On Thursday evening, I went to the Harvard Club in Boston for a dinner in honor of Dr. Lorenzo Berra, who has been appointed to the Reginald Jenney Associate Professorship at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital, in recognition of his achievements in the research and practice of anesthesia. The award ceremony was directed by Dr. Jeanine Wiener-Kronish, chief of anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital.

WALTHAM -- Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley ordained Father Francis Huy Duc Pham to the priesthood on Nov. 30 in a Mass at Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted Parish in Waltham. Father Pham is the 14th priest ordained for Boston this year. He was not ordained with the other 13 candidates last May because he was required to spend a year outside the United States in order to renew his religious worker visa.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican unveiled the Nativity scene and lit the Christmas tree with energy-saving lights in St. Peter's Square during a late afternoon ceremony Dec. 5. The 85-foot-tall spruce tree came from the forests of the Veneto region in northeast Italy and another 20 smaller trees were donated by communities in the region's province of Vicenza.