BOSTON -- Lawmakers heard hours of testimonies from dozens of people, including a representative of the Catholic Church, about controversial bills that would expand abortion rights in Massachusetts.
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Following are the prepared texts of oral testimony on House Bill 3320 and Senate Bill 1209, known collectively as the ROE Act, presented by representatives of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference to the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary, June 17.
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On May 30, more than 400 guests attended a gala on Emmanuel College's campus to celebrate President Sister Janet Eisner, SNDdeN -- the country's longest-serving woman college president currently in office. Since her inauguration in 1979, Sister Janet has led Emmanuel through a time of innovation, achievement and growth, consistently bringing the college's mission to life and keeping it relevant for new generations of students.
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REVERE -- The religion curriculum for seventh grade at Immaculate Conception School focuses on the Creed. But this year, ICS academic coordinator and middle school religion teacher, Donis Tracy, took the topic in a new direction.
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Several brothers of different congregations of men religious are celebrating significant anniversaries of religious profession and years of service here in the archdiocese and elsewhere. Some have spent decades in education, while others have served in a variety of other pastoral ministries. Congratulations to all the jubilarians; and thanks for your years of consecrated life and service.
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QUINCY -- The 10th annual Redemptoris Mater Seminary Gala Dinner, held at the Boston Marriott Hotel in Quincy on June 16, featured a little bit of everything: from a Hollywood actor to a mariachi band; from seminarians singing popular songs by Mumford and Sons to Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley leading a chant in Latin.
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As the school year comes to an end, The Pilot congratulates all the members of the class of 2019 who graduated from Catholic high schools within the Archdiocese of Boston. This year's roundup of commencement exercises is presented alphabetically by school.
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Last Saturday, we had the joy of ordaining seven transitional deacons at the Cathedral the Holy Cross. These are men who, next year, will be ordained priests. It is always a happy moment for the Church to be ordaining men to ministry.
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BOSTON -- In one of the last steps in their preparation for the priesthood, seven men were ordained transitional deacons on June 8 in a ceremony at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. They will serve as transitional deacons for one year before being ordained priests.
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BOSTON -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley announced June 11 that William Grogan has been appointed as the new president of the Planning Office for Urban Affairs. Grogan succeeds Lisa B. Alberghini, president of the Planning Office since 2003, who said in May that she would be stepping down July 5 to take a position with a national affordable housing organization.
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BOSTON -- Representatives of several pro-life organizations held a press conference at the State House on June 5 to share the results of a recent poll indicating that a majority of Massachusetts voters oppose proposed changes to state abortion legislation.
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BROOKLINE -- St. Mary of the Assumption Parish plans to prepare for the feast of Corpus Christi by hosting the Vatican International Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles on the weekend of June 15 and 16.
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Of course, this is the time of year when many confirmations are celebrated and, over the weekend, I had the joy of celebrating three confirmation Masses at parishes in the archdiocese. Though receiving confirmation is always a special event in the life of a young person, I thought it was particularly nice that these celebrations were held during the Pentecost Novena. It is the time when the Early Church was gathered in intense prayer, waiting for the coming of the gifts of the Spirit that transformed the community on Pentecost.
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Boston -- Dozens of protestors disrupted a planned pro-life rally at Boston Common, leading to shouted arguments and physical altercations during what had in previous years been an energetic, but peaceful, call to end abortions.
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SOMERVILLE -- Cardinal Seán O'Malley has approved the merging of the three parishes that make up the Somerville Tri-Parish Catholic Community. St. Ann Parish, St. Joseph Parish, and St. Catherine of Genoa Parish will become a single parish, though each church building will retain its name.
Read moreQUINCY -- A Night 4 Life, a night of prayer, education, and celebration for the gift of life, will take place on June 19 at the Veterans Memorial Stadium. The event is being organized by the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth and the Sacred Heart Men's Prayer Group. The Flatley Foundation is sponsoring the event, which will be free and open to the public.
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HINGHAM -- Enrollment at St. Paul School has increased by almost 25 percent over the past three years, a trend that Principal Lisa Fasano and Director of Enrollment Jean Schnorr attribute to the culture that the school cultivates.
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FRAMINGHAM -- "How do we get students more authentically involved in their education?" That was the question Principal Cathleen Chaves posed to the teachers at St. Bridget School. In the last trimester of the academic year, Chaves "challenged the teachers to develop a problem-based learning unit appropriate for their grade level," according to materials from the school. The projects would have to "integrate multiple curricular areas" and require students to "make a meaningful contribution to the world."
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EVERETT -- Despite efforts by alumni, parents, and students, Pope John XXIII High School in Everett announced it will close at the end of this academic year due to financial difficulties. In a May 30 letter to the school community announcing the closure, Headmaster Carl DiMaiti said the school found itself in financial troubles after International Residence Management, a Florida company contracted to bring international boarding students to Pope John High, failed to maintain its agreement with the school. That resulted in a $1.3 million shortfall for the current academic year.
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DORCHESTER -- A statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the grounds of St. Mark Church was vandalized over the weekend of June 1-2. Father Anthony Cusack, a parochial vicar of the St. Mark-St. Ambrose Collaborative, said that after he celebrated the 8 a.m. Mass on June 2, a sacristan informed him that the statue had been found knocked down and broken into three large pieces.
Read moreCHESTNUT HILL -- Boston College has established a Catholic Religious Archives Repository to assist in the collection, preservation, and study of institutional records and documents belonging to Catholic religious orders and congregations in the United States and Canada. The repository will be part of the university's library system, and will be guided by an advisory committee of archivists and faculty associated with Boston College.
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Last Friday, we had a farewell Mass and reception at the Pastoral Center for Kathy Mears, who recently concluded her service as superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Boston, after serving in that post since 2014. She is returning to her hometown of Indianapolis because her husband has been called back there for work.
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WINTHROP -- Hundreds gathered on Deer Island May 25 to witness the dedication of a memorial to the 850 people who died waiting in quarantine to enter this country to escape Ireland's Great Hunger. The memorial, a 16-foot-tall stone Celtic cross overlooking Boston Harbor, marks the burial site of the Irish immigrants who died at the hospital on Deer Island between 1847 and 1850.
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BOSTON -- Rain pelted the tent set up for the May 28 ribbon cutting ceremony of The Union, a new affordable housing community for homeless, formerly homeless, and low-income individuals in downtown Boston.
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BOSTON -- The Planning Office for Urban Affairs (POUA) of the Archdiocese of Boston announced May 27 that Lisa B. Alberghini, president of the Planning Office since 2003, has accepted a senior leadership position with the Housing Partnership Network, a non-profit member organization of 100 top-performing housing developers and financial institutions working to create affordable housing and economic opportunity across the United States.
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This past Saturday we celebrated our presbyteral ordinations in Boston. On the eve of the ordination, I have the custom of gathering for vespers and dinner with the deacons to be ordained priests the next day. That's an opportunity for me to meet with them individually and give them their first assignments. That way when they go to the ordination, they're not worried about what their assignments are going to be, that's all been established for them.
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