December 9, 2019
Dear Family of Faith,
May
the Peace of our Lord Jesus, and the Hope we celebrate in this Advent Season as
we prepare to celebrate His Coming to us anew, be with you all! Greetings from the Eternal City!
The
official “Ad Limina Apostolorum” Visit to the Holy Father and to the Tombs of
the Apostles has officially begun. We
unofficially arrived yesterday, Sunday morning Rome time, after a long, and
thankfully smooth, flight from Detroit, to Philadelphia, and then to Rome. While it was 3:30 a.m. in the morning for our
“real-feel/body time”, our six-hour time difference kicked in and Rome was
already a bustling active city, at least for a Sunday. The several Bishops who were on the flight
with me were met by our drivers from the North American College (NAC) to pick us up
and drive us the 30 minutes from the airport to Rome.
The weather in Rome at this time of year is
moderate, warm for our standards; in the mid-50’s on average, and mostly
pleasant. We found our reception at the
North American College to be warm, efficient, and smooth. By noon I was situated in my room, which is
quite nice by any standards, and certainly nice for a Seminary. After time to freshen up after a long flight,
unpacking and a brief siesta, and the low-key concelebration of Holy Mass for
the Second Sunday of Advent, our preliminary meetings began. There was an orientation meeting at 5 p.m. to
explain the procedures for the busy days ahead, followed by a beautiful banquet
in the Seminary Dining Room in honor of the Patroness of the North American
College, the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother, whose Solemnity is
one day deferred this year due to the conflict with the Sunday.
Let
me just say a word about the North American College. While its name could be deceptive, the NAC
(as everyone calls it) is the Major Seminary for American seminarians sent here
by their Bishops for their four years of Theological studies and formation in
the last four years of priestly preparation for Ordination. The NAC is referred to as the U.S. Seminary
in Rome. A number of our priests serving
in our Diocese have attended the NAC, including Fr. Jim O’Leary as well as our more recently ordained young priests, Fr. Max
Nightingale and Fr. Jeff Hanley. Because
it is a Seminary sponsored by the U.S. Bishops, it also serves as a residence
for Bishops when visiting their students, or who are just making a pilgrimage
to Rome. During the “Ad Limina” Visits,
the NAC hosts all the Bishops who choose to stay there during their week-long
visits.
By
the way, the “Ad Limina” Visits are supposed to take place approximately every
5 years; the last visit for U.S. Bishops was in 2011-12. Due to the change in Holy Fathers in 2013,
the schedules have been a bit behind, so it’s now been 7 years since our Ad
Limina Visits. On another side note,
besides the Bishops from Michigan and Ohio (Region 6) here for our visit this
week, the Bishops from Region 7 (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana) are also here,
so we truly have a “full house”.
So
with all that being said, our first official day began today. And what a beautiful day to do so, as the
Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed
Mother. Our day began very early with
leaving the NAC at 6:45 a.m. to bring us to celebrate Mass at the Tomb of St. Peter
in the downstairs of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Just
a word about the Roman Curia. Just as
every Pastor has a staff of faithful and competent people to help coordinate
programs and ministries at the parish, every Bishop has a Diocesan Pastoral
Staff (or Curia) to do the same. I am
truly blessed by those who serve on our diocesan Staff, not just for the
competence they bring, but also for the dedication and commitment they bring to
their work which is truly a great gift to me and to us all. In a similar way, the Holy Father has a very
large staff, which is oftentimes known as the Roman Curia. It is divided into departments known as
Congregations, Secretariats, and Pontifical Councils (Dicasteries). Many of these departments are headed by
Bishops or Cardinals, and they are staffed by many priests and a lot of
dedicated lay people from around the world.
During
the Ad Limina Visits, we Bishops make an accounting to the Holy Father directly
to provide him with a report on the vitality of our Diocese, to point out what
the challenges are, and to share with him any areas of success or problems. Those reports were written, formally prepared
and sent to Rome 6 months ago, to give the various departments/congregations
time to review them so they can be prepared for our visits.
As I mentioned earlier our first
meeting was a 90-minute meeting with the Congregation for Bishops, followed by
an hour-long meeting at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF),
then a trip back to the NAC for some lunch and a break, followed by two more
hour plus- long meetings this afternoon at the Pontifical Council for the Promotion
of Christian Unity, and then with the Secretariat for Communication, which
concluded at 5:30 p.m. this evening.
While
the content of those meetings are confidential, I can say that each of them
were interesting, helpful and informative.
We
returned to the NAC for Evening Prayer and other evening activities. Tomorrow we will begin the day with early
Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, followed by the highpoint of the
week: our meeting with Pope Francis. We
will meet with him as a Region, but we are told that the Holy Father spends a
lot of time, and wants to hear from each of us, about the state of affairs in
our Dioceses. I very much look forward
to this very important meeting.
Please
be assured of special remembrances in my prayers throughout this week at each
of the Basilicas and holy places I will be visiting. Know that high on my list of prayers and
intentions are an increase of Vocations to the Priesthood, Religious Life and
the Sacrament of Marriage, and unity/vitality/renewal of the faith of each of
us, and a deeper love and devotion to the Holy Eucharist as we prepare for “The
Year of the Eucharist: 2020”. Please
pray for me as well.
In Christ,
+
Bishop Paul
Christmas at St. Peter's Square
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