• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Paulist Father James McCabe died Dec. 25

Former Catholic Review columnist dies at 81

January 2, 2012
By George P. Matysek Jr.
Filed Under: Local News, News, Obituaries

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Paulist Father James McCabe, former director of the Family Life Center in Baltimore and a longtime columnist for The Catholic Review, died Dec. 25, 2011 in Toronto. He was 81 and had been battling cancer.

Born in New York, Father McCabe was ordained a Paulist priest May 11, 1957. He was associate director of the Catholic Information Center in Baltimore from 1962 to 1971. The center was designed as an evangelization outreach to those with questions about the faith and those interested in entering the Catholic Church.

Father McCabe became director of Baltimore’s Family Life Center in 1971, while continuing his ministry at the Catholic Information Center through 1978. While serving in Baltimore, he initiated a marriage preparation program for inter-faith couples.

For 10 years, Father McCabe wrote a weekly column in The Catholic Review. It answered questions from readers and offered insights on the news of the day.

Monsignor Paul Cook, pastor of St. Joseph in Cockeysville, remembered that Father McCabe was “well-loved” and “well-respected” by the priests of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

“He was very pastoral and related very well to people,” Monsignor Cook said. “He was a good homilist and liturgist. He was a wonderful person who enjoyed being with the people.”

During part of his time in Baltimore, Father McCabe assisted with weekend Masses at St. Joseph, Monsignor Cook said.

Paulist Father John E. Hurley, executive director of the archdiocesan department of evangelization and one of Father McCabe’s longtime friends, said Father McCabe was “one of those people you could warm up to immediately” and was known for being a good listener.

Father McCabe inaugurated much of the adult faith formation outreach in the Baltimore archdiocese following the Second Vatican Council, Father Hurley said.

“He was at the forefront of that in the 1970s,” Father Hurley said.

Father McCabe’s other assignments were in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Boston and Austin. A funeral Mass was offered Dec. 29 at St. Peter in Toronto, a church he had served as associate pastor from 1999 until his retirement.

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

George P. Matysek Jr.

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

  • Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

  • Archbishop Wenski leads Knights on Bikes to pray rosary at Alligator Alcatraz

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

  • Radio Interview: Youth ministry changing with the times

| Latest Local News |

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

| Latest World News |

Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary

LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids

FBI surveilled SSPX priest amid probe of suspected neo-Nazi’s plans for violence

Poland’s ‘living memorial’ to St. John Paul II marks 25 years of transforming lives

Catholic ‘American Ninja Warrior’ fights world hunger, one obstacle at a time

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary
  • LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids
  • FBI surveilled SSPX priest amid probe of suspected neo-Nazi’s plans for violence
  • Poland’s ‘living memorial’ to St. John Paul II marks 25 years of transforming lives
  • Our faith is not afraid of questions
  • Catholic ‘American Ninja Warrior’ fights world hunger, one obstacle at a time
  • Parishes need to launch ‘revolution of care’ for the elderly, pope says
  • Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants
  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en