To Cardinal Hickey, thanks to you for your gracious welcome to this great basilica which reflects so well your love of it and your love for the Church. To you Cardinal George, thank you for the leadership you give us all in the cause of life, and for being here with us this evening. And...Read More

Twenty-five years ago a number of you assembled here for the Golden Jubilee of the establishment of the Eparchy under the spiritual guidance of the great and holy Bishop Basil Takach. At that event, when the clergy gathered around Archbishop Stephen J. Kocisko of happy memory, I remember a question posed by one of the...Read More

Today, in our walking, in our friendship, in our prayers and in the celebration of this Eucharist we remember the person who has done more to shape our world during these last two millennia that any other. Today we gather as disciples of Jesus to remember the cross, to remember the resurrection, to pray in...Read More

When he visited Cuba last year Pope John Paul II issued a plea that Cuba should be more open to the world, and the world to Cuba. His own visit helped people everywhere to perceive another dimension to the Cuban situation, a dimension I had seen several weeks before when, with Catholic Relief Services representatives,...Read More

The present came, first of all, from the priests who sent in the names and addresses of potential seminary candidates. It came also, if more remotely, from the families of these young men, parents who had brought them up in a setting where the faith was lived and honored. The gift came directly from ten...Read More

To my great surprise, Thanksgiving Day saw me in the air en route to Turkey – and, to anticipate a question, there was no turkey on the menu during the flight that evening! The day before, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, was on the telephone from Rome. He had seen the...Read More

Dear Friends in Christ, On Ash Wednesday Jesus, through the Church, again invites us to walk with him, as best we can, along the Lenten way to Holy Week and Easter. During this Lent, I invite you to join me in invoking the Holy Spirit to guide us through this special season of prayer, penance...Read More

Just days ago Baltimore rejoiced at the extraordinary visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Some remarkable aspects of his visit deserve reporting now. The media accounts accurately describe the sense of prayer, excitement and the love of unity in the making during the historic prayer service at the Basilica of the Assumption. To the Patriarch I...Read More