Hello and welcome!
Last Saturday, I took part in the weekly rosary procession they are now holding in St. Peter’s Square.
In the photos, you can see the pictures of the four saints who were canonized the following day.
Much to my surprise, at the procession, I ran into Father Steve Madden, who was coming back from a pilgrimage to Assisi. So, I made arrangements to have dinner with him Sunday night.
Also, that day, Cardinal Peter Turkson celebrated a special Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the 60th anniversary of the canonization of the Ugandan Martyrs.
People traveled from all over the world to attend the celebration, including several members of the Ugandan community of Boston. I was glad to be able to see them.
Sunday, I had a free day, so I had breakfast with Father Michael Nolan, who was returning from the Holy Land and passing through Rome.
Then, I went to visit the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, which was recently renovated. It is the Dominican church in Rome where St. Catherine of Siena is buried.
It is a very beautiful church.
Outside the church, there is an obelisk placed on the back of an elephant statue created by Bernini. I’m not sure if there is any particular symbolism to the elephant, but it’s a wonderful artistic touch.
Many of the plazas of Rome have these obelisks that were brought from Egypt during the time of the Caesars. They are over 2,000 years old, and many are in front of the principal churches in Rome.
Besides Father Madden, I had another chance meeting this week. At one point, I was in a bookstore, and a friar came up to me and said that I had met him in Malta exactly 20 years ago that day. He said he had just been ordained a transitional deacon the day before, and that’s how he could remember the date.
It was when I went with the Boston priests for the priest retreat in Malta. This friar had taken me to visit and have lunch with the Capuchin Friars of Malta.
I was very interested to hear what he has been doing in his different ministries. He does a lot of preaching and so forth, but what really struck me was a story he told me about his prison ministry. He is a prison chaplain, and back in 2020, he spent the whole time of the Covid lockdown in the prison because if he left, he wouldn’t be allowed back in. I thought that was very inspiring.
That trip to Malta was one of several that the Congregation for the Clergy organized around that time. So, we went to one in Ars, one in Rome and this one in Malta. We had such a wonderful group of priests from Boston clergy at that retreat, and it was a very enriching experience. So, I was very pleased that this friar approached me, and I was able to catch up with him and be reminded of the wonderful retreat.
For much of the rest of the week, we’ve been having meetings of the Synod.
This week, we finished up the document for the Synod and have been working on suggestions that we will vote on on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, the Holy Father will have Mass at St. Peter’s to mark the conclusion of the Synod.
I continue to be struck by the internationality of the English language working groups.
The group I was with last week, pictured here, consisted of Cardinal-designate Pablo David from the Philippines, a priest of Malta, a deacon from Syria, Archbishop Ryan Jimenez of Guam, a young woman studying at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, a Sister from Denmark, a bishop from Nigeria, a Canadian bishop, an Anglican bishop and a German bishop. So, it was quite a cross-section of humanity!
I was with them for a couple of weeks, and now I’m with a new group, but it’s equally diverse. We have people from Africa, India, Asia and Europe. In both cases, I was really the only American because the young lady from St. Joseph’s University was from Poland.
Yesterday, the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Bishop Luis Manuel Ali Herrera and Adjunct Secretary Teresa Kettelkamp joined me for an audience with the Holy Father, where we presented him with a copy of our annual report. Next week, we will have a press conference to release it to the public.
Finally, I know we are all eagerly awaiting the installation of the new Archbishop of Boston, Richard Henning. In light of that, it is my intention to continue this blog but not on a weekly basis. Instead, beginning in December, I will post updates on the first Friday of every month.
I’m very grateful to all of those who have visited every week over the last 18 years and nearly 1,000 posts and have been faithful readers of my blog. I look forward to continuing to share my reflections with you and making use of this blog to bring messages about the good things that are happening in our Church.
Until next time,
Cardinal Seán