Borders

Archbishop William D. Borders

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Archbishop William D. Borders, who retired in 1989 as the 13th archbishop of Baltimore, died April 19 at Mercy Ridge Retirement Community in the Baltimore suburb of Timonium. He was 96.

Renowned for his commitment to collegiality, social justice and a pastoral approach to leadership, Archbishop Borders led the archdiocese from 1974 to 1989. He continued to reside in Baltimore throughout his retirement, maintaining an active priestly ministry well into the last year of his life.

“Archbishop Borders was a man of deep faith, great humility and great love for God, the Church and this archdiocese,” said Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, the current archbishop of Baltimore. “As a result, he was universally loved by the people of this local Church, by his brother bishops and priests, and by all who were blessed to call him Archbishop, Father, teacher, brother and friend.”

Funeral arrangements were incomplete Monday.

Pope Paul VI appointed Archbishop Borders to be the founding bishop of the Diocese of Orlando, Fla., in 1968 and transferred him to Baltimore six years later.

Upon his arrival, Archbishop Borders was faced with several serious challenges, including an archdiocesan budget deficit and a religious order funding scandal. Baltimore City was dealing with striking police and sanitation workers, and there was a court-ordered school busing plan that heightened tensions.

While dealing with those volatile issues, the new archbishop suffered a near-fatal heart attack while on retreat just a few months after arriving in Baltimore, saying later that the experience “caused me to be realistic as far as what I had to do and what I didn’t have to do.”

In appointing leaders, Archbishop Borders named women and African-Americans to key posts and was known for his concern for issues of social justice. He also wrote many pastoral letters and statements on issues such as the desegregation of the public schools, women in the Church, housing for the poor, increased lay involvement in the Church and nuclear deterrence.

A strong supporter of Catholic Charities, Archbishop Borders oversaw significant expansion in the outreach agency’s work with the poor.

Born in Indiana, he began his studies for the priesthood there but later transferred to New Orleans’ Notre Dame Seminary and was ordained in 1940.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps during World War II and served with the 91st Infantry in North Africa and Italy. He was awarded an honorable discharge in 1946, with the rank of major, and a Bronze Star for Valor for carrying a wounded soldier to safety while under fire. —CNS

Archbishop William D. Borders