Chrism Mass is sign of unity
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The Catholic Spirit News with a Catholic heart
March 15, 2012
Senior Housing guide
B-Section TheCatholicSpirit.com
FROM MINNESOTA TO ROME ‘Ad limina’ pilgrimage was a true grace for me I have recently returned from my “ad limina” trip to Rome. During the eight-day pilgrimage, my brother bishops and I made our official visit to the Vatican, which included two personal visits with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. As was explained in a previous issue of The Catholic Spirit, the “ad limina” visit is required of each diocesan bishArchbishop op, who is inJohn C. vited to travel Nienstedt to Rome to venerate the tombs of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul and present himself to the Holy Father.
That They May All Be One
These visits follow the submission of a quinquennial report, which is a report by the bishop, which seeks to inform the Holy Father and his advisers about the well-being and concerns of his own particular diocese. Because the dioceses of Minnesota, North and South Dakota are grouped together as an ecclesiastical province
CNS photo / Paul Haring
Bishops from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota pray in front of the tomb of St. Peter before concelebrating Mass at the Altar of the Tomb in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 9. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to report to the pope and the Vatican about the status of their dioceses.
Bishops pray at apostles’ tombs, meet with pope By Joe Towalski
PLEASE TURN TO REPORT ON PAGE 11A
The Catholic Spirit
As the final preparations for Mass were being made at the Altar of the Tomb below the main level of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the singing of the Nicene Creed echoed down a nearby marble staircase. Upstairs, 13 bishops from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota gathered March 9 around the main altar’s “confessio,” an area above St. Peter’s tomb honoring his confession of faith. They recited the ancient prayer and then processed downstairs for Mass at the altar near the tomb of the apostle — the “rock” on which Jesus built his church. It’s a place where 2,000 years of faith and history meet, and it’s one of the stops bishops from around the world make during their periodic “ad limina” visits to Rome. Even for bishops who have made the trip before, it is a powerful moment. “The confessio for me is a very, very special place, a very sacred place,” Archbishop John
“Going down underground for some of these crypts, you’re going back in history and you’re touching the very roots of the beginning of our faith.
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BISHOP LEE PICHÉ
Nienstedt told The Catholic Spirit in Rome. “I worked in the Vatican [Secretariat of State] for five years, and every morning I would kneel at the confessio and I would pray for the strength to do the work I was called to do.”
Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, making his first ever “ad limina” visit, said Mass at the tomb with his brother bishops was an experience he won’t forget. “For me, this whole visit has been about the mystery of oneness, of communion,” he said. “Going down underground for some of these crypts, you’re going back in history and you’re touching the very roots of the beginning of our worldwide faith.” Praying at the confessio “gave me goose bumps.” The bishops’ March 4-11 visit also included stops at Rome’s other major basilicas: St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran and St. Paul’s Outside the Walls — home to the tomb of the Apostle to the Gentiles. The name of the visit comes from the Latin phrase “ad limina apostolorum” (to the thresholds of the apostles), a reference to the pilgrimage to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul the bishops are required to make approximately every five years. PLEASE TURN TO BISHOPS ON PAGE 12A