I’m so scared! I’m so scared when I look at the news and see the faces of those broken down in grief caused by the hand of violence. That was someone’s child, someone’s spouse, someone’s loved one, gunned down – senseless suffering. I’m so scared when the news reports more deaths today than there were...Read More

Agnes Kane Callum, my mother, is a wonder to behold. Historian, genealogist and researcher, she was born in Baltimore, the fifth child among 12. Her parents were the late Phillip Moten and Mary Kane (nee Gough) of St. Mary’s County in southern Maryland. She was educated in Baltimore public schools, and at age 44 she...Read More

In the world today, there are more than 200 million people of African descent in the Roman Catholic Church. The fastest growing population comes out of the continent of Africa. The second-largest population of Roman Catholic African descendants are in Brazil. In the United States as we enter into this present holy time, we are...Read More

“Keep on Teaching,” a catechetical ministry established 21 years ago in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, engages catechists who serve in the African-American Catholic community. Its emphasis is to inspire and encourage catechists to factor culture – both black and Catholic – and its deep roots into their catechetical planning and implementation.Read More

In 1889 Daniel Rudd and delegates of the very first Black Catholic Congress raised concern regarding the need for Catholic education of black youths. Delegates made a motion on the floor to facilitate action to achieve this goal. Today, the sons and daughters of the National Black Catholic Congress movement active in the Archdiocese of...Read More

The April 14 Catholic Review included an article on Catholic chaplains in the Civil War. It quoted General Benjamin Butler as saying, “I have never seen a Catholic chaplain who has not done his duty.” Several were mentioned. Another priest who served in the Civil War was Redemptorist Father Aegidius Smulders, who ministered right here...Read More

In 1970, a newly-minted Army chaplain, with airborne wings fresh out of “jump school,” I looked forward to my first leave on the Fourth of July weekend. I was to join a friend at the Boston Commons for the chance to hear the Boston Pops, under the direction of famed conductor Arthur Fiedler, play the...Read More

One of the things I appreciate and admire most about the generous people of this Archdiocese is their instinctive desire to help others, especially in times of crisis.Read More