The Mount St. Mary’s Seminary has chosen the Very Rev. Msgr. Karl Anthony Chimiak, Vicar Forane, S’80, as its 2025 honoree for the Academic Circle of Excellence Alumni Hall of Fame. The Alumni Hall of Fame recognizes recipients for their outstanding devotion to excellence and service.
“I’m delighted to be included in the Mount’s Alumni Hall of Fame. I love the Mount Seminary dearly and cherish the memories and formation I received here, which served me well in all of my various priestly roles,” shared Chimiak.
Chimiak attended Bowie State University before coming to the Mount Seminary. While a seminarian, he was a member of the intramural softball team. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1980. Cimiak was mobilized for Operation Desert Storm, serving with the 33rd Fighter Wing “Nomads” Elgin AFB FLA. His wing saw action during the war, and he received the Meritorious Service Medal for my wartime service in 1991.
During his 45 years of priesthood, Chimiak has held a wide range of roles. A year before his ordination, he commissioned in the United States Air Force Reserve, serving as a chaplain for over 25 years. His work as chaplain to the Maryland state police, also over 25 years, overlapped with his time in the Air Force, and he was chaplain to the Calvert County Sheriff’s Department and St. Mary’s County Detention Center.
“Msgr. Chimiak has wholeheartedly served the Church, his country, and the souls in his care for over four decades,” said Msgr. Andrew Baker, S.T.D., rector of the Seminary. “He has also always made time for his alma mater, attending retreats and reunions and giving financially to the Seminary for years. We’re honored to recognize him as the 2025 Academic Circle of Excellence inductee.”
Until his retirement in 2023, Chimiak also was pastor and parochial vicar at multiple churches in the Archdiocese of Washington, including St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Seat Pleasant; St. Matthias Apostle Parish in Lanham; St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Silver Spring; St. Michael Parish in Ridge; Holy Ghost Parish in Issue; Sacred Heart Parish in La Plata; St. George Parish in Valley Lee; and St. Joseph Parish in Beltsville. Msgr. Chimiak was the dean of St. Mary's County for two terms and Charles County for one term.
He served as chaplain to a variety of organizations as well, from the St. John Vianney interfaith food pantry to the Doctor’s Community Hospital in Lanham, Maryland, to the Boy Scouts and the Knights of Columbus.
Chimiak shared that his title of “Father” has always been the most rewarding one, the one that has guided all the other titles.
“As a Roman Catholic priest, you can serve both God and country. I can honestly ‘render to God what is God's and to Caesar what is Caesar's,’” he noted.