K
Koheleth
Guest
A few words by the future Pope from Pittsburgh
postgazette.com/pg/10323/1104440-82.stm
ROME – Standing a short distance from the rough-hewn tomb that holds the bones of the Apostle Paul, Cardinal-designate Donald Wuerl celebrated Mass on Thursday for the pilgrims who have come from Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., to see him elevated to the College of Cardinals on Saturday.
He told them how important it was that the message of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection could be connected to a real man, whose traditional resting place was uncovered by archaeologists in 2006. The gospel isn’t mere myth, he said.
“The remains of St. Paul … are a reminder of just how real the faith is, how historical it is,” he told about 50 pilgrims. They were the early arrivals of a contingent of well-wishers that is expected to swell to at least 400 today for the former Pittsburgh bishop who became archbishop of Washington in 2006.
He was surprised to learn Thursday that President Barack Obama is sending a delegation to the consistory – and that it will include his old friend Dan Rooney, the Steelers owner who now is U.S. ambassador to Ireland. The other representative is Miguel Diaz, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
The staff at the Archdiocese of Washington believes this may be the first presidential delegation for a consistory, noting that there was none for the last creation of a cardinal for Washington in 2001.
But that was far behind the scenes Thursday.
Inside St. Paul Outside the Walls, pilgrims sat on backless pews, knelt on marble floors and received Communion from the cardinal-designate’s hand.
It was the feast day honoring the fourth-century dedication of the original basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, each built above the grave of the martyred apostle. Cardinal-designate Wuerl delivered his homily beneath a shimmering golden mosaic of Christ with St. Peter and St. Paul.
Peter showed other Christians how to follow Jesus, while Paul was called to tell the whole world who Jesus is, he said. Pope Benedict XVI was following in both of their footsteps last year when, from the pulpit of St. Paul Outside the Walls, he called for “a new evangelization,” the cardinal-designate said.
It is intended to reach “the many people out there who have heard of Jesus, and then forgotten,” he said. “We are supposed to invite them back to the faith. … We are asked to be like Paul.”
Speaking to those who had traveled thousands of miles to see him honored as a prince of the church, he said that they have the same calling to serve Jesus that he does.
“Every one of us has within us the ability to do what Peter and Paul did,” he said. “Make the confession of faith, renew it here in Rome and then begin to share it with others when you go back home.”
Cardinal-designate Wuerl remained in the church long after Mass, greeting each pilgrim personally. Connie Rusconi, a Fox Chapel native who lives in Italy, was among them. They first met when he was a young priest assisting Cardinal John Wright in Rome.
“And now he’s to be a cardinal also,” she said, recalling Cardinal-designate Wuerl’s steps through the ranks of the church.
She called his homily inspirational: “I think his words brought home what we can all do today. We are each in our own way to spread the wonder, joy and glory of the Lord.”
postgazette.com/pg/10323/1104440-82.stm
ROME – Standing a short distance from the rough-hewn tomb that holds the bones of the Apostle Paul, Cardinal-designate Donald Wuerl celebrated Mass on Thursday for the pilgrims who have come from Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., to see him elevated to the College of Cardinals on Saturday.
He told them how important it was that the message of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection could be connected to a real man, whose traditional resting place was uncovered by archaeologists in 2006. The gospel isn’t mere myth, he said.
“The remains of St. Paul … are a reminder of just how real the faith is, how historical it is,” he told about 50 pilgrims. They were the early arrivals of a contingent of well-wishers that is expected to swell to at least 400 today for the former Pittsburgh bishop who became archbishop of Washington in 2006.
He was surprised to learn Thursday that President Barack Obama is sending a delegation to the consistory – and that it will include his old friend Dan Rooney, the Steelers owner who now is U.S. ambassador to Ireland. The other representative is Miguel Diaz, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
The staff at the Archdiocese of Washington believes this may be the first presidential delegation for a consistory, noting that there was none for the last creation of a cardinal for Washington in 2001.
But that was far behind the scenes Thursday.
Inside St. Paul Outside the Walls, pilgrims sat on backless pews, knelt on marble floors and received Communion from the cardinal-designate’s hand.
It was the feast day honoring the fourth-century dedication of the original basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, each built above the grave of the martyred apostle. Cardinal-designate Wuerl delivered his homily beneath a shimmering golden mosaic of Christ with St. Peter and St. Paul.
Peter showed other Christians how to follow Jesus, while Paul was called to tell the whole world who Jesus is, he said. Pope Benedict XVI was following in both of their footsteps last year when, from the pulpit of St. Paul Outside the Walls, he called for “a new evangelization,” the cardinal-designate said.
It is intended to reach “the many people out there who have heard of Jesus, and then forgotten,” he said. “We are supposed to invite them back to the faith. … We are asked to be like Paul.”
Speaking to those who had traveled thousands of miles to see him honored as a prince of the church, he said that they have the same calling to serve Jesus that he does.
“Every one of us has within us the ability to do what Peter and Paul did,” he said. “Make the confession of faith, renew it here in Rome and then begin to share it with others when you go back home.”
Cardinal-designate Wuerl remained in the church long after Mass, greeting each pilgrim personally. Connie Rusconi, a Fox Chapel native who lives in Italy, was among them. They first met when he was a young priest assisting Cardinal John Wright in Rome.
“And now he’s to be a cardinal also,” she said, recalling Cardinal-designate Wuerl’s steps through the ranks of the church.
She called his homily inspirational: “I think his words brought home what we can all do today. We are each in our own way to spread the wonder, joy and glory of the Lord.”