Thousands honor Cardinal Keeler as he prepares for busy retirement

Published: 2007-09-11

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Nearly 2,000 people gathered at the Baltimore Convention Center Sept. 6 to honor the long ministry of Cardinal William H. Keeler as he steps down after heading the Baltimore Archdiocese for 18 years. But even when Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien formally begins his service as the new archbishop of Baltimore Oct. 1, Cardinal Keeler's life promises to bear little resemblance to a leisurely retirement. The cardinal, 76, announced that Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews, has written to him and asked him to give more time to ecumenical and interfaith endeavors in his retirement. In October, the cardinal said he plans to go to Ravenna, Italy, as part of the International Catholic-Orthodox Commission. He also will continue serving as moderator for Jewish-Catholic affairs for the U.S. bishops, he said. "I hope you can manage a day off here or there in the months and years ahead, but not too many," Archbishop O'Brien joked.

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