Corpus Christi embraces new mission of campus, marriage ministries

Corpus Christi’s status as an independent parish will soon change as the Bolton Hill faith community prepares to join with the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a combined parish seated at the basilica.

For now, the historic church building is expected to remain open as part of a new basilica ministry that will reach out to local college students and those preparing for marriage in the Catholic Church.

Deacon Frederick “Fritz” Bauerschmidt and Deacon Andrew Lacovara will oversee the new campus and marriage ministries at Corpus Christi, taking advantage of the church’s popularity as a place for weddings and its close proximity to Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), University of Baltimore and University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Deacon Lacovara, who was administrator of Corpus Christi from 2021 to 2022 and currently serves at St. Ignatius in Baltimore, said he envisions the new endeavor as a way of helping lift people’s minds and hearts to God while also building a cohort of new and “revived” Catholics right in the place where they live, work and study.

“Going off to college and getting married are the two classic off-ramps for the church,” Deacon Lacovara said. “This is about trying to meet people where they are.”

Deacon Lacovara has met with Cecilia M. McCormick, the new president of MICA, and others at the college, which is literally right next door to Corpus Christi. There are also plans to reach out to representatives of the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Deacon Lacovara noted that he and Deacon Bauerschmidt have been working closely with the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Institute for Evangelization to make sure they aren’t “reinventing the wheel” on campus ministry and can learn from successful programs at other campuses around the region.

Deacon Lacovara said Stacy Golden, director of the Institute for Evangelization’s Office of Family, Youth and Young Adult Ministry, has emphasized that the deacons will need to figure out what students want and what they need. What’s offered for young men and women at MICA will likely look different from what’s offered for students at the other two universities, he added.

“The University of Maryland, Baltimore, is really a series of relatively independent schools,” said Deacon Bauerschmidt, who served at Corpus Christi from 2007 to 2019 and is now assigned to the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. “It’s catering to a graduate school population (in public health, law and human services). So that’s an incredibly important audience to reach to foster discussions on how you practice medicine or law as a Catholic. What are the church’s social teachings and how do they affect how you think about social work?”

Father Brendan Fitzgerald, rector of the Baltimore Basilica, announced that there will be a 5:30 p.m. Mass on Sundays at Corpus Christi beginning Jan. 5. The Mass is especially geared to college students, but is open to all.

The rectory at Corpus Christi will be used for meeting space for the two new ministries, Deacon Lacovara said.

Campus ministry will likely encompass liturgies, educational programming, service and social justice outreach and opportunities for fellowship. The marriage ministry will focus on marriage preparation and helping keep newly married couples engaged in their faith.

Deacon Bauerschmidt said the idea for the new use of the Corpus Christi’s campus grew out of ongoing discussions in the Seek the City to Come pastoral planning initiative for Baltimore City and nearby communities in Baltimore County.

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

Family legacy

Corpus Christi’s Gothic church building was consecrated in 1891 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It was the first church in the United States to be named Corpus Christi and was the first church in Baltimore to be built entirely of granite.

The building’s origin began in 1882, when Louisa Carrell Jenkins, a few days before her death, called her five children together and asked them to erect a church in memory of their father, Thomas Courtney Jenkins, who had died the previous Christmas Eve. Thomas and Louisa are buried in a crypt below the St. Joseph chapel and several of their children are buried below the St. Thomas Aquinas chapel at Corpus Christi, which was originally known as the Jenkins Memorial Church.

The Jenkins family was one of Maryland’s oldest families, prominent in business, philanthropy, church affairs and the arts.

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