BROCKTON -- Firefighter Peter Reardon played bagpipes on the stage as students, teachers, and parents entered the Cardinal Spellman High School auditorium on Nov. 8. Greeters handed out programs, bracelets, and prayer cards with pictures of community members' relatives who are veterans. The stage was framed with banners, one on top saying "Freedom is never free," and two on the sides saying, "We stand as one."
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BRAINTREE -- Planning for the archdiocese's annual trip to participate in the 2020 March for Life in Washington, D.C. is already well underway. This year, the Archdiocese of Boston is offering two options, called "tracks," for people who want to participate in the Witness to Life Pilgrimage to attend the march.
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WEST ROXBURY -- Every year the students of St. Theresa of Avila School in West Roxbury have a parade in their Halloween costumes. But this year, they took the parade to a new destination: Deutsches Altenheim, a senior living community located near the school.
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BOSTON -- On Nov. 4, 16 corporate teams gathered at State Street's One Lincoln Street office to raise money for the Inner-City Scholarship Fund (ICSF) through the sixth Annual Corporate Trivia Challenge. The hosting sponsor, State Street Corporation, has supported the work of the ICSF for nearly 30 years and has been the lead sponsor of this event for five years. Through sponsorships and live fundraising at the event, $40,000 was raised to provide scholarships to at-risk young people.
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BOSTON -- The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston's Board of Trustees Nov. 7 announced the appointment of Catholic Charities Board Chair Kevin M. MacKenzie as interim president upon President and Chief Executive officer Deborah Kincade Rambo's Nov. 30 retirement. MacKenzie has served Catholic Charities as chair of the board since January of 2019 and a member of the board since 2013.
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Last Friday, All Saints Day, I was very happy to visit St. Francis Chapel in the Prudential Center to celebrate a Mass to mark the 50th anniversary of the chapel's founding by Cardinal Richard Cushing. (As I often quip, I could spend my whole life celebrating 50th anniversaries of initiatives that Cardinal Cushing started!)
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MEDFORD -- The funeral Mass for retired Auxiliary Bishop Francis X. Irwin took place on Nov. 2, All Souls Day, at St. Raphael Church in Medford, which was filled with dozens of his friends, relatives, and colleagues.
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BEACON HILL -- Speakers from across the country, including an adult woman who survived her mother's abortion, joined local pro-life organizations for Massachusetts Citizens for Life's third annual Celebration of Life at the Statehouse on Oct. 30.
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The Archdiocese of Boston Catholic Schools Office (CSO), as part of its focus on enrollment and family engagement, is entering its second year of providing full scholarships for Catholic school faculty and staff to enroll in the intensive summer Language Schools at Middlebury College, located in Middlebury, Vermont.
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BOSTON -- Tucked away in a corner of the Prudential Center, St. Francis Chapel has been a quiet refuge of prayer amidst the busyness of the Back Bay since 1969. Cardinal Richard Cushing established St. Francis Chapel, along with other "workers' chapels," to make the sacraments available where people lived and worked. The Oblates of the Virgin Mary have run St. Francis Chapel since 1983, offering daily Mass, confessions, Eucharistic adoration, and spiritual direction.
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WESTWOOD -- The Xaverian Brothers High School Board of Trustees announced Oct. 30 that it had unanimously voted to promote Dr. Jacob Conca to the position of headmaster, effective Nov. 12. Conca succeeds Brother Daniel Skala, CFX, who was elected General Superior of the Congregation of St. Francis Xavier this August.
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This was a sad week for the Archdiocese of Boston, as we saw the passing of two of our former auxiliary bishops. Bishop Richard Lennon, who retired as Bishop of Cleveland in 2016, died on Tuesday. Most members of the public in Boston will likely know Bishop Lennon for his relatively brief period of service as Apostolic Administrator from the end of 2002 until my arrival in 2003, but his service in the archdiocese went far beyond that. In addition to his years in parish ministry, Bishop Lennon served in the Office of Canonical Affairs, as West Region bishop, the rector of St. John's Seminary, and as Vicar General. He was well known for his assiduous work ethic and his great love for the Church and the People of God.
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Bishop Richard G. Lennon, the 10th bishop of Cleveland and former apostolic administrator and auxiliary bishop of Boston, died in Ohio on Oct. 29. He had been suffering from dementia since his resignation as Cleveland's bishop in late 2016.
Read moreThe Archdiocese of Boston announced Oct. 25 that it has placed Msgr. Francis V. Strahan, the pastor of St. Bridget Parish in Framingham, on administrative leave after receiving an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.
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BRIGHTON -- A new exhibit at the Boston College Theology and Ministry Library looks at the development of Catholic interfaith relations around the Second Vatican Council and Cardinal Richard Cushing's important role in that process.
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Tyngsboro -- The Academy of Notre Dame (NDA) announced Oct. 28 that the school has received a $1 million dollar gift, the largest single gift in its history. The gift is part of a multi-million-dollar pledge to help ensure that the school's soon-to-be-released strategic plan becomes a reality.
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SOUTH BOSTON -- On Oct. 27, the community of St. Peter Lithuanian Parish in South Boston rededicated its "hill of crosses," which has now stood for 15 years as a sign of parishioners' prayers, heritage, and enduring faith.
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LYNN -- When completed, the $20 million building project that is ongoing at St. Mary's will have a transformative effect. "We will truly have a campus feel, in the middle of downtown Lynn," said St. Mary's Associate Head of School David Angeramo, who is excited about the addition of two floors of classroom and lab space in the new STEM building -- a three-story, 30,000-square-foot edifice that will sit behind the new gateway entrance to campus.
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BRAINTREE -- On Oct. 25, a week after signing an official decree to create a new East Coast province of the Jesuits (UEA) in July 2020, Father General Arturo Sosa, SJ, has named Father Joseph M. O'Keefe, SJ, as its first provincial, effective July 31, 2020 -- the feast day of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order.
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Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley wrote about the Synod for the Amazon on a blog post on cardinalseansblog.org, Oct. 25. He was one of the participants of the synod, which took place at the Vatican from Oct. 6 to Oct. 27.
Read moreThe following statement was issued by Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley, Oct. 29. Today, we mourn the passing of the Most Rev. Richard G. Lennon, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Cleveland, who passed away today following a time of illness.
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Retired Auxiliary Bishop Francis X. Irwin passed away at the age of 85 on Oct. 30 after a brief illness, surrounded by his family in his Cape Cod home. A native of Medford, Bishop Irwin attended St. Joseph Catholic School, Boston College High School, Boston College, and St. John Seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1960.
Read moreThe Archdiocese of Boston announced Oct. 25 that it has placed Msgr. Francis V. Strahan, the pastor of St. Bridget Parish in Framingham, on administrative leave after receiving an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.
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BOSTON -- Two years ago, Pope Francis declared that this October would be Extraordinary Mission Month, a time for "the whole Church to live an extraordinary time of missionary activity." It was in this context that members of various ethnic communities, religious orders, and missionary societies gathered at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross for a Mass celebrating World Mission Sunday on Oct. 20.
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BOSTON -- While most Catholics know hospitals often have a Catholic chaplain on staff, they may not be aware that some hospitals also have pastoral visitors. These are lay volunteers who visit with patients and families, tending to their spiritual needs and more. And, although pastoral visitors are volunteers, they undergo significant training to prepare them for this most sensitive role.
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MILTON -- Two multicolored art projects hang on the walls of the cafeteria at St. Mary of the Hills School. One piece, which hangs there year-round, is a panel of painted tiles, its colors arranged to form the image of a cross. The other piece, put up a few weeks into the current school year, is a pair of outstretched wings composed of dozens of painted paper feathers. Above the wings are the words, "Watch me soar!"
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Last Sunday, I had the joy of attending the canonization of five new saints at St. Peter's Basilica, including St. John Henry Newman. For those who are not familiar with him, Cardinal Newman was an English academic and theologian born in 1801 who, by the age of 27, had become an Anglican priest teaching at Oxford. He was the vicar of the university church and published a number of important theological works.
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