Archbishop-designate weighs in on marriage

William Lori, who will be installed as Baltimore’s 16th archbishop next month, said he is looking forward to meeting Gov. Martin O’Malley (pictured), a fellow Catholic who signed the state’s marriage equality law.

William Lori, who will be installed as Baltimore’s 16th archbishop on May 16, has already weighed in on Maryland’s pending marriage referendum.

“I would describe myself as a person who recognizes that we got needs and challenges of all sorts, including a large cultural challenge. I think we address that in a creative and life-giving way,” Lori said in an April 2 interview with WBAL-TV.

Noting that Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Catholic, signed the Civil Marriage Protection Act last month, Lori said he looks forward to meeting O’Malley. And he intends to work with other area church leaders to have voters overturn the law by referendum.

“So we’re going to work. We’re going to pray but in the spirit of charity and civility, but with a lot of determination too,” the soft-spoken leader stated.

Lori, 60, was appointed Baltimore’s next archbishop on March 23 by Pope Benedict XVI, succeeding Edwin Cardinal O’Brien.