I write to share with you important news about immediate steps the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be taking as we grapple with the deep anguish and racial tension we are currently witnessing locally and throughout our country.

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori joined faith leaders from across the city June 3 to pray for peace and healing after more than a week of nationwide protests and unrest in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers.

Josephite Father Frank Martin Hull and Father Joseph John McKinley, who both had lived at the Josephite Senior Residence in Washington.

Baltimore’s religious leaders will join civic and community leaders in praying for justice and peace during a June 3 gathering beginning at 6 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul in Baltimore.

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.