News Briefs

More than 700 members and friends of the National Council of Catholic Women are expected to gather in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 10-13 to mark the 90th anniversary of the organization. • A new public opinion poll, commissioned by the U.S. bishops’ Pro-Life Secretariat and released Sept. 16, shows that 47 percent of Americans oppose federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, while 38 percent support it. • Kathleen Lunsmann, a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was appointed president of Support Our Aging Religious. • The Rev. Robert Barron, right, of the Archdiocese of Chicago, a priest, teacher and evangelist, is launching “Word on Fire With Father Barron,” a weekly national program on WGN America beginning Oct. 3. • Americans for Peace Now has developed a new Web site and smartphone application that uses data collected by Israel’s Peace Now to provide a real-time, birds-eye view of the settlements in the West Bank. • The Israeli military prosecution demanded that Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, be sentenced to at least a two-year prison term after being convicted of organizing illegal marches and of incitement this past August.