[Baltimore Sun] Former head of Baltimore’s Curley High School named bishop of Charlotte, North Carolina
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Pope Francis has appointed Father Michael T. Martin, a Baltimore native and the former longtime leader of Archbishop Curley High School, as the next bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Martin, 62, a 1979 graduate of the Northeast Baltimore parochial school for boys, later returned to serve it in a variety of capacities, including as a teacher, admissions official and principal. He became president in 2001 and held that position for nine years.
The Rev. Donald Grzymski, Curley’s current president, has known Martin for more than half a century, starting when the now bishop-elect was a freshman and Grzymski a first-year teacher.
Grzymski, who also served a previous stint as Curley’s president and appointed Martin as his replacement, said he looked on as Martin oversaw a period of growth that included the completion of a $7 million capital campaign that built an arts center and a library.
“We’re excited here at Curley, where he’s an alum, a longtime educator and a former leader,” he said. “Being a bishop is a very challenging role today, but we know he’s a very competent guy. He has always been up to the challenges he has faced.”
Among Martin’s other strengths, Grzymski said, is that he has always looked beyond the immediate demands of his ministry, taking part in matters at the diocesan level. “He’s an experienced educator, but he already understands very well the workings of a diocese,” Grzymski said.
Martin entered the Conventual Franciscan Friars Novitiate in Ellicott City at age 17 after graduating from Curley. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology degree from the Pontifical University of St. Bonaventure in Rome and a master’s in education from Boston College.
Ordained as a priest at St. Casimir Catholic Church by then-Auxiliary Bishop John Ricard of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1989, he most recently served as pastor of St. Philip Benizi Parish in Jonesboro, Georgia.
Martin, a Franciscan friar as well as a priest, is to be installed next month as successor of the Most Rev. Peter J. Jugis, the longtime bishop of Charlotte. Jugis, 67, received Vatican permission to retire early due to a chronic health issue.
Martin will be the fifth bishop of the Charlotte diocese, which was founded in 1972. He will be one of 290 Catholic bishops in the United States. He was introduced Tuesday as bishop-elect at a news conference in North Carolina.
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