This week, I have been in Rome for meetings of the Council of Cardinals advising the Holy Father on the reform of the Roman Curia.

Whenever I am in Rome, I try to set aside some time to meet with the Boston priests and seminarians who are there. So, on Sunday night, I had dinner with our seminarians at the Pontifical North American College and Fathers Kevin Staley-Joyce and Andreas Davison, who are pursuing graduate studies in Rome. We were also joined by Msgr. Paul McInerny and Msgr. John Abruzzese.

It was nice to be able to celebrate Msgr. Abruzzese's recent nomination as Canon of the Basilica of St. Mary Major. He has just started there and seems very happy in his new role.

Also during the week, I had the opportunity to have dinner with Msgr. William Helmick. Msgr. Helmick recently retired from his post at St. Theresa's in West Roxbury, and he was taking some time to visit Rome during the Advent season.

Council of Cardinals

Monday, our meetings of the Council of Cardinals began. This time, we discussed the preparations for the February meeting of the presidents of bishops' conferences on the topic of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, some proposals to find savings in the operating costs of the Holy See, as well as an update on the status of the new Dicastery for Communications.

We were very happy to be joined at our meetings by Bishop Marco Mellino, the new adjunct secretary of the Council. Bishop Mellino is a canon lawyer, and he will be assisting on the canonical aspects of the document for the reform of the Curia that we have just finished, Predicate Evangelium. So, we congratulated him and are happy to have his help in our work.

Eduardo Verastegui

Every year a different state in Mexico puts on an exhibition of their Christmas traditions at the Paul VI Audience Hall. So, on Tuesday evening there was a reception held by the Embassy of Mexico to the Holy See to showcase it. This year the state selected was Tamaulipas, which is on Mexico's east coast, just south of Texas.

Tamaulipas is the home state of actor Eduardo Verastegui, so he was with us for the event. Eduardo is a member of the Papal Foundation, but I am sure he will be more widely recognized for his roles in "Bella," "Little Boy" and "For Greater Glory."

Father Kane's funeral

I returned to Boston Thursday, and today (Dec. 14) I celebrated the Funeral Mass for Father Joseph Kane at St. Catherine Parish in Norwood, joined by Bishop Uglietto, Father Kane's close friends Father Tom Wyndham and Father Garrett Barry and many of our fellow priests.

In his homily, Father Wyndham shared how much Father Kane loved being a priest and that his almost 50 years of ordained ministry were lived in joyful service to the people of God.

For many years, Father Kane was the chaplain at Marian Manor in South Boston where he was much beloved by the residents and the Carmelite Sisters of the Aged and Infirm, a presence he continued during his years as a Senior Priest in residence at Regina Cleri. In recognition of that service, the Carmelite Sisters and the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master joined us at the Mass. It is always good to be with the Sisters who provide such important ministry in the archdiocese, and it was wonderful to have them there as we bid Father Kane farewell.