The new archbishop's Mass ended as they all do, with an invocation to now go in peace. But everyone knows Mass isn't quite over yet.
No, there's still the mingling. You know, a time to stretch your legs after all that kneeling, breathe in fresh, nonincensed air and, most of all, chat with the priest. It's like an after-party -- a little reward for getting through the main event, a chance to hang out a bit longer.
But after saying his first Mass in his new archdiocese, Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien didn't materialize for the traditional mingle. Maybe the handlers had him scheduled down to the minute, maybe he was waiting until he officially takes over, Oct. 1, for the retiring Cardinal Keeler.
Too bad, it would have been a nice gesture. It was Baltimore's first nice day after a hellish (whoops, O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee ... ) heat wave. The sun was shining pleasantly on the steps of the cathedral and everyone had that pleased, just-been-to-church look.
I'm sure no native New Yorker needs to be told this, but: Don't be shy. Come on out and get acquainted. This is Baltimore, the Premier See and all that, which makes its archbishop something of a, well, maybe less than a celebrity but more than a curiosity, and not just among the believers.
The Bronx-born O'Brien arrives in Baltimore at an interesting time. It's a city in the midst of political change, and of an increasingly alarming level of violence. The city desperately needs fresh voices and leadership, from all sectors, to dive in and mix it up a little. Whenever I see a black minister or congregation holding a stop-the-violence rally, I wonder where everyone else is.
The new archbishop, of course, comes to town to head a church, not a city; and his archdiocese doesn't just include Baltimore, but nine counties, as well. But archbishops can wield a power beyond their own flocks -- and O'Brien comes from a tradition of that.
I was interested to find out that O'Brien served as private secretary and communications director to the famously activist Cardinal John O'Connor of New York. While much of that activism hewed to the church's anti-abortion and anti-gay-marriage stances, he also spoke out on issues of labor, poverty and immigration -- all issues of vital interest to a city, and thus to anyone who led such a big part of its population.
Or maybe that kind of archdiocese leader -- O'Connor by turns battled and counseled city and national politicians -- only works in New York.
O'Brien has been away from New York for a while -- for the past 10 years he has served in an archdiocese that transcends borders, as archbishop to the men and women in the U.S. military, frequently visiting and ministering to them in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. O'Brien seemed to choke up a bit when he spoke about leaving his current posting, saying the soldiers "will always occupy a special place in my heart."
On first viewing, he seems brisk and businesslike -- he says a crisp, fast-paced Mass, always a plus in my book -- in contrast to Keeler's gentler, more soft-spoken demeanor.
Here in Baltimore, Keeler has always struck me as a modest, behind-the-scenes type of figure. (The one time I met him -- in The Sun's garage, actually, where he and an aide were stuck on the wrong side of a security door going into the building -- I thought it was funny that he introduced himself as if I wouldn't otherwise have recognized him.)
He didn't speak out often, which perhaps made it quite powerful when he did. Two years ago, he visited a death row inmate -- apparently a first for the leader of the Maryland diocese -- and made a personal appeal to then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to stop the execution. He took a lot of heat for that, and the inmate was executed anyway.
He also has won plaudits as one of the first in the country to reveal the names of priests who had been accused of sexual abuse and how much the archdiocese had spent to settle cases with victims. He even apologized -- quite publicly, from the witness stand during a trial -- for having reinstated a priest who had been accused of sexual abuse.
But Keeler will largely be remembered for his churchly rather than public works -- he leaves his successor the beautifully renovated basilica, which was positively aglow yesterday with sun streaming through its windows. O'Brien is said to be quite the student of church history, so he'll no doubt enjoy the digs.
But do come out every once in a while, OK?jean.marbella@baltsun.com
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