Last Thursday, we were very happy to celebrate a Mass for our 25th Jubilarian priests at the Pastoral Center.

Sister Germana is always very good about including those in consecrated life from throughout the archdiocese in our different events. So, we were very happy to have a religious brother who was celebrating 60 years of religious life join ranks with our priests who were celebrating significant anniversaries.

It's always important for us to recognize and celebrate our priests on important ordination anniversaries and our religious on the anniversary of their profession. So, we are very grateful to all those who helped organize this Mass and luncheon.



Community building at the cathedral

Father Nicanor and his team are always coming up with innovative activities and community-building events for the Hispanic community at the cathedral parish. And so, this Sunday, in addition to the liturgical celebrations for Corpus Christi, they held a wonderful Latin American food fair in the parking lot of the cathedral that brought in a lot of parishioners and people from the neighborhood.



Meeting of Board of Directors

On Tuesday, we had our annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the Catholic University of America. This is the major meeting at which new members have to be confirmed in their posts.

I was unable to travel to Washington for the occasion, but thanks to Zoom, I was able to participate with the other cardinals and bishops in this important meeting.



Massachusetts Catholic Conference

Also, that day, we had a meeting of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference. Typically, we gather at Pope St. John XXIII Seminary, but occasionally, we meet virtually because people are joining us from all over the state.

We gather as the dioceses of Massachusetts -- Fall River, Worcester, Springfield, and Boston -- a couple of times a year to discuss issues that affect the Catholic community, particularly around the areas of social services, legislation, healthcare, and education. This was the first meeting for our new superintendent of schools, Eileen McLaughlin.

We heard reports from the various committees on immigration, physician-assisted suicide, and many other issues that are important for the Catholic Church in Massachusetts.



Regina Cleri

Finally, yesterday, I went to Regina Cleri for a Mass and luncheon for our priests who are celebrating their 50th anniversary of ordination.

There were 11 men celebrating this year. All were priests of the archdiocese except two.

One was Father Fidalgo, who is a Capuchin from Cape Verde. I mentioned the fact that Cardinal Medeiros was the one who brought the Cape Verdean Capuchins to New England to work among the immigrants here. They have made a wonderful contribution, beginning with the Famous Padre Pio, who founded the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.

I think this is the first time we had one of the Cape Verdean Capuchins as a jubilarian, so it was very nice to have him there.