Oblate Sisters

A Nigerian cardinal widely mentioned as a possible successor to Pope John Paul II toured Roman Catholic ministries among Baltimore's African-Americans yesterday and said he was pleased by "the image of the church here" as it serves "people who are suffering."Cardinal Francis Anizoba Arinze, 62, who heads the Vatican's relations with non-Christian faiths, is a leading African among the pope's advisers in the Roman Curia, the powerful administrative council of the church.For more than three years, as concerns increasingly were raised about the health of John Paul, Cardinal Arinze's name appeared repeatedly on every short list of likely papal candidates in both the Catholic and secular news media.

Sister M. Martina Lancaster, 84, dietitian and educatorSister Mary Martina Lancaster, O.S.P., a former educator and dietitian, died Monday of heart failure at the Oblate Sisters of Providence motherhouse near Arbutus. She was 84.Sister Martina had been administrator of the order's health care center since 1993 and moved to the motherhouse in 1987.Born Bertha Virginia Lancaster in Piscataway, Prince George's County, she entered the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1938 and professed her vows in 1941.

East Baltimore's tiny St. Frances Academy has won Catholic League basketball titles without a gym to practice in. Now, it will get one. Yesterday, officials broke ground for a recreation center that the school at 501 E. Chase St. has waited more than six decades to see built. It should be completed by January. In the heart of one of Baltimore's toughest neighborhoods, hundreds attended the school's flag-raising ceremony yesterday for a 31,500-square-foot brick center that will have a computer laboratory, meeting rooms, a kitchen and the school's first gymnasium.

Sister Mary of Mercy, 79, teaching nunSister Mary of Mercy Coleman, OSP, a teaching nun who devoted six decades to her religious order, died of an aneurysm Tuesdaywhile visiting her ailing brother in Philadelphia. She was 79."She was a gentle, generous person who persevered, even though she knew she was sick," said Sister Mary Celestina Johnson, a friend and nun in the Oblate Sisters of Providence.When Sister Mary of Mercy died, she was visiting her brother, Dradon Coleman, at a Philadelphia hospital.

When St. Frances Academy needed another $2 million to build its community center in East Baltimore, one nun turned to her "good friends and two of the very finest persons I know" — the Cosbys. Sister Mary Alice Chineworth, an Oblate Sister of Providence and one of the school's longest-serving teachers, called the couple. Camille Cosby said yes right away. Her husband, Bill, one of the country's best-known comedians, insisted repeatedly, amid much laughter at a dedication ceremony Friday, that he was not consulted.

Sister Mary Loretto Evans, a former principal of the St. Frances Academy in East Baltimore, died Oct. 3 at her order's motherhouse in Halethorpe. She was 91. Sister Mary Clarice, a member of her order, said no medical cause of death was determined. Born Atlanta Dorothy Evans in Montgomery, Ala., she entered the Roman Catholic religious order the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1939. She then received her new name, Sister Mary Loretto. She attended the Mount Providence Junior College in Halethorpe and earned a degree in education from St. Mary's College (now the University of St. Mary)

Camille Cosby, the entertainer's wife who attended a school in Washington run by the Oblate Sisters of Providence, is giving $2 million to the small East Baltimore high school operated by the country's oldest order of black nuns. "It's a tremendous gift, and we're extremely grateful," said Sister John Francis Schilling, principal of St. Frances Academy. "We've been on a shoestring budget for so long, it's almost second nature." The donation, announced yesterday, will be used to create an endowment that will pay the tuition for 16 students a year in perpetuity, Sister Francis said.

Baltimore Restaurant Week - presented by Visit Baltimore and the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, is Aug. 5-14. Participating restaurants will offer a choice of pre-selected, three-course dinner menus for $35.11 and three-course lunch menus for $20.11. Go to http://www.baltimorerestaurantweek.com . The National Aquarium - 501 E. Pratt St., hosts a 30th anniversary festival, featuring live entertainment and activities for all ages, Aug. 5, noon-7 p.m.; Aug, 6, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; and Aug. 7, 10 a.m. -3 p.m. Free.

AGAIN THIS HOLIDAY season, Education Beat devotes a column to people who give of themselves to help make schools better.One afternoon last week, Cardinal William H. Keeler and a group of Catholic and Jewish educators visited The Sun in search of editorial support for inclusion of $14 million in Gov. Parris N. Glendening's budget to aid parochial and independent schools across the state.At the same moment, not five minutes away in East Baltimore, Sister Brenda Motte was laying plans to collect books and money for restoration of the library at Johnston Square Elementary, one of the city's bereft public schools.

The body of William Donald Schaefer lay in state Tuesday in the marble rotunda of City Hall, and a line curled around the historic building as people waited to pay their respects. Standing in the bright April sun, the mourners — old and young, rich and poor, black and white — clutched photos of Schaefer and described how he shaped their lives and their city. Here are some of their stories: Deborah Bailey-Kpazahi It's been more than three decades, but Deborah Bailey-Kpazahi still hums the jingle when she sees a street corner trash basket: "Trash Ball, it's a neat game everybody can win. Let me show you how to play.