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

Introduction In homes all around us, families and children are celebrating Halloween. For weeks, our neighborhoods have been draped with cobwebs, carved pumpkins, and images of ghosts, goblins, and other scary looking characters. Tonight children, dressed in costume and carefully supervised, are trick or treating among their friends, neighbors, and family members. But we are...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

Introduction This evening, we gather in thanksgiving and joy as we celebrate the feast day of St. John Paul II. Our joy is compounded as we see all about us how this Shrine, named in his honor, is progressing. It has already become a place of pilgrimage, prayer, and devotion, where many come to seek...Read More

Introduction Allow me once again to welcome all of you to the annual White Mass sponsored by the Baltimore Guild of the Catholic Medical Association. In this Holy Mass we honor those who care for the sick and ask God’s blessings on their daily service to their brothers and sisters. And let me remind you...Read More

Introduction I am delighted to return to St. Joseph Parish to offer this anticipated Sunday Mass and to bless the beautiful new altar on which the banquet of Christ’s sacrifice will be offered to God the Father. On this beautiful autumn afternoon, I want to join with you in expressing our deepest gratitude to your...Read More

The extraordinary Synod of Bishops to discuss the “Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization” began in Rome Oct. 6. The synod represents a key moment in the papacy of Pope Francis and in the life of the Roman Catholic Church, which is looking for more effective ways of communicating what it...Read More

Watch the Wilmington Red Mass » Our Need for the Holy Spirit’s Guidance I stand before you as the U.S. bishops’ point person on religious liberty. In that capacity, I am involved in efforts to help U.S. Catholics and others to understand more deeply what the Church teaches about religious freedom in the context of...Read More