'...on Saturday afternoon I had the opportunity to see the progress of the construction of the new Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel in South Boston.' Pilot photo/CardinalSeansblog.org
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Before sharing information about my events and activities of the past week, it must be recognized that our nation continues to recoil from the horror of the killings that took place in Orlando.
As the names of those whose lives were taken during the attack were made known and family members and friends shared their grief, our shock at the unprovoked killings gave way to recognition of the depth of the loss. In particular, the gay and lesbian communities in Orlando, here in Boston, throughout the United States and throughout the world were understandably devastated by this targeted assault. The archdiocese shares in their sorrow and concern. There is no place in the Church or society for hate and vilification of any person or group of persons. All people are created in the image and likeness of God, blessed with the gift of human dignity that calls for our respect and love.
We also stand in solidarity with members of the Muslim community when they are wrongly and dangerously assigned shared responsibility for the attack in Orlando and other violent assaults, simply because they are Muslim. There is no justification for linking their sincere faith and goodwill with these horrendous attacks or for promoting hatred and suspicion of people based on their religious beliefs. At a time when our society is best served by our coming together in shared strength and resolve, such unwarranted appeals to suspicion and isolation threaten the common good. May we rise above these calls to divisiveness and together walk in the light of the Lord.
Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel
As I mentioned in my last post, I spent much of last week in Rome for meetings with the Holy Father.
I returned back to Boston on Saturday (6/11), and that afternoon had an opportunity to see the progress of the construction of the new Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel in South Boston, which is coming along splendidly.
John Hynes IV, great grandson of Boston's Mayor John Hynes of the mid-20th century and son of John Hynes III, the developer of Seaport Square, was kind enough to give us a tour of the building.
At this point, the main structural aspects will be completed by the end of the summer and then they will begin to work on the interior. It is our hope that all the work will be completed and the chapel will be ready for use by next spring.
Spring Assembly of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Saturday evening, I departed for the Diocese of Orange, California to participate in the Spring Assembly of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with Bishop Uglietto, Bishop Kennedy and Bishop-elect Mark O'Connell.
Though the Spring Assembly is meant to be more of a retreat than our fall gathering, we take advantage of all the bishops being together to hold a number of board meetings over the weekend. Then, on Monday (06/13), we began the General Assembly, which ran through the entire week.
That same day, we had an opportunity to welcome the new apostolic nuncio to the states, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, who is coming to us from Mexico. He is a very experienced papal representative, having had 10 previous postings in other parts of the world.
During the course of the week, we heard a number of talks from Cardinal Tagle of Manila on the ministry and role of the bishop. He did an extraordinary job, and I know all the bishops were very pleased with his talks. He, having experience as a teacher, spoke a great deal about the importance of the teaching role of the bishop. For my part, I also had an opportunity to speak on a panel on the role of the bishop as a teacher.