City pastors who worked with Mayor Sheila Dixon on issues ranging from homelessness to immigration gave the outgoing mayor generally high marks for her performance in office. Yet, as the 56-year-old mayor prepares to step down Feb. 4 as part of a plea deal in a corruption case, priests throughout the city expressed disappointment in her behavior.
News
Bishop Ricard suffers stroke; your prayers requested
Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, bishop of Penacola-Tallahassee, Fla., and former auxiliary bishop of Baltimore, was admitted to the hospital recently with a stroke. The following information was provided by the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee:
Parishioners, clergy gather to celebrate life of Monsignor Tinder
As pallbearers slowly guided Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder’s casket out of Immaculate Conception Church in Towson following his Dec. 12 funeral Mass, approximately 120 priests and deacons united their voices in a final tribute to their brother clergyman. A solemn church bell tolled every few seconds while the white-robed men chanted “Salve Regina” in Latin […]
Archdiocese mourns passing of Monsignor Tinder, 67
Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder died Dec. 4, days after his retirement as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Towson.
‘Beautiful liturgy’ highlights St. Pius X renovations
Jim Burke walked through a foot of snow down York Road to be at the first Mass celebrated at St. Pius X, Rodgers Forge, in 1958.
Soldier killed in Afghanistan is remembered as Renaissance man
Christopher J. Coffland, a Baltimore native, was killed by a roadside bomb Nov. 13 in the Wardak province of Afghanistan. The Army reservist, who had joined the military a month before he reached the enlistment age limit of 42, had been in Afghanistan for two weeks working as an intelligence specialist.
Monsignor Armstrong, longtime rector of cathedral, set to retire
When Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien referred to the rector of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen as “the indomitable, irrepressible Monsignor Robert Armstrong,” hundreds of parishioners interrupted the archbishop’s Nov. 15 cathedral homily with applause.
Clarksville pastor remembers VMI cadet
St. Louis in Clarksville is mourning the loss of John Alexander Evans, a 19-year-old parishioner who died Nov. 7 after completing a 10-mile road march at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.
City Council advances bill targeting pregnancy centers
A bill that would impose new requirements on pro-life pregnancy centers in the city took a step closer to becoming law when the Baltimore City Council passed the measure 12-3 in a preliminary vote Nov. 16. Bill 09-0406 now faces a final vote after Thanksgiving and, if approved, will head to Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Dr. Valenti to step down as superintendent
Dr. Ronald J. Valenti is stepping down as superintendent of Catholic schools after nearly 20 years of service in the Division of Schools. He plans to pursue other opportunities in the field of education and will mark his last day as superintendent June 30, 2010.
Legacy of charity: Hal Smith retires after 35 years
When Smith became executive director of Baltimore’s Catholic Charities two years after his arrival, the agency employed 350 people and had a budget of about $6 million. Today, the organization annually helps 200,000 people in 80 programs and employs 2,100. Its budget is about $120 million.
City Council holds hearing on pregnancy center bill
Speaking on behalf of Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, Bishop Denis J. Madden urged the Baltimore City Council to defeat a bill that would fine pregnancy resource centers $500 a day if they fail to post signs saying they don’t offer abortion or contraceptives.