Introduction During the presentation of Mount seminarians to the University Board of Trustees I became distressed when the seminarians opined that weekday homilies should run no more than three minutes and that Sunday homilies should run no more than eight minutes, barely time enough to cook scrambled eggs. I hope you will understand that it...Read More

Introduction Suspended above the Basilica portico is an American flag with fifteen stars. It is there to commemorate the bicentennial of the Star Spangled Banner celebrated with much fanfare last summer  here in Baltimore, the birthplace of the National Anthem. When the Diocese of Baltimore was established on November 6th, 1789, that flag would have...Read More

Last Sunday, about 2,000 people gathered at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland for the principal liturgy celebrating the 225th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. It was a wonderful celebration that brought together a cardinal, archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, women and men in consecrated life, school presidents, principals, students, leaders of Catholic...Read More

Introduction: Looking Back and Looking Ahead When I announced that this celebration would take place on All Souls’ Day, a priest took me aside and said, “Archbishop, All Souls’ doesn’t seem like a very good day for a celebration. Don’t you think it’s kind of somber?” “You may have a point,” I responded, “It’s not a...Read More

Introduction What a joy to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints with you, the family of the Knights of Columbus. How welcome you are here in this Basilica, the 1st of our nation’s Cathedrals, where, in December 1877, Michael J. McGivney, our beloved founder, was ordained to the priesthood by then-Archbishop James Gibbons of Baltimore....Read More

Our Need for the Holy Spirit’s Guidance I stand before you as the U.S. bishops’ point person on religious liberty; I lead a committee comprised of bishops & lay experts (including lawyers) that seeks to offer the Church’s teaching on religious freedom in the context of a nation where that freedom is constitutionally guaranteed, while...Read More

On its face, the feast of All Souls is a pretty somber day in the life of the church. It is the day when Catholics throughout the world pray for the sanctification of the souls of those who have died so that they might enjoy life everlasting with God in Heaven, the reward for a...Read More

Questions about the end of life have faced human beings for as long as we have walked the earth. When will it come? What is a “happy death?” Is there life after death? Thanks to modern medicine, we now live longer, and thankfully can prevent many premature deaths. But with these advances come many more...Read More