Last Thursday, I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to attend Catholic Leadership Institute's Philanthropy Conference. I gave them an address Thursday night and celebrated Mass on Friday morning for the group. It was very good to see CLI CEO Dan Cellucci and founder Tim Flanagan once again.

The hotel where they held the gathering had a very beautiful chapel because, apparently, Charleston is a very popular location for destination weddings -- second only to Las Vegas. So, the chapel was made to look just like a church.

CLI, of course, has worked very closely with us on the implementation of our Pastoral Plan, Disciples in Mission. Their concept of bringing best practices to the Church for the administration of our parishes and dioceses has been very helpful. They have also been very successful at promoting effective evangelization. We are grateful for the leadership training that they have given to so many of our priests and the work that they do in training seminarians and providing ongoing formation for bishops. So, I was happy to be a part of their gathering.

Meeting in Boston

Friday, I returned from Charleston and, that afternoon, I met with the ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Russia, Hans Dannenberg Castellanos, who came accompanied by the Dominican ambassador to the Holy See, Cesar Feris Iglesias, and his wife, Ingrid Paiewonsky de Feris.

I had met them during my visit to the Dominican Republic last month, and they brought me a beautiful image of the Virgin of la Merced.

I took note of Ingrid's name because there is a prominent Paiewonsky family in the Virgin Islands. (Ralph Paiewonsky was governor of the Virgin Islands in the 60s.) And she said she does have family there.

White Mass

On Saturday, I was happy to go to St. John's Seminary to celebrate the annual White Mass for Catholic physicians sponsored by the Guild of St. Luke.

At the end of the Mass, we presented the Guild's St. Martin de Porres Award to Dr. Francis Rockett and his late wife, Barbara, who passed away just a few months ago.

Both Frank and Barbara had incredibly accomplished medical careers. Each served as president of the Massachusetts Medical Society (in fact, Barbara was the first woman president of the society), and both received the society's Lifetime Achievement Award. They were also members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and great advocates for pro-life causes.

However, perhaps their most impressive accomplishment is the wonderful family Frank and Barbara raised -- five children and 15 grandchildren. We were so pleased that many of them could be with us for the Mass.

Polish bishops

Wednesday, I had a Zoom meeting with the final group of Polish bishops making their ad limina visit to the Vatican.

As I mentioned last week, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is one of the dicasteries that bishops regularly meet with when they come to make their five-year reports about their dioceses. Our hope is that these visits will become a time to be able to help the different bishops' conferences review how safeguarding practices are being implemented in their country.

I'm very grateful to Father Small and the wonderful people that we have working on our staff. They have been so helpful through this entire process.