What does a cardinal armed with gardening tools do? The cardinal in question is the archbishop of Boston, Capuchin friar Seán O’Malley, one of the advisers to Pope Francis.
Recently, the cardinal lent a hand to volunteer staff at the Archdiocese of Boston’s Pastoral Center to revive the soil and rearrange the flower beds in front of the Immaculate Conception Church in Stoughton.
The day was part of the annual Pastoral Center Employee Service Week, when the central administration staff for the diocese take a week to engage in parish cleanup jobs.
The initiative aims at fulfilling the Pastoral Center’s mission to support the parishes in everyday life, through financial and legal support, as well as human resources, education and evangelization efforts.
The initiative supports the “Disciples in Mission,” the Archdiocese of Boston’s pastoral program which sees to the development of the “new evangelization” at the parish level.
In this way, the diocese invites each parish to become a strong center of “new evangelization.” The 288 parishes in the diocese of Boston have been combined in 135 groups, to share resources and experiences that help them accomplish their task.
Translated from the Italian by Diane Montagna. All images © George Martell / Archdiocese of Boston
And today we celebrate...