Deacon Stephen Kirby was in fifth grade when he first thought it would be “cool” to be a priest. The fourth of seven children, Deacon Kirby and his family were active members at St. John the Evangelist in Severna Park where he was an altar boy and in the youth choir.

At their spring assembly in Orlando, Florida, the U.S. bishops focused on strengthening the Church’s mission and addressing challenges while keeping the Sacred Heart of Jesus as the key to personal and public transformation in focus.

Deacon Robert L. “Tre” Bart says what inspired him to consider the priesthood is “a short question with a long answer.”

Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop F. Richard Spencer, a 75-year-old former priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore who served as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese for U.S. Military Services since 2010. 

President Donald Trump June 11 called the U.S. Catholic bishops’ consecration of the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for its 250th anniversary “a powerful moment in our national story and a poignant reminder that America has always been guided by the loving hand of God.”