Archbishop William E. Lori arrived at Loyola University Maryland March 17 with little green to show for St. Patrick’s Day other than a pair of cufflinks he rarely wears. 

The Archdiocese of Baltimore entered a partnership with the Diocese of Gonaïves in Haiti in 1997, encouraging parishes to form relationships with Haitian parishes and schools through spiritual, financial and hands-on support. Annual visits were once common, with parishioners traveling to Haiti to assist with projects and participate in Mass.  

Registration for public events during the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage opened March 18, revealing abundant opportunities for Catholics to join the nine “perpetual pilgrims” traveling the East Coast route from Florida to Maine that culminates in an Independence Day weekend celebration in Philadelphia and includes a stop in Baltimore.

Speaking at the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of Maryland Conference, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus urged men to build faith-filled relationships that help one another live out God’s calling.

Due to the threat of severe weather, including possible tornadoes, hail and strong winds, the March 16 Maryland March for Life has been cancelled and several school systems are closing early.

Catholic Review Associate Publisher Christopher Gunty has two guests. First up is Deacon Kevin Cummings of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, talking about the ministry he and other members of Deacons of Hope started to create residential homes for unwed women. In the second segment, Joseph Schuler, development director at WMET Radio, talks about his journey of faith and how his son’s traumatic brain injury led Joseph to the “heroic mission” of working to spread the word of God over the airwaves.

The change means that when a priest’s visa runs out, he can travel abroad briefly to renew it and return without a prolonged absence – helping parishes maintain stability in a time of growing priest shortages.

According to Julie St. Croix, director of the Office of Parish Renewal within the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Institute for Evangelization, 62 parishes participate in the archdiocese’s sister parish program. The idea is to create “a multi-level active connection between two parishes to see themselves as one,” she said.

Josephite Father William Norvel, a forceful voice for Black Catholic identity who spent more than six decades challenging the institutional church to live up to its claim of being universal, died March 8. He was 90.

The word “presence” defined the way Deacon Daniel Stretmater ministered, living a life to evoke Christ’s presence through everything he did in his 101 years of life, including actively serving for a quarter-century at St. Louis in Clarksville.