Cardinal Seán's Blog

Greetings and welcome back,

As I am sure many of you heard in the news, this week the state of Arizona passed a law that makes it a crime under state law to be an undocumented immigrant. Perhaps most disturbingly, the new law allows police to stop anyone they suspect of being undocumented and to demand they show proof of citizenship.

It is disturbing to see such anti-immigrant prejudice being stirred up again in the United States. It was not long ago when we Irish (and other European Catholics) were the objects of this same nativism and there was a negative attitude towards us, our Church, and our culture. We have always been an immigrant Church in the United States, and we must have a special regard for those who are coming to our shores. Certainly, the United States has a right and an obligation to control its borders but, at the same time, we also need just and reasonable immigration laws. The fact that there are millions of undocumented people in the United States is an issue it behooves us to resolve. These people are paying taxes, are part of our work force, and are part of our community. It would be impractical, and indeed impossible, to deport all these people. The only way that we can really heal the situation is by coming up with a path towards legality, but that must be part of a comprehensive immigration program that has reasonable quotas. Sometimes, our quotas do not represent what the work force really needs in the United States.

Having spent my whole life working with immigrants I can say that the Europeans would love to have our problem. The children of immigrants who come to this country — whether they come documented or undocumented — will be Americans, and they will identify with this country, defend it and be part of this body politic.

Unfortunately, the proposals of President Bush and the Kennedy-McCain Bill did not pass. I realize that today’s economic climate makes it more challenging to deal with the issue, but it needs to be dealt with at a national level and with great regard for the social justice questions involved. This issue cannot be solved through the hysterical response of local communities that will cause a great human suffering, discrimination against our own Hispanic citizens and legal residents, and deeper divisions within an already polarized community.

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On Friday, I was in Atlanta for the annual Catholic University of America Cardinal’s Dinner, which raises funds for scholarships for the school.

It’s always a great encouragement to see the fine young Catholic men and women who are coming out of the university.

This year the gala was hosted by Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory. The cardinals and the nuncio were there, as were many members of the Board of Trustees, of which I am a part.

There were a number of students from the Archdiocese of Boston there as well. I was happy to be with them.

One of the students came up and introduced himself to me. I immediately recognized him from his name – Bobby Kilner. He had sung the “Star Spangled Banner” at the dinner.

He is one of nine children, and his father was also one of nine children. His grandparents belonged to my Teams of Our Lady — a Christian family movement — when I was a young priest. His father was one of my students at Catholic University. It was a great joy to see this young man who has just graduated with a degree in philosophy and is very dedicated to his faith.

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This past Friday and Saturday, we had our annual Eucharistic Congress here in Boston at Sacred Heart Church in the North End.

Father Benedict Groeschel was here this year, which was a great honor and a thrill for us. Father, despite his health problems, is still young at heart and loves to have the opportunity to speak to young people. It was a great grace to have him in our midst.

I was the main celebrant and homilist at the Mass on Saturday, and then I joined our young people for dinner and participated in Eucharistic adoration and the procession through the streets of the North End that followed.

The wonderful response of young people who participated in the conferences, service projects, Mass, and procession show the great devotion to the Church and to Christ in the Blessed Sacrament that is drawing these young people to this level of participation in the life of our local Church.

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On Sunday, I visited St. Jerome Parish in Weymouth, where I celebrated a Mass and saw renovations they had recently made to the parish school.

I was struck by the work they have done on the school, particularly the SmartBoards they have put together so the students can incorporate even more technology into their learning.

Father Robert Blaney is doing an extraordinary job there, and his mother and some of his family joined us Sunday. It was nice to meet them and the other parish leaders.

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From there, I went to a surprise party for Msgr. George Carlson, pastor of Holy Name Parish in West Roxbury.

He was roasted by his fellow priests, family members and parishioners. He took all the kidding with good sportsmanship.

It was his 70^th birthday.  They gave him, at one point, a dunce cap to wear and these glasses that had a big 70 on them.

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Monday evening, I had a Cursillo Mass at St. Patrick Parish in Stoneham.

We had about 1,200 people there for the Mass. It was an opportunity for me to thank them and talk to them about evangelization, and the important role Cursillo has had in my own life and the life of the Church. I also encouraged them to be faithful to their “fourth day.” For those unfamiliar with the term, the “fourth day” makes reference to the Christian call to live faithfully every day as they learn to live the faith during the three days Cursillo retreat.

As usual, the singing was just overwhelming. Someone said to me after the Mass, “What if the singing at our Sunday Masses was like it was here tonight?”

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The following day, I had Confirmations at St. Joseph Parish in Malden.

Father John Mulloy is the parochial vicar there, but he is also the Episcopal Vicar for the region.

The pastor, Father Bill Milligan, said that in the house he’s the boss, and when Father John goes out, Father John is the boss!

They had a lovely Confirmation class. Father Bill, who has been there for many years, said that when he came, these children were in second grade. Now they are all taller than he is!

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On Wednesday morning at our Pastoral Center, I attended the gathering of the pastoral associates from our parishes.

Sister Patricia Boyle has been functioning as our liaison together with Father David Couturier ever since Sister Dorothea retired.

We had a very lovely prayer service and listened to testimony about the wonderful work that is being done.

I said a few words to them towards the end of the gathering

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On Wednesday evening I visited St. Augustine Parish in Andover to participate in their 5^th annual Vocations Awareness Week. The parish Vocations Committee, under the guidance of  Father Peter Gori and Father Joseph Narog, and assisted by the young adults of the Augustinian Volunteers, has had great success in raising awareness about the reality that vocations are everyone’s business. The committee helps young people to understand that priesthood, religious life, marriage, parenthood and single life are all vocations in the context of our faith.

With the parish Vocation Committee

With Father Richard, Brother John DelCasale, Father Peter Gori and Father Joseph Narog

With Augustinian Volunteers Charles Knibbs, Erika Esposito and Andrew Slike

The parish turned out in great numbers for this event. The church was filled as together we prayed the Augustinian Corona and offered a reflection on my own experience of being called to religious life and priesthood. The Corona (which means “crown”) is an Augustinian devotion, consisting of 13 Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Be’s, that prayerfully meditates on the Apostles’ Creed and is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Mother of Consolation. The friars presented me with my own corona before the prayer service. I noted that it had far fewer beads than the Franciscan rosary we wear with our habit and wondered if they were getting a shortcut on their prayers!

For over three years the Corona has been prayed at St. Augustine Parish each First Friday for the specific intention of an increase in vocations.  I am very grateful to Father Gori, all the friars, and the entire parish community for their dedication and commitment to this important work on behalf of the Church.

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We are pleased to announce that Father J. Bryan Hehir, Cabinet Secretary for Social Services and Health Care, has been invited to participate in a symposium hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican this coming October. The topic for the symposium is “Caritas in veritate and the United States” and is the result of a joint collaboration with the Pontifical Council and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is a ministry of the Holy See dedicated to promoting justice, peace and human rights throughout the world. Pope Benedict XVI, in his latest encyclical, Caritas in veritate, speaks to the issues of “integral human development” and what justice means in today’s global economy.

Father Hehir is an international expert in the area of ethics and foreign policy and the role of religion across the global landscape and in American society. His work has encompassed a broad range of challenges that he has met with distinction, including taking leadership of Catholic Charities USA two days prior to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He very carefully and capably guided that agency through some of our nation’s most difficult hours, ensuring that Charities’ essential services continued to be provided during the crisis. He also served on the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, addressing issues of both foreign and domestic policy for the Church in the United States.

I am very grateful to Father Hehir for his continued service to the Archdiocese of Boston as priest, cabinet secretary, strategic advisor and professor and for his long standing commitment to pastoral ministry in the prisons, our parishes and with Pro-Life ministries.

Having known Father Hehir for more than 20 years, he was one of the first people I asked to join me when Pope John Paul II appointed me Archbishop of Boston. He has brought a vast understanding of the important place our Church has in society and inspires us with his compassion, vision and fidelity to the work of the Church. His voice brings clarity to our message and mission in serving the Catholic community here in Boston.

We are pleased and honored that Father Hehir has been invited to participate at the Pontifical Council symposium and are confident he will provide many helpful and important contributions to the proceedings.

Until next week,

Cardinal Seán

Greetings, once again.

This past Thursday morning, I had a Mass at BC High where we presented the Ignatius Awards to three deserving recipients:

John Mahoney

Francis Furey

Norman Swain

All of them gave very moving witness talks in which they underlined their commitment to the faith and the values that had been nurtured at BC High.

It was a very valuable thing for the young students to hear from these dedicated Catholic laymen who had received such good formation at BC High.

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Later that evening, I attended a dinner for the Jesuits in our area. Each year, they have a banquet to raise funds for the New England Province of Jesuits, particularly to support their retired priests and formation program.

I was happy to be a part of it and to be there with their new provincial, Father Myles Sheehan. I was asked to present him at the banquet. He is a very accomplished physician — a gerontologist. I told him I particularly admired his courage for going on CatholicTV’s “Going MyWay” with Father Chris Hickey, who had him playing the guitar.

At the dinner, they presented the Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam Award to Dick and Ann Marie Connolly. This award is given annually at this dinner to recognize those who generously help others.

The Connollys with Father Sheehan

You may know that Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, Latin for “for the greater glory of God”, is the Jesuit motto.

Dick is a very successful financial broker with Morgan Stanley, having been nationally and regionally recognized. He helps organize a golf outing to benefit the Francis Ouimet Caddie Scholarship. Ann Marie enjoyed a marvelous career with an educational consulting firm, serves as a trustee at several non-profit organizations, including Colby College, the Lahey Clinic, and is the incoming chair of Hestia, a women’s group which funds after-school programs. They also support numerous organizations in the region including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, College of the Holy Cross, and WPI. They are parishioners of Holy Family in Concord where Ann Marie serves on the pastoral council.

The evening was a very successful. There were about 1,200 people there — a sign of the great affection people have for the Jesuits who historically have been such an important part of the Archdiocese. In fact, our second bishop, Bishop Fenwick, was a Jesuit.

Still today the order has a very large presence here, numbering about 300.

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On Friday morning, I gave the keynote address at the third annual Co-Workers in the Vineyard Conference at the Campion Renewal Center in Weston.

This conference brings together parish staff members — both ordained and lay — from around the archdiocese for a day of reflection about ministry in the Church today.

Dr. Aldonna Lingertat, director of the MAM program

This year there were so many people they had to turn people away from it. It was a very successful conference.

I gave a talk on lay ministry and evangelization. You can listen to my remarks here:

The conference was organized by the Master of Arts in Ministry program at St. John’s Seminary and our Office for Clergy Support and Ongoing Formation, and co-sponsored by other archdiocesan offices. Everybody involved did a wonderful job of running it.

I am also thankful to the support from Our Sunday Visitor, which helped fund the conference.

Following my talk, I recognized Lynn Kenn for all her work witnessing to the pro-life cause.  Twenty-five years ago she founded the Parish Baby Shower Program in our Archdiocese to help women in crisis pregnancies.

You can hear my remarks and some comments by Lynn here:

We presented her with a hand-painted plate that showed Lynn with her husband, children and me, all together under Our Lady and angels.

I am so grateful to Lynn and all those who have contributed gifts to this very important effort. It was wonderful that so many of her children and grandchildren could be there for the presentation.

With Lynn, Russ and their family

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On Saturday, we had our annual Boston Catholic Men’s Conference. This year, we were blessed to host it at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

I was the main celebrant and homilist for the Mass that afternoon. You can hear my homily here:

We had over 1,500 men from the Archdiocese of Boston and nearby dioceses who gathered for prayer and reflection. The talks were given by the hosts of EWTN’s “Crossing the Goal.” They were very inspiring.

They talked about the challenges and the importance of being Christian disciples in today’s world.

Brian Patrick

Curtis Martin

Peter Herbeck

Danny Abramowicz

In the afternoon, Father Paul O’Brien spoke to the men in the afternoon and shared his story of building the Cor Unum Meal Center at his parish, St. Patrick’s in Lawrence.

Scot Landry

We are so grateful to Scot Landry, his team, all the parish captains, the speakers, and the many volunteers that came to facilitate everything.

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On Sunday, I returned to Haiti, where I saw the progress of the ongoing earthquake relief efforts.

I went back principally to visit the hospital run by the Order of Malta in the town of Milot. During my first trip I did not have time to get to the hospital there, so I promised them that I would return.

The hospital is called Hopital Sacre Coeur, or Sacred Heart Hospital. I would guess that it is currently the best hospital in Haiti. A committee of the Order of Malta runs it, and the hospital is staffed largely with volunteer doctors and nurses from the U.S., though it is administered by resident Haitian doctors. Also, a community of Irish sisters has recently come down to work in the town there.

In the helicopter with the Nuncio and his assistant

We flew to Port-au-Prince and then took a helicopter to Milot. When we arrived we were met by schoolchildren, and they sang for us. A little girl in a wheelchair had a bouquet of flowers for me. It was the first time a cardinal had ever visited there so they wanted to make it special.

The hospital is an amazing institution by the standards of Haiti. It has all kinds of wonderful equipment, much of it donated through the Ascension Health Care System.

Our Catholic hospitals of Boston — the Caritas Christi system — has been supporting that hospital. They sent down several very special medical tents.

Each of the tents carries the name of one of our hospitals in Boston. This one is the Carney Hospital tent

The St. E’s tent

It cost about $250,000 to put them up. The tents have generators, special flooring, electrical systems and lighting. That allowed for an expansion of the hospital from an 80-bed facility to servicing, at one point, up to 500 patients.

Inside one of the tents

With Peter Kelly – head of the Hospital

We had 75 doctors and nurses from the Caritas Christi hospitals volunteer to serve in Haiti following the earthquake. We were there with Dr. Mark Pearlmutter, who is head of emergency medicine at Caritas Christi, and Michelle Fey, the head of nursing at Caritas.

From left, Peter Kelly, Dr. Mark Perlmutter, Michelle Fey – head of nursing services for Caritas , Jim O’Connor from the Order of Malta, Dr. Roger Jean Charles and Scott Campbell from CRS.

It was very encouraging to see how much has been accomplished.

The late Tom Flatley built them a beautiful hospital lab years ago. His sister, who was a chemistry teacher, came and oversaw its set up.

Tom asked that the lab be dedicated to Mother Teresa

The hospital has also installed a water purification plant that runs on solar power. That is so important because potable water is such a luxury in Haiti.

The water purification plant. Right beside it they are building a small factory to make prosthetic limbs for the amputees.

Many children have had limbs amputated. Losing a limb is always a difficult but, for children, it is more complicated because over the period of their growth they will need several new limbs.

There were some babies with tuberculosis of the spine. One little baby was found in the rubble four or five days after the earthquake buried under dead bodies, including those of her parents.

As you can see, she’s doing fine

This hospital, because it is out in the countryside, was not at all affected by the earthquake, so it became the major trauma center after the earthquake. The U.S. military and the U.N. would bring several patients a day by helicopter for surgery and medical care at this wonderful hospital.

In the following video,  published back in February, Dr.  Perlmutter described in a very moving way the efforts our physicians performed in the aftermath of the earthquake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The area we were visiting is part of the Archdiocese of Cap-Haïtien. After we visited the patients, we had an outdoor Mass for the patients and the staff. Archbishop Louis Kébreau, who is a salesian, concelebrated.

From the left, Archbishop Louis Kébreau and the Nuncio, Archbishop Bernardito Cleopas Auza

Some of the town’s people also came to the Mass. I celebrated the Mass in Creole. The youngsters were all fascinated that this old white man spoke Creole!

It was a beautiful celebration. There was lovely singing. Haitians, of course, have such a beautiful sense of celebration.

After visiting the hospital, the archbishop invited us to visit the ruins of the Sans-Souci Palace, which is the palace of King Henri Christophe, who, after the Haitian revolution 200 years ago ruled the Northern Kingdom. The southern part of the country became a republic. He built this beautiful Versailles-like palace there in the town of Milot, which was the capital of the Northern Kingdom.

Walking up the hill towards the palace

The ruins of the King Henri Christophe Sans-Souci Palace.
This is a statue of his wife

The palace was destroyed in 1842, during another earthquake that devastated the region and was never rebuilt.

The only part of the palace that is still intact from that time is the chapel, which is used as the parish church. It has an extraordinary dome.

When we came down the mountain we were greeted by a band. The children had very spiffy uniforms, but very old instruments. They played the national anthem and then another song, which was a greeting song.

The children of the parish gave us a presentation on their pro-life and chastity courses they have at the parish. I was impressed by it.

They also gave me a beautiful painting showing the parish and what the palace looked like originally. It was done in the typical Haitian “primitivisme” style.

It was a very interesting visit and I was impressed by the works that our people are doing. You can look at more photos here and watch a video that summarizes the day:

We returned to Port-au-Prince in the evening and we had dinner at the Nunciature with a number of the officials from the UN, the Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo and other NGOs. The nuncio was good enough to bring these people together so we could hear from them their hopes, objectives and concerns. What an excellent job the nuncio is doing!

Also, we had time to spend with the administrator of Port-au-Prince, Monsignor Joseph Lafontant.

Msgr. Lafontant showing us a photo of the Cathedral before the earthquake

In Port-au-Prince the next day, we visited the Catholic hospital that is being administered by Catholic Relief Services. It’s basically in tents, but it’s on the site of the oldest hospital in Port-au-Prince, Hospital St. Francois de Sales.

This is what is left of the St. Francois de Sales Hospital

The group of surgeons we met there are from Bon Secours Hospital in Baltimore. When we met the doctors, some were wearing lamps on their foreheads, like miners, because they kept losing electricity and would have to do operations by flashlight.

Talking with the doctors

A closer look at a doctor with a flashlight they use to perform surgery
by flashlight

On that visit we were accompanied by Deacon Patrick Moynihan and his wife. As you may remember from my post on my first visit they are running a very successful school for poor children there

The recovery after the earthquake is very, very slow. About 1.5 million people are still in tent cities. You don’t see heavy equipment moving the rubble. There has been a lot of planning going on up until now but you don’t see dramatic improvements.

An aerial view of Port-au-Prince from our helicopter. You can see a tent-city and collapsed houses

Right now, the priority is to get permanent housing for the people. That has its challenges, but they’re beginning to initiate projects of bringing in prefabricated housing.

After that, they’ll try to deal with the situation of the schools. Presently, very few children are able to attend school.

Also, the nuncio is anxious to begin to rebuild some of the churches, if nothing else, to be a sign of hope to the people and that things will return to some normalcy. Our bishops’ conference has had conversations with Catholic relief organizations in Europe to try and coordinate what specific projects each will be responsible for. Of course, Catholic relief organizations are still the lead organizations as far as relief efforts. They have done an extraordinary job there.

Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti, and for all who are administering relief efforts.

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Yesterday, I was very happy to be visited by Pablo Eduardo, a local sculptor who has produced some very significant art for the Boston area.

I have known him since he was a child because his father worked for me in Washington as editor of the Spanish-language archdiocesan newspaper, El Pregonero.

I was pleasantly surprised when I came to Boston to discover that Pablo was here with his family and has a studio in Gloucester. He has done beautiful works including a statue of Boston Mayor Kevin White commissioned by the city.

He also has created a statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola at Boston College.

Pablo is now finishing his work on a statue of St. Thomas More for the BC Law School.

Until next week,

Cardinal Seán