Sacred Heart School 5th grader Emily Resendez recently represented her school at our State Capitol during Aransas County Days. Emily had the opportunity to act as a page on the floor of the Senate where she met several senators.

Incarnate Word Academy High School is hosting the TAPPS Regional Music Competition on Friday, March 1. About 25 students from Incarnate Word Academy, along with students from Blessed John Paul II High School, will compete in six categories in the IWA High School Music Hall.

A National Eagle Court of Honor was held Feb. 16, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church Parish Hall recognizing Gilberto Sosa III, Michael Salloum, Andres Castillo and Robinson McMillan who attained Boy Scouts’ highest rank of Eagle Scout.

The Taft Chamber of Commerce awarded the Immaculate Conception Church Guadalupana Society its “Outstanding Service Organization” award at its annual banquet on Saturday, Feb. 23.