O'Malley's elevation uplifts parish

LYNNFIELD -- As hundreds of parishioners waited in the church vestibule for Mass to begin, the group of teenagers and adults sat in the basement of St. Maria Goretti waiting to be confirmed, murmuring loudly and fidgeting in anticipation.

They suddenly fell silent as Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley, in red and white vestments, his bishop's miter atop his head, strode toward them.

He looked at them, recalled one teenager, and the young Catholics waited to hear what words he would speak to prepare them for the momentous ceremony.

''See you in church," he said cheerfully and walked away.

Yesterday's confirmation Mass was one of the first opportunities O'Malley had to mingle with parishioners since Pope Benedict XVI named him a cardinal. He tried to retain an air of normality and did not grant interviews with myriad reporters at the Mass for fear of taking attention from the confirmation ceremony, according to a spokesman.

But the congregation of some 700 faithful still buzzed with excitement. Parishioners snapped photos and blessed themselves when he walked by. O'Malley technically remains an archbishop until March 24, when he assumes his new office. Yet that did not stop the pastor of St. Maria Goretti, the Rev. Thomas J. Powers, from calling him ''your eminence," the title reserved for a cardinal, throughout the service.

''I understand he doesn't like being called your eminence," Powers said following the Mass. ''But we want to get him used to it."

During his homily, O'Malley made no mention of his new title and called on the confirmants to seek a life full of virtue and true love -- not love ''as defined by soap operas," he said. Stay close to the church, he counseled, and attend Mass every Sunday. He suggested they consider becoming priests and nuns, and advised those who do marry to choose someone of the same faith and with similar values.

''Get married to have children," he said. ''God will bless you."

He warned them not to isolate themselves.

''We live in a culture that is becoming more and more . . . individualistic," he said. People are ''spending hours before a computer screen, before a television set. This individualism is eroding the fabric of the community, the family, and the church."

The significance of the day was not lost on the 45 confirmants, most of them high school students from Wakefield and Lynnfield. During the confirmation ceremony, O'Malley anointed their foreheads with chrism, a mixture of olive oil and balm consecrated by the archbishop. Confirmation is one of the seven blessed sacraments of the Catholic Church during which Catholics believe a recipient receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit and becomes an adult in the eyes of the church.

After each anointing, O'Malley smiled softly and said ''Peace be with you."

''It was awesome," Diane Amanti, 16, said afterward. ''Just getting confirmed is an awesome thing to do. Getting confirmed by the cardinal made it really special."

O'Malley had offered to preside over the confirmation Mass about 10 months ago, according to Powers, but when Amanti heard he had been named a cardinal, she feared he would be too busy to make it.

But then she saw him yesterday, moments before the Mass began. ''I was surprised and happy," she said. ''I was like, 'This is really cool.' "

At the end of the Mass, O'Malley returned to the basement to socialize with the churchgoers. The archbishop, who stood patiently as a long line of admirers waited to take a picture of him, never got a chance to sample the refreshments.

''I'm going to see spots all week," O'Malley joked as a camera light flashed in his face. He appeared at ease with the churchgoers, putting his arm around their shoulders, his smile never fading.

''The most important thing is this is an ordinary Catholic parish," said Powers as O'Malley stood nearby with parishioners. ''It's the strength of the church, ordinary Catholics coming to worship together. . . . He's right in the middle of it."

One confirmant's grandmother got particularly close to the archbishop as she posed with him for a photo.

''She kissed his hand," said her grandson, Lynnfield resident Christopher O'Hare, 15, a sophomore at St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers.

''She told him he was very handsome," said his uncle, Lou O'Rourke, 48, of Bridgewater.

O'Malley just laughed, O'Rourke said.

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.