Maryland Catholics renew Appalachian mission

Fifty years after Catholic bishops joined their voices with the people of Appalachia to lift up their struggles for dignity and hope, Maryland Catholics are helping to renew that same spirit of faith-filled solidarity – connecting the mountains and the city in a shared call to care for both creation and community.

In 1975, 25 Catholic bishops, including Baltimore Archbishop William D. Borders, issued a groundbreaking pastoral letter titled “This Land Is Home to Me.” The document responded to the economic and social hardships of the Appalachian region – including Western Maryland – and became a prophetic cry for justice rooted in the Gospel and in accompaniment with the poor.

This fall, that cry echoed once again. More than 100 Catholics from across Appalachia, including many from Baltimore to Mountain Maryland, gathered in Pittsburgh Oct. 25 for “Conversations in the Spirit.” The gathering revisited “This Land Is Home to Me” and its sequels – the Catholic Committee of Appalachia’s “At Home in the Web of Life” (1995), and “The Telling Takes Us Home (2015) – alongside Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si’,” which that same year expanded the conversation to a global scale of ecological and human care.

For Father Ty Hullinger, who has served in both Western Maryland and Baltimore City, the gathering underscored how storytelling can bridge the rural and urban church.

“Folks from Mountain Maryland were able to share the stories of community, their stories of deep struggle and deep pain,” said Father Hullinger, now in residence at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Middle River. “But there were also similar stories of incredible tenacity and resilience, hope and faith, especially in one another and in a Christ who identifies with us, especially those of us who are struggling at the lowest levels of the furthest regions across the margins of society.”

The shared experiences revealed how deeply connected the mountains and the city remain.

“One of the places coal goes is to ports like Baltimore to then be put on container ships and sent around the world,” Father Hullinger explained. “Here in Baltimore, there’s been an ongoing struggle around the fact that the coal terminals put coal in little mountains where coal dust blows into the neighborhoods and people are really struggling with long-term health issues. It showed me the deeper connections around everything, economy, reality between the mountains and the bay.”

In an archdiocese such as Baltimore, which spans that whole geography, “maybe we need to spend more time listening to the stories of people from Mountain Maryland,” Father Hullinger said.

“If things can’t get fixed or repaired in Mountain Maryland, we’re also not going to be able to address issues that affect all of our other communities,” the priest asserted.

Deacon Roch Kallmyer, a specialist in the Office of Parish Renewal in the Institute for Evangelization at the Archdiocese of Baltimore, also sees the conversations as a way to reconnect Maryland Catholics with those same lessons of solidarity and care.

“‘This Land Is Home to Me’ and ‘Laudato Si’’ have generated interest in having small-group conversations about life in Appalachia and how specifically Catholics are living there, the challenges and struggles that they face, but also the hopes for the future,” Deacon Kallmyer said.

Deacon Kallmyer, who grew up in Frostburg and witnessed the collapse of local industry firsthand, helped lead recent parish conversations in Frostburg and Hancock on topics including addiction, consumerism and how to help the poor. 

The Pittsburgh gathering included bishops, religious and lay leaders from across Appalachia – among them Pittsburgh Bishop Mark A. Eckman, Bishop Emeritus David A. Zubik and West Virginia Bishop Mark E. Brennan, a former auxiliary bishop of Baltimore – alongside representatives from labor and environmental organizations. For many, the weekend rekindled the same spirit of collaboration that once inspired the region’s historic pastoral letters.

“That was one of the joys of this weekend was to see how many people and so many different areas are just committed to the work of justice for vulnerable people and the vulnerable Earth,” said Daughter of Charity Sister Mary Jo Stein, who serves in Baltimore’s Healthy People, Healthy Earth ministry.

“There’s been a history of extraction of coal in Western Maryland and surrounding states with a huge negative impact on the people, the way that the land is destroyed and water, ground and air are polluted,” she said. “It’s such a complicated situation because coal and steel have been historically very important in industry and as an energy source, but it’s the idolatry of profit that destroys our common home.”

Participants left Pittsburgh with a renewed sense that these Appalachian pastoral letters – and the faith stories that continue to flow from them – can help shape how Catholics live the Gospel across every landscape.

“We can communicate with one another and have these opportunities to share our experiences and work together to try to create solutions,” Sister Mary Jo said. “It’s something for all Catholics in order to live out Catholic social teachings, that care of our common home is an important work of all of us in doing the work of Jesus.”

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