Cardinal Keeler

As the bells pealed, the organ boomed, trumpets blasted and nearly 2,000 voices rose in song yesterday afternoon at the conclusion of a two-hour Mass in the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, the radiant smile on the face of Agatha Matricianni said it all.After changing from the purple vestments of the Advent Mass into his new robes of brilliant red, Cardinal William H. Keeler followed a long procession of candle-bearers, crucifers, acolytes, deacons, priests and...

State's employees have given enough Two of the six budget-cutting recommendations in The Sun's editorial "Not deep enough" (July 12) call for significant sacrifices on the part of state employees and retirees. But why must state employees and retirees always be the ones to make the greatest sacrifices whenever the state has budget problems? The Sun recommends that state retirees should have their health care plan "scaled back." The editorial notes that the plan is "too far out of line with the private sector."

Could Baltimore's Cardinal William H. Keeler be heading for the Big Apple?A rumor that has been circulating in church circles for about a month, that Keeler would take over as archbishop of New York from the ailing Cardinal John O'Connor, picked up steam yesterday when it appeared in a gossip column in a New York tabloid.It's news to him, Keeler said yesterday through his spokesman."In the past few weeks, speculation concerning the possible retirement of Cardinal O'Connor in New York has mentioned Cardinal William H. Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore, as a possible successor," said Raymond Kempisty, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, the man who will replace Cardinal William H. Keeler as leader of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, described learning of his appointment as an unexpected "thunderbolt." For many Marylanders, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, the notion that the influential Cardinal Keeler will be retiring from the nation's original diocese came as something of a shock as well. There is no shortage of affection for the courtly, energetic and intelligent man who has led the archdiocese for 18 years.

Four months after a visit by Pope John Paul II focused international attention on Baltimore and its religious history, local Catholics are exploring plans to create a national museum that would tell the story of American Catholicism and the key role Marylanders played in it.The museum would be in or near the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the first Roman Catholic cathedral built in the United States and one...

ROME - In Rome there are more churches than there are days of the year. However, few boast the history of Baltimore Archbishop William H. Keeler's titular church, Santa Maria degli Angeli e Martiri, which dates back hundreds of years and was one of the last works of Michelangelo. Now the basilica is again making history with the installation of a sophisticated glass dome over the "oculus," or opening, in the rotunda over its entrance. "I never in my life imagined I would have a chance to put my hands to shaping a work in a building created by the Romans, reshaped by Michelangelo and now the official church of the Italian state," says its designer, Narcissus Quagliata.

Congratulations to Cardinal Keeler! Congratulations to Baltimore.People ought to quit trying to commit suicide by penetrating White House security. There must be a better way.After we get through with Haiti and Iraq, the U.S. could invade Russia to clean up the oil spill.

Cardinal Keeler is the prelate not only of Baltimore Catholics but of Protestants and Jews everywhere.The U.S. has decided to join the NATO powers in delivering the Bosnian Muslims to the mercies of the Serbs. Crisis over, except for the Muslims.

ROME -- With one hand on a cane, and the other bandaged from a mishap with a car door, Pope John Paul II gave Baltimoreans here in person yesterday what he was unable to give them last month in Maryland -- blessings, prayers and his familiar, grandfatherly smile.The lights went up in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican, and the pope, dressed in white robes, walked slowly across the stage to an ovation. He raised his right hand -- one finger of which was bandaged after being slammed in a car door Sunday -- and the simple gesture excited the audience.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening, in an appearance yesterday with Cardinal William H. Keeler and Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke, predicted that the pope's Oct. 8 visit to Baltimore will pump $19.1 million into the state's economy.Pope John Paul II will deliver a major address at an outdoor Mass at Camden Yards, the highlight of the one-day visit to the city, Cardinal Keeler said.The cardinal detailed plans for the pope's visit during a news conference at the Inner Harbor's new Columbus Center, as the governor and mayor looked on. The Vatican approved theprecise plans last week, the cardinal said.

Sen. Alex X. Mooney fielded a surprise call this week from Cardinal William H. Keeler, who urged the Frederick Republican to vote today for a repeal of the death penalty. Their five-minute chat, though notable because of the caller's position as archbishop of Baltimore, is one of many conversations Mooney has had as he considers his position on a bill to get rid of the state's capital punishment law. The conservative Catholic talked recently with an African Methodist Episcopal church leader from his hometown and also dined for three hours Tuesday evening in Bowie with former Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, a one-time seminarian who opposes capital punishment.

Cardinal William H. Keeler, the archbishop of Baltimore for 17 years and an influential leader in the church worldwide, has submitted his letter of resignation to the Vatican and is waiting to learn whether Pope Benedict XVI will extend his term as spiritual leader of the area's more than 500,000 Catholics. Canon law requires that bishops submit a letter offering their retirement when they reach their 75th birthday, but the Vatican in recent years generally has allowed those who have been willing and able to continue working.

NEXT TIME, they should just have a professional announcer, like Fred Manfra or Joe Angel, read a disclaimer: "The views expressed by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani are his own and do not reflect - in fact, are appallingly contrary to - the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal William H. Keeler, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the bishops and all holy presbyters, all the saints and nothing but the saints, so...

When word of Pope Leo XIII's grave illness reached the United States in 1903, Cardinal James Gibbons booked passage on every steamship leaving for Rome, according to his biographers, lest he miss the opportunity to vote for the pope's successor. The Baltimore archbishop had learned the lesson of John McCloskey, a New Yorker and the first American cardinal, who was halfway across the ocean in 1878 when he missed his only chance to take part in the event known as the papal conclave. As he awaits his own ritualized sequestration inside the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pope, Cardinal William H. Keeler - the first Baltimore archbishop since Cardinal Gibbons eligible to vote in the conclave - faces no such obstacles of timing or geography.

The arts give children tools of imagination Mayor Martin O'Malley is definitely not overstating the power of the arts in school or of self-expression and creativity in the development of healthy, productive human beings and communities ("Mayor's not overstating the power of art," Opinion I was surprised and saddened to read the column by Cardinal William H. Keeler ("Catholicism under siege," Opinion Commentary, Nov. 28). If he believes he is living in a society that condones anti-Catholicism, I respect his belief.

Addressing a national controversy for the first time, Baltimore's Cardinal William H. Keeler said he opposes an attempt by some bishops to politicize Communion and deny the sacrament to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. Keeler said in an interview this week that it was not the business of bishops to choose who receives Communion. Instead, he said he supports church policy that individual Catholics should determine whether they are in a state of grace with the church before partaking in the Eucharist, the heart of Catholic worship.

Just a whisper of Cardinal William Henry Keeler's name echoed in the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen's sanctuary during a morning Mass yesterday. It came in a simple prayer, asking for blessings on church and government officials."

THE STORY MAKING THE rounds at Baltimore's Catholic Center is that when former Archbishop William D. Borders invited Pope John Paul II here in 1989 to preside over the bicentennial of the U.S. hierarchy, the pope said, "Two hundred years? Not very many!"He declined the invitation.Why did John Paul change his mind about coming to Baltimore? His pastoral visit Sunday to the nation's oldest Roman Catholic diocese will be his third to this city since 1969 - but his first as history's most-traveled pope.