BALTIMORE (MD)
Baltimore Sun
By Matthew Hay Brown
sun reporter
Originally published April 7, 2006
Cardinal William H. Keeler, the archbishop of Baltimore for 17 years and an influential leader in the church worldwide, has submitted his letter of resignation to the Vatican and is waiting to learn whether Pope Benedict XVI will extend his term as spiritual leader of the area's more than 500,000 Catholics.
Canon law requires that bishops submit a letter offering their retirement when they reach their 75th birthday, but the Vatican in recent years generally has allowed those who have been willing and able to continue working. When Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington turned 75 last year, the pope declined his resignation, and McCarrick was told informally that he would be kept on for another two years. ...
Keeler, who came to Baltimore in 1989, has shepherded the archdiocese throughout the national sex abuse crisis that has rocked the church in the United States. A vocal opponent of abortion, he gained national prominence as a leading spokesman for what his friend Pope John Paul II called "the culture of life."