Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder died Dec. 4, days after his retirement as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Towson.

Jim Burke walked through a foot of snow down York Road to be at the first Mass celebrated at St. Pius X, Rodgers Forge, in 1958.

Christopher J. Coffland, a Baltimore native, was killed by a roadside bomb Nov. 13 in the Wardak province of Afghanistan. The Army reservist, who had joined the military a month before he reached the enlistment age limit of 42, had been in Afghanistan for two weeks working as an intelligence specialist.

When Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien referred to the rector of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen as “the indomitable, irrepressible Monsignor Robert Armstrong,” hundreds of parishioners interrupted the archbishop’s Nov. 15 cathedral homily with applause.

St. Louis in Clarksville is mourning the loss of John Alexander Evans, a 19-year-old parishioner who died Nov. 7 after completing a 10-mile road march at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.

A bill that would impose new requirements on pro-life pregnancy centers in the city took a step closer to becoming law when the Baltimore City Council passed the measure 12-3 in a preliminary vote Nov. 16. Bill 09-0406 now faces a final vote after Thanksgiving and, if approved, will head to Mayor Sheila Dixon.

Dr. Ronald J. Valenti is stepping down as superintendent of Catholic schools after nearly 20 years of service in the Division of Schools. He plans to pursue other opportunities in the field of education and will mark his last day as superintendent June 30, 2010.

When Smith became executive director of Baltimore’s Catholic Charities two years after his arrival, the agency employed 350 people and had a budget of about $6 million. Today, the organization annually helps 200,000 people in 80 programs and employs 2,100. Its budget is about $120 million.

Speaking on behalf of Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, Bishop Denis J. Madden urged the Baltimore City Council to defeat a bill that would fine pregnancy resource centers $500 a day if they fail to post signs saying they don’t offer abortion or contraceptives.

Baltimore City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and 10 members of the 14-member council are sponsoring a bill that Catholic leaders believe harasses pro-life pregnancy support centers.