Originally posted by Coalesco:
God grant him great success in his Holy task!
Many Years!
AMEN!!!
Father O'Malley served here in Washington in the 1970s and 1980s. He did great work for social justice, especially in the Hispanic community.
From today's Washington Post:
Powerful Job of Boston Prelate
Falls to Champion of Humility
Monk Is Unusual Choice To Head Archdiocese By Alan Cooperman and Pamela Ferdinand
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, July 2, 2003; Page A03
Speaking to reporters after he was named yesterday as the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston, Sean Patrick O'Malley said he did not yet know where he would live. But he suggested it probably would not be the baronial mansion inhabited by his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard M. Law.
"Obviously, as a Franciscan brother, I prefer to have the simplest quarters," he said.
That came as an understatement to residents of the Renaissance Apartments in Washington, who remembered the day in 1977 when he moved into two rooms on the first floor of their white brick building at 3060 16th St. NW.
It was then known as the Kenesaw Building, and more than half of its 83 units were vacant. It had no heat in winter, no air-conditioning in summer. What it did have was rats and roaches, drug dealers and fires.
"Padre Sean," as Hispanic residents still call O'Malley, turned one room into a chapel and slept on the floor in the other.
"It was a dangerous place to live, believe me," said Silverio Coy, a lawyer and Hispanic community activist who helped O'Malley organize the tenants to fight eviction, form a cooperative and renovate the building. "He wanted to make a statement that not only was he going to help these people, he was going to share their needs and anxieties every single day."
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The full story is at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60714-2003Jul1.html -------------------------------
May he help to heal the people of the Church of Boston.
John
Pilgrim and Odd Duck
