BOSTON (MA)
Boston Globe
By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | April 25, 2005
They were infirm and able-bodied, old and young. Some came in somber, dark coats and others in fluffy miniskirts and flip-flops.
Dozens of worshipers waited patiently in line for the blessing of the sick yesterday, during a Mass of hope and healing at Cathedral of the Holy Cross, where many asked for spiritual guidance and help with life-threatening illnesses. Outside, a small group of protesters dismayed at the church's handling of the clergy sexual-abuse scandal had converged on the sidewalk, where they said they were doing their own healing.
On the same day Benedict XVI was formally installed as pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley called on worshipers not to fear age and illness but show the ''grace and courage" that the late Pope John Paul II tried to teach in his final days.
During the Mass, O'Malley also praised the election of Benedict XVI and called on the 200 to 250 people in the cavernous church in Boston's South End to accept their new leader as the successor to Peter, the first pope.
Posted by kshaw at April 25, 2005 06:18 AM