Cardinal O'Malley is pictured in front of the plaque and portrait hanging in the Pastoral Center room renamed in his honor. Pilot photo/Gregory L. Tracy
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BRAINTREE -- The formal dining room of the Archdiocese of Boston Pastoral Center in Braintree was officially renamed after Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley, in honor of his time as archbishop of Boston on Sept. 11.
"With gratitude for 21 years of leadership as our humble shepherd, this room is dedicated to Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley," reads a plaque on the wall, which was unveiled by Vicar General Bishop Mark O'Connell. Next to the plaque was a framed photograph of the cardinal's laughing face.
"So many important meetings have happened here, and we want to keep your memory very present in this building," Bishop O'Connell told the cardinal.
The cabinet secretaries of the Archdiocese of Boston were all in attendance for the ceremony.
"It would have been impossible for us to govern this archdiocese without the help of people like yourselves," Cardinal O'Malley told the cabinet members. "Your dedication and wisdom, the ability to hear different opinions that weren't always the same, and factor them into a final decision."
The cardinal said he did not know that the room would be named after him until earlier that morning. He joked that he thought he was going to get "the Cardinal O'Malley speed bump," but was grateful that they chose the dining room.
"I'd much rather have a room where I was able to be with so many of you and other members of our community for joyful occasions," he said. "This is a room that is marked by happiness and joy and solidarity."
Bishop O'Connell remembered the many triumphs and tragedies that the cardinal and cabinet secretaries had experienced together, such as the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the many discussions of important public policy issues.
"You were always not an extremist," he told the cardinal. "You were someone who just wanted to do the right thing."
He said that there is a "profound" difference between the archdiocese when Cardinal O'Malley was installed in 2003, and the archdiocese that he is leaving for his successor, Archbishop-designate Richard Henning, currently Bishop of Providence.
"There's been so much good work," Bishop O'Connell said. "Countless things."