Five Year Milestone

This October marks five years of publishing my weekly blog. In these five years, I’ve covered many topics, events, and important issues. I am grateful to all of you who have been with me since the beginning and the hundreds who have joined along the way. This week, I will recap some of the highlights from these nearly 260 blogs!

2019 Launch

On October 21, 2019, the first Building Faith blog was published. I shared in that blog about my visit to St. Pius X School in South Yarmouth, which was hosting its second annual Our Lady Aparecida celebration. The staff and students of St. Pius X School shined, acting out the apparition, singing songs in Portuguese, and offering a delicious spread of Brazilian food.  

This would become just one of many stories of visits and celebrations throughout our Catholic schools that I was blessed to participate in each year and that I was able to share through my blog. I am so incredibly proud of all our schools in the Diocese, and I enjoy documenting as many of the visits as I can, as well as all of the end-of-the-year graduation photos! 

The blog would become a place where I could share teachings of the faith through the inclusion of insights from my homilies as well as focus on different aspects of the faith. Five years of Lenten, Easter, Advent, and Christmas messages, and so many photos of special Diocesan events such as the Lumen Christi Gala, special Masses, my Ad Limina visit to the Vatican, and the phenomenal Eucharistic Encounter at which we came together for just a few short weeks ago! From explaining how receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation should change you to yearly reflections on some of my favorite devotions and saints, such as St. Joseph, this blog has allowed me to reach more of the Diocesan faithful.

Beyond the Diocese

Of great surprise to the Diocesan faithful has been learning how busy the life of a bishop can be. My work here in the Diocese of Fall River includes days filled with not only school visits but also the majority of the Confirmations, all the high school graduations, and celebrating Mass throughout the Diocese, especially in our mother church, St. Mary’s Cathedral. Add to that countless meetings, ceremonies, and special events, along with oversight of diocesan administration and pastoral service to all of our faithful.

What most people didn’t realize was the extensive ministry work that takes place outside of the Diocese, especially in my committee roles with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Which includes bi-annual USCCB Assemblies. It has been a joy to share the important work of the US Bishops with the readers.

The bishops are involved in such important work across the country, and I hope you have enjoyed the special perspective the blog has allowed me to offer you. One special moment came just this year during the June Assembly; I felt honored to have an opportunity to share my concerns regarding the status of green card applications for those having to leave to renew their Religious Worker (R1) visas. My remarks begin at the 35:54 timestamp on the Day Two Livestream video, available here. All the USSCB General and Plenary Assemblies are available on the USCCB’s YouTube channel.

Weathering the Pandemic

Who could have ever predicted that within six months of launching this blog, we’d be faced with a pandemic and online communication would become more important than ever? The blog was a direct result of the 2019 listening sessions we’d recently concluded, followed by the development of a Strategic Plan highlighting three major goals:

• Revitalizing our parishes
• Renewing the ministries of the Diocese
• Strengthening support for the clergy.

Included in that plan was improving our online and digital communication, including building a stronger social media presence. Also paramount in weathering those pandemic days, as we navigated live streamed Masses, shared video messages, and all learned to better navigate on Zoom. Virtual events such as the FACE Gala and Pope St. Pius X award ceremonies, just to name a few long-standing traditions in the Diocese, were able to continue, albeit in a very unique and unexpected way! Everyone pulled together and kept our hope and faith, and through so much suffering and uncertainty, we were able to stay connected as a people of faith thanks to the dedication and hard work of so many and the blessing of modern technology.

Vocations, Ordinations, and Other News

Year after year, the most popular blogs typically involved updates on our seminarians and coverage of the diaconate (transitional and permanent) and priestly ordinations. In the last five years, I have celebrated numerous ordinations here in the Diocese and even one in my home country, Brazil.  We’ve been blessed with a great number of deacons ordained and a steady number of priests, but even in the leaner years, the Church remains hopeful, prayerful, and trusting. 

On Saturday, June 13, 2020, the Diocese experienced one of its more unique ordinations, as Holy Orders were conferred during a very different but still special Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River. I was blessed to ordain Deacon Steven A. Booth to the priesthood and seminarian Peter R. Scheffer Jr. to the transitional diaconate. I invite you to read an excellent article published at that time about these two extraordinary men. Although the pandemic limited the number of people who could attend the ordination—in a testament to the blessing of living in a technological age— over 2,500 people have viewed the ceremony online.

Over the years, I have been very honest with you about how incredibly difficult the decisions of the bishop can be, including removing priests from ministry or transferring priests to new parishes. I have been so very grateful for the opportunity this weekly blog provides me to communicate not only the events but also my experiences and thoughts associated with them.

Sadly, the blog has been the conduit of sad news, too, such as the passing of our faithful priests, including Bishop Emeritus George Coleman, earlier this year. I was incredibly moved by the outpouring of kindness and support when my beloved mother, Josefa da Cunha, passed away in July of 2023. 

The Year in Review

There is far too much for me to cover in this single highlight blog. I invite you to visit our yearly round-up of the top stories and celebrations covered in the Building Faith blog. 

I pray you will continue to take time each week to catch up on the news, inspiration, and occasional catechesis shared in my blog. Thank you for an amazing five years, and here is — God willing — many more to come!

Yours in Christ,
Bishop da Cunha