Local
From Cardinal Seán's blog
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Posted: 12/14/2018
Cardinal O'Malley celebrated Mass with the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth on the feast of Blessed Charles de Foucauld. Pilot photo/CardinalSeansBlog.org
On Friday, I went to the IBEW Hall in Dorchester for the Labor Guild's annual Cushing-Gavin Awards Dinner.
We are proud of the work that has been done by the Labor Guild, which is one of the initiatives begun by Cardinal Cushing. Historically, the Church in the United States, since the time of Cardinal James Gibbons, has been very supportive of our labor unions and the right of workers to collective bargaining. In these days of apparent prosperity in our country, income inequality continues to grow. Part of this is because workers do not have a strong voice in their economic future -- this is where unions play an important role.
Each year at the dinner, the guild recognizes four individuals for service in labor-management relations: a member of the labor community, a member of the management community, a labor mediator and a labor attorney. This year, the honorees were Stephen Finnigan, Stephen Coyle, Attorney Sarah Kerr Garraty and Attorney Anne Sills.
Daughters of Mary of Nazareth
On Saturday, I went to Quincy to celebrate Mass with Mother Olga and her community, the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth. Their presence is a great blessing for us and I am pleased to see they continue to have young women interested in joining their community.
That day was the feast of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, one of the charisms that has inspired the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth. So, I was happy to celebrate Mass with the sisters on this special day.
Catholic Appeal Appreciation Mass
On Sunday morning, we had our annual Catholic Appeal Appreciation Mass at the Pastoral Center. We hold this Mass each year as an opportunity to thank the people for their support to the Appeal.
We are grateful for all they do in helping to advance the mission of the Church in Boston.
Meeting with Fathers Kesicki, Boughton and Stegman
On Tuesday, I met with Father Timothy Kesicki, who is the president of the Jesuit Conference of the U.S. and Canada along with Father Michael Boughton, rector of St. Peter Faber Jesuit Community in Brighton, and Father Tom Stegman, dean of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.
It was good to hear about the many Jesuits in formation at the Faber Community and the Jesuit priests residing there while pursuing advanced studies at the B.C. School of Theology and Ministry. I thanked them for the presence of their young priests, who are helping out in many of our parishes and ethnic ministries. I know their presence is greatly appreciated by the priests and people of the archdiocese.
Father Kesicki has significant responsibilities as president of the U.S./Canada Jesuit Conference and shared with us reports of the good work that is being done by the Jesuits in many dioceses throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Meeting with Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria University
On Wednesday, I met with Jim Towey, the president of Ave Maria University in Florida. I am on the board of the university and he wanted to update me on some of their activities and projects.
One of those projects is a special institute on Mother Teresa. As part of that, they take students to Calcutta and many different places in the world so they can work with Mother Teresa's sisters. I understand it has been a wonderful experience for them.
