Archdiocese

A renowned city architect designed St. Peter the Apostle Church 170 years ago. Irish laborers dug the foundation by hand, donating their labor to build it. And its early parishioners spared no expense in adorning their house of worship. They installed an elaborate white marble altar, with a life-size statue of the church's patron saint towering over it, and placed intricately carved angels at the sides of the tabernacle. Now those angels are gone, donated to All Saints parish in Liberty Heights.

"We need to understand what circumstances led to this incident," said an archdiocese spokesman ("Archdiocese investigating priest: He's suspended indefinitely after arrest on charges of indecent exposure," Jan. 24). Celibacy, that unnatural restriction, is forced on clergymen by the male-dominated Vatican. That's what led to these circumstances. Until the Catholic Church understands that it must change, these circumstances will lead other clergy to expose the church to embarrassment as a result of their natural desires.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has launched its own investigation into a Towson priest arrested this month on charges of indecent exposure at an adult store. Mark Stewart Bullock, 47, is scheduled for a March 6 court appearance in District Court in Harford County on misdemeanor charges that carry a maximum fine of $1,000 and three years in prison. Church officials have removed "all his faculties to function as a priest," said Sean Caine, archdiocese spokesman. "The archdiocese is doing its own investigation and will be speaking to anyone who might help us understand what is happening in his life," Caine said.

St. Vincent Pallotti Prep President/Principal David McKenzie resigned from his position Dec. 19, just months after assuming the position at the school, according to school officials. Assistant Principal Rick Diggs will become acting principal until a permanent replacement is selected, officials said. McKenzie stepped down due to "pressing family issues," according to a statement released by the school's board of directors. McKenzie, 61, was hired in March to replace Stephen Edmonds, who has been with Pallotti for 36 years and was principal for the last 13 years.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore added a new religious order of nuns Tuesday, its first in decades and one that began as an Anglican community. The All Saints' Sisters of the Poor left the Episcopal Church for the Roman Catholic Church two years ago. By a decree from the Vatican, they are now an official diocesan priory, or order, the same designation carried by the School Sisters of Notre Dame or the Daughters of Charity. "We feel we have broken ground," said Mother Christina Christie, leader of the community and a nun since 1966.

Catholic school enrollment continued to decline this year, although at a slower pace than in recent years, according to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The archdiocese said the number of its students declined 4.3 percent this year. However, the latest statistics, as of Sept. 30, reflect the lowest rate of decline in the past four years. After the archdiocese decided to close 13 schools at the end of the 2009-2010 school year, the schools' enrollment declined 9 percent, according to Sean Caine, a spokesman for the archdiocese.

A former track coach at Archbishop Spalding High School is facing child pornography charges after Anne Arundel County police said he exchanged sexually explicit photos by cellphone with a 16-year-old student involved with the team. Brian Timothy Funk, 40, of Pasadena, who was to become a track and field coach at Catholic University of America this month, turned himself in to police Sunday on one count each of allowing a minor to engage in child pornography and displaying an obscene image to a minor.

Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien flies to Rome next month for a new job leading a global order of Catholic knights, a post that likely will lead to his elevation to cardinal, but which also begins his departure from the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Pope Benedict XVI named O'Brien, 72, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, the Vatican announced Monday. The predominantly lay order, which traces its history to the 11th-century Crusades, now ministers to Christians and people of other faiths in historical Palestine.

The lively young woman and a fragile older man walked hand-in-hand on a nature walk, slowly trailing a long line of fellow participants in a residential summer camp for adults with disabilities. Ronnie Meusel, the 23-year-old counselor, and Eugene Harvey, 58, are longtime attendees at Camp Glow, begun nearly 40 years ago by a Catholic nun and funded annually by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and its parishes. "I won at bingo last night," said Harvey, who lives in Gambrills and prefers "Dude" to his given name.

A retired Baltimore priest accused last year of sexually abusing a young female parishioner over 40 years ago will not face charges after a police investigation stalled and the unidentified woman decided to pursue the case, spokesman for the police and the Archdiocese of Baltimore said Thursday. Father John Lippold, who retired after a 52-year career in 2009, was accused of abusing the woman "a number of times" over a two-year period beginning in the late 1960s, according to Archdiocese spokesman Sean Caine.