Comments on: In Fatima with the Holy Father

By: Cristina Arouca

Cristina Arouca — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:22:44 +0000

Dear community of Cardinal Sean, I’m from Portugal , and I must say you are very lucky to have such a dedicated , hard working Father ! And all the trouble to actually keep you updated with photos and all ! You are lucky… but I see you still complain…
As to the problem of the child not admitted at the catholic school: well have you thought about how uncoherent the mind of her educational parents (two mothers?) are ? Why should they want the child to go a to a school that reproves their marriage , in the first place ? I have given cathequism to children, and what confuses them the most is not explaining the cruxificion, it’s to have them live under opposite frames. It is very difficult . Maybe those educational parents were actually looking for attention … using the child.

By: John McCarthy

John McCarthy — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:03:13 +0000

Dear Cardinal Sean,

Thanks so much for sharing, and Three Cheers for Tom Monaghan and for Mary Higgins Clark!

They set a high standard for all of us!

John

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 20 May 2010 01:19:51 +0000

I’m shaking your hand in one of those pictures! Thank you so much for coming to our graduation. It meant a lot to us graduates

By: Kathleen Ryan

Kathleen Ryan — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:12:20 +0000

Dear Cardinal Sean,
Thank you for another wonderful blog! I especially enjoyed reading about Ave Maria. It is incredible how quickly the school was built. The chapel is beautiful and I’m sure that it will look amazing with the sculpture of the Annunciation. The model looks very intriguing. I hope that you have a blessed week and I’m looking very much forward to next week’s blog.
God Bless,
Kathleen Ryan
Saint Paul School
Grade 7

By: Sally Stover

Sally Stover — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:07:52 +0000

Dear Cardinal Sean,
The work that Tom Monaghan has done is outstanding. It is amazing to read that he had a conversion, and from that conversion has started a school and helped thousands of people. What you said about if you have toilets, you can start a school, made me think about how important the little things are in life such as toilets, sinks, and a comfy chair to sit in. It must have been a moving sight to see all of those people to see the Pope. There was a picture from an overhead view of all of the people and it reminded me of the day when President Obama got inaugurated because there was that many people. Thank you again!
God Bless,
Sally

By: Katie Irish

Katie Irish — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:09:51 +0000

Dear Cardinal Sean,
You had quite a busy week! Congratulations on your Doctorate of Human Letters from the Ave Maria University! The university and its chapel are so beautiful. Your visit with the Holy Father was so exciting. I wish to meet the Pope one day. It is great that so many young people feel welcomed and involved in our faith, like you wrote. And young people especially need guidance and help by the Lord. I, as a young person, like to feel connected in my faith, through good and bad times.
God Bless You.
Katie Grade 7
Saint Paul School

By: Annette Autiello

Annette Autiello — Sun, 16 May 2010 01:06:32 +0000

I enjoyed reading about your visit to Fatima. My friend sent me your log. I just returned from the Spirtual Journey of a lifetime over Easter. I went on the Marion Shrine tours with Globus and went from Fatima, Santiago De Compestello, Lourdes, Bourges, Zarakosa, Madrid. It was the an experience I will have with me forever. I am a Eucharist Minister in my parish, St. Lucy’s in Methuen. I was moved by the faith of so many young people that I viewed throughout my trip. I pray everyday for the kind of serenity and peace I had all through my trip. I wish you well.

By: Sharon M. Dias

Sharon M. Dias — Sat, 15 May 2010 20:57:58 +0000

This is an excellent article on the Holy Father’s trip to Fatima and Cardinal O’Malley’s visit to the University and on to meet with our Holy Father.

The Pictures are excellent.

By: Priscilla

Priscilla — Sat, 15 May 2010 16:07:14 +0000

The pastor at St. Paul is first and foremost a shepherd of Christ’s Holy Church. As such he is expected to led his people, to a closer relationship with Christ. In order to do that he must, however painful it may be, point people in the direction that God has shown us, which is not necessarily the direction we would like to go.
We all like to point out how Christ befriended prostitutes, thieves, and tax collectors; sinners of every type, people like us; what we don’t like to point out is that Christ embraced them and said “GO AND SIN NO MORE.”
All of us feel concern for this young boy, but we must also remember the other young children at St. Paul School who would be impacted as well.
This pastor deserves our respect, admiration, and support.

By: Jakob

Jakob — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:35:07 +0000

Cardinal Sean,
I can see that you are doing great things around the world. May God always bless you.

Just days ago, a Boston third-grader’s admission to a Catholic school was rescinded – solely because his parents are lesbians.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

What are we thinking?

By: Gail Besse

Gail Besse — Sat, 15 May 2010 10:51:21 +0000

Dear Cardinal Sean,
I understand that while you were with Pope Benedict in Fatima, the Holy Father identified pressure for gay “marriage” as among the most “insidious and dangerous challenges that today confront the common good.”
The Holy Father is quoted as saying those who work to support the family “based on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman” are helping to respond to to these insidious and dangerous threats. Their work, he said, comprises “essential elements in the building of the civilization of love.”
Meanwhile, on May 13 while you traveled with the pontiff, your spokesmen in Boston publicly disavowed the faithful pastor of St. Paul’s School in Hingham, who was trying to do exactly what Pope Benedict commended: to support the family and ultimately, children. The pastor declined to enroll a child of two lesbians because their relationship “was in discord with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
The women quickly contacted the media, which descended on the church and school. This made the incident national news while they hid behind anonymity. For acting in the best interests of the child and the Church, the pastor was pilloried in the national press.
By contrast, when a similar situation occurred in Denver in March, the archbishop backed his priest. His reasoning: parents of Catholic school students are expected to agree with church beliefs, including those forbidding sex between anyone other than married, heterosexual couples.
Just because many parents fail to live up to these beliefs doesn’t change the wisdom of them.
“The church cannot change these teachings because, in the faith of Catholics, they are the teachings of Jesus Christ,” the archbishop said. Catholic schools work as religious partners with parents, but that doesn’t work if the parents don’t respect church beliefs or openly reject them. He said that also puts unfair stress on the children and their teachers.
The Hingham pastor acted in full faith and courage. He should have received your support for not putting his teachers and that poor child in an untenable situation.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 15 May 2010 03:21:17 +0000

Your Eminence, I am glad to hear your trip to Portugal is going well. Just wondering if you had any thoughts about the school crisis that is going on in Boston. When a similar situation came up in Denver your confrère quickly supported his priests decision. The archdiocesan bureaucracy seems to have undercut one of your priests who was honestly trying to be faithful to the Church as well as looking out for the best interests of the child. Do you plan on issuing a statement?