Religion

St. James the Less Roman Catholic Church once anchored an East Baltimore neighborhood that was home to many German Catholics, but it has languished since the parish was dissolved in the 1980s. A lightning strike sparked a fire in the towering steeple in 2020, and now it's up for sale with a $1 million asking price.

The blueprint released Wednesday closely tracks the draft plan that the archdiocese put out in April, reducing the number of parishes — or Catholic communities — from 61 to 23. The number of actual churches would shrink from 59 to 30. But Archbishop William Lori did spare eight churches initially, while delivering some late bad news to others.

A final plan announced by Archbishop William E. Lori would reduce the number of parishes in Baltimore City and parts of Baltimore County from 61 to 23, while shrinking the number of worship sites from 59 to 30, four more than originally recommended.

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori on Wednesday announced a final church consolidation plan that would reduce the number of worship sites from 59 to 30. Many churches would get folded into merged parishes.

“Today, the court will provide time and space for listening,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michelle M. Harner said on Monday at the beginning of a hearing in the case.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is set to finalize its plan to close churches next month. That includes some where Hispanic congregations worship.

The landmark Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue by Druid Hill Park will get a new lease on life as a kind of community center rooted in Jewish traditions.

The 125th anniversary of Duke Ellington’s birth presents an opportunity for the Peabody Conservatory to ensure that another generation of musicians appreciates the meaning and significance of his work, says trumpeter and composer Sean Jones, who chairs Peabody’s jazz program.

Mount St. Joe’s seniors take part in a rite of passage stretching back to the early 1900s as they prepare to embark on life after graduation.

Maryland clergy leaders, who reach thousands on a weekly basis, are using the pulpit to emphasize the need to vote.

A plan by the Baltimore Archdiocese that includes church closures was made necessary by financial considerations and demographic changes, a member of the archdiocese’s board of financial administration says.

People begged the archdiocese to keep beloved churches open at a public meeting Thursday night on a proposal from the archdiocese to close a significant portion of Baltimore’s Catholic churches.

Catholic Charities unveiled plans Thursday for a resource center at a shuttered school in the Franklintown Road neighborhood.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore will hold a listening session Thursday evening about a plan to close dozens of churches and reduce the number of Catholic parishes by two-thirds. Two more such sessions are also scheduled, and a final plan is set to be announced in June.

The plan, which officials said was the result of two years of consideration, would cut 40 of its 61 parishes, resulting in the closure of several historic landmarks and once-thriving worship sites.

Rabbi Levi Raskin led them through all the steps during their “Model Matzah Factory” field trip. The major Jewish holiday commemorates the exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Torah. Observant Jews avoid leavened grains for Passover, which starts Monday evening.

Baltimore Catholics, reeling from the archdiocese's proposal to close 40 churches, spent Monday mourning and preparing to battle to keep their beloved parishes open.

Outside the Edward A. Garmatz U.S. Courthouse in Baltimore, Archbishop William Lori, who attended the hearing, said he was “deeply moved” from the testimony of the six survivors of childhood sexual abuse.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judge Michelle M. Harner on Thursday signed an order setting status conferences for April 8 and May 20 during which survivors of clergy sexual abuse can address the court in the Archdiocese of Baltimore bankruptcy case.

In court documents filed on Wednesday, Blake Roth, an attorney for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, wrote that it endorsed the request and stated that Archbishop William Lori will “personally attend on both occasions to hear directly from the survivors.”