Last Thursday evening (April 8), I had the privilege of going to Regis College to join president Dr. Mary Jane England for the Presidential Scholars Awards ceremony.

At Dr. England’s initiative, with the support of the board of trustees, Regis College each year provides a series of four year scholarships to young men and women who are graduates of Catholic secondary schools in the Archdiocese of Boston.

One of the things we have tried to stress is the continuity of Catholic education: from primary school, to secondary school to Catholic colleges. The Catholic colleges have also been helping us with teacher training and board development in our primary schools. Certainly, helping Catholic students who graduate from our high schools attend Catholic colleges is a great service to the Church.

We are grateful to Regis and Dr. England for this gift in support of Catholic education and look forward to working together in developing the future leaders for our society and the Church.

Catholic Daughters of the Americas

On Friday afternoon, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas visited me.

The CDA is one the oldest and largest group of Catholic Women in the Americas. They do such wonderful work supporting the mission of the Church through charitable work and being involved in their parishes and the archdiocese.

Catholic Schools Foundation gala dinner

On Saturday evening, I attended a gala fundraising dinner at the Boston Public Library for the Catholic Schools Foundation and the Inner City Scholarship Fund. It was the first time it was held in that venue and it was just spectacular.

The dinner honored Peter Lynch for 20 years of outstanding dedication and service. Peter has chaired the foundation for 20 years and, under his leadership, it has raised $100,000,000 and has given scholarships to more than 60,000 students at our inner-city Catholic schools.

It’s just an incredible contribution that has strengthened Catholic education in the archdiocese and given the opportunity to many underprivileged children to get a good education -- which means a good start in life -- and, therefore, to be able to go on to higher education.

This cause has been a passion of Peter Lynch and his wife, Carolyn. They have a great love for the Church, for Catholic education and a great concern that children receive the opportunity for this kind of formation.

Bob Kraft and his wife Myra chaired the dinner this year and I thank them and all the dinner co-chairs for their important support in helping children get the quality education our Catholic schools offer.

With the Little Sisters of the Poor

I ended the evening at another event for the Little Sisters of the Poor at the Four Seasons Hotel.

The sisters follow the charism of their foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan (who was canonized last year) in caring for the elderly poor.

They depend very much on divine providence, and are often out begging for food and supplies to continue their work. They have this annual gala fundraiser to help support the wonderful work of their home in Somerville.