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  • 4/16/2021

    Cardinal celebrates feast of Divine Mercy at Salem shrine

    SALEM -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley visited the St. John Paul II Shrine of Divine Mercy for the celebration of Mass on April 11, Divine Mercy Sunday. Formerly St. John the Baptist Polish Church, the St. John Paul II Shrine of Divine Mercy emphasizes the contributions of two Polish saints: St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, who received the commission of the Divine Mercy image in her visions of Christ, and St. Pope John Paul II, who instituted the Sunday after Easter as the feast of Divine Mercy.

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  • 4/16/2021

    Forming the Future: Trinity Catholic Academy collects food for local pantry

    BROCKTON -- "I've always instilled a sense of service into my students," Andrea Hurm said April 12. When she came to Brockton's Trinity Catholic Academy in 2020 to teach middle school religion, one of the first things she wanted to know was what kind of service the school community conducted. After consulting the head of school, Dr. Jennifer Roy, and hearing how the coronavirus pandemic limited the types of activities that were possible, she decided to organize something that students, staff, and faculty could all safely participate in: a series of food drives held throughout the academic year.

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  • 4/16/2021

    Ordination Class of 2021: Deacon Kevin Pleitez

    This is the second in a series of articles profiling the five men who will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on May 22. CHESTNUT HILL -- Deacon Kevin Pleitez felt he had everything he needed for a successful life.

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  • 4/16/2021

    Webinar looks at ways to welcome parishioners back to Mass

    BRAINTREE -- When will the coronavirus pandemic "end," and what will happen when it does? Those questions have been on people's minds for over a year and were addressed during a webinar about forming "A Welcome Back Plan for Your Parish" on April 12. The webinar was meant to give pastors and parish staff creative ideas for engaging with parishioners as the coronavirus pandemic becomes less severe.

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  • 4/16/2021

    From Cardinal Seán's blog

    As I left off last week, we were about to begin our celebrations of the Sacred Triduum. It was wonderful to once again be able to have the faithful present for our liturgies, and I was very encouraged to see that the cathedral was full to capacity for all of our celebrations.

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  • 4/9/2021

    Easter Triduum celebrated at cathedral

    After being closed to worshipers in 2020, this week the Cathedral of the Holy Cross once again welcomed the faithful for in-person celebrations of the Easter Triduum liturgies led by Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley April 1-April 4.

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  • 4/9/2021

    BC nursing students head to Northern Maine for service

    BOSTON -- For the past two decades, Donna Cullinan has led students from Boston College Connell School of Nursing on service trips to Haiti or Jamaica. This year, with pandemic and travel restrictions preventing their usual international travel, the students will bring their abilities and resources to underserved Maine communities close to the Canadian border.

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  • 4/9/2021

    Ordination Class of 2021: Deacon Robert LeBlanc

    This is the first in a series of articles profiling the five men who will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on May 22. BRIGHTON -- Even though he spent his childhood in Libertyville, a town north of Chicago, Deacon Robert LeBlanc has always considered Boston his home.

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  • 4/9/2021

    Educational palliative care series premieres on CatholicTV

    WATERTOWN -- A new original series called "Talking of Palliative Care" premiered this week on the CatholicTV Network. The 13-part series introduces viewers to the subject of palliative care through conversations between Dr. Karen O'Brien, director of Inpatient Palliative Care at Massachusetts General Hospital, and MC Sullivan RN MTS JD, chief healthcare ethicist for the Archdiocese of Boston.

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  • 4/9/2021

    From Cardinal Seán's blog

    Last Friday, the Papal Foundation organized a Zoom meeting with some of our supporters to help them to better understand the kinds of activities that are being supported by the foundation. The main speaker of the gathering was Archbishop Joseph Marino, who is now the head of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains the nuncios and diplomats of the Holy See. It was consoling to hear him speak, realizing that he is the person who is training nuncios for the Holy Father, because he really wants the nuncios to be good priests and good shepherds. It was very encouraging.

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  • 4/2/2021

    Capuchins take homeless ministry to the streets

    JAMAICA PLAIN -- Before making their typical Saturday rounds, the Capuchin Mobile Ministries received a special visitor on March 27: Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley came by to bless their specially designed van, which they use to serve the physical and spiritual needs of the homeless in Boston and Cambridge.

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  • 4/2/2021

    From Cardinal Seán's blog

    On Saturday, I was happy to celebrate the confirmations of a group of students from Boston University. At the same time, as we were celebrating that Mass, they were celebrating the funeral of Rose Patek in Texas. Rose was instrumental in the building of the Betania II Retreat Center in Medway and, for many years, generously supported our campus ministry efforts, which included helping us to bring FOCUS campus ministry to the archdiocese.

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  • 3/26/2021

    Theological Institute hosts conversation on post-pandemic Church

    BRAINTREE -- After a year of pandemic restrictions and virtual gatherings, many have adjusted to a new way of parish life. But what will the Church look like after the pandemic has passed? That question was taken up in a webinar entitled "The Church After the Pandemic," hosted by the Theological Institute of the New Evangelization on March 16.

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  • 3/26/2021

    Archdiocese adjusts COVID protocols, looks forward to Holy Week and summer

    BRAINTREE -- With the steady rollout of vaccines and declining numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations, the archdiocese is beginning to loosen protocols for Mass and other parish activities. In an announcement released March 17, the archdiocese said parishes may now employ a "simplified" form of social distancing: they can use every other pew and have people of different households sit apart with double arm's length between them.

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  • 3/26/2021

    Second Massachusetts city to recognize polyamorous relationships

    Boston, Mass. (CNA) -- Cambridge, Massachusetts has redefined domestic partnerships to give relationships involving more than two people the same rights as a married couple. Home to Harvard University, Cambridge is the second city in the state, after its neighbor Somerville, legally to recognize polyamory.

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  • 3/26/2021

    Social Justice Ministry holds racial justice workshop

    BRAINTREE -- As a follow-up to last fall's Social Justice Convocation, which focused on issues of racial justice, the Social Justice Ministry held a virtual workshop on March 13 to examine "Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love -- A Pastoral Letter Against Racism," published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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  • 3/26/2021

    From Cardinal Seán's blog

    On Friday, I met with the provincial of the Jesuits' USA East Province, Father Joe O'Keefe, as part of his routine outreach to all the bishops in his province. It was the first time I had spoken to him since he was elected provincial. He was, of course, formerly in the Education Department at Boston College and was very active in supporting our Catholic schools. He has now been appointed provincial of their new USA East Province that is composed of the former New England, New York, and Maryland provinces. The Jesuits are the largest religious order of men in the archdiocese, and they carry out many important ministries here. So, I was happy to have this opportunity to speak to him and receive an update on the Jesuits' activities.

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  • 3/19/2021

    One year later, parishes look back on pandemic experience

    BRAINTREE -- On March 13, 2020, the archdiocese suspended public Masses, and all parish activities as schools and other organizations closed their doors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. To mark one year since then, The Pilot spoke with several pastors about their experiences throughout that time -- how they held onto hope in the midst of so many challenges, and how they helped the faithful stay connected to God and to each other despite their isolation.

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  • 3/19/2021

    Police seeking suspect in vandalism of two churches, school

    BOSTON -- Boston Police are seeking a suspect in the vandalism of two Catholic churches and a Catholic school, which was discovered on the morning of March 12. In Dorchester, police were called to St. Teresa of Calcutta Church and St. John Paul II Catholic Academy around 6:30 a.m. An unknown substance had been discovered on several door locks, preventing the use of keys to enter the school building. The same substance was found on the locks of the church doors, and a circular bicycle lock had been placed on the door handles of the main front entrance doors.

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  • 3/19/2021

    From Cardinal Seán's blog

    Last year, because so many Lenten activities were canceled, we prepared a one-week Virtual Lenten Retreat, and we are planning to do the same this year. It will be presented on Monday through Friday before Holy Week, and it will be presented on CatholicTV, as well as online. So, late last week, we began work on it at the cathedral with Bishop Bob Reed and the team from CatholicTV.

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