O'Malley watches from afar

Roman Catholic Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley, one of the key figures in the state's debate over same-sex marriage, is out of the country for about two weeks for church-related meetings.

O'Malley departed Boston on Monday for Peru, where he is attending a meeting of the Missionary Society of St. James the Apostle, an association of priests who volunteer to work in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. The society was founded by Cardinal Richard J. Cushing in 1958 and its headquarters is in Boston.

O'Malley is scheduled to return briefly to Massachusetts today, then is to depart for Rome on Saturday for meetings with Vatican officials. He is slated to return to Massachusetts at the end of next week, said his spokesman, the Rev. Christopher J. Coyne.

Coyne said the Archdiocese of Boston considered changing O'Malley's schedule so he could be present for the constitutional convention, but it was not possible. O'Malley had invested considerable time trying to prevent gay marriage -- calling at least one lawmaker on Monday, the day of his departure, and appearing at a State House rally Sunday.

"The meeting with the St. James Society had been in place for a number of months, and the people involved are so far-flung in their ministry, it would have been too difficult to postpone," Coyne said. "But Archbishop O'Malley is in constant contact with the archdiocese by phone."

MICHAEL PAULSON