BRAINTREE -- As the people of Massachusetts find themselves under a stay-at-home advisory and are being urged limits trips outside -- even to the grocery store -- Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has lifted the obligation for Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston to abstain from meat on Fridays for the remainder of Lent.
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BRAINTREE -- In a Lenten season of "social distancing," when Masses have been suspended and civic authorities are urging people to stay home to avoid spreading the COVID-19 virus, priests are looking for creative ways to minister the sacraments to their parishioners. A few in the archdiocese have been trying a new way of offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation: creating an outdoor "confessional" with a "drive-through" or "walk-up" setup.
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BRAINTREE -- How do you keep a sense of normalcy in a time of crisis? How do you maintain a sense of community while physically isolated from friends, mentors, and colleagues? These are the questions that Catholic school communities have been wrestling with while transitioning to "remote learning" after schools were closed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
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BRAINTREE -- Though Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston began the fourth week of Lent with Masses and other parish activities suspended, they had the opportunity to join Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley for a 5-day "Virtual Lenten Retreat" broadcast through CatholicTV, online and through social media.
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BRAINTREE -- In response to a stay-at-home advisory issued by Gov. Charlie Baker, Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley has issued new, stricter guidelines under which churches in the Archdiocese of Boston should remain open to the public. The cardinal also urged populations vulnerable to COVID-19 to "exercise careful and prudential judgment" when deciding to visit a church.
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BRAINTREE -- Since the archdiocese announced on March 13 that all Masses were being suspended in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, many parishes have turned to the Internet as a platform for sharing the Mass and staying connected with their communities in this time of "social distancing."
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This week, following the recommended protocols for social distancing, I am celebrating Mass in the rectory of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross each day for all of our people, especially those who greatly desire to attend Mass but are unable to at this time.
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In response to a stay-at-home advisory issued by Gov. Charlie Baker, Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley has issued new, stricter guidelines under which churches in the Archdiocese of Boston should remain open to the public. The cardinal also urged populations vulnerable to COVID-19 to "exercise careful and prudential judgment" when deciding to visit a church.
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Though Catholics in the Archdiocese of Boston are beginning the fourth week of Lent with Masses and other parish activities suspended, they now have an opportunity to join Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley for a 5-day "Virtual Lenten Retreat" broadcast through CatholicTV, online and through social media.
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BOSTON -- Speaking at the opening of the televised St. Patrick's Day Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on March 17, Cardinal Seán O'Malley urged the Catholic faithful to pray the rosary during this time of "social distancing" to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
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(This story was updated March 20 to reflect the latest directives from the Archdiocese of Boston.) BRAINTREE -- In response to concerns of the public and government officials, Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley has suspended all public Masses and religious services in the Archdiocese of Boston until further notice. The archdiocese has also ordered all Catholic schools to close and suspended all religious formation programs.
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BOSTON -- On March 17, the pews inside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross were empty, but the annual St. Patrick's Day Mass went on -- and was televised by CatholicTV so the faithful could participate from their homes.
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BRAINTREE -- In his March 13 entry on his weekly blog, Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley proposed a way to make reparations to the descendants of slaves: by providing educational opportunities or assistance.
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Over the weekend, I celebrated two Masses at parishes in the archdiocese as part of our Catholic Appeal Announcement Weekend. The first was at St. Jude's in Waltham on Saturday. The second was at St. Patrick's in Watertown on Sunday.
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Here are the opening remarks Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley delivered at St. the Patrick's day Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross March 17. The Mass was not open to the public and was broadcast by CatholicTV.
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BRAINTREE — In response to concerns of the public and government officials, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley has decided to cancel all public Masses and religious services in the Archdiocese of Boston until further notice. Earlier, the archdiocese ordered all Catholic schools closed from March 16 to 27 and suspended all religious formation until further notice.
Read moreHere is the text of a statement from Thomas W. Carroll, Superintendent of Schools of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, released March 13 announcing the closing of all Archdiocese of Boston parish schools and archdiocesan elementary and high schools for two weeks in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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WATERTOWN -- "We should not be panicking," MC Sullivan, chief healthcare ethicist for the Archdiocese of Boston told Bishop Robert Reed in a CatholicTV special program, "Understanding the Coronavirus," that aired March 10 and can be viewed at CatholicTV.org.
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WATERTOWN -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley visited local parishes during the weekend of March 7-8 to mark the launch of the Archdiocese of Boston's annual Catholic Appeal. In the evening of March 7, he visited St. Jude Church in Waltham. In the morning of March 8, he celebrated Mass at St. Patrick Church, which, along with Sacred Heart Church, is part of the Watertown Catholic Collaborative.
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Marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the World Health Organization has proclaimed 2020 the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. Following is one of an occasional series of articles highlighting the work of nurses in the Archdiocese of Boston.
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The people of the United States and the world are very focused on the coronavirus and how quickly the virus is spreading. We have been closely following the directives of the Centers for Disease Control and the State Department, and in light of that, have been formulating our own policies for our archdiocesan parishes and schools to try to retard the spread of this disease in our community.
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Here is the text of a message from Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley released March 12 offering guidance to the Archdiocese of Boston regarding COVID-19. My Dear Friends in Christ, The Coronavirus (COVID-19) is now part of our public life--our world, our country, our state and our Archdiocese -- together we must call on faith and reason to meet this challenge.
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BOSTON -- Hundreds of people gathered at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on March 1 for the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion. These ceremonies are some of the last steps for catechumens, who have never been baptized, and candidates, who are Christian but not Catholic, to prepare for entry into the Catholic Church.
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BRAINTREE -- The 2020 Catholic Appeal is set to be announced in parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston during the weekend of March 7-8. The appeal supports the archdiocese's 51 central ministries, 110 Catholic schools, and 283 parishes.
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BRAINTREE -- The Archdiocese of Boston announced this week that Secretary for Institutional Advancement Kathleen Driscoll will be stepping down after 10 years of service with the archdiocese. Driscoll has accepted the position of senior vice president, chief of philanthropy at UMass Memorial Health Care, a partner of the University of Massachusetts Medical School and will be departing at the end of the month, the archdiocese said.
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NORWOOD -- When St. Catherine of Siena School began holding a weekly STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art, and Math) class for its students this school year, the two instructors chose an overarching theme relating to a real-world problem: the task of rebuilding the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris after the fire a year ago.
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BRAINTREE -- Amid growing apprehension of the COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) outbreak, the Archdiocese of Boston has issued messages to parishes and schools, offering reassurance that the situation is being monitored and advice for how to prevent and prepare for the virus' potential spread.
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BOSTON -- "From the Border to Boston: Making Sense of Immigration Today," was the theme of a panel discussion hosted by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston and public radio station WBUR Feb. 27.
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As I mentioned last week, over the weekend we held our archdiocesan discernment retreats for men considering a vocation to the priesthood. So, on Saturday, I joined the group of men who would be candidates for St. John's Seminary for their retreat at the Betania II Retreat Center in Medway.
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