Church

Church Farm coach Marc Turner spent considerable time talking to his players after Friday night's PIAA Class A first-round playoff against District 3's New Hope Academy. His Griffins advanced at Colonial Elementary School with a 58-44 victory, but they did so despite a ghastly 28 turnovers. "We were just careless with the basketball," Turner said. "I had to remind them that we can't take any opponent for granted. We're not good enough to show up and roll over other teams. " New Hope, of York, was slightly worse in the turnover category.

It's early on Saturday evening, and South Philly's own Rocco Palmo emerges from what he calls "the bunker" after a week of hunkering down and heads toward Center City. It's time for a breather. Time for a change of scenery. Grab it while you can because on Monday, "the craziness" will simply grow in intensity. Palmo, 30, hair already thinning, body all angles, conversation careering from baseball to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua to iPads and back again, is smack-dab in the middle of something no one alive has seen: what happens when a pope resigns.

Playing for Church Farm coach Marc Turner requires sacrificing yourself for your teammates, your coaches, and your program. Saturday at Villanova, yet another class of Griffins did just that, winning their third straight District 1 Class A boys' basketball championship, 52-33, over Gospel of Grace Christian. "This team once again has shown that you cease to exist as an individual," Turner said. "You need to turn into a team before you can win. " Juniors Aondofa Anyam and Jan Bohm broke out as team leaders this season and scored 12 points apiece in the title game.

Playing for Church Farm coach Marc Turner requires sacrificing yourself for your teammates, your coaches, and your program. Saturday at Villanova, yet another class of Griffins did just that, winning their third straight District 1 Class A boys' basketball championship, 52-33, over Gospel of Grace Christian. "This team once again has shown that you cease to exist as an individual," Turner said. "You need to turn into a team before you can win. " Juniors Aondofa Anyam and Jan Bohm broke out as team leaders this season and scored 12 points apiece in the title game.

On TV, buildup to executions BEIJING - In an unusual action that quickly sparked debate online, Chinese authorities showed a live broadcast Friday of four foreign drug smugglers in their last hours before execution for killing 13 fishermen. A shocking and apparently unprecedented form of reality TV for China, the program on state-run television featured all the staples of modern current events coverage - experts, pundits, instant analysis. It cut away as the convicted men were being led from their cells, hands tied up with rope, toward their lethal injections.

PITTSBURGH - Officials overseeing a closed Roman Catholic church say someone, somehow, stole the building's organ - and the 200 massive pipes required to play it. Skip Hary, business manager of St. Justin's Church, said he was baffled that anyone could get the organ out of the building. He said it would either have to be maneuvered down narrow flights of steps or lowered over a balcony. The pipes could only be accessed by a ladder into the ceiling. There were no signs of forced entry, police said.

Barton Church, 86, of Narberth, an artist who taught in the Barnes Foundation's signature art appreciation program for more than 60 years, died Thursday, Feb. 21, at Lankenau Medical Center of pneumonia. Widely admired for his modesty and generosity, Mr. Church retired from the foundation in 2011 after decades of teaching the foundation's Traditions course. "Barton Church was immensely knowledgeable and was respected as a teacher by all who knew him and studied with him," said Barnes executive director and president Derek Gillman.

SHE WAS CALLED "Florence Nightingale. " And Lorraine Teresa Dade-Trumpler earned the title. Like the 19th-century English nurse, whose name has become synonymous with helping the ill and needy, Lorraine dedicated much of her life to easing the pain of the sick and shut-ins in her city. As a mother of Jones Temple Church of God in Christ, in North Philadelphia, of which her late husband was pastor, Lorraine spread her concern among children and adults, using her considerable cooking and baking skills to feed the hungry and taking flowers and gifts to those who needed a touch of love.

Archbishop Chaput says the next pope faces serious challenges in a church seeking unity. Currents, C1.

Since the lava flow of media commentaries about Pope Benedict XVI's resignation began nearly two weeks ago, dozens of people have asked me why the Holy Father "really" resigned, and who the next pope is likely to be. Given the extraordinary nature of the event, both questions are inevitable. Happily, Benedict's reasoning has been simple and clear. The church faces serious challenges worldwide. At 85, his declining health and energy impede his ability to serve the church as effectively as she needs.