October 4, 2011 - Serra Boston to Honor Priesthood Through Prayer on October 22, 2011*

Blessed John Paul II biographer and noted author George Weigel to Speak
Cardinal to celebrate Public Feast Mass honoring Blessed John Paul II

Braintree, MA – Blessed John Paul II biographer and noted author George Weigel will address Serra Boston on October 22, 2011 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross following a Mass that recognizes the important role prayer plays in honoring and supporting our priests. 

October 22nd is the day Pope Benedict XVI declared as the Feast Day for Blessed John Paul II.  Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley will celebrate Mass at 10:00am in the upper Church at the Cathedral.  Mr. Weigel’s talk will take place immediately after in the lower Church.  Following his talk, Mr. Weigel will be available for media interviews.   

The Serra Club of Boston was founded as a gift to the Archdiocese of Boston in honor of its Bicentennial Celebration in 2008. The Club assists the Vocations Office of the Archdiocese in any way possible to foster, promote and support vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

On Priesthood Sunday in 2009, Serra Boston initiated the “Adopt-a-Priest Apostolate.”  The goal is to have each bishop and diocesan priest covered daily in prayer on an ongoing basis by an assigned layperson of the archdiocese. Members of the apostolate will receive a free booklet with the name and address of their priest and suggestions for prayer.  Families and prayer communities may also spiritually adopt a priest as a group. There is no cost associated with participation in this apostolate, but donations to offset printing and postage will be gratefully accepted.  For more information, people are encouraged to visit http://www.serraboston.org.

Rev. Daniel Hennessey, Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Boston and the founding Chaplain for Serra Boston said, “October 22nd is going to prove to be a great day for the Church in Boston.  Mass with Cardinal Seán on the Feast of Blessed Pope John Paul II, a talk by expert biographer George Weigel and the recognition of hundreds of the Faithful who have dedicated themselves in the Adopt A Priest Apostolate of prayer.  I hope that a lot of families and young people are able to attend.”

George Weigel

George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and one of America's leading public intellectuals. From 1989 through June 1996, Weigel was president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he led a wide-ranging, ecumenical and inter-religious program of research and publication on foreign and domestic policy issues. From June 1996, as a Senior Fellow of the Center, Weigel prepared a major study of the life, thought, and action of Pope John Paul II. Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II was published to international acclaim in the Fall of 1999, in English, French, Italian, and Spanish editions.  *The Ethics and Public Policy Center. 

Serra International

Serra is an international organization, founded in 1935 that exists to:

• Foster and promote vocations to the ministerial priesthood in the Catholic Church as a particular vocation to service, and to support priests in their sacred ministry;
• Encourage and affirm vocations to consecrated life in the Catholic Church; and
• Assist its members to recognize and respond in their own lives to God’s call to holiness in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.

There are more than 800 Serra Clubs in 42 countries with a total membership of over 20,000 lay men and women. Membership is open to Catholic lay women and men, and to those who have been ordained to the permanent diaconate.

Who was Blessed Junipero Serra?

A Spaniard by birth, Blessed Junipero Serra (1713-1784) was a Franciscan missionary to Mexico and California who established nine missions in what is now the state of California. He devoted himself to spreading the Gospel message among the Native Americans with zeal and compassion and is known as the “Apostle to California.” He was beatified at the Vatican by Pope John Paul II on September 25, 1988.

About the Archdiocese of Boston: The Diocese of Boston was founded on April 8, 1808 and was elevated to Archdiocese in 1875. Currently serving the needs of nearly 2 million Catholics, the Archdiocese of Boston is an ethnically diverse and spiritually enriching faith community consisting of 291 parishes, across 144 communities, educating approximately 42,000 students in its Catholic schools and 156,000 in religious education classes each year, ministering to the needs of 200,000 individuals through its pastoral and social service outreach.   Mass is celebrated in nearly twenty different languages each week. For more information, please visit  www.BostonCatholic.org.