Sister Mary Montgomery, who broke new ground as co-superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, died Oct. 29 in Wisconsin.

Sister Kathleen Tobin, who had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 78 years, died Oct. 31 at age 102.

After teaching in New York and Washington, D.C., she taught at St. Martin School in Baltimore, 1967-76; St. Dominic School in Hamilton, 1982-90; and Mother Seton School in Emmitsburg, 1990-92. From 2000 to 2003 and again from 2006 to 2009 she was the assistant at Villa St. Michael in Emmitsburg.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in consultation with the members of the USCCB Administrative Committee, has taken the highly unusual step of disinviting a fellow bishop from the conference’s fall general assembly.

“Our church has a lot of power to change the community that we actually live in,” Hall said. “Since we have so much influence, we need to be back in the community, reaching out as best we can.”

Soledad O’Brien, an award-winning journalist who has ties to Baltimore, will be the keynote speaker at a Nov. 10 scholarship dinner benefiting African-American students who wish to go to Loyola Blakefield in Towson.

This month’s Names & Numbers features a pet blessing, a Nun Run and more. 

Deacon Phillip Harcum Jr., whose service to St. Bernardine Church in West Baltimore was so deep that its parish hall came to bear his name, died Oct. 26 at age 93.

All Saints Day, a solemnity set aside by the Catholic Church to honor saints known and unknown, will be celebrated Nov. 1.

“Missionary work is really a mandate, and not something special or unusual for us to be doing,” Smith wrote.