Deacon John Joseph Rafter Jr., who had a passion for bringing people into the Catholic Church, died May 11 at University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie. He was 79.

St. John the Evangelist parish in Hydes traces its roots to its first Mass, celebrated May 19, 1822 by Sulpician Father Jean Marie Tessier, superior of St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. The priest presided over the consecration of a little wooden church on the west side of Long Green Valley.

A funeral Mass for Sister Joan Matthews of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence will be offered May 24 in Indiana. Sister Joan, formerly known as Sister Ignatius, died April 25. She was 93 and had spent 75 years as a Sister of Providence.

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori celebrates his 45th anniversary as a priest May 14th and his 10th anniversary as archbishop of Baltimore May 16. Chris Gunty, associate publisher of Catholic Review Media, sat down with the archbishop for a wide-ranging chat.

An evening talk, which was preceded by a morning Mass celebrated by Cardinal Robert Sarah, was part of the closing celebration of the 200th anniversary of the dedication of the Baltimore Basilica, the first Catholic cathedral built in the United States.

Archbishop William E. Lori announced clergy appointments for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park is establishing its first Knights of Columbus council, naming it after an alumnus who graduated from the seminary 145 years ago and founded the Knights of Columbus 140 years ago.

U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander sentenced Fernando Cristancho to 22 years in federal prison, followed by lifetime supervised release for coercion and enticement of a minor whom he met through church to engage in illegal sexual activity, according to a May 11 news release from the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Archbishop William E. Lori will ordain nine men transitional deacons during a 10 a.m. Mass May 21 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. Ordination to the transitional diaconate is the penultimate step toward ordination to the priesthood.

St. Joan of Arc School in Aberdeen has become the first private school in Maryland to earn the Safe Schools Maryland Gold School award.