SIMSBURY – Can it be proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the Shroud of Turin is the cloth that was wrapped around the body of Jesus when he was crucified 2,000 years ago? No.

But is there a plethora of evidence that strongly suggests that it is what believers claim it is? Yes.

That was the premise behind a two-hour presentation called "Shroud Encounter" on March 10 at St. Catherine of Siena Parish. The slide lecture was conducted by international shroud expert Russ Breault, founder of the Georgia-based Shroud of Turin Education Project Inc. He has lectured on the topic for 25 years.

Focusing on scientific, historic, liturgical, cultural and other evidence, he led an audience of 700 people through the story of the shroud. The 14-foot-long single piece of woven cloth resides behind bullet-proof glass at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy.

Dan Perrotto and his wife Angie with bicycles (Photo by Mary Chalupsky)

NORTH HAVEN – Dan Perrotto has given away nearly 1,900 bikes to kids over the past 17 years. And every time he thinks about stopping, he changes his mind.

"My mother had a saying, ‘You have to give back. When you get, you give,’" he said. And those words have become the driving force that has guided him throughout his life.

"I’ve been blessed with a good family … good parents, a great wife, two daughters and four grandchildren," said the retired Yale University maintenance worker.

"This is something I always wanted to do," he said. "I always had dreams of helping kids, from supporting Toys for Tots to things I did with my own kids."

It all began when he decided to buy a bike for a neighborhood boy who lost his father at Christmas time.  After buying a bike to console the boy, his passion to do the same for others ignited.

The glory of the Resurrection is depicted in this photo, taken at the Easter vigil Mass on March 30 in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford. The ceramic tile mural behind the walnut Crucifix depicts Our Savior in Glory from the Book of Revelation.  (Photo by Bob Mullen/The Catholic Photographer)

Pope Francis washes the foot of a prison inmate during the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper at Rome's Casal del Marmo prison for minors March 28. Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young people of different nationalities and faiths, including at l east two Muslims and two women, who are housed at the juvenile detention facility. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis told young inmates that, just as Jesus came to help and serve others, he, too, was at their service as a priest and bishop.

During the evening Mass at Rome's Casal del Marmo prison for minors, Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 young people of different nationalities and faiths, including at least two Muslims and two women, who are housed at the juvenile detention facility.

The ceremony of washing another's feet "is important," the pope said, because it shows that "the person who is most high among us must be at the service of the others."

It also means that "we have to help one another, each one," he said during the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper March 28.

As a candle burns before a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi, in the church of the same name in Torrington, penitents line up on a Monday night during Lent to take advantage of an expanded confession schedule. (Photo by Jack Sheedy)

HARTFORD – Billboards, radio and television announcements, Web sites, social media, articles in The Catholic Transcript and reminders from the pulpit all apparently had a profound effect on an ambitious, expanded Lenten schedule of confessions for every church in the Archdiocese of Hartford during this Year of Faith.

As Archbishop Henry J. Mansell wrote in the February column in the Transcript, "Every Monday for the six weeks of Lent, confessions will be heard in every parish from 6-7 p.m., in addition to the other usual times." This translated to at least 213 extra hours per week (the number of parishes in the archdiocese) at churches where, in the words of a promotional video by the Office of Radio and Television, "The light is on for you."