BALTIMORE – In the spirit of Mother Mary Lange, the Archdiocese of Baltimore broke ground on the first new Catholic school built in the city in over six decades.
“We’re saying we believe in our community, we believe in Baltimore, we believe in Baltimore’s residents, we believe in Baltimore’s young people,” Archbishop Lori told WJZ news.
“This is truly a school by the community and for the community. I can think of no better example of the good that can come from the collaboration of those who want to build a better Baltimore.”
The new 66,000-square-foot school has the capacity to serve 520 students, who are consolidated from two parochial schools nearby.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore set aside more than $1 million in scholarships, tuition assistance, and grants for qualifying students. The school is set to open in fall 2021.
Located across the street from the University of Maryland Baltimore campus, the school will serve mostly non-Catholic, minority households.
The school is named after Mother Mary Lange. She was an African-American religious sister and foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence.
The Sisters of Providence is a religious community that Mother Mary Lange created to allow African-American women to discern and enter religious life in the United States.
After her death in 1882, the Catholic community of Baltimore began to speak of her sanctity. In 1991, Cardinal William Henry Keller, Archbishop of Baltimore, opened a formal investigation into her life for the cause of her canonization.
In 2004, the Archdiocese of Baltimore sent the documentation describing the holiness of Mother Mary Lange to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Cause of Saints.
Today, the Catholic Church honors Mother Mary Lange as a Servant of God.