On Monday, I was visited by the Portuguese Ambassador to the United States, Francisco Duarte Lopes, and the Consul General in Boston, Tiago Araujo.

The ambassador had been in the Boston area for several days, visiting different groups and programs related to the Portuguese language and culture, and Monday was his last day here. Earlier in the day, the ambassador visited with Gov. Healey, then he came to visit me at the cathedral. We spoke about the situation of the Portuguese-speaking community in the area, and afterward, they joined me for dinner before the ambassador had to fly back to Washington.



Wisconsin Sisters

On Tuesday, I met with Sister Joanne Schatzlein and the leadership team of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi of Wisconsin, who came to visit me accompanied by Michelle Markowitz, the director of the Cardinal Cushing Centers in Hanover.

The Sisters of St. Francis sponsor the Cardinal Cushing Centers and four similar centers throughout the country. They came to speak to me about how they're going to continue the charism of these institutions. The Sisters are a community that, like my own, came about in the United States because of the Kulturkampf in Germany, which saw great persecution of the Catholics there and caused many orders to come to this country.

Of course, the Cardinal Cushing Centers is very well known for its work with special needs individuals. It was founded by Cardinal Cushing in 1947 as St. Coletta School to serve those he called his "exceptional" children, and he often spoke with great affection of his visits with the children there. [. . .]



Meeting with seminarians

Tuesday evening, I had dinner with another class of our seminarians, along with our vocation director, Father Eric Cadin. This time, I met with the men in their third year of theology studies.

As we always do, we had Vespers, dinner, and a time of conversation. These are the men who will be ordained transitional deacons in the spring. So, it was wonderful to have a chance to hear about their experiences.



Bishop-elect Cristiano Barbosa

Wednesday, at the noon Mass at the Pastoral Center, Bishop-elect Cristiano Barbosa made his Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity.

A new bishop is required to take the oath and make his profession of faith before his ordination. Very often, that is done privately in the presence of the ordinary with several witnesses. That's the way we've always done it in the past, and, in fact, I always made them do it in Latin! But this is the first time we did it publicly and as part of a Mass. We were so happy that his parents had arrived from Brazil and were able to be with us, along with many members of our Pastoral Center staff.

It worked out very well. It gave me an opportunity to explain the significance of the oath and profession and the role of the bishop in passing on the faith. I also spoke a bit about the Nicene Creed, which is the basis of the Profession of Faith that a new bishop is called upon to make. I used the reading from 1 Timothy, where St. Paul says, "You made this noble profession in the presence of many witnesses." So, we see that this was done right from the beginning of the Church.