2,000 mark bicentennial of Archdiocese

I am surprised Paul Shanley was not let out of prison for the ceremony

"I am surprised Paul Shanley was not let out of prison for the ceremony"
Posted by Jake

Someone needs a hug

Although the Church has been shamed for the terrible sins that came to light in 2002, nevertheless the Church has also done a lot of good for 200 years in Boston, and continues to do a lot of good while seeking to follow the Lord. Thank you, Mr. Paulson, for reporting on this event.

I apologize for the silly Paul Shanley remark

I wish the church, when talking about all its good works, would say how much of that money comes from US Government grants. The taxpayers provide most of the housing (Section 8) and most of the other help (Catholic Charities if funded primarily by US government grants).

Just more lies from the Catholic hierarchy and an uneducated public believes them.

A 200th anniversary is not about what works the Archdiocese has done, good or bad; that is a merely extrinsic, shallow non-understanding of the Church.

the Church is primarily a community of love, first celebrating the community of love which is the Trinity, Father loving the Son, Son loving the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit loving the Father, etc. The Church attempts to live this same love, first internally, to the brothers and sisters in the faith family, and then flowing out into the civil community. 'City @9:58 is correct, that much of the money to run many Catholic charitable programs now comes from government, but it was not always so, and does not always have to be so in the future. In the past, legions of nuns ran hospitals for virtually free, same with schools. Even to this day, every parish has a St. Vincent de Paul society, which gives direct donated aid to those in need, in a more personal, humane, non bureaucratic way.

'City' mentions the hierarchy, but this is another misconception about the Church, as if the doings of bishops and popes is the sum and substance of the church. That's the 'Headline News" version of the church, barely scratches the surface of the topic, like all those old histories that only focussed on the doings of Kings and Queens, as if the lives of the commoners were uninteresting or not worthwhile. City says "an uneducated public," but perhaps he/she could admit that there are many agnostic/secularists who have only a matchbook cover comprehension of religion, and only have visceral, uniformed reactions to a subject he/she has never really tried to study or appreciate. By the way, this advice also goes for religious people who only instinctively react to the secular/agnostic world.

Yes, we have had our Shanleys, and one, never mind scores, was one too many. It disgusted, nauseated, embarassed Catholics more than it did those outside the church, because we all were unfairly tainted with crimes of those horrible criminals. But for every Shanley, there have been millions of loving, caring, joyful lay men and women, priests and religious. Because our nation has produced a few Charles Mansons and Timothy McVeighs does not mean that, taken as a whole, this is not still a wonderful country. The priest-perpetrators were the exceedingly ugly 'trees;' don't let them block your view of the good forest which is the church.

O'Malley's quoting Tom Finneran? With Finneran's obstruction of justice conviction? I guess that birds of a feather still like to flock together.

I'm sorry Harry, come again? What crimes were committed by Cardinal Sean? Can you clarify and back up your statement?

Understand that nobody is proud of the things that happened under Law or the way they were handled, but Cardinal Sean has done so many wonderful things to bring about healing.

Remember one thing Harry. We worship God according to Catholic tradition, it's what we believe in. We do not worship priests, bishops or popes. If any of them have done wrong, it is their fault and the fault of those who helped them. It is not the fault of the billions of men & women, laity & clergy, who continue to uphold, celebrate and believe in the Catholic worship of God.

There's more to faith than what the media tells you.

Thank you to Michael Paulson for reporting on this, though I do wish you'd leave the news & politics out of the article. That is not what this celebration is about. As much as the media looks for it, the problems of the past are not the only topic, nor is it necessary for it to be mentioned at every celebration.

faithful: Could you tell us exactly what "wonderful things" has Sean O'Malley done to bring about healing? And please note, clergy abuse did not just happen "under Law." The abuse of children and the cover-up by the hierarchy, has been happening for decades, if not centuries, around the country and the world. The "problems" are not in the past by any means. And finally, you are incorrect, many Catholics Do worship priests, bishops and popes. This is one reason why so many priests were able to abuse kids.

Peter: The "sins" to which you refer are horrific CRIMES. Let's tell it like it is.

How can Sean O'Malley mark the bicentennial of the archdiocese and fail to mention clergy abuse? Talk about rewriting history. Yes, the church has certainly helped many people. And, the criminal and immoral behavior of many priests, bishops and popes has also HURT many people. Their acts have caused tremendous emotional, psychological (and sometimes physical) damage to thousands of children and their families. And when O'Malley talked about "challenges" he only mentioned persecution and prejudice against the church? Give me a break.!.

There have been 5000 (five thousand) priests identified so far as sex predators in the US, and 12 bishops committed felonies that aided and abetted the pedophiles. So it is hard to say clergy sex abuse is not the most dominant thing in the Catholic Church's national issues right now.

Those inside the church are unable to see it. Go to http://bishopaccountability.org and start from A - B - C read through the stories of the FIVE THOUSAND perpetrator priests who operated freely in the Catholic Church =

Until the church faces its crimes, and acknowledges the amount of damage it did by allowing these men to roam the church hallways helping themselves to children, nothing else that comes out of this church has any credibility.

This inside with such tunnel vision, please come out and start paying more attention.

At some point we must all drop the stones we are so ready to hurl at ????
I believe that each rock thrower must be free of sin before he/she can cast any stone.
Rasdical forgiveness is needed now more than ever ! Without it we will drown in a society of hate and unmitigated vengance ... the abused will be truly be healed when they are able to forgive ... the falsely accused will move on when they can pray for their accusers and the Church hierarchy + faithful who abandonned them ...
Priests and bishops will return to being true shepherds when they cease to be hyper-focused on $$$ and shallow PR and tell the whole truth !!
Maintaining secrets will only stymie genuine reconciliationv!