BRAINTREE -- The Archdiocese of Boston's Opioid Task Force is offering a series of four free webinars specifically geared towards Catholic school parents, guardians, and teachers and designed to help them formulate their response to the opioid epidemic.
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SOUTH END -- Police officers, firefighters, EMTs, corrections officers, and other first responders from across the Archdiocese of Boston will be honored Oct. 1 during the annual Mass for Public Safety Personnel and Families, held this year at St. Theresa of Avila Church in West Roxbury.
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DANVERS -- Three noted regional chefs competed in a one-of-a-kind cook-off in Danvers, Sept. 14, in support of Catholic Charities North's Friends Feeding Families campaign and the new Catholic Charities Food Pantry in Lynn.
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WATERTOWN -- On Sept. 15 and Sept. 16, the CatholicTV Network held its 26th Telethon, raising over $300,000 from generous viewers in the United States and abroad. This year's telethon was hosted by Bishop Robert Reed, Jay Fadden, and Kevin Nelson, and featured acts by talented performers, including singers from St. Bridget's Parish in Maynard; comedy duo Nun and Nunner; and renowned musicians Eric Genuis and Stephanie Scogna.
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BRAINTREE -- When in 1996, Father Richard Bradford, rector of the Episcopalian Parish of All Saints in Ashmont, left the Episcopal Church, several dozen parishioners left with him. It wasn't that they had lost their faith; just that they had discovered another one, Catholicism, and it spoke to them.
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BRAINTREE -- Four Boston College students studying overseas were injured in an acid attack, Sept. 17, in Marseille, France. BC juniors Courtney Siverling, Charlotte Kaufman, Michelle Krug, and Kelsey Kosten were at a train station in Marseille when a woman sprayed them with an acidic solution. The students were taken to the hospital, where they were treated for burns and released later that day.
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During 2017 and 2018, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston and associates will gather for chapter weekends in September, October, February, and March. A special theme is selected each time the sisters prepare for a general chapter. The theme for the 2017-2018 chapter is "Impelled by God's inclusive Love."
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This week I have been in Rome for meetings of the C9 Council of Cardinals advising the Holy Father on the reform of the Roman Curia and for activities of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
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BRAINTREE -- The Archdiocese of Boston's Opioid Task Force is offering a series of four free webinars specifically geared for Catholic school parents, guardians, and teachers designed to help them formulate their response to the opioid epidemic.
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In a strongly worded statement, the bishops of the four dioceses of Massachusetts voiced support for young immigrants affected by the recent rollback of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and urged Congress to act to protect them.
Read more[Editor's Note: The four Roman Catholic bishops of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have drafted a statement urging Congress to protect the DACA program that was recently terminated by President Trump. DACA is an immigration policy established by the Obama administration that allows some individuals who entered the country illegally as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit, that was recently terminated by President Trump.]
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Gold Star families, veterans, members of the community, and parishioners of Our Lady of Good Voyage gathered at the newly erected shrine on the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks for a Mass of Remembrance and candlelight vigil.
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MEDWAY -- Maryanne Mandolese loved God all her life, she said, and over the years that love grew and grew and it gave her strength. Where once she was insecure and afraid, God, and her love for Him, gave her confidence and gave her purpose.
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BILLERICA -- Derek Elledge didn't know if he had been baptized as a child, but to him, that didn't really matter. What he did know was that now, as a middle-aged adult, he heard the Holy Spirit calling him, and it was calling him to enter the Catholic faith.
Read moreWEST PEABODY -- Dom Alcuin Reid, one of the foremost scholars of the history and ceremonies of the Roman Liturgy, will visit Massachusetts next week to share his expertise with local Catholics. A native of Australia now stationed at a monastery in southern France, Dom Alcuin is the featured speaker at the upcoming Culmen et Fons Conference on Liturgical Formation, to be held at St. Adelaide's Church in West Peabody from Sept. 18 to 22.
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Last Saturday (9/2) I had the joy of ordaining 12 Jesuit deacons at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill. The new deacons come from various Jesuits provinces, including three that are from Nigeria. The evening before, I joined the scholastics for dinner and Vespers at the Peter Faber House, the Jesuit community at Boston College. We are very blessed to have so many young Jesuits here who come to Boston to study at Boston College for many of their provinces throughout the world. During their time here, all of them were assigned work in various parishes of the archdiocese. Many of them are from countries that have a large immigrant population in Boston, so it's particularly helpful for us to have them present, helping out in our parishes.
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BRAINTREE -- A special collection scheduled for this weekend to support the relief efforts related to Hurricane Harvey has now been expanded to also benefit areas affected by Hurricane Irma, as well as other natural disasters that may affect the U.S. this year.
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BRAINTREE -- President Donald Trump has begun dismantling a federal program designed to grant young unauthorized immigrants protections against deportation, giving Congress six months to replace the policy.
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The presbyterate of the archdiocese gained two new members on Sept. 6 when Father John Chen and Father Jose Marques were incardinated into the archdiocese and so became "Boston priests." The incardination was celebrated at a Mass at the Pastoral Center celebrated by Bishop Peter Uglietto Sept. 6.
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Seven candidates for ordination to the permanent diaconate and their wives participated in the Ceremony of Sacred Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity on Aug. 29 at the Bethany Chapel at the archdiocese's Pastoral Center in Braintree. This ceremony is the final step for these seven deacon candidates before they receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders on Sept. 30 at St. Edith Stein Parish in Brockton.
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TEWKSBURY -- Deacon Reynold G. Spadoni has been named vice president of Mission Integration for Covenant Health. In this leadership position, he will be responsible for integrating Covenant's mission and values into all aspects of the system and work. Deacon Spadoni is charged with the responsibility of developing and implementing meaningful mission integration strategies, initiatives and formation programs across the Covenant system and will provide guidance for leadership and staff on a wide variety of mission, pastoral and ethical issues.
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BRAINTREE -- Two relics of St. Anthony of Padua will be coming to the Greater Boston area in October, where they will be available for veneration at a number of locations in the Archdiocese of Boston from Oct. 6 to Oct. 15.
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BRAINTREE -- As students begin classes in the new 2017-2018 academic year, several schools in the Archdiocese of Boston have new leadership. The following are among the new top administrators who have recently begun their tenure, listed alphabetically by school.
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WATERTOWN -- On Sept. 15-16 the CatholicTV Network will hold its 26th Telethon, featuring music, entertainment, highlights from CatholicTV programs, and special guests. Each year, CatholicTV holds the Telethon as its most important fundraiser to support its ministry of providing programming that inspires and educates Catholics in the U.S. and around the world.
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Hurricane Harvey I want to express my concern and offer my prayers for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. In addition, I have authorized a special collection at all Masses next weekend, September 9-10, to aid in the relief efforts.
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BRAINTREE -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley urged President Donald Trump not to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program amid reports that the president is considering doing so.
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DANVERS -- Pete Frates was honored at St. John's Prep in Danvers, his alma mater, during a ceremony that celebrated him with two accompanying first-ever school accolades and saw him named the school's 2018 Distinguished Alumnus.
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BRAINTREE -- As Labor Day 2017 approaches, many see the middle class as shrinking, the wage gap increasing, and the cost of living on an upward curve. For Allyson Every, executive director of the Labor Guild, all of that only makes her organization more relevant than ever.
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BOSTON -- The Board of Trustees of Boston College High School announced Aug. 24 that they have elected Grace Cotter Regan as their new president. She will be the first woman to head BC high in its over 150-year history.
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EASTON -- With plans to construct two new structures on its campus, Stonehill College has reorganized its academic program into two distinct schools: the Schools of Arts and Sciences and the Leo J. Meehan School of Business.
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BRAINTREE -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley has authorized a special collection, to be taken the weekend of Sept. 9-10 in all parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston, in support of the relief efforts to those areas devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
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An important visit to Pittsburgh This past weekend (8/19-20), I went to Pittsburgh to be present as three of our Capuchin seminarians made their solemn vows of profession -- Brothers Keon Tu, Diogo Escudero and Saul Soriano. They were professed in St. Augustine Church, the very church where I made my profession so many years ago. It was also the church where I was ordained a priest.
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BRAINTREE -- For three days they traveled, driving a total of 1,352 miles from Massachusetts to their eventual destination of Athens, Tenn. Once there, they pulled into a parking lot, put down chairs, put on special sunglasses, and took out a pair of solar binoculars.
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After spending seven weeks interning at Fidelity Investment, Jarrivel Baez, a soon-to-be senior at Cathedral High School in Boston, can't say for certain if she would want to pursue a business career. What she is certain of, however, is that the internship "definitely opened my eyes."
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BOSTON (CNS) -- If a Catholic priest violates his vow of celibacy and fathers a child, he has "a moral obligation to step aside from ministry and provide for the care and needs of the mother and the child," said Boston Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley.
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SOUTH END -- The youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombing was honored during an Aug. 16 ground breaking ceremony for a park that will be built in his memory. The family of 8-year-old Martin Richard joined Mayor Martin Walsh, Gov. Charlie Baker and a crowd of supporters at a touching ceremony at the park site on the South Boston waterfront.
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BRAINTREE -- While the V National Encuentro is still a little over a year away, parishes across the Archdiocese of Boston are busily holding their own Encuentros. A U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops initiative, the Encuentro (Spanish for "Encounter") is a two-year process designed to encourage evangelization, leadership development, and consultation in Hispanic communities across the U.S. Parish, diocesan, and regional Encuentros are held before culminating in a National Encuentro.
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Of course, since the famous Colleen McCullough novel The Thorn Birds, published in 1977, people have, in literature and real life, spoken about priests who have broken their vow of celibacy and fathered children. I believe that this is a serious problem, but in my experience as a priest and as a bishop, the instance of when a priest has fathered a child has not been very frequent. But the priests have themselves seen the need to step away from ministry and dedicate themselves to the upbringing of that child and taking care of the mother.
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