Sister Florencia Silva Cabrera, known as “Sister Flo,” has arrived from her native Peru to serve as director of the Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat Center in Sparks.

A funeral Mass will be offered Sept. 17 for School Sister of Notre Dame Mary Michael Tashiro at Villa Assumpta in Towson. Sister Mary Michael, a former teacher at Notre Dame Preparatory School in Towson, died Aug. 28. She was 93.

Father Thomas Gills, a former military chaplain who ministered to critically wounded servicemen and later served as pastor of St. Peter the Apostle in Oakland and St. Peter at the Lake in McHenry, died Sept. 6 at his home in Little Orleans. He was 71.

A growing movement in archdiocesan-area Catholic schools is bucking that trend. A standout example is Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Baynesville, where students embraced the “Holy Moments” program launched by Dynamic Catholic as a pilot in the 2023-24 school year. 

After more than seven decades of residence at a prominent property in Baltimore County, the School Sisters of Notre Dame are scheduled to leave their regional mother house, Villa Assumpta, this fall.

A funeral Mass was offered Sept. 9 in Dunmore, Pa., for Sister Joan Golden of the Congregation of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sister Joan, formerly known as Sister M. St. Robert, died Sept. 3. She was 91.

Standing on a hill overlooking a field of grass in Sykesville, Joseph Yi sees the future. After more than 25 years of planning, the construction of Holy Korean Martyrs Catholic Church’s new home on Sykesville Road in Howard County is to begin this fall, with a groundbreaking scheduled for Sept. 20. 

Archbishop William E. Lori and leaders of the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Near East Welfare Association visited Jerusalem, the Palestinian West Bank and other parts of the Holy Lands Sept. 2-6, connecting with ministries serving those in the conflict area.

Several churches in the Archdiocese of Baltimore will recognize the work of public safety professionals – including police officers, firefighters, paramedics and emergency personnel – by celebrating a Blue Mass.

A funeral Mass will be offered Sept. 15 in Wisconsin for Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Colleen Nolan. Sister Colleen, a former teacher at St. Rose of Lima School in Brooklyn, died Sept. 3. She was 79.