Baltimore Holy Name Union to host national convention, mark centennial

The Baltimore Holy Name Union will celebrate its 100th anniversary during the 41st annual National Holy Name Convention, to be held at the Tremont Plaza Hotel in Baltimore Sept. 21-24.

The theme of the convention is “Service in His Holy Name” and will include talks, the election of officers and a photo presentation of the last 100 years of Holy Name ministry in Baltimore.

Bud Cope, a nationally known expert in prison ministry, will join Father Charles Canterna, prison minister in Baltimore, for a Sept. 23 seminar on prison ministry. Paulist Father John E. Hurley, Department of Evangelization for the Archdiocese of Baltimore, will speak on evangelization within the Holy Name Society Sept. 24.

Bishop Denis J. Madden will celebrate a 5:30 p.m. Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sept. 24, and a banquet will be held that evening.

William Harris Jr., first vice president of the National Holy Name Society and former president of the Baltimore Holy Name Union, said the presentations and liturgy are open to the general public.

The Holy Name Society was founded to promote reverence for the sacred names of God and Jesus and has been active in supporting parish ministries and social outreach.

“(The Baltimore Holy Name Union) was founded at St. Gregory the Great,” said Harris, a parishioner of Our Lady of the Fields in Millersville. “It’s grown and gone through expansion and contraction. We are very much trying to increase the size.”

There are approximately 20 parishes in the Baltimore archdiocese that have Holy Name societies.

For more information about convention events, call 410-923-2596.