February 22, 2024
Dear Friends in Christ,
Over the last 18 months, thousands of people in the Archdiocese of Baltimore have walked on a prayerful journey to Seek the City to Come. During this time, we have tried to reimagine, realign, and revitalize the Church in Baltimore City. We now embark on the final steps of this process that has proven to be both hopeful and sobering, bringing mourning and promise alike.
This next and final phase of discernment comes after a year and a half of open and prayerful public discussions, listening sessions and visioning workshops. These gatherings brought so many of you together to grapple with the realities facing the Church in the city: demographic shifts, increased upkeep of facilities built for an earlier time, and declining Mass attendance worsened after the pandemic. After Easter, the Archdiocese will share the draft models showing proposed worship and ministry sites in and around Baltimore City. At that point, I will engage in a round of final consultations with the Presbyteral Council, the College of Consultors, and the Board of Financial Administration.
Seek the City to Come is designed to make wise and careful use of resources to ensure the vibrancy of the Sacramental life of the Church, infuse ministries with abundant human and material resources, and channel Christ’s love in addressing community needs and bringing hope and healing to the vulnerable. Looking prayerfully toward the future, we envision a Church where parishioners are engaged, nourished by the sacraments, strengthened in their faith, and offered a true sense of belonging.
To prepare for the final stages of discernment and decisions in the Seek the City process, we now turn collectively to prayer. To that end, I invite you to join Catholics across the City and beyond in a special Lenten pilgrimage centered on the Eucharist. The locations are, as follows:
- February 28, St. Bernardine, “Believing in the Eucharist”
- March 6, Sacred Heart of Jesus, “Living the Eucharist”
- March 13, Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, “Hope in the Eucharist”
- March 20, service at St. Joseph’s Monastery Parish, “Service of Reconciliation”
These pilgrimage events take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. These evenings will be a chance to root ourselves in the Eucharist as we seek to open ourselves up to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and reflect on all that we have heard, learned, discussed, and considered for the future of the Church in Baltimore City.
In closing, I offer a humble and heartfelt “thank you” to all of our lay leaders, parish staff and priests and pastors, as well as our Church and school communities at-large, for the enormous amount of work, time, expertise and, yes, tears, you have poured into this process thus far.
Please pray for the Archdiocese and know of my prayers for you.
Faithfully in Christ,
Most Reverend William E. Lori
Archbishop of Baltimore