Check out the most-read local stories and commentaries on CatholicReview.org for 2025.

Participants gathered on a cold, windy night at St. Joseph’s Monastery Church and processed to My Brother’s Keeper, a Catholic Charities program on Frederick Avenue that provides support services for men and women. Along the route, the names – or, when identities were unknown, the sex – of Baltimore’s homicide victims were read aloud.

During a pair of Christmas-season homilies, Archbishop William E. Lori preached a message of hope during these often-tumultuous times at Baltimore’s Cathedral of Mary our Queen in Homeland.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame announced Dec. 23 in a news release that it completed the sale of its property at 901 Aisquith St., which once housed the now-closed Institute of Notre Dame.

Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty sat down for an extensive conversation with Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori about the papal transition and issues of concern to the local church. The archbishop talked about good news on the vocations front, the impact of Seek the City changes on parishes and the upcoming fifth anniversary of the Institute for Evangelism in the archdiocese.

Well before he was a University of Maryland transfer who used his final year of college football eligibility to become a major success story as a running back at Indiana University, Roman Hemby said he owed much credit to The John Carroll School for instilling vital Catholic values that guide him today. 

A coalition of public, private and faith-based partners will gather Dec. 29, 6 p.m., in Southwest Baltimore for a one-hour evening prayer vigil sponsored by the Archdiocese of Baltimore to remember the lives lost to homicide this year and plead for an end to violence.

On this episode of Catholic Review Radio, George Matysek explores the diaconate from its apostolic origins to its modern-day expression. The program begins with Father Michael Foppiano, pastor of St. Mark in Fallston and director of the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, who addresses common misunderstandings about permanent and transitional deacons, explains their liturgical role at Mass and outlines the formation process for men discerning this vocation.

The Nativity scene – Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus – is a Christmas image found worldwide. Big or small, carved from wood, sculpted from stone or knitted from yarn, the crèche represents the true meaning of the holiday. 

The Baltimore Catholic League will play its 55th tournament at Reitz Arena on the campus of Loyola University Maryland on March 1- 2 and March 4, BCL Commissioner Mark Rohde Sr. announced Dec. 18.