O’Malley and others pay tribute to clergy: Over 1,600 attend fund-raising dinner

The Boston Globe ^ | September 17, 2009 | Michael Paulson

[Alex Murphy]

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, in an acknowledgment of the extraordinarily difficult challenges facing priests of the Archdiocese of Boston, hosted a dinner last night for 1,630 people paying tribute to Boston’s Catholic clergy.

About 300 priests, lay people from 120 parishes, and scores of business, political, and civic leaders, some of whom paid as much as $500 each, packed into a cavernous room at the Seaport Boston World Trade Center to dine on grilled autumn vegetables, char-grilled beef fillet, and miniature red velvet cupcakes. The dinner, although primarily intended as a celebration of priests, also raised several hundred thousand dollars for the clergy benefits funds, a set of underfunded archdiocesan accounts intended to finance retirement and health benefits for priests.

“We lift them up tonight as unsung heroes who lead lives of sacrifice and service,’’ O’Malley said in a nine-minute speech in which he spoke of the joys and possibilities of priesthood. “It is a beautiful life.’’

The Catholic Church has been focusing on the priesthood this year after Pope Benedict XVI declared this the “year for priests.’’ But in Boston, the effort has particular resonance, because many priests have struggled with anger, shame, or just uncertainty in the aftermath of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

“In light of everything that’s gone on the last seven years, it’s nice to know that there are this many people who feel there are still good guys doing good work,’’ said the Rev. Christopher J. Hickey, pastor of St. Mary of the Sacred Heart Parish in Hanover.

The daily life of priests has also become considerably more challenging, as their dwindling ranks mean that those who remain must increasingly devote themselves exclusively to performing sacraments, leaving little time to teach, study, or serve in other ways.

The work conditions for priests have also

[Alex Murphy]

About 300 priests, lay people from 120 parishes, and scores of business, political, and civic leaders, some of whom paid as much as $500 each, packed into a cavernous room at the Seaport Boston World Trade Center to dine on grilled autumn vegetables, char-grilled beef fillet, and miniature red velvet cupcakes. The dinner, although primarily intended as a celebration of priests, also raised several hundred thousand dollars for the clergy benefits funds, a set of underfunded archdiocesan accounts intended to finance retirement and health benefits for priests....

...."The dark cloud of suspicion and distrust lingers and casts its shadow over us," he said. "We worry about getting close to our people, especially children. We’ve had to learn aright how to be strong and loving and wise"....

....There are currently 755 priests in the archdiocese, but 275 of them are retired, and over the next five years another 100 are expected to retire. The number of men ordained each year is far smaller than the number of men who retire.

[MIchaelTArchangel]

I feel sorry for all the hard-working, decent priests in the Archdiocese of Boston. They have been poorly led by Cardinal Archbishops who continue to make their jobs harder rather than easier. Perhaps Pope Benedict XVI needs to invite O’Malley to be Bernie Law’s assistant at the Vatican library after that scandalous display a couple of weeks ago and appoint Archbishop Chaput to run the Archdiocese of Bozotown.

[Arthur McGowan]

Among the greatest crosses priests bear is bishops (and archbishops and cardinal archbishops) who refuse to teach the Catholic Faith, substituting political loyalties and political agendas for the real thing.

An example of this betrayal of priests is the recent beatification spectacle for Edward Kennedy, that was permitted and then presided over by Cardinal O’Malley, even though it was a certainty beforehand that hundreds of pro-abortion “Catholics” would insist on receiving Communion—sacrilegiously. An archbishop who says nothing about these sacrilegious Communions is teaching his diocese that being pro-abortion is not sinful. By flouting Canon 915, he is also teaching his diocese that obedience to Canon Law is optional.

But you knew that.

[Alex Murphy]

An archbishop who says nothing about these sacrilegious Communions is teaching his diocese that being pro-abortion is not sinful. By flouting Canon 915, he is also teaching his diocese that obedience to Canon Law is optional. But you knew that.

Yes, I did. And I appreciate you for saying it for me.