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BOSTON (AP) -- There's a new resting place for Boston's first Roman Catholic cardinal.
The Boston Globe reports that William O'Connell's remains were quietly relocated last week from a crypt beneath a small chapel to the courtyard of the nearby St. John's Seminary.
The move covered only a short distance in the Brighton neighborhood. But the agreement to do it ended a lengthy dispute that pitted the archdiocese and Boston College against O'Connell's descendants.
In 2004, the archdiocese sold the land where the tomb was located to the college. The school wanted the remains moved so it could develop the property.
O'Connell's relatives did not want the remains disturbed.
The cardinal is one of the most influential figures in the history of the church in Boston. He died in 1944.
In other religion news:
- Elder Quentin L. Cook, an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last Friday. A blog at LDS.org says Elder Cook attended the event with more than 4,200 Latter-day Saints and their friends. He threw a strike, which was caught by local church leader Elder Jerryl Garns. Joshua Creek, a Latter-day Saint recording group, sang the national anthem, as well as "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch. Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium is more than 20 years old and is the largest and longest-running community event held by the Dodgers organization.
- National Institutes of Health chief Francis Collins has told USA Today that "angry atheists are out there using science as a club to hit believers over the head." Collins, the former head of the U.S. human genome program and an evangelical Christian, says he believes conflicts over religion and science are often "overstated."
- USA Today also reports that Republican Herman Cain has apologized for his assertion on the presidential campaign trail that American communities should have the right to ban mosques.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
