Latest news with #WilliamLori
CBS News
08-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Maryland Catholics celebrate American Cardinal Robert Prevost elected as new pope
Catholics across the world, and here in Maryland, are celebrating the Vatican's historic election of a new pope. The new pope, Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost, who will be going by Pope Leo XIV, is the first U.S.-born pope in the Roman Catholic Church's history. William Lori, the Archbishop of Baltimore, called Pope Leo XIV, "prayerful, reflective, and a good listener with a military heart." "Shocking, honestly, to have an American pope" Loyola University Maryland leaders and students told WJZ that Thursday has been emotional and very exciting. "I'm really excited, I feel like I'm there," student Kaitlyn Ramos said. "I'm watching it and trying to imagine myself in the Vatican right now." From the moment white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel in Rome, excitement and anticipation blossomed over the world. In Baltimore, students and staff in Loyola University's campus ministry building were glued to the television, finding out who the next pontiff would be. "All the students were here, we were all clapping and cheering," said Milton Bravo, the Vice President of Mission and Identity at Loyola. "And then we waited about an hour or so to see the new pope come out on that balcony and greet the people of Rome and the whole world." And when it was determined that the new pope, Pope Leo XIV, was American-born, those watching at Loyola were stunned. "Shocking, honestly, to have an American pope," said Emily Kane, the campus ministry director at Loyola. "I don't think anybody was expecting that to happen." "He spoke of peace" Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, spent years ministering in Peru. He was made a cardinal by the late Pope Francis in September 2023. He was born in Chicago and earned a college degree from Villanova University in Philadelphia. His first words as Pope Francis's successor were, "Peace be with you." "What you heard on that balcony, which made me really emotional, is someone who is going to build bridges, who's going to continue to reach out, and once again he spoke of peace," Bravo said. "We're welcoming to all, this is a church for all, echoing what Pope Francis said."
CBS News
22-04-2025
- CBS News
Survivors of child sex abuse accuse Baltimore Archdiocese of avoiding compensation payments, claiming "charitable immunity"
A lawsuit filed on behalf of child sexual abuse survivors claims that the Archdiocese of Baltimore is trying to skirt its responsibility of compensating victims. In 2023, the Maryland Attorney General found that over 600 children were abused by at least 165 priests, teachers and employees under the church's supervision. After the state enacted the Child Victims Act, eliminating the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse, the lawsuit says there were more than 1,000 claims filed that alleged the church was liable for sexual assault cases. The Child Victims Act allows survivors to receive a payout of $890,000 for each claim of abuse. However, the lawsuit claims that the Archdiocese of Baltimore is using the doctrine of charitable immunity to prevent it from having to directly pay survivors. The lawsuit asks a judge to rule on whether the Catholic Church can continue to use the measure despite the fact that the institution filed for bankruptcy. The charitable immunity doctrine is a rule created by a judge that protects certain organizations from civil lawsuits if the organization does not have liability insurance that covers the claim, according to the People's Law Library of Maryland. Under the rule, a charitable organization is defined as one that is tax-exempt and operates for religious or educational purposes. The rule was created with the idea that it is "unfair to make charitable organizations pay for civil damages…with funds received from donors." The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy days before Maryland's Child Victims Act went into effect. During court hearings, several survivors testified, emphasizing the importance of financial accountability. "That's the only thing the church is going to understand," survivor Teresa Lancaster said. "Hit them where it hurts, in the pocketbook." According to our partners at The Baltimore Banner , in filing for bankruptcy, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori expressed that the church would rather pay all of the survivors at once. Lori wrote, "Chapter 11 reorganization is the best path forward to compensate equitably all victim-survivors, given the Archdiocese's limited financial resources, which would have otherwise been exhausted on litigation." The recent lawsuit alleges that the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy because "it faced potentially catastrophic liabilities from hundreds of survivors' claims." According to the lawsuit, paying the survivors is part of the archdiocese's organizational mission, and the charitable immunity doctrine should not be used as bankruptcy hearings continue. "The [Archdiocese of Baltimore] accordingly should not be permitted to raise the defense of charitable immunity from tort liability for so long as the [Archdiocese of Baltimore's] bankruptcy case remains active," the lawsuit reads. In response to the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the church said, "By filing Chapter 11, the Archdiocese is seeking to provide the most orderly process in which victim survivors can be compensated, including from its insurance policies, while maintaining the mission and ministry of the Church." The statement continued, "The Archdiocese was surprised by the recent limited impasse declaration by the Committee regarding Maryland's Doctrine of Charitable Immunity in mediation discussions, especially given the Archdiocese's longtime practice of pastoral care and history of settlements with victim survivors, despite the existence of the doctrine of charitable immunity in Maryland. The Archdiocese remains committed to providing equitable compensation to victim survivors and ensuring the continued mission and ministry of parishes and schools to the communities they serve and will continue to proceed while honoring its dual goals."
CBS News
27-02-2025
- General
- CBS News
One of Baltimore's oldest Catholic churches will merge with another parish
One of Baltimore's oldest Catholic churches will merge with another parish in July 2025, Archbishop Rev. William Lori announced this week. St. Vincent de Paul parish will merge with St. Leo the Great parish, which is located in Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood. Rev. Lori attributed the decision to merge the two parishes to several factors and said the decision was made with input from the members of the parishes. Reasons for merging According to Rev. Lori, the number of Catholic households within the boundaries of St. Vincent de Paul declined from 637 to 231 between 2004 and 2023, despite an increase in the population. Of those households, only six are currently registered at St. Vincent de Paul. The number of parishioners who attend Mass declined by 64% between 2004 and 2023. About 47% of Mass attendees in the last parish census were over 60 years old, and 22% were over the age of 70, limiting the number of volunteers who are available for activities and outreach efforts. Rev. Lori also pointed to a decline in the number of baptisms received at the parish, saying only four baptisms took place in 2024. St. Vincent de Paul and St. Leo the Great are located within .5 miles of each other, and St. Leo parish has the resources necessary to welcome the new parishioners, according to Rev. Lori. "...it is my opinion that left to itself, St. Vincent de Paul parish will only continue to decline with the resultant diminishing of pastoral ministry and sacramental life," Rev. Lori said in a statement. "Merging with St. Leo the Great parish will allow the greatest opportunity to continue and even strengthen the ministries." "Seek the City to Come" consolidation plan The merge comes months after the Archdiocese of Baltimore moved forward with its "Seek the City to Come" plan, which consolidated 61 parishes into 30 worship sites. Several parishes held a final Mass between November 2024 and January 2025. The initiative to downsize was in response to a decline in Baltimore's population. In the plan, officials detailed how the Archdiocese opened more than a dozen churches in Baltimore in the 1950s to accommodate the growing population. At that time, the city's population had increased to almost one million residents. Since then, the city's population has shrunk to less than 570,000 people. The final plan to downsize was announced in May 2024 after a two-year planning process. Following the initial plan, there were further discussions among the leaders at St. Vincent de Paul and St. Leo the Great parishes about the merger. Rev. Lori said members of both parishes met several times to discuss the proposal before it was presented to the Presbyteral Council and approved in February 2025. St. Vincent de Paul will merge with St. Leo the Great by July 1, 2025. Response to parish consolidations After the initial "Seek the City to Come" consolidation plan was announced in 2024, a group of parishioners from St. Ann's Catholic Church filed an appeal to save the church. "The archdiocese has merged congregations before and it's not been easy for two different congregations to come together," longtime member Ralph Moore told WJZ. "They have different rules they operate by. They have different leadership structures." St. Ann's was built in the 1870s.
