Archbishop prays for unity as Seek the City reaches final decision-making phase

After nearly 18 months of listening and learning, the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Seek the City to Come initiative is moving to its final decision-making phase to shape the future of the Catholic Church in Baltimore.

The archdiocese celebrated a Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Feb. 8 as a citywide call to prayer for its move to the initiative’s “discernment phase.” In his homily, Archbishop William E. Lori noted that tough decisions lie ahead for parish and archdiocesan leaders during the next four months.

He emphasized the need for unity and prayer, thanking those in attendance for their participation in the initiative and their “openness.” He said all things on the face of this earth are “subject to change,” noting that change can be traumatic, but also healing.

“Without a doubt, God is with us as we Seek the City to Come,” he said. “Together we are on a mission to announce to the city that God is in our midst.”

Archbishop Lori concluded his homily by asking attendees to remain engaged with the initiative, participate in an upcoming Lenten pilgrimage and “to take care of one another.”  

Those in the pews at the Mass seemed resolute that the archdiocese was on the right course with the initiative.

Danise Jones, a parishioner of St. Gregory the Great in West Baltimore, said she was happy to be included in the process and share her thoughts.

“I look at it like a garden,” she said. “Sooner or later you need to do some pruning.”

Paul Hendricks, a parishioner of the Baltimore Basilica, said he was confident in the archdiocese’s leadership.

“I think the world of Archbishop Lori,” he said. “He’s a patient man and I think he will make the right decisions for the church in the city to move forward.”

Father Patrick Carrion, a Northeast Baltimore native, is the pastor of one of the largest pastorates in the city – St. Anthony of Padua, Shrine of the Little Flower, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic and Most Precious Blood.

“It’s a daunting task, but a necessary one,” said Father Carrion, one of 19 concelebrants at the Mass.

In closing remarks at the Mass, Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., auxiliary bishop and urban vicar for the archdiocese, pointed out the significance of holding the Mass at the nation’s first cathedral in the cradle of American Catholicism.

The Mass had a much more somber tone than the celebration the archdiocese held at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in June to note the transition from the “listening phase” to the “vision phase.”

In an earlier interview with the Catholic Review, Bishop Lewandowski didn’t sugar-coat the reality of the process ahead.

“It’s fitting that we are doing this next phase during Lent because there is going to be some pain and sacrifice involved,” he said. 

Bishop Lewandowski reiterated a common refrain throughout the initiative that no decisions have been made on closing parishes and that the archdiocese does not intend to “abandon” the city. The initiative, begun in fall of 2022, also is unrelated to the archdiocese’s bankruptcy filing in September 2023.

During its recently completed “vision phase,” the initiative held four workshops, five focus-group meetings and one workshop with clergy.

“The next phase is bringing that vision to life from those workshops,” said Geri Royale Byrd, director of Seek the City. “There’s much that is required of us to bring that vision to life.”

Bringing the vision to life will next involve three draft-modeling sessions (Feb. 12, March 8 and 22) with clergy and parish leaders. After a model for the future of the church in Baltimore is established from those sessions, the model will be released publicly in early April. Then two “Open Prayerful Discernment Sessions” will be held in late April for public comment. Those sessions will be similar to public feedback sessions held in June 2023 during the “listening phase.”

Archbishop Lori and the college of consultors will then study the draft model and public comments with a goal of releasing a final model in May.

“We’ve spent 18 months building a foundation,” Bishop Lewandowski said. “It’s been a lot of hard work collecting data and information for a vision of the church in Baltimore City. Now that we have the foundation, the next phase will tell us what the house is going to look like.

“Some people are fearful and upset,” he said of the likelihood of closing some parishes. “If they weren’t, I’d be upset. This is hard. We are going to ask a lot of people, but this about the future of our church and building our ministry and a ministry with zeal. We want to position ourselves for growing the church. We are not leaving the city.”

Seek the City has focused on the 57 parishes in the city and a few near-in parishes in Baltimore County, with the goal of creating a more vibrant ministry as attendance at many parishes has plummeted. 

The Seek the City campaign’s “visioning phase” developed the following guide for the “discernment phase:”

Our Eucharistic Vision for the City Church of Baltimore

∙ Centered in Christ, with liturgies and sacraments fully alive with the Gospel

∙ Filled with engaged parishioners and constantly growing in faith

∙ Forming, nurturing and sending missionary disciples

∙ A church where everyone feels welcomed and a strong sense of belonging that includes their ethnicity, culture, background, individuality and those who are struggling with their faith or relationship with God

∙ Where the “Sunday experience” is transformative

∙ Where parishioners are rooted in and concerned about the city, neighborhoods and surrounding area, and reach out with Christ’s love to address community needs and bring hope and healing

∙ Where there are abundant human and material resources for ministry

∙ Where the campus facilities are suited for the church of today 

Lenten Pilgrimage

The campaign has several events planned to accompany the final phase, including a Lenten pilgrimage, titled “Eucharist: Heart of the City Lenten Pilgrimage.” Seek the City leadership described the pilgrimage as “a prayerful experience and a time for our universal church in Baltimore to gather around the Eucharist as one body in unity, prayer, reflection and fellowship.”

The pilgrimage takes place each Wednesday during Lent from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on the following dates:

• Feb. 21 –  Baltimore Basilica, 409 Cathedral St., “Worshiping the Eucharist”
• Feb. 28 – St. Bernardine, 3812 Edmondson Ave.,“Believing in the Eucharist”
• March 6 – Sacred Heart of Jesus/Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, 600 S. Conkling St., “Living the Eucharist”
• March 13 – Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, 5200 N. Charles St., “Hope in the Eucharist” 
• March 20 – St. Joseph Monastery, 3801 Old Frederick Road, Reconciliation Service

Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org

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