George P. Matysek Jr.

George Matysek, a member of the Catholic Review staff since 1997, is managing editor of Catholic Review Media. He oversees news coverage of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and is a host of Catholic Review Radio.

George has won more than 150 national and regional journalism and broadcasting awards from the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, the Catholic Media Association, the Associated Church Press and National Right to Life. The Catholic Media Association named him both Editor of the Year and Podcaster of the Year in 2024. He has reported from Guyana, Guatemala, Italy, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

A native Baltimorean, George is a graduate of Our Lady of Mount Carmel High School in Essex. He holds a bachelor's degree from Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore and a master's degree from UMBC. George, his wife and six children live in Rodgers Forge. He is a parishioner of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.

Townhomes go up in blighted East Baltimore community

May 15, 2008
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News, Urban Vicariate

The new houses are part of a 122-home development resulting from a partnership between TRF Development Partners and Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development (BUILD). Seventy-five of the homes will be built from scratch, with the remaining 47 to be rehabbed.

Dr. Valenti sees benefits for proposed grant

April 25, 2008
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News, Schools

One day after attending an April 24 White House summit on preventing faith-based schools from closing in the inner-city, Dr. Ronald J. Valenti, Baltimore superintendent of Catholic schools, welcomed a renewed proposal from President George W. Bush to establish a “Pell Grant for Kids.”

Father Funk, Frederick pastor, dies

February 21, 2008
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News, Obituaries

Father Wayne G. Funk, the longtime pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Frederick who was known for his encouraging, pastoral presence, died Feb. 16 at Frederick Memorial Hospital. The 70-year-old priest had battled cancer for nearly five years.

Clarksville parish restores 1855 chapel

February 7, 2008
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News

After a recently completed $700,000 restoration, the small chapel has been stabilized, a new roof added, the exterior made over and the interior returned to the elegant simplicity that characterized the structure at the time it was erected in 1855.

Father Lavin’s book urges compassion for new immigrants

January 24, 2008
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News

ANNAPOLIS – Father John Lavin, C.Ss.R., still chuckles when he remembers the day Jesus got held up by U.S. Customs.

Cumberland remembers Bishop Walsh, its missionary hero

January 10, 2008
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News, Religious Freedom, Saints

Twenty-seven years after his death, leaders of Bishop Walsh’s home parish are working to raise awareness about a man whose virtuous exploits seem less recognized with each passing decade.

New S.S.N.D. leader outlines priorities

December 6, 2007
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News, Vocations

In the face of what she sees as an increasingly polarized and splintered world, the newly-elected global leader of the School Sisters of Notre Dame said she hopes to promote a sense of solidarity among humanity.

MCC leader says special session helped the poor

November 19, 2007
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Filed Under: Local News, News

On the same day Maryland lawmakers concluded a three-week special legislative session to address the state’s budget deficit Nov. 19, the leader of the Maryland Catholic Conference praised lawmakers for making the poor a priority in their planning.

Murdered daughter’s mother says death penalty must go

November 15, 2007
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Filed Under: Local News, News, Respect Life

When police arrested the serial rapist who brutally assaulted and murdered Shannon Schieber in 1998, the Schieber family faced unrelenting pressure to seek the death penalty.

Bishops revel in Archbishop O’Brien’s installation

October 1, 2007
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Filed Under: Local News, News

Cardinal J. Francis Stafford made a stop in Emmitsburg before he attended Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien’s Oct. 1 installation ceremony at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland. There, he prayed for the new Baltimore archbishop at the tombs of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Archbishop James R. Bayley – two New York natives who served in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Speaking in Rodgers Forge, Sister Helen Prejean calls for end to death penalty

September 27, 2007
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News, Respect Life

Calling the death penalty nothing more than “legalized vengeance,” Sister Helen said the gift of being a Catholic is embracing the “seamless garment of life” – respecting the dignity of life from conception until natural death.

St. Peter’s whips up 5,200 apple dumplings for fall festival

September 20, 2007
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Catholic Review Filed Under: Local News, News, Western Vicariate

In an assembly line that would make Henry Ford proud, dozens of volunteers from St. Peter in Hancock transformed their parish hall into an apple dumpling factory Sept. 12-14 – filling the air with the delightfully dense aroma of sweet cinnamon and fresh-baked apples that attracted visitors from near and far.