Diocese

As they professed their faith, Hector Zavala, Anglican bishop of the Diocese of Chile, laid his hands on the heads of three young people yesterday and welcomed them into his flock. The cleric, wearing vestments decorated with indigenous patterns and the Chilean national flower, was leading the first confirmation ceremony at his mission church in the United States - whose congregation worships in the heart of Baltimore County's Green Spring Valley. The Church of the Resurrection is one of many in the United States forming relationships with foreign bishops after growing increasingly dissatisfied with the perceived liberal direction of the Episcopal Church, the U.S. arm of the international Anglican Communion.

DALLAS -- Last summer, when civil trial jurors in Dallas awarded the largest monetary judgment in a clergy sex abuse case in U.S. history, the man at the center of the case walked the streets free.In this week's criminal trial, suspended Roman Catholic priest Rudolph "Rudy" Kos' freedom hangs in the balance. Twelve Dallas County jurors will be asked to convict or acquit Kos, 52, of eight sex abuse charges involving four young men who told police they were molested about 1,350 times.If convicted of the most serious charges, Kos could be sentenced to life in prison and would not be eligible for parole for 30 years.

EPISCOPALIANS have long cultivated a tradition of tolerance. More than most denominations, the Episcopal church has welcomed a broad spectrum of opinion among its members by making distinctions between bedrock matters of the faith and those on which different approaches or even disagreements are acceptable.In recent decades this tolerance has been sorely tried as Americans of all faiths face the pressures of an increasingly secularized culture and a society less trustful of authority. Maryland's Episcopal diocese has not been immune to those pressures and, in recent years, tensions have flared between various factions.

Cleveland -- Is there a moral dimension to the new expressways and subdivisions, the fresh strip malls and sewers and utility lines that keep pushing suburbia ever outward, even as older cities and suburbs wither?Anthony M. Pilla, the Roman Catholic bishop of Cleveland and eight counties of northeast Ohio, believes so. Sprawl and its consequences, he insists, have helped to trigger the deep and alarming fissure that now plagues American society -- on the one side upwardly mobile Americans on the cutting edge of incessant suburban growth, on the other side the poor left behind in disinvested inner-city neighborhoods.

FROSTBURG -- The Rev. Robert W. Ihloff, a priest of the Diocese of Newark, N.J., and an early favorite among the voting clergy, was elected the 13th Episcopal Bishop of Maryland yesterday on the third ballot.He succeeds Bishop A. Theodore Eastman, who retired in January 1994. Tentative plans are for Father Ihloff's consecration and installation to be conducted in the fall.Following protocol, neither he nor four other candidates was present during the election. But Bishop-in-charge Charles L. Longest, who presided at the convention on the campus of Frostburg State University, announced to a round of applause after the final balloting: "We've been in touch with Robert, and he's accepted the election."

WASHINGTON -- Thousands of years of religious history, literature, symbolism and music were invoked yesterday as the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland consecrated its 13th bishop in a rousing three-hour ceremony at the National Cathedral.The applauding congregation that filled the nave and transepts of the soaring English Gothic-style edifice in Northwest Washington came from as far away as Tokyo to participate in the consecration of Bishop Robert Wilkes Ihloff. Rector of Grace Church in Madison, N.J., since 1987, he was elected May 20 at a diocesan convention in Frostburg to succeed retired Bishop A. Theodore Eastman.

FROSTBURG -- The Rev. Robert W. Ihloff, a priest of the Diocese of Newark, N.J., was elected the 13th Episcopal bishop of Maryland yesterday on a third ballot.He succeeds Bishop A. Theodore Eastman, who retired in January 1994.Father Ihloff, 53, currently rector of Christ Church in Madison, N.J., is to be installed in the fall.Following protocol, neither he nor the four other candidates were present during the election. But Bishop-in-charge Charles L. Longest, who presided at the convention on the campus of Frostburg State University, announced to strong applause after the final balloting: "We've been in touch with Robert, and he's accepted the election."

Scott Boyles, 89, a novelist who spun tales of the Old West under the pen name Will C. Brown, died Sunday of pancreatic cancer in San Diego. His first Western novel, "The Border Jumpers," became the basis for the 1958 movie "Man of the West," Gary Cooper's last cowboy epic. Two books, "The Nameless Breed" and "Caprock Rebel," are being republished this year. As a newspaperman, he wrote a twice-weekly column in the San Diego Evening Tribune for 15 years.Al Hansen, 67, an avant-garde American artist who helped create the Happenings of the 1960s, died June 19 after suffering a heart attack in Cologne, Germany, where he had lived since 1985.

When Archbishop William H. Keeler becomes Cardinal William Keeler next month, he will join a tiny fraternity of Baltimore Catholic churchmen who have played large roles in the history of the church and the country, as they led America's oldest diocese.As Baltimore's third cardinal, Archbishop Keeler follows Cardinal Lawrence Shehan, known as a quiet yet decisive man, who led the church through the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Baltimore's first cardinal was James Gibbons, named to that office in 1886.

Maryland Episcopal Bishop A. Theodore Eastman, who retired yesterday, has given leadership to a sometimes fractious church. Its conservative and liberal wings have been at odds on theological and social issues such as ordination of women, rights of homosexuals and mission priorities.The California native, 65, moved to Baltimore from Washington in 1982 when he was elected coadjutor -- or assistant bishop -- of Maryland Episcopalians. He has headed the diocese since 1986.This week, he begins a part-time assignment as coordinator of the College for Bishops, a program of graduate study being developed at New York's General Theological Seminary to provide practical training for men and women during their first three years as bishops of the Episcopal Church.

Facing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential liability for sex abuse claims, the diocese that ministers to Eastern Shore Catholics filed for federal bankruptcy-law protection hours before the civil trial of a former priest was to have started Monday. Bishop W. Francis Malooly described the Chapter 11 petition filed late Sunday as a difficult but necessary step that would enable the Diocese of Wilmington, Del., to "fairly compensate all victims through a single process established by the bankruptcy court."

Keeler's life and times March 4, 1931: Keeler is born in San Antonio. 1952: He graduates with a bachelor's degree from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook, Pa. July 17, 1955: Then-Archbishop Luigi Traglia ordains him a priest at the Church of the Holy Apostles, Rome. 1956: Keeler graduates from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome with his licentiate in sacred theology. 1961: Keeler earns his doctorate in canon law at the Gregorian University. 1962-1965: He serves as special adviser during the Second Vatican Council.

As they professed their faith, Hector Zavala, Anglican bishop of the Diocese of Chile, laid his hands on the heads of three young people yesterday and welcomed them into his flock. The cleric, wearing vestments decorated with indigenous patterns and the Chilean national flower, was leading the first confirmation ceremony at his mission church in the United States - whose congregation worships in the heart of Baltimore County's Green Spring Valley. The Church of the Resurrection is one of many in the United States forming relationships with foreign bishops after growing increasingly dissatisfied with the perceived liberal direction of the Episcopal Church, the U.S. arm of the international Anglican Communion.

In a matter of months, weeks or even days, a new bishop could be appointed to take charge of America's oldest Roman Catholic archdiocese. Cardinal William H. Keeler submitted his resignation letter to the Vatican more than a year ago - a church requirement once he passed his 75th birthday - allowing Pope Benedict XVI to pick a new archbishop for Baltimore. Speculation among Vatican observers suggests that a decision could come sooner rather than later, as the pope has the opportunity to put his imprint on both the American Catholic Church and the College of Cardinals that will someday pick his replacement.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- When Castle Designs opened its Orlando gallery Friday morning, Chiem Nguyen was waiting, along with four other members of his family and employees of his nail salon. A Catholic and a Vietnamese immigrant, Nguyen came to the gallery to pray at a statue of the Virgin Mary, asking for help in locating the father he never met. The five people, the latest of hundreds to view the statue in the past week, knelt and recited the rosary in front of the copy of Michelangelo's famed Pieta.

What's the surer route to workplace fun: Defending the Catholic Church's decision to invalidate a little girl's First Communion because the girl, who can't eat gluten, was given a rice wafer? Or promoting the GOP in a state like Maryland? Audra Miller has had the pleasure of doing both, and now the spokeswoman for the Maryland Republican Party is moving on. She left Friday to become communications director for Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska. She will work out of his Washington office.

Baltimore: Election Officials say voting will be smoother Baltimore Board of Elections officials went before the City Council yesterday making assurances that the polls will be significantly better prepared for voters Nov. 7 than they were in September's primary. But concerns still lingered as council members questioned city Board of Elections President Armstead B. Crawley Jones Sr. about everything from the availability of telephones and whether police officers would be assigned to polls.

NEW YORK -- Soon after she passed the first trimester of her pregnancy, Michelle McCusker told her employers that she was expecting. The 26-year-old Roman Catholic schoolteacher also mentioned that she did not plan to marry the child's father. The principal "made it seem like it was fine," McCusker said. But two days later, she was fired. Officials said she had signed a contract to uphold core teachings of the Catholic faith and that her behavior had violated that agreement. Last week, the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint on her behalf, saying that the Brooklyn Diocese -- which runs St. Rose of Lima school in Rockaway Beach -- had violated a federal law banning discrimination against pregnant women.

COVINGTON, Ky. - Marking the largest settlement yet in the Roman Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis, the Covington Diocese said yesterday that it had agreed to pay up to $120 million to alleged victims of child molestation. The amount, which must be approved by the Boone County Circuit Court, would eclipse a $100 million settlement reached by the Orange County, Calif., diocese last year involving 90 victims, and an $85 million settlement reached two years ago with 552 victims by the Boston Archdiocese, where the scandal erupted in 2002.

LOOKING FORWARD Monday The world's largest-ever terrorism drill will take place in New London, Conn., to deal with a simulated plague unleashed by terrorists in central New Jersey and faux toxic chemicals released simultaneously in Connecticut. The 2005 Pulitzer Prize winners in journalism, arts and letters will be announced in New York at 3 p.m. The Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament finals will take place in St. Louis, Mo. Tuesday Congress reconvenes after its Easter holiday, with an early debate expected on a number of controversial federal court nominations made by President Bush.