The atmosphere seemed close to normal at two historic churches in the Archdiocese of Baltimore as Catholics celebrated the most sacred holiday on the Christian calendar Sunday.

The pews were filled to overflowing at Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in North Baltimore and 165-year-old St. Louis Catholic Church in Clarksville. Worshippers in both places sported their colorful Easter best, children and families abounded, and lilies and tulips festooned the sanctuaries. The men celebrating the two Masses refrained in their sermons from directly mentioning the disturbing new report by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, released this week, that details the sexual abuse and torture of more than 600 children by 158 priests and brothers in the archdiocese dating to the 1940s.

But Archbishop William E. Lori, the spiritual leader of America’s first and oldest diocese, and the Rev. Michael DeAscanis, the parish priest at St. Louis, alluded indirectly to…