Supporting Bishop Reilly and the Church, the cardinal spoke the truth about Bishop Reilly’s and the Church’s pro-life stand, "... always you meet another with respect, you meet another with love, but you never back off to the fundamental truth that the Church must always be unambiguously pro-life."

The cardinal himself showed kindness in how he presented this truth. First, he presented it, not watering it down or apologizing for it. True kindness includes telling others the truth – for their own good.

The protesters were perhaps trying to practice that aspect of kindness toward politicians and society, and even toward the pro-life bishop and Church. They know certain politicians and society at large are not pro-life, at least not when it comes to abortion, and that conversion is needed there. They know Bishop Reilly and the Church are already pro-life, but they apparently felt that even the "choir" needed "preaching to," so they would proclaim that pro-life message a different way.

One can argue about what the kindest or most effective way of proclaiming the pro-life message is. But Cardinal Law was perhaps looking at how best to proclaim the broader message - the message of God’s love for everyone, of God’s invitation to everyone to follow Him more completely.

It may have been the presence of the protesters, and the embarrassment they caused Bishop Reilly and the diocese on the occasion of a joyful celebration of their anniversaries, that spurred the cardinal to proclaim these messages. If so, the protesters accomplished something more important than what they set out to accomplish.

They started the ball rolling by risking their own reputations and relationships with church officials in order to be prophets, sometimes called thorns in the side. They didn’t get what they asked for – the excommunication or disinvitation to Mass of certain politicians. But the ball rolled in the right direction because Cardinal Law picked it up out of the gutter and redirected it toward the same ultimate goal with a kindness that was more human and gentlemanly, as befits a follower of the One who came not for the healthy and self-righteous, but the sick and sinful.

He didn’t embarrass anyone – politicians or members of other Christian churches or other religions – by naming or addressing them publicly. He didn’t call for their excommunication or exclusion from God’s house. Instead, he acknowledged that some of what they already do is good and invited them to broaden that: "We acknowledge the tremendous good that so many do in the cause of justice, and in the cause of peace. We would just invite them to join us to go all the way."

If these people had been barred from attending Mass how would they have heard that truth or felt that kind love of God? Since when is one’s support of abortion a signal for Christians to keep one out of God’s house? Isn’t church supposed to be a place where one can be converted – and in the process experience Christ’s patient love through his Body?

WORCESTER - "How different it was 50 years ago," Cardinal Bernard Law, archbishop of Boston, declared at St. Paul’s Cathedral Sunday.

During a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Diocese of Worcester and the 25^th anniversary of Bishop Reilly’s episcopal ordination, a deacon proclaimed the Word of God, people of different faiths walked in the procession, and a multiplicity of ethnic groups participated in the Mass. "We give thanks to God for that," Cardinal Law said.

During its 50 years, the Diocese of Worcester has dealt with challenges and changes that have tested the Church and society, and it has remained faithful to its call, Bishop Reilly told about 1,200 people in the congregation.

Anniversaries are "occasions for personal renewal...to respond to the challenge to walk more faithfully with Christ and to share more deeply in his life and mission," he said during his homily.

Acts of prayer and penance for the anniversary and Jubilee year "will be for naught if they do not cause us...to put our faith into practice,’" he said.

He said he could sense "all around us...those saints who have gone before us," including the bishops of the Diocese of Worcester – the dynamic energizer Bishop Wright, gentle ecumenist and canonist Bishop Flanagan, and caring Bishop Harrington who so loved the poor – and people of all nationalities.

He then told about the many people who are models of faith-in-action, and mentioned the diocese’s past and present ministries. He said they offer it all to God and added, "Happy golden jubilee to the Diocese of Worcester."

Speaking of his own silver jubilee as a bishop he said he was energized by the faith, love and goodness of the people of the Worcester Diocese when he came here in 1994.

"I am blessed because you always encouraged me and never wavered in your loyalty to the Lord and his Church," he said. "I am happy because I see you, our Church, alive and ready for the future. I am proud because you have come so willingly to praise God on this day of Jubilee and to offer this thanksgiving."

Bishop Reilly specifically praised priests, deacons, religious, lay ministers and "all of you my dear people" for their ministries and called them "‘the wind beneath my wings,’ the heart of my life, the reason for my ministry, the cause of my joy and the reward of my labors."

He quoted St. Paul, "We always thank God for you all...the news about your faith in God has gone everywhere."

The occasion to give thanks also turned into an occasion to teach Sunday when Cardinal Bernard F. Law, archbishop of Boston, praised the lifelong work of Bishop Reilly.

"I am sure that the government leaders of state, and city and the nation who have interacted with you know that...always you meet another with respect, you meet another with love, but you never back off to the fundamental truth that the Church must always be unambiguously pro-life. That is the Bishop Reilly that I know."

The congregation broke out in spontaneous, sustained applause in response.

The scene was reminiscent of one at the funeral of Cardinal John J. O’Connor, archbishop of New York, last May in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. During his homily there, Cardinal Law said Cardinal O’Connor’s "great legacy" was "his constant reminder that the Church must always be unambiguously pro-life."

That congregation responded with a two-minute ovation which included standing in a wave, as if trying to send a message to politicians present, among whom were President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, and presidential candidates Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Before Sunday’s Mass about 50 protesters stood across the street from St. Paul’s singing, praying and holding signs, some of which criticized Sen. Kennedy’s invitation, called for his and other politicians’ excommunication or depicted living or aborted fetuses.

Father Anthony S. Kazarnowicz, associate pastor of Our Lady of Czestochowa, who stood outside with the protesters, called Sen. Kennedy "the nation’s leading defender of killing unborn babies."

Abortion wasn’t the only life issue which Cardinal Law addressed. He led up to his conclusion about the Church being unambiguously pro-life and inviting others to join its efforts by praising Bishop Reilly for how he "and others of us" have fought against capital punishment in this state. He said the bishop has championed "real welfare reform," helped highlight the plight of parochial school students and their parents subjected to systemic injustice, and gone all over the world to the poorest people.

"In making the Church responsive to public policy issues as they relate to the international arena," he said, "your have been a model for us."

Cardinal Law used the occasion, in the presence of a contingent of ecumenical and interreligious leaders, to address the new Vatican declaration "Dominus Iesus: On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church," and responses to it.

The cardinal said Bishop Reilly’s episcopal ministry is rooted in the profession of faith in the triune God, the Incarnate Word as the unique and only Savior and the universal salvific mission of Christ and the Church. The Church has always professed this, he said.

"This document is directed to us," he told the ecumenical representatives, "Jewish brothers and sisters, Muslim brother" and those of other faiths attending the Mass. He said it reminds Catholics of the basis of their own faith and encourages them to continue ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, accurately expressing their beliefs.

The document has been "variously and erroneously" understood, he said, and told them, "Your presence reassures me that you understand." He said the commitment of "all of us" to that dialogue, with a special focus on relationship with Jews as "elder brothers and sisters," is "in no way lessened."

"Thank you for your presence," he said to the ecumenical and interreligious representatives. "It’s very special to us."

In addition to civil, ecumenical and interreligious leaders, the Mass drew 25 Catholic bishops, hundreds of priests, deacons, seminarians, members of religious communities, and Catholic laity, nearly filling the cathedral. In his welcome, Bishop Reilly mentioned certain groups and individuals, including Cardinal Law and Joseph Hagan, gentleman in waiting to Pope John Paul II, whom he indicated were representing the Church in Boston and the universal Church.

"This is really like a family gathering when we come to these celebrations," he said.

The Mass proceeded as normal, but with Jubilee Scripture readings (Lev. 25:1, 8-17; Ps. 118; II Tim. 1:6-14 and Mt. 28:16-20). Prayers of the faithful were read in several languages, representative of various ethnic groups in the diocese.

At the end of Mass Bishop Reilly thanked those who planned and participated in it, naming several individuals and groups, including Bishop Rueger, "my right arm."

The choir and musicians "lifted this celebration to a greater height," Bishop Reilly said. "Thank you for doing it in kindness and in truth," he added, using the words of his motto. He noted with sorrow that music director John E. Sittard and his wife were there for the last time before they move to Indianapolis.

"You’re all invited to come 50 years from now," Bishop Reilly told the congregation. "It won’t be golden, but I will if I’m here."

Following the Mass was a dinner at Holy Cross College for nearly 300 of the bishop’s guests including his brother bishops and priests, family members and diocesan workers.

There Bishop Rueger recalled the night after Bishop Wright’s installation as the first bishop of Worcester. It was at the Jesuit college that Bishop Wright gathered with family and friends as guests of the Jesuit community.

"Today, 50 years later, Holy Cross College and the Jesuit community again are our hosts. The diocese has always had an extraordinary relationship with them. We are grateful," he said.