Blog - April 2018 RSS Feed

We’re back in New York, folks! Today on Conversation with Cardinal Dolan, Father Dave Dwyer and I talk about my pastoral visit to Lebanon and the passing of former first lady Barbara Bush. May she rest in peace.

When I put pen to paper ten days or so ago, writing my column for Catholic New York , I mentioned that I was on my way to Lebanon , and would report to you upon my return. Here goes . . . There we went, the three of us – – Bishop William Murphy, retired Bishop of Rockville Centre; the Archbishop of Vancouver, Canada, Most Reverend Michael Miller, and me – – as members of the board of The Catholic Near East Welfare Association , (CNEWA), a nine decade old acclaimed but behind–the scenes initiative of the Church to offer support to the fragile, small Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, centered mostly in the Mideast, but alive as well in Central and Eastern Europe, India, and Ethiopia (with members who have left their country of origin flourishing as well around the world.)

Thank you for your interest and your attention. You’ve been good company, and I hope you’ve enjoyed this little pilgrimage to Lebanon as much as we have. You know what comes to mind? Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Wednesday morning here in Beirut. Lebanon is an example to the whole world of how when different ethnic groups and different religions work together, there can be peace and stability. I would love for you to be able to see what we are seeing here… the freshness, the vigor, the youth, the vitality of the Christian faith that gives the refugees here hope, what the Church is doing to help, and the longing of these people.

It’s been another great day everybody! Thanks for checking in. We started the day at the Melkite Catholic Cathedral, then visited the magnificent School of Saint Rita. From there were went to a soup kitchen and a refugee camp.

Thanks for keeping us company on our journey in Lebanon! We’re now in Zahlé, where we are visiting the Melkite Catholic Archbishop of Zahlé, the Most Reverend Archbishop Issam John Darwich. Faith and Charity.

We are on the road, folks! On today’s Conversation with Cardinal Dolan , we’re coming to you from Beirut, Lebanon, where I’m joined by Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver and Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre to discuss some of the things we’ve see here on our pastoral visit.

Do we have a young Church or an old Church? That’s a question we pastors ask a lot. The answer here in Lebanon is a young, vibrant Church, with old, deep roots in a tradition that goes back to Jesus and His apostles.

This is really what we came to see: the good work that you, the Catholic people of good will in the United States, are doing for the people in need here in Lebanon. Thanks be to God for organizations like CNEWA, Catholic Relief Services, Aid to the Church in Need, and wonderful people like the Good Shepherd Sisters, who in the name of Jesus care for these suffering people.

Thanks for tuning in! I’m joined by Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver and Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre. We’ve had a full day here in Lebanon, representing the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA).

I’d like to share with you my homily from this morning at Saint Joseph Church in Beirut. We feel at home here in Lebanon, a country that has been so hospitable to people from all over the world. We see people from all over the Church universal and feel at home because we know we are members of a family that extends to every continent and every language.

I promised you last time that I would try to come to you from the Lateran Palace, the historic residence of Constantine and the Bishops of Rome. Here we are! Starting tomorrow, I’ll be continuing on to Lebanon, and I hope to bring you some videos from there as well.

Good news: the sun’s out in Rome! We made our way to the other side of town and now we’re at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. We’re going to have Mass now, and then a little later I want to bring you into the Lateran Palace.

I’m here at the Pontifical North American College, the American seminary in Rome. I spent four happy years here as a seminarian and then seven more as Rector, so I love the place! You’d be inspired by the students, who take their relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church very seriously.

Our next stop is the little-known San Luigi dei Francesi, named after King Louis IX of France, who also happens to be the patron saint of my hometown, St. Louis! The church is mostly known for its magnificent paintings by Caravaggio.

Some of the greatest parts of Rome are the private courtyards and the rooftop gardens. In a way, Rome is a series of connected medieval squares.

Here we are in one of the most famous places in the whole world: Saint Peter’s Square! While you’re here, you experience the Church of the past, thinking of Saint Peter and the early martyrs, but you also experience the vivid Church of the now.

We’re in luck, folks! We made it to Saint Peter’s Basilica bright and early. The message here in Saint Peter’s Basilica is that Jesus is not a lifeless body in the arms of His mother, but is risen from the dead, and is now alive in Holy Mother Church!

Our last stop for today is the Casa Santa Maria, the residence for American priests doing graduate studies in Rome. I just had the honor of celebrating Mass here, and now some lunch with my brother priests.

Another hidden gem here: the home of the original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. This is also the the Church in Rome of the Redemptorists, who fostered the devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help.