Cardinal William H. Keeler

Cardinal William H. Keeler

14th Archbishop of Baltimore (Deceased)

Born: March 4, 1931
Ordained: July 17, 1955
Episcopal Ordination: September 21, 1979
Retired: October 1, 2007
Died: March 23, 2017

Cardinal William H. Keeler Homilies and Talks

From Time to Time

There has been much discussion and promotion in the media about the upcoming release of the motion picture, The Da Vinci Code. The Dan Brown novel, which I read as…

From Time to Time

There has been much discussion and promotion in the media about the upcoming release of the motion picture, The Da Vinci Code. The Dan Brown novel, which I read as…

Homily – Chrism Mass

We remember in this Mass our sick priests, Father Joseph McManus, Pastor Emeritus of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Baltimore, and Father John Carter, who recently underwent major surgery at…

Nostra Aetate After Forty Years

At the outset, I wish to express my gratitude to Rabbi David Straus, the President of the Board of Rabbis, for his gracious words of welcome and to Father Gregory J. Fairbanks, Director of the Archdiocesan Office for Ecumenical and Religious Affairs, for his kind words of introduction. 

From Time to Time

Questions are being raised about offering the Eucharist to certain Catholic politicians whose records indicate their support for abortion. Let no one be confused about the fundamental importance of the…

Jesuit Ordinations

Welcome to the Chapel of Loyola College, for this Eucharistic Celebration and for the ordination to the priesthood of Michael J. Guzik of the Province of New York and of…

Catholic-Jewish Relations

I am very grateful to Rabbi David Rosen for the invitation to be with you today. Vividly do I recall the times we have been together: in 1992 in Baltimore…

Lenten Message

Each Lent Jesus calls us through the Church to come closer to him through our personal prayer and penance, and through our common Lenten practices. This year, with the threat…

Chrism Mass 2002

Yesterday, on Palm Sunday we heard the powerful narrative of the Passion according to St. Matthew. There the evangelist told us just what it meant for Jesus in taking up…

Sexual Abuse

In our scripture readings this weekend we heard the story of the man cured of blindness. He spoke the words, “I was blind but now I see.” With that gift…

Keynote Talk

To Archbishop Justin Rigali, a dear friend of many years and a great shepherd in the Church, I express my thanks for the personal invitation to be with you today….

That Textbook Question

Our America celebrates its heritage of religious freedom. In the Archdiocese of Baltimore we can also rejoice in remembering that religious freedom in the English-speaking world had its beginnings in…

Memorial Day Mass

To Archbishop Edwin O’Brien I express deep gratitude for the invitation to join you today in remembering those who have died in the service of our beloved United States of…

Chrism Mass

(Is. 61:1-3ab, 6a, 8b-9) Three weeks ago yesterday Pope John Paul II concluded his personal Jubilee pilgrimage to the land that is holy, holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The…

Homily at Holy Hour

It is a privilege to accept the invitation of Supreme Knight Virgil Dechant to reflect with you, my brother Knights, your ladies, whose presence is another sign for your support…

On Cuba

When he visited Cuba last year Pope John Paul II issued a plea that Cuba should be more open to the world, and the world to Cuba. His own visit…

Mass for Life

Isaiah, God’s prophet, tells us how God touched his life, and how God touches us. God called him as a baby before birth, scarcely stirring in the womb, beneath his…

Dialogue

For Catholics, the Second Vatican Council gave great impulse to dialogue with other churches and other faiths. This dialogue entails personal discussions among committed individuals who are qualified to speak because of their knowledge of issues and their official positions within the faith groups they represent. Such dialogue draws on personal experience as well as our knowledge of scripture, tradition (for Catholics this tradition is expressed in conciliar and papal teaching through the centuries) and theology, and depends also and especially for success in the character and integrity of the participants.

Nostra Aetate; Twenty-five Years Later

I am grateful to Cardinal Law for his endorsement of this afternoon of dialogue. To His Eminence the Church in our country is deeply indebted for his leadership in our early days of interfaith and ecumenical work. In recent years, it was Cardinal Law’s initiative which prepared the way for Catholic-Jewish dialogue in Poland and thus det in place the framework which helped those in Poland find their way out of the delicate situation created by the Carmelite Monastery near the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

Jewish-Christian Dialogue: After Nostra Aetate

As I thank Cardinal Hickey, a personal friend and a friend committed to interfaith amity, for his leadership in helping us to prepare for this program, I recall a grace we shared 25 years ago. Together we were witness to the moving Second Vatican Council discussions in the development of the document we celebrate in this colloquium, Nostra Aetate.

Pro-Life Homily

In recent months I have publicly addressed such current issues as racism, religious freedom, especially in Europe, justice and peace in the Middle East and in Central America, and ecological…

Biblical Translations

Next month the bishops of our country will again consider approving an English translation of those parts of the Bible read publicly in church. They deal with this “again” because,…