CUMBERLAND – In an April 28 town meeting marked by a combination of hopefulness, apprehension and anger, approximately 250 people gathered at St. Mary in Cumberland to ask questions about a proposal to create a new area parish out of five existing ones.

Father Milton Hipsley holds his rosary at his Mercy Ridge residence in Timonium last year. (CR/Owen Sweeney III) Father Milton Hipsley’s letters started arriving on my desk in the summer of 2009. Very neatly written in all capital letters, the notes always seemed focused on the importance of kindness and of taking time for

Jim and Pat McDonnell spent less than a minute in the presence of Pope John Paul II, but it was enough to change their lives.

“Since I have been working in multiple-parish ministry, I have been struck by the importance of working with a team of people – most of whom, of course, are lay Catholics,” Monsignor Hannon said. “We work together for the good of our parishes and for the good of the archdiocese.”

Days after Confederate forces in South Carolina captured Fort Sumter without any casualties, the first bloodshed in the Civil War happened in Baltimore on April 19, 1861.