Last week, I spoke about my trip to Spain to receive an honorary degree from the Pontifical University of Salamanca. Well, the actual ceremony was last Friday.

Everyone at the university was very welcoming and gracious. The Grand Chancellor is Bishop of Salamanca Jose Luis Retana Gozalo and now there is a priest as the Rector Magnifico, Father Santiago Garcia-Jalon de la Lama.

The conferral ceremony is very ancient, so everything was in Latin, as was typical of medieval universities. There were many heads of other universities there, along with several cardinals, bishops, and civil and military officials.

At the end, the choir sang "Gaudeamus igitur," the song traditionally played at European graduations.

As is typical at these types of ceremonies, I was asked to make an address. I spoke on the theme of immigration, and particularly the Magisterium of Pope Francis around immigration. I also shared with them some of my own experiences.



Ordination

On Saturday, I celebrated the ordination of Capuchin Father Ignacio Moreno at the Church of Nuestra Senora de los Angeles de El Pardo.



Dinner with bishops

On Monday, the nuncio organized a dinner in my honor, with many bishops in attendance. We were also very happy to be joined by Mario Paredes and Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and his wife, Vanessa, who were in Spain.



Return to Boston

I returned to Boston on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, I was very happy to join about 400 people attending the Living the Dream Dinner to support the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston.

It was a lovely evening during which they honored the Brett family.



Spring Presbyteral Convocation

Thursday, we had our Spring Presbyteral Convocation, at which we gather with the priests of the archdiocese for a day of fraternity and reflection.

Our speaker this year was Dan Cellucci, CEO of the Catholic Leadership Institute. Dan and CLI have worked very closely with the archdiocese on several important initiatives over the years.

He spoke to us about millennials' views on the parish and Church and facilitated table discussions on leadership in the archdiocese.

Since this is likely the last large gathering of the Boston presbyterate before my 80th birthday in June, the priests, represented by Father Michael Nolan and Msgr. John McLaughlin, surprised me with an early birthday gift.

They collected over $215,000 amongst themselves to create a scholarship fund in my name that will support men attending seminary for the Archdiocese of Boston, and they announced the amount had been matched by an anonymous donor.

I had no idea it was coming, and I was just blown away.

In my remarks afterward, I told the priests how grateful I was for this moving gesture and how proud I was to have served as their archbishop for these past 20 years.