Local
Cardinal to present Cheverus Awards Nov. 24
By Pilot Staff
Posted: 11/22/2019
The Cheverus Award Medal is made of sterling silver and bears a likeness of Bishop Cheverus based on the Gilbert Stuart portrait. On the reverse side is Bishop Cheverus' coat of arms. Pilot file photo/Gregory L. Tracy
BRAINTREE -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley will present Cheverus Award Medals to laypersons, deacons, and religious during a 2 p.m. daytime prayer service Sunday, Nov. 24, at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.
Inaugurated in 2008 at the close of the archdiocese's bicentennial year, the annual award ceremony recognizes local Catholics for their dedicated service to the Church.
Each year, one-third of the parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston are asked to nominate a parishioner for the award. Most recipients are nominated by their pastor and approved by their regional bishop or episcopal vicar and Cardinal O'Malley.
The criteria given to pastors suggests that the nominee be a layperson who has served the parish over an extended period of time and has done so in a quiet, unassuming, and perhaps, unrecognized fashion.
In addition to the nominees from parishes, each year the regional bishops and episcopal vicars are asked to nominate a religious sister, religious brother and a deacon from their region who are deserving of a Cheverus Medal. The Central Ministries of the archdiocese also make nominations from among religious, deacons and laypersons who serve on archdiocesan committees or lead key ministries. Some additional recipients are selected personally by Cardinal O'Malley.
"The Cheverus Medals are a way, in the Catholic community, that we say thank you to God and thank you to our brothers and sisters in the household of faith," Cardinal O'Malley said at the 2018 ceremony.
He went on to describe the Cheverus Award recipients as "the motor that keeps our Church running."
The medal is named for Boston's first bishop, Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus, who led the diocese from 1808 until his return to France in 1824. Bishop Cheverus died in 1836 as the Archbishop of Bordeaux.
The oval-shaped medal bears a likeness of Bishop Cheverus based on the Gilbert Stuart portrait. On the reverse side is Bishop Cheverus' coat of arms.
The ceremony is held each year on or around the Solemnity of Christ the King, the final Sunday before the start of Advent.
Following are this year's Cheverus Award recipients, listed alphabetically followed by the nominating entity:
Vincent Adornato -- St. John the Evangelist, East Bridgewater
Marie Carme Aurelien -- St. Matthew-St. Angela Parish, Dorchester/Mattapan
Francisco Baez -- St. Patrick Parish, Lawrence (Hispanic Community)
William Baril -- St. Joseph Parish, Wakefield
John Barrett -- St. Augustine Parish, Andover
Judy Beatrice -- St. Paul Parish, Cambridge
Susan Black -- Sacred Heart Parish, Middleboro
Irene Bonner -- St. Robert Bellarmine, Andover
Deacon John Boyle -- St. Joseph Parish, Holbrook
Eunice Brandao -- St. Anthony Parish, Allston (Brazilian Community)
Donald Buckley -- St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Parish, Hanover
Betty Bythrow -- Holy Trinity Parish, Quincy
Ann "Nancy" Callanan -- St. Mary of the Nativity Parish, Scituate
Edward Calnan -- St. Mary, Lynn
David Capaldo -- St. Helen Parish, Norwell
Deacon John J. Capomaccio (posthumous) and Angelina Capomaccio -- Merrimack Region
Sister Missionaries of Charity -- St. Peter Parish, Dorchester
Patrick Chieh -- St. Patrick Parish, Lowell
Eileen Collins -- Immaculate Conception Parish, Weymouth
Loretta Connolly -- St. Gerard Majella Parish, Canton
Rose Cotrone -- Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Boston
Martin Cunniffe -- St. Bartholomew, Needham
Kathleen Curtin -- Good Shepherd, Wayland
Regina Davis -- St. John the Evangelist Parish, Winthrop
Brother Gary G. Davis, BH -- Central Region Office
Jeanne Dignan -- Sacred Hearts Parish, Bradford and Groveland
Robert Dolan -- St. John the Evangelist Parish, Canton
Denise Donlan -- Our Lady of Good Counsel, Methuen
Mara dos Santos -- Madonna Shrine, East Boston
Mary Katherine Duffy -- St. Linus, Natick
Anne Duncan -- St. William of York, Tewksbury
Lillian Dunham -- Sts. Martha and Mary Parish, Lakeville
Jane Egge -- St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Acton
Americo M. Enos -- Parish of the Transfiguration, Wilmington
Sister Caterina Esselen, OLM -- South Region Office
Lisa Fasano -- Cardinal/Archdiocese of Boston
Diane Flynn -- St. Theresa of Avila Parish, West Roxbury
Sister Suzanne Fondini, MFIC -- West Region
Kenneth Foscaldo -- Archdiocese of Boston, Pastoral Center
Richard Gagnon -- St. John the Baptist, Peabody
Christine Gebski -- Sacred Hearts Parish, Bradford and Groveland
Deacon Alfred Geneus -- Central Region Office
Frank J. Gersony -- St. Clement Parish, Somerville
Sister Marilyn Gignac, SUSC -- Merrimack Region
Una Gillis -- St. Brigid, Lexington
Sarah Glover -- Our Lady of Sorrows, Sharon
Susan Gormley -- St. Anne, Littleton
David C. Grise -- Parish of the Transfiguration, Wilmington
Genevieve Guimond -- St. Christine, Marshfield
Rosemary Hanley -- St. Patrick Parish, Lawrence
Celia Davenport Harris -- St. Cecilia Parish, Boston
Sister Eileen Harvey, CSJ -- Central Region Office
Barbara Hatem -- Sacred Heart, Newton
William Henderson -- St. Mary of the Assumption, Hull
Anne Hughes -- St. John Chrysostom, West Roxbury
Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception -- St. Patrick Parish, Roxbury
Mary Jantzen -- St. Tarcisius, Framingham
John Jones and Julie Jones -- Immaculate Conception, Malden
John F. Kaslow -- Merrimack Region
Deacon William Kerns -- North Region
John Lahey -- St. Anthony Parish, Allston
Kevin Lally -- Central Region Office
Wanderley Lucas de Paula -- St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Somerville
Thomas J. MacDonald -- St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Parish
Luz E. Marchani -- St. Patrick Parish, Brockton
Leokadia Marchwinski -- St. John Paul II Shrine of Divine Mercy, Salem
Isabelle Maria, CFP -- St. Francis Chapel, Boston
Orlando Martinez and Flora Martinez -- Holy Family Parish, Dorchester
Barbara Matyi -- Good Shepherd, Wayland
Deacon Kelley McCormick -- West Region
Donna McDonald -- St. Ann Parish, Quincy
The Honorable William Melahn -- Cardinal/Archdiocese of Boston
Elizabeth Molloy -- St. Martha, Plainville
Sister Barbara Monahan, SC -- Merrimack Region
Helen Monteagudo -- Sacred Heart Parish, Quincy
Dan Moriarty -- Blessed Sacrament, Walpole
Tom Moroney -- St. Isidore, Stow
Frank Mosher -- St. Mary, East Walpole
John Mulhane -- St. Mary, Brookline
John Erick Noel -- St. Matthew/St. Angela Parish, Dorchester/Mattapan
Susan Noyes -- Holy Redeemer, Merrimac and West Newbury
Patrick E. O'Connor -- Cardinal/Archdiocese of Boston
Viviane Ouellette -- Merrimack Region
Ngoc Pham -- St. Patrick Parish, Lowell (Vietnamese Community)
Doris Pienton -- St. Teresa of Calcutta, Dorchester
Cecile Provencher -- Merrimack Region
Socorro Ramos -- St. Michael Parish, North Andover
Sister Pauline Raposo, SNDdeN -- Merrimack Region
Edith Rodriguez -- Immaculate Conception, Everett
Sean Runge -- Our Lady of Good Counsel, Methuen
Mary L. Ryan -- Cardinal/Archdiocese of Boston
Cesar Salazar -- Immaculate Conception, Revere
Elizabeth "Raisha" Santana -- Sacred Heart Parish, Roslindale
Elaine Santos -- St. Francis of Assisi, Cambridge
Kathleen Savage -- Sacred Heart, Lynn
Roger Scott -- Most Precious Blood, Dover
Mary Jane Simpson -- St. Thomas the Apostle, Millis
Barbara Smith -- St. Catherine of Alexandria, Westford
Jonathan Suber -- Sacred Heart, Lexington
Margaret A. Sullivan -- St. Francis de Sales Parish, Charlestown
Stephen Swochak -- Immaculate Conception, Newbury and Newburyport
Esther Tanous -- St. John the Evangelist, Beverly
Robert Tosi, Jr. -- St. Camillus, Arlington
Kim Tran -- Mary Queen of the Apostles, Salem
Klara Vajda -- St. Augustine Parish, Andover
Olga Valencia -- St. Patrick Parish, Lowell (Hispanic Community)
Lorraine Valentine -- St. Katharine Drexel, Roxbury
Norm Wright and Marsha Wright -- St. Ann by the Sea Parish, Marshfield
Carol Yaroschuk -- Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Marshfield
Charles Young and Maria Young -- St. Patrick, Natick
