Cardinal O'Malley poses for a photo with a group of young adult men participating in a vocation retreat at St. John's Seminary. Pilot photo/CardinalSeansBlog.org
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Before I move on to the events of my week, there are a couple of final items from my time in Rome that I'd like to share with you.
On Oct. 29, I visited the Carmelite Sisters of Charity of Vedruna at their generalate in Rome. This is the order of sisters who worked with me for 20 years in Washington. It's a Catalan community that was started in Barcelona by St. Joaquina Vedruna de Mas. She began working with the famous Capuchin Friar Esteban de Olot, who helped her start the order. Now, there are almost 2,000 sisters all over the world.
I had such a wonderful experience with the sisters in Washington. They were so dedicated to the poor and were such hard workers. When I first started the Centro Catolico, people would say, "How many people work there?" And I would answer, "11 -- me and a Spanish sister who counts for 10!"
They were just extraordinary women, and later on, they affiliated me with their community. So, I was pleased to have this chance to meet with them.
Funeral of Father Thomas Oates
Friday, I went to St. Mary's in Brookline to celebrate the funeral of Father Thomas Oates. Many of his parishioners from the parishes where he had worked gathered for the funeral Mass along with many of his priest friends and relatives, including his sister, Sister Mary Oates, who is a Sister of St. Joseph. Father Unni, who had his first assignment with Father Oates, preached the homily.
Father Oates had a long and faithful priestly ministry. He served as the priest personnel director of the archdiocese and was also a member of the St. James Society, working in Latin America for over 20 years.
Vocation retreat
Friday evening, I joined a vocation retreat at St. John's Seminary for young adult men. During the weekend, the men participated in the life of the seminary and visited some local parishes. I joined them for dinner that night, and afterward, I gave them a talk on prayer. Then, we had a time of dialogue.
Our vocations office is doing great work to promote priestly vocations in the archdiocese, and we are very grateful to them.
Investiture ceremony
As the Grand Prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Northeastern Lieutenancy, I was happy to celebrate the investiture ceremony for new members of the order on Saturday evening. The order is growing. This year, there was a very large group of new members, and the bishops of the region joined us for the ceremony.
Afterwards, there was a dinner in Braintree, where the seminarians from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary provided the entertainment.