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Archbishops of
Baltimore
 Lawrence
Cardinal Shehan
served as the 12th Archbishop of Baltimore
(1961-1984)
Lawrence Shehan was born on March 18, 1898, to a
Catholic family who lived on Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore. He grew
up during the tough times of World War I and lived through the tragic
outbreak of influenza and the great fire of 1904. In his
autobiography, A Blessing of Years, he recalls that these
experiences helped Baltimore neighborhoods come together.
On December 23, 1922, Lawrence was ordained a
priest at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran. He served as a pastor
at St. Patrick’s Parish and as Director of Catholic Charities, both
in Washington, D.C. In 1945, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of
Baltimore. In 1953, the pope named then-Bishop Shehan the first Bishop
of the new Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Eight years later,
Bishop Shehan returned to Baltimore and became the 12th Archbishop of
Baltimore upon the death of Archbishop Keough.
In February, 1965, Bishop Shehan became the second
Baltimore Archbishop elevated to the Cardinalate by Pope Paul VI
(James Cardinal Gibbons was first).
Cardinal Shehan participated in all four periods of
the Second Vatican Council, "the four most significant years of
the Church’s modern history." As a member of the Secretariat
for Christian Unity, Archbishop Shehan was particularly concerned with
the Council documents on Ecumenism, especially the statements on the
Jews and religious liberty.
Under his leadership, the liturgical changes
brought about by Vatican II were implemented throughout the
Archdiocese. His leadership in ecumenism began in 1962 with the
establishment of this country’s first Commission for Christian
Unity.
In March, 1963, Cardinal Shehan issued his famous
and fundamental pastoral letter Racial Justice. In this letter
he wrote:
"...our Christian faith imposes upon us all
a special duty of both justice and charity toward all men, no matter
what may be their racial and social origin."
He went on to say:
"It must guide us in our personal
relationships -- within our block, our neighborhood, our community;
in our social and fraternal organizations; in the business we may
conduct; in the labor unions to which we may belong; at work and at
play; in all the circumstances of everyday life."
Despite threats of violence, Cardinal Shehan
testified at the public hearing on the "Open Housing Bill"
that had been introduced to the City Council. He faced booing and
jeering crowds when he spoke from the steps of City Hall in support of
the same bill.
The Cardinal led people throughout the city and the
Archdiocese in promoting legislation for equal accommodations. It was
his work that ensured that all Archdiocesan institutions, including
schools and hospitals, would not segregate, i.e. "there would be
no distinction of rank or place or treatment based on racial
difference."
In 1966, Cardinal Shehan formed the Archdiocesan
Urban Commission to identify and work towards the resolution of
various problems and issues facing the urban faith community. Charles
Tildon, the first chair of the Commission and appointed by the
Cardinal, recalled Cardinal Shehan as "very humble and very
forward thinking". Mr. Tildon was the first lay person ever
appointed as chair of any major Archdiocesan commission.
"In his work with the Bishop’s Conference,
Cardinal Shehan was instrumental in shaping the rules and the changes
for the diaconate that enabled African Americans to become
deacons," recalled Mr. Tildon.
When Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated,
Cardinal Shehan chartered a plane and accompanied an entourage of
Baltimore Catholics to Atlanta, where he himself joined the march from
the funeral church to Morris College.
As his last official act before retiring, Cardinal
Shehan was given the honor of being appointed by Pope Paul VI as Papal
Legate to the 40th Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne Australia.
Cardinal Shehan retired from active ministry in 1975 and died on
August 26, 1984.
 His
autobiography, A Blessing of Years, is no
longer in print, but used copies are available at online bookstores,
such as Amazon.com.
 Cardinal
Shehan's galero hangs in the sanctuary almost directly over his
tomb in the Cathedral's crypt. It had long been a tradition of the
Church to hang the red hat of a deceased cardinal in the sanctuary of
his cathedral. Legend had it that when the hat falls to the ground,
the cardinal's soul has entered heaven.
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