Hello and welcome!
The first of my activities I’d like to share with you was on April 7th, when we had our metropolitan bishops’ meeting of the Boston Province, which includes the dioceses of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. It was the first time Archbishop Henning presided.
It was a great joy to be there and very humbling to look around and see that I had ordained most of the bishops present. We traditionally have about two such meetings a year for the province. It’s always a valuable opportunity for us to have a moment of fraternity and also to share ideas on the needs of the Church and what’s happening in our various dioceses.
On April 8th, I attended the funeral Mass for Sister Rita Marie Teasdale, SJA, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River.
Sister Rita was a Sister of Ste. Jeanne d’Arc, and the last one remaining here in New England. Their ministry was very much involved in taking care of rectories and bishops’ residences, but more importantly, theirs was a life of contemplation and prayer for priests.
When I first became Bishop of Fall River in 1992, Sister Rita and the Sisters of Ste. Jeanne d’Arc were there. At that time, in addition to the Bishop’s Residence in Fall River, they were also working at the Cardinal’s Residence in Boston and the monastery at Saint Anselm’s Abbey. But since then, the sisters have, little by little, all returned to Canada.
For me, it was a great joy to have them in the house. There were always three sisters, at least one who could speak English to answer the phone, and the others were all French-speaking. I used to celebrate Mass for them in French every morning, and we would spend a Holy Hour together at 11 o’clock on Thursday nights, praying for priests. They were just such lovely, kind and gracious women who gave such a beautiful example of religious life and service. It was truly a joy to have them for those 10 years with me when I was at the Bishop’s Residence in Fall River.
Bishop da Cunha celebrated the Funeral Mass, and I concelebrated. At the end, I gave a little talk in French for the sisters who had come down from Quebec for the funeral.
They still have my old portrait in the sacristy there, which I told them was a picture of my son! But it reminded me of the rather funny story of how it came about.
In 1984, right after I was ordained Bishop of the Virgin Islands, I came up to the Boston area to do confirmations. One stop was St. Catherine’s in Norwood, where Father Brian Kiely was serving as the curate. His father, who was always very kind to me, asked if I had “pictures.” I said, “Pictures? What for?” He explained that a bishop is supposed to have his picture in all the parishes. Since I didn’t have any, he told me, “Well, I’ll take you to have your picture taken.”
So, the next day, he showed up at the residence where I was staying with the cardinal and took me to Bachrach’s, a very high-end photography studio with pictures of celebrities all over the walls. The photographer had me bring my episcopal robes and spent hours taking photos of me in various vestments and my Capuchin habit.
The next day, he came to the residence and laid out what must have been hundreds of proofs on the dining room table. I picked out the one you see, wearing a Capuchin habit. When he asked how many copies I wanted, and I said, “I think eight will be enough.” The look on that man’s face! I thought I was going to be turned into a pillar of salt! The poor man had spent two days on this, presumably thinking I needed hundreds of prints for my parishes. However, about 10 years later, when I became Bishop of Fall River, and the diocese needed an official portrait, I told them, “Just call Bachrach’s. They have the picture. You can order more copies.” So, a decade later, he finally got to sell his couple hundred pictures after all!
On April 10th, I attended the Catholic Memorial Gala, which was a great success, raising over $2 million.
It also served as an opportunity to celebrate the leadership of Dr. Peter Folan, who is stepping down after 11 years of leading the school.
During the evening, they honored the late Michael McNally of the class of 1979 with their Vince in Bono Malum Award, and I was also honored to receive the Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice Award.
It was good to see Father Michael Nolan’s sister, Liz O’Connell, who was there along with their mother, Joan. Liz is part of the administration at Catholic Memorial.
On April 12th, Archbishop Henning and I went to a banquet for MAPS, the Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, where they honored Bishop Cristiano Barbosa with their Person of the Year award.
Bishop Mark O’Connell and Father Paul Soper were also with us to mark the occassion.
Also, just before Holy Week, I had the opportunity to visit the home of Deacon Chris and Jen Connelly.
I first met them about 30 years ago, when I celebrated the Mass at their graduation from Stonehill College when I was Bishop in Fall River. Chris taught at Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River, and later, I ordained him a deacon here in Boston. Now, he is the head of our diaconate program. Jen has been ill, so I was very happy to be able to celebrate Mass for them in their home. The whole family was there for the Mass, which was a pleasure.
They have an interesting piece of history there — a sign reading, “Help Wanted — No Irish Need Apply.” As you may know, when the Irish first came to Boston, the Yankees were not always happy to see us, and those signs were put everywhere back then. It serves as a reminder, I suppose, that they weren’t too pleased to see all these Irish Catholics arrive!
Then, on Palm Sunday, I joined Communion and Liberation for their Lenten day of recollection. I gave them a presentation on the Jubilee year, and afterwards, they kindly gave me one of their beautiful Easter posters.
I also went to St. Mary’s in Waltham to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass there, as well.
For Holy Week itself, I went out to California to be at our Capuchin novitiate at San Lorenzo Friary. The scenery there is very beautiful, with wonderful gardens, flowering cacti, and roses that bloom all year. It’s quite lovely.
I also visited our mission of Santa Ines, which is right nearby. It is one of the original Franciscan Missions and is now overseen by the Capuchins.
I was at the friary for all of Holy Week. We had Tenebrae on Wednesday, then Holy Thursday Mass and Good Friday services.
On Good Friday, in addition to the liturgy, we also had the Stations of the Cross outdoors.
On Holy Saturday, we had the Easter Vigil there and, of course, Mass on Easter Sunday.
Then, early Easter Monday morning, about 4 a.m. California time, I received the call from Father Kickham telling me that the Holy Father had died. So, immediately, I made arrangements to travel to Rome. I came back from California on Easter Monday, passed through Boston on Easter Tuesday, and went on to Rome, arriving there Wednesday morning at about 6 a.m.
Just a couple of hours later, at 8:30, they had the ceremony to transfer the body of Pope Francis to St. Peter’s Basilica from the Domus Santa Marta. I was very happy I was able to make it for that.
They had the Holy Father lying in state in St. Peter’s on Wednesday through Friday night. People came all day long.
The line went far out from the Vatican, with people waiting patiently to get in to pay their respects.
And then, of course, the funeral Mass on Saturday was just spectacular. The sheer number of people was just astounding. 
And Cardinal Re, who is 91 years old now and our Dean of the College of Cardinals, gave a magnificent homily. It was very, very stirring.
It was also very impressive to see how many dignitaries came to be present. I think there were something like 60 monarchs, presidents, and prime ministers there from all over the world — including President Trump, President Biden, and President Macron — and also many leaders from other churches.
On Sunday, the cardinals went to Vespers together at St. Mary Major.
During my time in Rome, I also had the opportunity to celebrate Mass at the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, in the ancient chapel over the tomb of St. Tarcisius, with groups from the Papal Foundation and the Napa Institute.
Father Matt Williams also joined us for that. Like many people, he had come to Rome for events related to the canonization of Carlo Acutis. So, he came and concelebrated with us.
One night, I had dinner with my friend Cardinal Adalberto Martínez, and afterwards, I wanted to show him my favorite fountain in Rome, the Fountain of the Galleon. There’s such a beautiful view of the whole city from up there.
Finally, as I write this, we are now in the period before the conclave. As you may know, cardinals over 80 are not electors. We don’t go into the Sistine Chapel for the voting itself, but we participate fully in the discussions, meetings and prayers with all the cardinals during this time.
We gather each day and talk about the needs of the Church and what are some of the qualities we need to look for in a candidate. We also have many opportunities to pray together. For example, one morning, we had the Abbot of St. Paul Outside the Walls who came and gave us our meditation. And then there was also a meditation given by Cardinal Cantalamessa. So, the senior cardinals are certainly participating in what we call the General Congregations — all the discussions and the prayers leading up to the actual voting.
And, every day, there are Masses being offered in the basilica at five o’clock in the afternoon. I have been attending those each day, as well.
Until next time,
Cardinal Seán