|
On Tuesday, I
will travel to Rome with the bishops of Indiana, Illinois, and
Wisconsin for our “ad limina” visit. During our visit, we will
express our solidarity with the Holy Father and with the other
bishops of the Universal Church. Each of us will also render an
accounting of our stewardship in the Church to which we have been
assigned responsibilities to teach, sanctify, and govern in unity
and charity.
Just as St.
Peter and the other apostles constituted a single apostolic College,
in like fashion, the Holy Father, St. Peter’s successor, and the
bishops, the successors of the apostles, are related with and united
to one another in a bond of hierarchical communion. I look forward
to this visit with Pope Benedict XVI, who has the responsibility, as
did St. Peter, “to strengthen your brothers” (Lk 22:32).
We call our
visits “ad limina” as “limina” means tombs. During our ad limina
visit, we will celebrate Masses for the people of our dioceses over
the tombs of the two great apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. We
will also celebrate Mass at the altar above the remains of Blessed
Pope John Paul II and in the other major basilicas in Rome.
The Holy See
designates the time for our ad limina visit. The bishops of
Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin have been asked to be in Rome from
February 8th to February 18th.
In the past,
the individual meetings with the Holy Father, during which I shared
the opportunities and challenges of living and sharing the faith in
our diocese, was the highlight of my ad limina visits. Pope
Benedict XVI has changed the format somewhat this year. He will
meet with us in small groups of six or seven for about an hour. He
will ask each bishop to share the highlights of his ministry within
his diocese and then engage in a free-flowing heart-to-heart
discussion.
The pope
spends a large part of his ministry engaging in such conversations
with bishops from every country throughout the world within a period
of five years. He also holds regular meetings with heads of state
and ambassadors from throughout the world. Those visits, and his
own worldwide travels, enable him to have a deep grasp of the
realities of life in every sector of the globe.
In addition
to our fraternal meeting with the Holy Father, we also meet with his
closest collaborators in the Roman Curia, such as the Cardinal
Prefects of the Congregations of the Doctrine of the Faith, Divine
Worship, Clergy, Consecrated Life, Catholic Education, and the
Cardinal Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest
court, also with the Cardinal Prefects of the Pontifical Councils of
Laity, Christian Unity, Family, Justice and Peace, and the New
Evangelization.
These
meetings give us a privileged opportunity to give an account of the
situation and needs in our local dioceses and to learn more about
the hopes, joys, and difficulties experienced by dioceses throughout
the Universal Church.
During our
time in Rome, we will have the opportunity to meet with students at
the North American College where our own Deacon Ben Ross is
completing his studies prior to ordination next June, with the U.S.
bishops and priests who work at the various Vatican Congregations
and offices, and with the U.S. ambassadors to the Vatican and to
Italy.
Several
months prior to the scheduled ad limina visit, each bishop is
required to send the Holy See a detailed report on the state of his
diocese following a format provided by the Holy See. I submitted
the 105-page report of our diocese, along with much supplemental
information, in October. The Holy Father and the appropriate
Cardinal Prefects will have received summaries of the report prior
to our visits. I will share some of the highlights of our report in
next week’s column.
Each bishop
is the principal sign of unity within the diocese and together, with
all the other bishops, expresses the unity and communion in Christ
of all the faithful throughout the world. Our Masses and prayers
together each day, along with our visits with the Holy Father and
the cardinals who collaborate with him in the Curia, are wonderful
expressions of our fraternal communion with each other in the Lord
Jesus.
I make this
ad limina visit joined in spirit with each one of you who constitute
this local Church of the Diocese of Gary. I will keep you in my
Masses and prayers each day. I invite your prayers in behalf of our
local Church and in behalf of all the churches throughout the world
with whom we share communion, especially those churches which suffer
persecution and remarkable hardship. |
