Papal honors call from Archbishop Lori leaves award winners ‘surprised’ and ‘in awe’

At least two of the people who will receive papal honors in the Archdiocese of Baltimore were shocked when they got the call from Archbishop William E. Lori to tell them the news.

Kathleen Mahar, the former president and principal of Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, is one of 10 who will receive the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (“for the church and the pontiff”), an honor conferred directly by the pope.

“I had no idea what the award was, and I had never heard of anyone who received it,” she said about the call she got from the archbishop telling her about the honor. “But I tell you, once I looked it up, I am filled with much humility and grace and don’t really understand why I deserved it.”

She said she hopes the award is an affirmation of the motto and mission of Spalding, where she served for 25 years – One in Christ. She said Catholic education has been a priority for her all her life, as a student and an educator, because “It works. Because of the marriage of faith and academics – faith comes first – it works,” she said.

Deacon Siegfried Presbery, director of prison ministry for the archdiocese, said he was also surprised when he got a call from a phone number he didn’t recognize while he was in the supermarket. He let it go to voicemail.

When he listened to the message and then called back Archbishop Lori and heard he was to receive the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, he was “full of emotions” and “personally in awe.”

A convert to the Catholic faith and a former correctional officer, Deacon Presberry said that when he started prison ministry, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien told him that if the prison ministry was about him, then good things might happen but if it was about God and serving God’s children, great things could happen. 

“People responded. I was just the connection,” he said, noting his gratitude to the parishes and people who support the archdiocesan ministry to people who are incarcerated and their families.

Deacon Presberry was ordained a deacon in June 2001, and retired from working as a corrections officer in November the same year. “I didn’t think I would go back until I was asked to be director of prison ministry.”

Mahar and Deacon Presberry are just two of those upon whom Archbishop Lori will confer the papal honors at a 9:30 a.m. celebration of solemn lauds (morning prayer) Sept. 23 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. The public is invited to join in the celebration. The papal honors, petitioned by Archbishop Lori to the Vatican, will be conferred in the archdiocese for the first time in more than a decade.

“Our honorees for pontifical orders and medals demonstrate through their lives’ work the ways the church is alive in mission and ministry throughout the Archdiocese of Baltimore,” Archbishop Lori said. “These women and men have given of themselves – by nurturing, inspiring and protecting young people, by building vibrant communities of faith and by shepherding a new generation of priests and religious servants.

“The Holy See extends these highly distinguished recognitions in gratitude for their contributions in education, evangelization and service to their brothers and sisters in Christ,” the archbishop said.

The honors are in three categories: the Order of St. Gregory of the Great, which will be given to six lay people (including two married couples); the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, to 10 people; and the Benemerenti Medal to one religious sister.

Order of St. Gregory the Great, founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1831, the honor comes with an eight-pointed, gold-rimmed, red enamel cross with a center medallion in blue enamel with the image of St. Gregory the Great:

• Joseph F. Murphy Jr. (deceased), a former chief judge of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, who served for nine years on the Archdiocese of Baltimore Independent Review Board that advises the archbishop on policy and procedures relating to child sexual abuse within the church. While the Order of St. Gregory the Great is not issued posthumously, the Vatican received Archbishop Lori’s petition for the papal honor before Judge Murphy’s death in July 2022.
• Brian C. Rogers, who also chaired the archdiocese’s Independent Review Board, among other volunteer contributions to the church and his community.
• James B. Sellinger, the first-ever chancellor for education for the archdiocese’s Department of Catholic schools for eight years until his retirement in June 2022. 
• Francine Sellinger, a tireless volunteer and advocate for causes including education and serving as an extraordinary minister of communion to people who are sick or homebound.
• Lisa Stromberg, who has promoted access to Catholic education and served on the boards for Notre Dame Preparatory School and Mother Seton Academy.
• William “Bill” J. Stromberg, president and longtime member of Catholic Charities of Baltimore’s Board of Directors and he is currently co-chair of its ongoing capital campaign.

Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, first issued in 1888 by Pope Leo XIII, the medal features a gold Greek cross with the images of apostles Peter and Paul and name of the reigning pope in Latin:

• Father Melvin “Mel” C. Blanchette, P.S.S., former rector of the Theological College at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., from 2007 to 2011.
• Tom Corcoran, associate to the pastor of Church of the Nativity in Timonium and co-author of several books about their experience to rebuild and reimagine the parish.
• Father Donald Grzymski, O.F.M. Conv., longtime president of his alma mater, Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore. 
• Father Raymond “Ray” Lee Harris Jr., the third African American ordained for the archdiocesan priesthood in Baltimore, and currently the pastor of Holy Family in Randallstown, Father Harris has served in a variety of ministries in local and national contexts: parochial, university chaplaincy, seminary formation, and the Tribunal.
• Kristen Kinkopf, who has devoted much of her professional life to the Church and promoting good works through philanthropy, including at Catholic Charities and Notre Dame Preparatory School.
• Monsignor Joseph S. Lizor Jr., who as longtime pastor of St. Luke in Edgemere, created a revival in Mass attendance and rejuvenated faith in the community. 
• Kathleen K. Mahar, teacher, principal and president of Archbishop Spalding High School for a combined 25 years, before retiring in 2022.
• Deacon Seigfried Presberry, director of prison ministry on behalf of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Institute for Evangelization. 
• Sister Irene Pryle, S.S.N.D., principal of Our Lady of Hope/St. Luke School in Dundalk for more than 40 years. 
• Father Michael J. White, pastor of Church of the Nativity in Timonium and co-author of the acclaimed “Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost and Making Church Matter.” 

Benemerenti Medal, first bestowed in 1791 by Pope Pius VI and is adorned with an image of Christ on a gold Greek cross, along with a depiction of the tiara, crossed keys and the papal shield:

• Sister Rita Michelle Proctor, O.S.P., superior general of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious community for African American women in the United States, founded by Venerable Mother Mary Lange. Sister Rita Michelle previously received the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 8:17 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2023, to add the time of the event.

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