Msgr. William Burke

Recently retired, Fr. Burke was known as the oldest pastor in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Monsignor William F. Burke grew up in the Park Heights neighborhood of Northwest Baltimore, in the midst of a Great Depression and then a World War.

He became SFA's pastor in 1980, eight years after he became archdiocesan director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the anti-poverty and social justice arm of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops – a position he has held for nearly five decades.

The second half of his life has been devoted to not just leading a parish strong enough to support a thriving K-8 school during an era in which most city parishes closed theirs, but recruiting fellow priests and laypeople to share in the cause of empowering the downtrodden.

On his passion for social justice: “You’ve heard of the Ten Commandments and you’ve heard of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy that sort of define the Beatitudes. It’s all right there. How do you live it out? You knew you weren’t ordained just to celebrate Mass each day and take Communion to sick people. You were there beyond that, to listen, to understand, to be patient, but also, I think to be effective in bringing about change.”