Churches in Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Harford and Washington counties opened liturgies to the public, albeit at one-third capacity, per Archdiocese of Baltimore guidelines.

Archbishop William E. Lori harkened back to the first Pentecost when the Holy Spirit shook the house where Jesus’ disciples had gathered and came with a fire of charity to consume every false idol.

Father Justin Bolger – who grew up in Baltimore’s St. William of York Parish and later St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Libertytown – was ordained May 23, along with five others.

The 32-year-old native of Uganda was ordained a Josephite priest May 23 at St. Peter Claver in West Baltimore.

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori felt “great joy” when he heard the news that Pope Francis had accepted a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus.

Sulpician Father John Kemper, the driving force behind the restoration of the historic St. Mary’s Seminary Chapel on Paca Street in Baltimore and a former superior for his religious society’s Province of the United States, died May 21 after an 18-month battle with esophageal cancer.

In an executive order issued May 26, the county executive of Howard County issued regulations for religious institutions that would seem to disallow the distribution of the Eucharist in Catholic churches. After the Archdiocese of Baltimore expressed “serious concerns” about the order, the county acknowledged that the restriction would be withdrawn.

Following an extensive review process, the Diocese of Buffalo has selected St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore – the first Roman Catholic seminary in the United States – for the academic and spiritual formation program for its seminarians, beginning in fall 2020.

Some parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore will offer public Masses May 30-31, the feast of Pentecost, for the first time since mid-March, as the state of Maryland slowly reopens in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the May 24 episode of “Catholic Baltimore,” Father Brian Nolan speaks with Dr. Scott Hahn, a Catholic theologian and bestselling author, about his new book, “Hope to Die: The Christian Meaning of Death and Resurrection of the Body.”