THE TABLET
April 26, 2008

A Remarkable Visit!

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Last week, I wrote about the privilege of welcoming the Holy Father to the United States and the hopes I had for his apostolic journey here.  This week, I can attest that I was not disappointed.  From the very first moment of his arrival, you saw the positive reaction to the Holy Father’s calm and deliberate way of speaking and acting. 

When Pope Benedict XVI arrived at the White House South Lawn, I was there among the Bishops and almost 13,000 well-wishers, as we heard both our President and Holy Father speak about critical world issues.  I never was as proud to be a Catholic and an American as I was on that day. 

Standing before the symbol of our Executive Office, the White House, the President spoke first and, in effect, anticipated what the Holy Father said.  I am sure there was no previous collaboration, but the messages complemented one another.  They spoke about the necessity of respecting human life, from conception to natural death, and also about human rights.  The President said to the Holy Father: “In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that each of us is willed and each of us is necessary.” How important this message is for our world today as it was reinforced by two of the most prominent leaders of the world. 

In the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Father addressed the body of Bishops and spoke to us as I had hoped, by encouraging us to remain faithful and to watch that programs of safe environment will continue to protect our young from any kind of exploitation.  His words were affirming and encouraging to the Bishops and reminded us of any responsibilities we had, not the least of which is catechetical formation and the formation of young people in a culture that seems to contradict the Christian message at every turn. He said that offering a sound moral foundation to children is the responsibility not only of parents, but of religious leaders, teachers, catechists, and “the media and entertainment industries.”

The Mass at Nationals Stadium in Washington was truly a holy event. The stadium is not as large as Yankee Stadium, and so the aura of intimacy was created.  There were many more faithful on the playing field and the position of the altar gave everyone a bird’s eye view of the Holy Father.  Most importantly, in the nation’s capital, the Holy Father spoke about the heritage of America as a great nation.  He said that hope born of God’s love is “very much a part of the American character.”

The interreligious meeting in which the Holy Father took part reemphasized the recognition of the Second Vatican Council that every person of good will and faith has something to contribute to the world and that every person of good will can find greater and various ways of belief.  He urged that “followers of all religions stand together in defending and promoting life and religious freedom everywhere.”

At the meeting with the educational leaders of the United States, as I had hoped, he emphasized the issue of Catholic identity and how important it was that our schools remain Catholic, not only in name, but in fact.  The Catholic identity of a school or religious education program, he said, “demands and inspires” that “every aspect of our learning communities reverberates within the ecclesial life of faith.”

The Diocese of Brooklyn was indeed privileged to welcome the Holy Father at a brief ceremony at Kennedy Airport.  The tremendous preparations that went into even this brief event paid off since the band from Xaverian High School and over three hundred invited guests provided a rousing New York welcome to the Holy Father.  The two children who presented the Holy Father with flowers came from our Catholic schools.  As I watched, the children were overcome with emotion.  They were truly proud, as young people, to be able to meet the Holy Father in this way.

Perhaps now, skipping the order, I can talk about the Youth Rally at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.  For me, perhaps, this was the highlight of the pastoral journey.  The enthusiastic welcome the Holy Father received from the young people, seminarians, those preparing for religious life and 25,000 youth was truly a remarkable event.  The event was prolonged by the continued cheering of the crowd. What was scheduled to take a half hour took over an hour and a half, so enthusiastic were these young people.

The Holy Father told the young people that “You are Christ’s disciples today.”  In a discourse, he spoke about his own teenage years and the difficult times in which he grew up, comparing them to today’s time and the dangers that young people face.  He surely seemed to connect with the crowd.  The ceremony presented the lives of saints who had served the Archdiocese of New York and called the youth there to strive for sanctity in their lives.

The Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral was another inspiring event, highlighted by the Holy Father’s homily. He used the image of a stained-glass window. From the outside it has little beauty, but only from the inside one can see the light of Christ penetrating to the observer, in fact, to the soul for the person who unites himself with Christ.  The gift that the Diocese of Brooklyn gave to the Holy Father at his departure was, in fact, a miniature copy of the stained-glass window of the Immaculate Conception in the Cathedral Basilica of St. James.  Significantly, this window was made in Germany and was erected for the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.  Little did we know that the beautiful image the Holy Father  gave us was personified in the gift we had chosen for him to show our appreciation.  Fittingly, a girl of German heritage presented the gift to him at the departure ceremony at Kennedy Airport.

The Mass at Yankee Stadium, although the day was cloudy, radiated the joy of the people of New York and the Archdiocese celebrating their 200th anniversary.  Everyone, no matter what the inconvenience, came with great expectation of seeing the Holy Father and hearing his challenging message in which he hailed the “solid foundation” of the Church in the United States and urged that the Church in the years ahead build on that legacy.

The Departure Ceremony at Kennedy Airport was the time when the Diocese of Brooklyn was able to show itself as it is.  The Holy Father, at the beginning of his trip here, mentioned the issue of immigration, a fact so characteristic of our country, but in a special way of our own Diocese. 

Here in Brooklyn and Queens we emphasized the diverse character of our own Diocese by inviting all of our immigrant apostolates to take part in the departure ceremony.  The prayer service that preceded the departure highlighted the ethnic culture of our Diocese in a special way by reciting the Rosary in various languages.  It was truly a visible sign of our unity and diversity.

As we bid the Holy Father farewell as he ascended the steps to the plane, my thoughts centered on the wonderful gift he had given to our country.  There is so much we need to follow up on, so many challenges and also so many gestures of appreciation for who the Church is in the United States.  Although the news media carried very positive coverage, there were those challenging points, as when most news coverage tries to find the crack in the armor of any organization.  It was a spontaneous moment he had at the Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral that said it all: he is the humble successor of St. Peter, a man flawed by sin, but who overcame even betrayal to become the head of the apostolic band. 

How important it is for us, as we “put out into the deep,” to always remember that returning to the shore is not an option. We must continue the journey; pushing forward no matter the obstacles is always the way of Christian life.  We thank you, Holy Father, for being with us, and we pray that your apostolic ministry will continue to bear much fruit.