Diocese of Gary

Papal Visit Serves As Reminder Of Universality Of Catholic Church

April 13, 2008

With much joy and enthusiasm, we will welcome our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, to our country this week.  His pastoral visit reminds us that we belong not only to a particular parish in a particular diocese, but we also belong to the Catholic Church which is universal.

Our Holy Father will arrive in Washington on Tuesday evening.  On Wednesday morning, April 16th, his 81st birthday, he will be welcomed by President George W. Bush in a 10 a.m. ceremony at the White House.  In the early evening, the pope will meet with all of the bishops of the United States at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

At 10 a.m. on Thursday, the Holy Father will concelebrate a Mass at the new Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium in Southeast Washington, D.C., with all of the bishops together with many priests.  This will provide an opportunity for many thousands of the faithful to gather with our Universal Shepherd.

Later on Thursday, the pope will meet with representatives of Catholic educators, including our Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Barbara O'Block, at The Catholic University of America.  In the evening the Holy Father will meet with representatives of other religions at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center before departing for his three-day pastoral visit to New York and the United Nations.

In New York, the pope will address the United Nations, participate in an interfaith meeting, one with children with disabilities, visit "ground zero," celebrate Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral with the bishops of the country and representative groups of religious, seminarians, and youth, meet with youth and seminarians, and conclude his pastoral visit with Mass at Yankee Stadium.

The pope is Bishop of Rome and the successor of St. peter, the first of the apostles.  He is the head of the College of Bishops, the successors of the apostles to whom Jesus entrusted the three-fold office of teaching, sanctifying, and governing.  As the universal pastor of the church, the pope is called Holy Father or His Holiness.

Pope Benedict XVI was born in a small town in Southern Germany in the Province of Bavaria.  It is the most Catholic area in Germany.  He is the third and youngest child.

After his ordination, Father Joseph Ratzinger taught in a high school.  After earning his doctorate in theology, he began a long and distinguished career as lecturer on dogmatic and fundamental theology in Greising, Bonn, Munster, Tubingen, and at the University of Regensburg.  He has also been a prolific writer.

In 1977, Pope Paul VI appointed Father Ratzinger Archbishop of Munich and Freising.  He served there for only four years until Pope John Paul II appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, President of the Pontifical Bibilical Commission, and President of the International Theological Commission.

After the death of Pope John Paul II, the cardinals elected Cardinal Ratzinger as the 265th pope on the fourth ballot on April 19, 2005, three days after his 78th birthday.  His first words to the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square immediately after his election are significant:  "Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.  The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with insufficient instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.  In the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of His unfailing help, let us move forward.  The Lord will help us, and Mary, His Most Holy Mother, will be on our side."

This week gives us a unique opportunity to renew our unity with the Church throughout the world through the visible sign of that worldwide unity, the pope himself.  His visit will afford us the opportunity to hear about some of his major concerns and his vision of the Church, a vision of hope that we desperately need in these crucial times for our country and our culture.