MARYLAND
The Baltimore Sun
Doug Donovan and Jacques Kelly
The Baltimore Sun
Cardinal William Henry Keeler, the longtime leader of the Archdiocese of Baltimore whose influence in the Catholic Church spanned international borders over nearly six decades, died Thursday. He had turned 86 this month.
The retired archbishop of Baltimore, who led the region’s nearly 500,000 Catholics from 1989 until 2007, died while under the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor at St. Martin’s House for the Aged in Arbutus, the archdiocese announced.
During his 17 years as archbishop, Cardinal Keeler hosted Pope John Paul II in 1995, voted in the conclave that chose Benedict XVI to succeed him, and raised well over $100 million for programs, schools and scholarships for low-income city students.
The cardinal was a leading national voice against abortion, and he built an international reputation for forging ties with believers of other faiths.
The cardinal was also thrust into the national spotlight by the priest sexual abuse scandal that gripped the church, when a Baltimore man shot a priest who was later convicted of molesting him as a child.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.