Baltimore Basilica

Noble may be in store for a higher profile in the Archdiocese of Baltimore – the nation’s first diocese and the “Premier See.” The dog accompanied Archbishop Lori to Baltimore and will be living with the archbishop at his Charles Street residence.

Hundreds filled the Baltimore basilica for a vespers service that welcomed Baltimore’s 16th archbishop.

A bustling section of downtown Baltimore is about to get a quiet spot for reflection and meditation when Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien breaks ground April 11 for the long-awaited Pope John Paul II Prayer Garden.

Seeing himself cast in bronze alongside Pope John Paul II in a new downtown statue brought back a flood of memories for Justin Farinelli.

As Rosalie Dohm of Woodbridge, Va. climbed the stairs to the nation’s first cathedral Aug. 2, she thought it was unusual that Cardinal William H. Keeler was personally greeting each of the visitors from her parish tour group. The 66-year-old parishioner of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Lakeridge, Va., then found herself in the spotlight when Cardinal Keeler handed her a package and balloons and congratulated her for being the 100,000th visitor to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary since it reopened last November. “I’m dumbfounded,” said Ms. Dohm, who attended the tour with her parish’s Silver Foxes senior citizen group. “I was excited about seeing this place, but wow. What a shock to be told you are the 100,000th visitor since it opened back up to the public.”