The National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) joins the Catholic community in mourning the passing of Cardinal William H. Keeler. Known as the “Prince of Baltimore,” Cardinal Keeler will be remembered for his great love for the Archdiocese of Baltimore and support of Catholic education. The cleric was also a 1999 honoree of the distinguished NCEA Seton Award.
Named Archbishop of Baltimore in 1989 and elevated to Cardinal in 1994, Cardinal Keeler hosted the 1995 papal visit of Pope John Paul II and in 1996 welcomed St. Teresa of Calcutta to Charm City. Cardinal Keeler was the fourteenth archbishop of Baltimore and the ninth president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States Catholic Conference, which led to his post as the Catholic Church’s chief spokesman in the United States.
Cardinal Keeler initiated the Lenten Appeal which has raised a record $100 million for Catholic schools and also founded the “Partners in Excellence” program, which has provided more than $28M in scholarships to help low-income Baltimore youth attend Catholic schools. Nearly 17,000 scholarships have been awarded to a majority of non-Catholic students in Baltimore.
NCEA’s Brother Stephen Comeau has a couple memories to share about Cardinal Keeler:
In the fall of 2004, I was in my office in our old headquarters in Georgetown when the phone rang. I answered, “Good afternoon, President Guerra’s office, Brother Stephen speaking, how may I help you?” The voice at the other end of the line replied, “Hi Brother. This is Cardinal Keeler calling just to let you know that I won’t be attending the Seton Gala this year. I’ll be out of town.” We chatted briefly – he wanted to know what community I was from and when I said Xaverian Brothers he went on to extol the work of the Xaverians in the Archdiocese of Baltimore both historically and up to the present as well. I was touched and impressed! What impressed me? He made his own phone call! Since the, that has happened only one other time. The second time it occurred the caller was Washington’s retired Cardinal McCarrick.
My second memory of Cardinal Keeler – again at a time when he was in retirement – was in April, 2007 when NCEA’s Convention was in Baltimore – “Charm City”. We had a liturgy planned for the original cathedral, now the Basilica that was restored under Cardinal Keeler’s direction and careful attention. I was there about 90 minutes in advance – last minute details [you know the deal]. By pure coincidence I met the retired Cardinal Keeler in the vestibule – he had said an earlier liturgy for a group, the name I cannot recall. I introduced myself [he said he remembered our conversation on the phone [ordinarily I would be the skeptic here but he seemed to genuinely remember]. He then gave me a brief [perhaps 20 minute] tour of the basilica of which he was so proud!
For a biography of His Eminence, Cardinal William H. Keeler, please click here.
