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Rev.
Brian M. Rafferty
Father Brian M. Rafferty began his
priestly ministry at the parish of the Immaculate Conception in Towson,
Maryland in 1963. He had been ordained the previous year at the Church of
Christ the King in Rome on December 19 after completing his theological
studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University where he earned the
prestigious Licentiate in Sacred Theology Degree.
Born in west Baltimore, Father Rafferty
grew up in a very multi-religious and multi-racial city and neighborhood.
Here, he learned a sincere appreciation for the richness of diversity in
both race and religion which was so much a part of his upbringing. His
parents, J. Bernard and Marie (Hurley) Rafferty, numbered among their
friends and business associates persons of many varied ethnic roots and
religious persuasions long before it was fashionable.
Brian was fortunate in that his education
built on and amplified the open-minded and broad-based foundation laid by
his parents and family. His high school and college studies were pursued
under the guidance of the Sulpician Priests of St. Charles' College and
St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.
Working his way around the Baltimore
Beltway from north in Towson (Immaculate Conception), eastward to Dundalk
(Our Lady of Hope), and then westward to Ellicott City (where he
established the Church of the Resurrection), to Our Lady of the Chesapeake
in Pasadena, Father Rafferty's greatest pride has been his being a parish
priest.
Along the way, it has been his privilege
to serve as Member and Vice-President of the Priests' Senate, Member and
Chairperson of the Archdiocesan Commission for Ecumenical and
Inter-religious Affairs, and several Community Ministerial Associations.
Father Rafferty's ordination in Rome
coincided with the calling of the Second Vatican Council and it is his
most fervent hope to incorporate in the life of Our Lady of the Chesapeake
Parish the vision and energy that were so clearly a mark of the presence
of the Holy Spirit directing the deliberations of that Council.
When not at the parish, Father Rafferty
can be found in his kitchen whipping up one of his famous gourmet dinners;
working at making his yard front-page material for "House and
Garden" magazine; or merely being on or near the water in any boat,
ship, or other water or rail-borne conveyance of transport.
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