Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley has announced Aug. 10 that he has ordered an investigation into allegations made by two former seminarians of inappropriate conduct at St. John's Seminary in Brighton. St. John's rector Msgr. James P. Moroney has been placed on "sabbatical leave" effective immediately, and Father Stephen E. Salocks has been named interim rector.
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Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley issued the following statement August 10: Earlier this week I was informed that two former seminarians of St. John's Seminary in the Archdiocese of Boston had posted allegations on social media sites including the Archdiocese's Facebook page that during their time at the seminary they witnessed and experienced activities which are directly contrary to the moral standards and requirements of formation for the Catholic priesthood.
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WESTON -- Dozens of Boston clergy -- some active, some retired, most in casual dress -- came to St. John XXIII National Seminary on Aug. 2 for the annual St. John Vianney Cookout. The Boston Archdiocese's tradition of gathering for prayer and food around Aug. 4, the feast day of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests, began in 2005. This was the second time the event was held at St. John XXIII. Previously it took place at St. John's Seminary in Brighton.
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MEDWAY -- As much as Catholic school students may not want to hear it, preparations are already underway for their return to school in only a few weeks. As part of those preparations, the Catholic Schools Office held a retreat for school principals taking on new positions at Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Boston at the Betania II Spiritual Retreat and Conference Center, Aug. 6-7.
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BOSTON -- Catholics are invited to participate in an informal, ecumenical worship event, entitled "One City, One Love," being held on Aug. 16, at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common. The ecumenical group UniteBoston is partnering with the Institute for Christian Unity to host the event that will run 7-9 p.m.
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BRAINTREE -- Preparations are underway for The Boston Archdiocese's round-trip pilgrimage to World Youth Day, which will take place in Panama City, Panama, in January 2019. Registration for the pilgrimage from Boston closed July 1. The trip will take place Jan. 20-28, with World Youth Day taking place January 22-27.
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More than 200 professionals engaged in the educational and healthcare ministries of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur around the globe gathered on Emmanuel College's Fenway campus from July 25-July 28 for Networking for Mission III. Attendees from 10 countries -- including Belgium, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa, DR Congo and the United Kingdom -- and a dozen states across the U.S. participated in a series of vibrant discussions and interactive workshops focusing on the SNDdeN mission in the 21st century.
Read moreBRAINTREE -- Bishop Fenwick High School in Peabody announced Aug. 1 that the school will be partnering with St. Mary of the Annunciation School in Danvers at the start of the 2018-2019 school year. "This innovative collaboration between the two schools will allow for curriculum resource sharing, and a streamlined approach for students to have a positive Catholic school educational experience," the school said in a statement.
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BRAINTREE -- In late July the Catholic Schools Office hosted Orton-Gillingham Training onsite at the Pastoral Center. Orton-Gillingham is an instructional approach that is particularly helpful for students who have difficulty with reading, spelling, and writing.
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CHELSEA -- All pews and standing room were filled at a dedication Mass for the altar in the newly renovated lower church of St. Rose of Lima on July 24. The renovation, funded in part by the sale of the closed St. Mary of the Assumption Church, took "nine months of intense work," according to the administrator at St. Rose, Father Hilario Sanez.
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HANOVER -- Fallen Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna was laid to rest July 20 following a Funeral Mass celebrated at St. Mary of the Sacred Heart in Hanover where he was remembered a loving husband and father, an avid sports fan and a faithful public servant.
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BRAINTREE -- Cardinal Seán O'Malley announced July 24 that Kathy Mears, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston since 2014, will conclude her service at the end of the 2018-2019 academic year.
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Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley announced July 25 that Father Jonathan P. DeFelice, OSB has been appointed as Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Boston. Father Jonathan currently serves in the Tribunal for the Diocese of Providence and is the president emeritus of St. Anselm College.
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BOSTON -- Massachusetts lawmakers have passed new legislation that would ensure abortion remains legal in the state should the Supreme Court ever overturn Roe v. Wade. The full title of the bill is the "Negating Archaic Statutes Targeting Young Women Act," but has been shortened to the "NASTY Women Act."
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Brother Paul Bourque, OFM -- 50 years Brother Paul serves at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston after 33 years as a high school teacher. Brother Paul began his teaching career at Bishop Timon High School in Buffalo, N.Y. After four years of teaching religion at Timon, he was assigned in 1978 to Queen of Peace, a co-educational high school in North Arlington, N.J. From there, Brother Paul went to Catholic Regional High School in Paterson, N.J., where he taught religion and French. After 14 years in Paterson, in 1994 he began teaching at the all-girls Academy of Holy Angels in Demarest, N.J. and taught English for a year at the Hispanic Institute in Hackensack, N.J. He also spent nine summers taking American students to France to study French at the University of Caen and the University of Paris.
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HOLLISTON -- The Xaverian Missionaries are collecting local testimonies to aid in the process of beatification and canonization for Bishop Angelo Frosi, SX, the first Xaverian Missionary ordained in the United States.
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BRAINTREE -- For years, Chris Daniel, a district deputy for the Knights of Columbus, had run into people who mentioned having seen a Knights of Columbus license plate on the vehicle of a friend or relative living in other states. Recently, Daniel decided to do something about it.
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BOSTON -- The Literacy Connection, a ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston, is one of the 100 local nonprofits to receive grants of $100,000 each through Cummings Foundation's 100k for 100 program. The Boston-based organization was chosen from a total of 597 applicants, during a competitive review process.
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Wednesday, I was visited by Father Paul Hurley, the chief of chaplains for the United States Army, who is home visiting and came to say hello. Recently, he was the commencement speaker for St. Sebastian's School in Needham, where his two twin nephews were graduating. They are the sons of Kevin Kiley who worked for the archdiocese for many years and is now the chancellor of the Fall River Diocese. The boys are going to have appointments to West Point where, at one point, Father Paul is an alumnus and was the chaplain.
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Teenagers streamed past applauding peers to the arena stage -- to show their openness to a possible priestly or religious vocation. At another point, youth stood to acknowledge that they had proclaimed Jesus as Lord of their lives for the first time that weekend. Others extended their hands to pray over them.
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DEDHAM -- Ursuline Academy has selected Kathleen Nolan Levesque to be its third president, succeeding Rosann Whiting, who concluded her 11-year presidency in June. Levesque, a graduate of Ursuline, is well known to the school community. She has extensive experience as an independent school administrator and board member, having previously served on the board and the executive committee of Moses Brown School in Rhode Island. She joined the Ursuline Academy board in 2002 and has served various roles, including president of the academy from 2004-2007, vice chair of the board, chair of the Governance Committee, and interim principal for the 2015-16 school year.
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BROOKLINE -- Father Jonathan Gaspar made a surprising discovery shortly before his installation as the new pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption in late June. While cleaning and reorganizing the church basement, Father Gaspar came across a box containing several old liturgical items. Among the reliquaries, monstrances, and ciboria, there was one unique item: a chalice that Father Gaspar read about in the parish history. The document reported that Pope Pius IX, pope from 1846-1878, gave the chalice to Father Joseph M. Finotti, the second pastor of St. Mary's, in honor of his parish being the first in the United States to be dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption.
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MILTON -- Sharing prayer requests is a routine part of Alexia Etienne's 5th-grade religion class at St. Mary of the Hills School. In 2016, she shared some sad news: a friend of hers, Thelma Lake, was suffering from terminal cancer.
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FRANKLIN -- St. Mary Church will celebrate its annual St. Rocco Festival of Food for the last time this August, bringing a close to the 40-year tradition due to increasing difficulty in organizing it.
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