Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley said American culture is inhospitable to Roman Catholic teaching and likened preaching in the United States to a form of martyrdom.
"Today, our challenge is simple: to resist the temptation to conform to the culture of death, to consumerism, hedonism, individualism," O'Malley told about 500 priests and 600 parishioners on Tuesday during Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The Mass was part of Holy Week, which culminates with Easter Sunday.
O'Malley said Catholics in the United States "find themselves in a hostile, alien environment" where there is temptation to "conform to a dominant cultural influence that is incongruous with our faith and our destiny."
He did not refer to the clergy sexual abuse crisis that has shaken the archdiocese and the rest of the country, and was the main cause of the removal of his predecessor, Cardinal Bernard F. Law.
O'Malley also did not mention his current battle against gay marriage, but said the church's teachings about life and family are "essential for civilization in the long run."
The Chrism Mass is associated in Catholic theology with the establishment of the priesthood by Jesus at the Last Supper, and O'Malley spoke at length about the importance of preaching.
"The pulpit is the important arena of our martyrdom," he said. "It can be painful, it can be frustrating, but it can also produce much good."