E-Mail This Article to a Friend Soft cell (continued)
	Related links Senate Bill No. 25 The full text of legislation filed by state Senate president Robert Travaglini to promote stem-cell research in Massachusetts. Archdiocese of Boston The Boston archdiocese’s official site. Massachusetts Catholic Conference The Web site of the Church’s public-policy arm in Massachusetts.

What’s the reason? Through a spokesperson, the Boston archdiocese declined to comment for this article. But there are a few possibilities. O’Malley and other local Church authorities may have decided that Travaglini’s bill is bound to pass, and that only token opposition is warranted. It also might be a matter of money: with the Boston archdiocese struggling to fund its $85 million settlement with victims of clergy sexual abuse, there simply may not be enough cash on hand for expensive direct-mail campaigns. Perhaps, as unlikely as it seems, theological reasons are to blame; after all, Saint Thomas Aquinas — the seminal figure in Catholic moral theology — suggested that "ensoulment" occurs 40 days after conception, which undercuts the bishops’ claim that human embryos are miniature humans.

It also might be that, although the Church has been relatively quiet so far, an intense lobbying effort will be rolled out in the near future. If that doesn’t happen, there could be a fourth explanation — namely, that O’Malley and other Church leaders simply don’t find the mechanics of stem-cell research as abhorrent as they do the notion of two men or two women marrying in a civil ceremony.

The Church’s reticence to date has had at least one unintended consequence: Father Tom DiLorenzo, a priest at Holy Rosary Church, in Winthrop, and host of a nationally syndicated conservative-Catholic radio program, has become the most visible face of Church opposition to Travaglini’s bill. For several weeks, DiLorenzo and a small group of supporters have gathered at Travaglini’s East Boston home to protest the pending legislation. But DiLorenzo may not be the best spokesperson for the cause. On Monday morning, DiLorenzo — a large man wearing a green parka over his Roman collar — greeted this reporter by producing a stack of photos he claimed showed Travaglini’s SUV illegally parked by a fire hydrant. Later, as his supporters marched back and forth with large crucifixes and placards (one had a picture of Mary; another was emblazoned with the phrase BUT IN REALITY, IT’S ALL ABOUT CLONING), DiLorenzo predicted his protest would be futile. "It will be law," he said of Travaglini’s bill. "We’re not stupid. It’s all about jobs and it’s all about money." DiLorenzo then explained that the recent earthquake in Quebec was prompted by humanity’s moral deviance. And, after promising worse consequences to come, he took credit for trying do his part. "God gives us up to our sin," DiLorenzo concluded. "If you plant death, you’ll reap death.... You know what? Let it be said that someone did something."

We’ll know soon enough whether Catholic opposition is as futile as DiLorenzo claims. Both Travaglini and House Speaker Sal DiMasi have said they plan to present a bill to Romney by the end of this month. Travaglini recently suggested that a veto-proof majority in the Senate backs his bill, but no one knows the numbers in the lower chamber. Perhaps that’s why Dan Avila — a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, the Church’s public-policy arm — remains guardedly hopeful. "I’m not optimistic, and I’m not pessimistic," he says. As Avila adds that the Church’s argument may carry the day, he makes several points: legislators are just beginning to learn about the nuances of stem-cell research; the terminology in Travaglini’s bill is misleading; and public concern about the issue is growing. "It’s really very early in the debate," Avila concludes, "and predictions very rarely resemble results when you’re talking about the legislative process." It’s a point worth remembering.

TURNS OUT she’s really doing it. At 11 a.m. Thursday — after the Phoenix had gone to press — at-large city councilor Maura Hennigan was slated to formally announce her mayoral candidacy. Few observers of Boston politics believe Hennigan has a chance; after all, the last incumbent mayor voted out of office was John Hynes, who defeated James Curley back in 1949. (And Hynes benefited from unusual circumstances: he’d served as acting mayor while Curley languished in the federal penitentiary in Danbury, Connecticut.)

Still, Hennigan insists she’s a legitimate candidate. "I’m a seven-year former teacher," she said when the Phoenix questioned her on Tuesday about her viability. "I’m a health-care professional." A licensed nutritionist, Hennigan taught that subject in the Boston Public Schools in the late ’70s and early ’80s. "I’ve chaired every major City Council committee. I’ve taken on tough issues.

"Look at the front page of the Globe," she added, referring to a story on the state Ethics Commission’s decision to fine Kevin Joyce, Menino’s former inspectional-services commissioner. "On that issue — one of the most powerful positions in city government — I alone stood up when it wasn’t popular and said, ‘Something’s wrong, something needs to be done about it.’ That is the kind of tenacity I bring to the race. No one running for mayor has ever done that before."

What’s her case against Menino? Hennigan starts with public education, an area in which the mayor claims Boston has made great strides. "Why do people continue to leave our system?" she asked. "If things are so good, why do they continue to leave? And they do." One change she says she’d make: increasing the number of kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools. "The mayor has said we should hold him accountable on schools," she noted. "I do. And the people in this city should." (It’s no coincidence that Hennigan will make her announcement at 26 Court Street, in front of the Boston School Committee building.)

Hennigan then turned her attention to the brutal realities of Boston real estate. "We have the most expensive housing market in the nation," she observed. "What’s happened for many years is, you had people buying up two- and three-family homes, splitting them into condos, and selling them at exorbitant prices. Single-family homes? You can’t even touch them anymore. If someone grew up in this city — no matter what the neighborhood is — and wants to buy a home there, unless you’re an affluent person, you can’t do it." Menino, she said, has erred by granting favored developers exemptions from Boston’s affordable-housing requirements — which are supposed to spur creation of inexpensive new housing — while holding others to the letter of the law. "They just want to know what the rules are," Hennigan said of Boston developers. "They don’t want some rules to apply to some people, and other rules to apply to others. That creates a chilling effect on an economy that’s struggling, and we need all the people competing in this market that we can."

She was just getting started. Over the next few minutes, Hennigan urged that empty office space in Downtown Crossing be converted into affordable apartments and condos to revitalize the area; hit Menino for basing commercial property taxes on rental rates rather than on assessment values; lamented the condition of police stations in less-affluent neighborhoods, like Mattapan; and, finally, hammered Menino as an autocrat. "This is not all about me, and it shouldn’t be all about whoever the existing mayor is," she said. "It’s how we get there together, how we share information, how we share ideas. That’s where I’m different. I don’t know if it’s a woman thing; I don’t know if it’s just who I am, but I like when you get input and ideas from people. It should be about a shared solution. [Menino] absolutely does not do that. It’s about how he wants to get there."

Many people would agree. Whether they’ll see that as a reason to fire Menino — and to give Hennigan his job — remains to be seen.

Adam Reilly can be reached at areilly[a]phx.com