News Briefs

Santa Clara University’s solar house finished third in the biennial Solar Decathlon competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy on the National Mall in Washington on Oct. 16. • U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, newly appointed to the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, celebrated a pontifical high Mass using the Tridentine rite in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 18, the first time the 1962 rite has been celebrated at the basilica in almost 40 years. • Hoping to reverse what they call “a disturbing trend” toward viewing marriage as “a mostly private matter,” the U.S. Catholic bishops will debate and vote on a pastoral letter on marriage at their meeting in Baltimore from Nov. 16 to 19. • The Vatican began a long-awaited dialogue on Oct. 26 with the leaders of the Society of St. Pius X. • “Families are struggling. Faith is calling” is the theme of the 2009 Collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, which will be held in most Catholic parishes the weekend of Nov. 21-22. • In an observation of World Food Day on Oct. 16, Pope Benedict XVI said combating hunger by guaranteeing that everyone has access to a sufficient and healthy food supply would be “a tangible manifestation of the right to life.”