Fr. Charles M. Wible, known affectionately by parishioners as Father Chuck, is the pastor leading St. Peter’s into its third century as a community of Catholics in eastern Frederick County and western Carroll County worshipping and serving our Lord in Libertytown.   Fr. Chuck came to St. Peter’s five years ago when he was initially named parish administrator in January of 2018, before being appointed as pastor.  "Our parish anniversary gives us the opportunity to express our gratitude for the blessings of the past, as well as to be hopeful for future blessings as we continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ," said Fr. Chuck as the parish kicked off the bicentennial celebration marking 200 years since the establishment of our first church on the same site where we worship today. The building of the first church, a stone chapel, was initiated in 1821 when the parish was formally established. Construction was completed over the next two years and the church was dedicate

The building of the second St. Peter’s Church (dedicated in 1871, accidentally burned in 2004) was made possible by the generosity of the son of Richard and Catharine McSherry Coale who had donated the land and funding for our first church, dedicated in September 1823.   As our parish outgrew the original stone chapel, James McSherry Coale, son of Richard and Catharine, helped see to construction of a new brick church next to it. James was born in Libertytown on January 19, 1805, educated at Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, and later studied law under Richard Potts of Frederick.   He was an Elector in the Electoral College for the 1836 and 1840 Presidential elections.   As noted in another Key Moment it was James, who had inherited the land where our church sits, who followed through in November 1867 on his late father’s intention that the 2 acres be transferred to the Catholic Church.   The “better late than never” transfer facilitated efforts to construct the larger church that the

As mentioned in a previous Key Moment article, Cemetery – the early years , Fr.  Samuel Kavanagh took a special interest in beautifying the cemetery grounds during his pastorate. Pastor from 1902 until his death in 1923, Fr. was instrumental in creating gardens and walkways throughout the cemetery – to such a degree that he drew the attention of the local and not so local newspapers. When St. Peter’s was referenced in a newspaper article, it was not uncommon for there to be a corresponding reference to the Parish having one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the country.  In 1915, the Baltimore American ran a full page pictorial of the grounds of St. Peter’s, which highlighted the cemetery, and showed many plantings and walkways constructed under his direction and Fr. could often be seen walking the cemetery, saying his daily office.  In 1918, when our Parish was not quite 100 years old, the cemetery saw its first increase in size.  James M. Sappington (great grandson of Richard and C

Decades prior to the organization of a Respect Life Ministry at St. Peter’s, a Memorial to the Tombless Dead was erected by Fr. William H. I. Reaney in our Cemetery.  Located in the Holy Family section of the Cemetery, th is memorial was built 132 years ago in 1890, and was etched with an inscription from Revelations at the top right-hand side of the front of the structure (covered with ivy in this picture):  In Memoriam of the    TombLess Dead "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord" Also etched on stones at the bottom right hand side of the edifice (and also covered in ivy in this picture) is Fr Reaney’s name and the year the Memorial was constructed: W H I            AD REANEY    1890 This 1890 structure stood in the cemetery for just over 100 years, until Patrick (Pat) Spielman, (Parish maintenance manager from 1990 to 2015), declared the structure unsafe in 1998 – it was crumbling.  Pastor John Dietzenbach determined that it should be rebuilt and the inscription to