Pope

VATICAN CITY - In a dramatic illustration of his decline, a grimacing Pope John Paul II appeared before thousands of Easter pilgrims yesterday and struggled to speak but ultimately failed. The pope has not been heard in public since his release from the hospital two weeks ago, and yesterday's appearance was a bittersweet moment for the faithful who crowded into St. Peter's Square for the culmination of Christianity's holiest week. "This was the most emotional thing in the world for me, to see the holy father," said Maria Ines Saavedra, 50, who came to Rome from Mexico.

A woman's body found Saturday afternoon along the Kent Island shoreline has been identified as that of a local woman who had been missing for three weeks, the Maryland State Police said Sunday. Police said doctors at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore identified the body through dental records. The cause and manner of death are still under investigation. A man who was fishing off a pier saw the body in the water near the shoreline and called police about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, according to state police.

9:50 a.m. Arrival and welcome at Baltimore-Washington Insternational Airport.8 p.m. Pope John Paul II departs on a TWA flight for Rome.

"Men are like wine - some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age. " - Pope John Paul XXIII Nelson Carey, the genial publican at Belvedere Square's Grand Cru wine bar, is naturally filled with interesting and offbeat wine, beer and booze trivia, which on occasion he dispenses to interested listeners. The other day, while talking to several regulars about Pope Francis, he uncorked the fact that Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the great, robust red from France's Rhone Valley region, has direct papal ties.

On September 15, 2003 PAULETTE POPE (nee Freeman), devoted mother of Sherry Horsey, Catherine Pope, Paula Ellis and Bernard Pope, dear sister Thomas Freeman, Theresa Holbrooks and Jason Jones, loving grandmother of Stephanie Horsey and Brittany Pope. A Funeral service will be held at the family owned Duda-Ruck Funeral Home of Dundalk Inc., 7922 Wise Avenue, on Thursday at 8:30 P.M. Interment private. Friends may call on Wednesday and Thursday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M.

On April 7, 2003, MILTON POPE. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME EAST, 1101 East North Avenue on Monday after 8:30 A.M., where the family will receive friends on Tuesday at 9 A.M. Funeral services will follow at 9:30 A.M. See www.marchfh.com

Washington. -- In his recent encyclical ''Evangelium Vitae'' (''The Gospel of Life''), Pope John Paul II expressed a profound compassion for women caught in the dilemma of unwanted pregnancy.Irresponsible and predatory men, economic and social pressures, fear and confusion can lead to situations in which, the pope writes, the weight of responsibility for depriving the unborn child of the right to life falls less heavily on a woman in grave psychological distress than on ''those who have directly or indirectly obliged her to have an abortion.

On April 8, 2005, at Carteret General Hospital, Morehead City, NC, DR. JAMES "Jim" POPE, 55, of Cedar Point, NC. Dr. Pope recently moved to North Carolina. He was principal at Morehead Middle School since July 4, 2004. He worked 30 years in the Howard County, MD, Public School System. He is survived by his wife Lynda Knickman Pope; two daughters, Leigha Marie Magdelene Pope and Virginia "Ginna" Mae Pope; a sister, Frances Pittas, of Baltimore, MD; a niece, Kimberly Pittas Mildner, of Millersville, MD and a nephew, Timothy Pittas and wife Kelly and their daughter Megan, of Mt. Airy, MD. He was predeceased by his parents Henry James Pope and wife Mary Pope.

By coincidence, last Easter I was in St. Peter's Square in Rome as Pope Benedict XVI delivered what turned out to be his final Easter Mass as head of the Catholic Church. A week from Sunday, the new pope will deliver his first. Expectations for Pope Francis are high. The Argentine, formerly Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, is the first Jesuit pope, and the first from the Americas. Here's hoping he will lead the church into a more transparent and progressive era. But hoping is not the same as hopeful.

The election of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to the papacy is great news ("The election of Pope Francis," March 14). Cardinal Bergoglio is a genuinely spiritual soul, and a man of deep prayer who tends to accent growth in personal holiness over efforts for structural reform. An accomplished theologian, he is especially well known for his great personal humility. Despite his status as a prince of the church, he chose to live in a simple apartment rather than in the archbishop's palace.

For the first time in history, the Roman Catholic Church has a pope from the New World, but liberal American Catholics should not expect Pope Francis to stray far from the old theology. Some things are excitingly different about this new pontiff. On matters of birth control, abortion, homosexuality, celibate priests and the role of women in the church, however, he is no revolutionary. When Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio stepped out on the Vatican balcony as the new pope on Wednesday evening, all he was required to do was wave and give a blessing.

I was delighted to read that the new pope chose for himself the name of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals ("Pope Francis' calling," March 15). Both Catholic and Anglican churches hold ceremonies blessing animals on his feast day Oct. 4. On one of his walks through nature, Francis reportedly preached to the birds, and he is often portrayed with a bird in his hand. On another occasion, Francis concluded a pact with a ferocious wolf that was terrorizing local town folk.

Catholics in Carroll County joined those around the world in celebrating the announcement that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina had been named Pope Francis, the 266th pope, on Wednesday. The new pope succeeds Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned Feb. 28. "It is wonderful that the process has been completed," said Rev. Michael Roach, of St. Bartholomew Roman Catholic Church in Manchester. "It's a great day," he said. "With the retirement of Pope Benedict, there was a queasy feeling.

Three deer scurried past the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen as Steve Thomas and his wife, Debbie, arrived for Sunday Mass to celebrate the new spiritual leader for Roman Catholics worldwide, Pope Francis. The symbolism struck the Arbutus man, who said the recently elected pontiff sent a message to the faithful in his choice to take the name of the 12th century saint Francis of Assisi, known for his love of animals and for embracing a life of poverty. "We need to get back to basics," said Thomas, master of the Maryland district for the Knights of Columbus.

Baltimore is a rather Catholic town; if you ever lived here you know that. I was born and raised an Irish Catholic in Baltimore; if you frequent this blog you may have known that. Baseball is the ultimate sport for bizarre connections to history. No sport does random statistics better than baseball. This morning's blog merges all of those concepts together rather seamlessly (or clumsily, that's your call). I must admit its ridiculousness made me laugh and shake my head a little bit. Baseball historian/statistician Bill Arnold passed this tidbit my way. And I had to share it with you. It combines Catholicism and baseball.

Newly elected Pope Francis represents change in many respects. He is the first pope from the New World (and the first from outside of Europe in 1,200 years), the first Jesuit and the first Francis. But for American Catholics, who in poll after poll in recent weeks have expressed disagreement with the church's stances on the ordination of women or the requirement of celibacy for priests, he may seem like more of the same. Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, is a doctrinaire conservative in those matters, as were Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II before him. Given the views of the College of Cardinals - all of whom were appointed by John Paul or Benedict - it could hardly have been otherwise.