Boston’s archbishop, Cardinal Sean O’Malley today is quoted as saying of our new Holy Father and the role yesterday evening he assumed, “he is a prisoner who lives in a museum.” My thoughts ran along the same line when after what seemed like eternity between the smoke and the appearance, Francis came out on the balcony.

Our new Holy Father, Pope Francis came out on the balcony! (Screenshot captured from EWTN’s live video feed.)

Excited at the choice, I felt so sorry for him for I have some sense of the burdens of office he carries and the loneliness which comes with it. The oft mentioned throw-away line, “it’s lonely at the top” certainly applies to the modern papacy.

Pope Francis. (Screenshot captured from EWTN’s live video feed.)

Then he asked for everyone present in the square to pause and pray for him and bless him with their prayers, a request followed by the most humble of gestures, a profound bow before the people.

Pope Francis asked everyone to pray for him. (Screenshot captured from EWTN’s live video feed.)

I knew from that moment we may have wound up with someone very special.

Pope Francis. (Screenshot captured from EWTN’s live video feed.)

In the subsequent hours, what he has said, how he said it, and what he has done has amazed me. He eschewed the papal limosine for a more simple car in making this morning’s trip to St. Mary Major, one of the four major basilicas in Rome where he prayed before a special shrine of the Blessed Mother. “They” let him get away with it this time but that will not last forever, I know, but it was a sign. We learned that when each cardinal elector approached him after his election instead of sitting and making the cardinals kneel, he stood on the same level as they did and greeted each. We learned that after appearing on the balcony and going down to the level where that same limo was waiting he declined to ride in it and climbed on the bus with the other cardinals for the return trip to the residence inside Vatican City where they were all staying. We learned that last night at dinner, he greeted all the cardinals with the line, “God forgive you for what you have done!” I loved that while driving through the city of Rome (no Buenos Aires which is properly referred to as the ‘Paris of the South’ with its broad streets and boulevards), he asked his driver to pull up to the hotel where he had been staying (it’s a hotel for visiting bishops and priests only) so he could pack his bags and pay his bill (Shame on the place if they charged this humble man!). At his first Mass as Pope this afternoon with the Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, he preached from the ambo and not the chair, he preached without the mitre, and he preached without a written text. If that continues, watch the practice of we bishops throughout the world. And if I were the papal master of ceremonies who has been in office since early in Pope Benedict’s pontificate, I would be calling my Archbishop in Genoa and asking if there were any parishes in the archdiocese open and in need of a pastor.

The power of the papacy, to entice, to invite, to excite, to thrill has been very much on display for the last four weeks and three days since Pope Benedict announced his intention to resign and retire. The world has focused on the Church in a way that few other governments would receive. We elected a world leader without great cost. We conducted an election where no one destroyed the reputation of anyone else or tried to climb over someone else to win an election, we did it really in just thirteen days after the position was truly vacant and we now have a leader for our Church who models consistency with Church teaching, compassion for the poor (I bet he would have been with me and my brother priests and brother and sister ministers at the FAST meeting on Tuesday night at the Trop) and a simplicity of lifestyle which will show occasional surprises even if he does live in something of a fishbowl museum.

There were tears on so many faces yesterday. There were even tears on the faces of those hardened by their dislike of the Church. We have a Pope. He will lead in many new ways. He will begin anew the reforms envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, he will find a way to communicate timeless and unchangeable truth in a new way which shows compassion and understanding for those who find such truths and teaching hard to accept. I thank God the election was swift, thereby denying those waiting to rush into print or on the screen with stories about deep divisions in the Church of Christ. What a month, what a day, what a future! Thank you to those who were able to come pray with me at a last minute Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Timothy’s in Lutz.

But for Francis, yesterday was a life altering moment. We must pray for him. It will neither be an easy job or quickly finished, but we are a church which thinks in centuries, not days. And in that museum in which our new Holy Father will live, I thought of another Argentinian who in a famous musical bearing her name, was shown coming out on the balcony many times at the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires to acknowledge the acclaim of the crowd and who like our new Pope perhaps should have sung, “do cry for me Argentina.” Francis is not a Peron. He is our pope.

With love to all my readers,

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Pope Benedict XVI at his last general audience on February 27, 2013. Photo credit: News.va Facebook page. Read the full text of his last general audience by clicking here.

I suppose almost everyone expects that bishops will “fall into line” and always praise popes. As I have mentioned before in this space, if I had a serious difference of opinion, I am certain that I would not rush to publicize it. When a subordinate criticizes his leader, he or she almost always weakens their own authority. Additionally, as I have mentioned here before, prior to our ordination as bishops we take a special oath of fidelity to the Holy Father and his successors in office. Usually papal transitions take place in the context of death, conclave, election and the beginning of a new chapter in the two thousand years plus of Church history. After the funeral and its concomitant outpouring of affection for the deceased Holy Father, all the critics come out to analyze his performance in office and the state of the Church which he left. We have no experience of how to behave when a pope resigns his office, remains alive, recedes into the shadows for prayer, meditation and reflection, and leaves everything to his elected successor. I hope the Church will be kind to Pope Benedict who on Thursday at 2pm EST will cease being the bishop of Rome and successor of St. Peter. He did not wish the job in the first place but humbly accepted it, probably not expecting to live long enough to watch his physical stamina take its slow leave of him.

But assume the position he did and he exercised his office with far more patience, love and tenderness than his critics eight years ago expected of him. I would say that he should be well-remembered for his work in bridging the gap between the long pontificate of Blessed John Paul II and whomever the Holy Spirit and the Cardinal-electors choose to succeed Benedict. His two encyclical letters are stunning, not just because of their theological insight, but because they address convincingly issues of charity and justice and peace. Eight years and a few weeks ago when the Catholic world was thinking still of the pontificate of Blessed John Paul II, his written legacy was one of long, most of the time challenging to comprehend encyclical letters. Benedict’s encyclicals were shorter, much easier applied to life and living, and challenging to one who wishes to live a fuller Christian life. In this case, the theologian probably bested the philosopher though Pope Benedict would be too humble to claim such. Think for a moment on the long series of Wednesday audience talks on what would come to be called Pope John Paul II’s “theology of the body.” In Benedict’s first encyclical letter, he succinctly and clearly spoke of human love in a few pages.

As I have said many times since the announcement of his resignation, his three volume series on Jesus of Nazareth will be on the bookshelves of preachers for a long time to come. His treatment of the “resurrected body” of Jesus opened my mind and answered questions which I have long thought of, like how does one enter a locked room by coming through the walls. That insight alone makes death even less to be feared. His talks in the United States and England during pastoral visits were very clear, well-done and educational and instructive. He managed to weave the thread of both faith and reason in a manner in which the secular world was largely unable to challenge. So what was the difference between the two popes: one was a phenomenologist by education who had the time to think and write while the other was a professor who had only so many minutes to teach his class in a manner in which the students could “get it.” There is room in the Church and the world for both.

Pope Benedict was neither grim nor humorless as some would have us believe. I remember one occasion when Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk was president of our Conference and Archbishop Keeler was Vice-President. We had our standard one hour meeting with the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith to raise issues of concern to the bishops of the United States and to listen to the concerns of the Congregation about something that they understood was happening or had happened in the U.S. At the end of the agenda, Cardinal Ratzinger noting the time and the fact that we had completed our working agenda asked if there was anything else which anyone wished to bring up before adjourning. The Secretary of the Congregation at the time, Archbishop Alberto Bovone, asked for the floor and asked this question of our President, Archbishop Pilarczyk. “Excuse me, Your Excellency, but would you know how many internal forum solutions to marriage are given in the United States?” Looking unusually perplexed, Archbishop Pilarczyk responded, “By their very nature, Archbishop, there should be no way of knowing how many internal forum solutions are given in our country!” The room broke into laughter, led by Cardinal Ratzinger who quickly said, “Basta” or Italian for “enough.” If an internal forum solution to a marriage is given by a priest to a penitent, it is done within the seal of confession and is afforded the same level of secrecy as the confession of a sin.

The Cardinal lived in the same apartment building outside Vatican City as Cardinal Pio Laghi, formerly Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America. On one occasion I entered the building elevator with Cardinal Ratzinger, who was returning from lunch to the office wearing his black beret and simple black cassock. “How is your visit to the Holy See progressing, Monsignor?” he asked, beginning a short but delightful conversation. Even as Pope, his humility was always evident.

So the history book on the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI ends tomorrow at two p.m. I think history will be kinder to him than some contemporary commentators. He did more than keep the chair of Peter warm for a successor, he gave it his all. I see that the PEW Research people have found that more than three-quarters of American Catholics have generally good feelings about him, not as high as his predecessor’s 90% plus approval rating, but then Benedict never set out to win a popularity contest, just to be a good shepherd of God’s people. I likely shall not write about him again, but if I were at the heliport tomorrow night at 5pm Rome time, I would be crying, I am sure. Nobody is perfect but Pope Benedict XVI in my eyes is about as good as it gets.

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Each bishop was allowed to bring one priest or seminarian in for a photo-op. Since our seminarian Ryan Boyle had accompanied Archbishop Timothy Broglio a few months ago, I asked my right and left arm, Monsignor Robert Morris, to accompany me. Photo purchased from L'Osservatore Romano.

The bishops and bishop-elect of the province of Miami meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. Photo purchased from L'Osservatore Romano.

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Obviously back safely, and as promised, here are some pictures from Friday morning.

Photo purchased from L'Osservatore Romano.

Photo purchased from L'Osservatore Romano.

The province of Miami bishops and bishop-elect with Pope Benedict XVI. Photo purchased from L'Osservatore Romano.

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Mass this morning at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Cathedral Church of Pope Benedict XVI

The sun begins to show itself here in Rome right now around 530am and I was up by 600am as the bus left for St. John Lateran Basilica at 645am for a 730am Mass. I was the celebrant and homilist this morning at what is in reality the Cathedral Church of the Pope in Rome. One of the four major basilicas, St. John Lateran is a beautiful place and we were in and out before the daily hoard of visitors arrived. You can view photos graciously taken and shared by SueAnn Howell with The Catholic News Herald, the Diocese of Charlotte’s newspaper, here. After returning to the North American College for a quick breakfast, we were back on the bus for our first visit to the Congregation for Religious (its abbreviated title). The prefect was not present but Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CSSR, the Secretary was present. The Congregation is very much pro-religious and understands well religious sisters, brothers and priests.

My group went on to the Pontifical Council for the Family but for the first time I absented myself so that Monsignor Morris and I might meet with another Council for a discussion of some plans, which I have for the diocese. Time is getting so short now for us (tomorrow is our last day and most of the morning will be taken up with meeting the Holy Father) that if we need to see someone else, it has to be at the expense of something scheduled for the whole group. I had lunch with an old friend who works in the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments and came home to be subjected to two different interviews, one with Catholic News Service and the second with Vatican Radio.  Tonight I am meeting Father Richard Warner, CSC, Superior General of the Congregation of Holy Cross at their worldwide headquarters, hoping and praying for nothing more than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

My feet hurt. Indeed, my feet ache. One does a tremendous amount of walking here in Rome, even if one is bussed to a certain site. For example, yesterday at St. Paul Outside the Walls, the bus parks about a half mile from the sacristy so there is a mile and walking down the hill from the North American College using a moving sidewalk built by the Vatican (which never moves when you wish to use it) is about a mile. I know I have lost several pounds since arriving.

Our meetings continue to go well, some obviously more interesting than others and some better than others. If they are faking and I do not believe that they are, the congregations and councils seem to enjoy these moments. They not only hear some of the things, which are on our minds, but share their concerns as well. To anyone who thinks we are called upon the carpet on these occasions, it just does not happen. They are more of a “love feast.” We serve and love the same Church. I wish more of my diocese would have an occasion to meet here with those whom we are visiting. We pray well together and quickly learn how to pass the butter and jam down a thirty-foot table in the dining room.

Ryan Boyle, Seminarian for the Diocese of St. Petersburg and in his first year of theology at the North American College, Rome, is the Lector for the Mass at St. John Lateran this morning

Tomorrow we wrap it all up with an audience with the Holy Father, two more meetings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and then it will be time to pack for the return trip.

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To the thresholds of SS. Peter and Paul

One does not have to be a dead pope to find one's name inscribed in marble in Rome - the story of this follows in the post

Delta delivered us to the threshold of SS. Peter and Paul almost on time this morning. Leaving JFK in New York the captain was almost delirious about what an absolutely glorious day today would be in Rome: seventies, not a cloud in the sky, gentle breezes out of the southeast. As we were bouncing our merry way along Newfoundland, he repeated his weather forecast like Santa Claus on the night before Christmas.  Couldn’t see the ground when landing, bumpy on the way down from brisk winds and temps in the low sixties. But we were here, thank God, safe and sound.

I am accompanied on this trip by several of my long time, long suffering staff: Joan Morgan, Chancellor and her husband, Dick; Elizabeth Deptula, Secretary of Diocesan Administration and her husband Stan, Paul Ward, Diocesan Chief Financial Officer and his wife Claudia, and Monsignor Bob Morris, my long-suffering Vicar General. All but the Morgans have been to Rome before so there will be no surprises for them.

The Holy Father this morning met with the bishops from U.S. Region XIII (Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona) to give them the fourth in a series of five talks which means that in all likelihood we will not have a second meeting with him next week. There are fifteen episcopal regions comprising the Church in the United States and Region XV consists of all the eastern and oriental rites, which are in communion with the Holy See – it appears they will get the last word. We also know today upon arrival that the province of Atlanta will meet with the Holy Father on Monday leaving us likely candidates for seeing him on Thursday or Friday. He must be tired of the string of American bishops he has been seeing almost every week since the fall.

Ryan Boyle, our seminarian completing the first of his four years as a student here at the North American College met me at the front door when the car turned in. I have come here so often in my life, found my room number at the front door and just gone right to it that it was a pleasure to have Ryan at my side with the suitcases. He beams when describing his first year here at the College and at the Gregorian where he studies. Himself a graduate of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs; he is no stranger to discipline and good order. We “co-sponsor” Ryan with the Archdiocese of the Military Services and this means that after three years in a parish in the diocese, he will be released to return to the Air Force, this time as a priest-chaplain. I am looking forward to spend some quality time with him this week. He will be joined in late summer by another of our diocesan seminarians, Alex Padilla from Spring Hill (and our first vocation from Bishop McLaughlin High School) so next year we will have two and each will have a brother to share life and experiences with.

The North American College is a monstrous building erected after the close of the Second World War to house the expected increase in American seminarians who would be studying in Rome. Sitting on Vatican owned property directly above St. Peter’s and the Vatican City State, it commands a sweeping view of the city of Rome as well as the Vatican City State. I have often thought what would Conrad Hilton or J.W. Marriott have been willing to give for a spot like this. The  almost two-hundred and fifty  seminarians living here basically just sleep, study, pray and play here. They walk thirty to forty minutes each day to one of the several Pontifical Universities in city for their education. Oldest among the universities are the Gregorian staffed by the Jesuits, the Angelicum staffed by the Dominicans, the Anselmo staffed by the Benedictines, Holy Cross staffed by Opus Dei, and many others. U.S. seminarians usually attend one of the first two aforementioned. Here at the North American College the staff is comprised mainly of diocesan priests from the United States of America with some religious sisters included. Monsignor James Checchio has served as Rector for about the last seven years and has presided over a major increase in enrollment making the NAC the largest diocesan seminary-training priests for the United States.

The view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica from the screen-end porch of the "Bishops Lynch-Larkin Suite"

One more piece of nonsense. I am writing these words while staying in the “Bishops Larkin and Lynch Suite” at the North American College, a beautiful four room suite looking right at the dome of St. Peter’s. Other “suites” on the hall are devoted to the late Cardinal’s Bernardin of Chicago, Sheehan of Baltimore, Wright of Pittsburg, Hickey of Washington, D.C., and Cooke of New York. What, you might ask, is Lynch doing among the dead cardinals and he is (a) alive and (b) just a lowly bishop?

The living/dining area of the "Bishops Larkin-Lynch" Suite

In 1996 when I was in my first year as bishop, my friend Timothy Michael Dolan was Rector of the North American College. He asked me if I would gather together some people of means from the diocese so he could meet with them and make a plea for money for the North American, which he led. Fool that I was, I quickly agreed and Dolan came to my house for the first time to raise money. That night he left with about $750,000 in pledges and gifts. There was money for a new gymnasium so the men could safely and seriously exercise (c. $200,000), there was money for a new computer lab ($100,000) so the men could write papers, send e-mails etc. which was not possible then from their rooms, there was money for two new vans which could help the seminarians get to and from their apostolic work ($100,000) and finally there was a gift for a new suite of rooms being built on the roof of the college which would house bishops when they were in Rome. The diocesan donor of that gift wanted the suite to be named the Monsignor Timothy M. Dolan Suite but the Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Directors at the time said it would be unseemly for a sitting rector to have a monument to himself dedicated while still in the Rector’s Chair. So the diocesan donor from St. Petersburg reluctantly gave in and insisted that it be named for Bishops Larkin and myself. So there is my name in marble above the “threshold” just like two others we have come to venerate and recall. If the kids on the block could see me now! My humble home away from home.

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Probably the biggest news in the Church world this week was the announcement which all US bishops received yesterday from Cardinal Francis George that finally, after years of preparation, the new English texts for the Roman Missal have been approved by the Holy See and returned to all of the English speaking countries for printing, publication, and promulgation. Cardinal George in his message to the bishops said that in his capacity and role as president of the episcopal conference he was promulgating that the new translation of the texts used at Mass would be utilized starting on the first Sunday of Advent in 2011. So, the long and short of it is that you and I must begin to prepare ourselves for a new translation in English of texts which we have been using at Mass since the early seventies of the last century.

After the fathers of the Second Vatican Council decided that Mass could be celebrated in either Latin or in the language of every country in the world, the English speaking countries founded and financially supported an organization to translate the texts used at Mass from Latin into English. That organization was called the International Commission on English in the Liturgy or ICEL. Latin scholars and English technicians immediately set about to translate the texts used in the Missal on the altar at Mass into the vernacular of every country. There was enormous pressure to change at the time and the translation admittedly was rushed. The translators were allowed by the Holy See to use a translation technique called “dynamic equivalency” in translating which meant that they did not have to translate strictly but could use words and idiom of spoken language at that time. Or to put it more succinctly, both the Holy See and ICEL wished to present a translation which recognized that words change with time and a strict translation might not make sense to the hearer or reader. When published and approved by the Holy See, the translation we currently use served us well but if words can sometimes change and other words pass into disuse, then an updating from time to time was likely.

The bishops of the English speaking world began this updating about fifteen years ago and ICEL produced an absolutely magnificent translation of the Roman Missal which was passed by the US bishops conference by a vote of 235-32. But there was some controversy and the minority complained to Rome that they were not listened to in the debate in the US at least and Rome heard their complaint, refused to accept the new translation, and then amazingly did what the Council documents left to individual bishops’ conferences and changed the rules of translation from dynamic equivalency to a strict adherence to translating the Latin slavishly. The Holy See then ordered a new or third translation attempt, ICEL was radically altered and work begun on the Mass texts which you should be hearing and praying starting next November, 2011.  So, for example, the Latin et cum spiritu tuo which we have been rendering as and also with you is now to be and with your Spirit.

The changes which will be asked of our praying communities will not be a terrible burden, I think. They will take some getting accustomed to but so did moving from Latin followed by some Latin/English to total English in the Mass. If the praying Church did it in the late 1960′s and 1970′s, I am confident that the praying Church will do it again. Only time will tell if the new translation to be brought into being in fifteen months will stand the test of time as well as the current translation has. There are words being changed which will require catechesis on the part of all of us. We use the word offering at Mass but we will soon substitute oblation in its place. The latter is a stricter translation of the Latin. We need to teach our children and others the meaning of a word which is not in common parlance. Perhaps no big deal but change always comes with some pain.

The arguments among the bishops of this country on this translation wore most of us down but I can tell you that in the end, the Holy See did listen and accept many of the greater concerns of bishops who were uncomfortable with some of what was being proposed. I am personally at peace with the translation as I understand it will be coming to us and along with our priests, I will do everything I can to welcome this change, make it as palatable as possible, provide the necessary catechesis prior to implementation, and ready the parishes and chapels of this diocese for the First Sunday of Advent in 2011. I shall be returning to this subject often in the coming fifteen months. I hope we will be one of the best dioceses in preparing for and implementing the new missal. Now is the time and it falls to us as it fell to our parents as well as ourselves and our beloved Church in the late ’60′s and early ’70′s. As Christ said, be not afraid.

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The late Richard Cardinal Cushing of Boston was fond of saying about the Church he served, “we may be difficult but we are never boring.” That was my first thought yesterday with the news from Rome that Pope Benedict XVI would soon issue an Apostolic Constitution allowing Anglicans who are seeking unity with Rome to come over while retaining some of their traditional liturgy, prayers and practice. To accomplish this, some personal prelatures would be established around the world where governance would be by a person selected by the Pope from among the former Anglican clergy now ordained and serving in the Roman Church. So, the bottom line is that there may well be a new “rite” within the Catholic Church for these people who seek this form of union, similar to the Pope’s decision to allow the celebration of the former or Tridentine Mass several years ago. In return for this concession, the Anglicans would have to accept the authority  of the Pope as universal pastor and abide by the same rules and norms as you and I do.

In announcing this concession for the sake of unity, the head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the U.S.’s Cardinal William Levada and the new secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, the U.S.’s Augustine Di Noia, OP made it very clear that our Church has no intention of going “fishing” in the Anglican communion for converts but rather were simply providing an option to those who had decided to separate themselves already. In London, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams was characteristically kind in response, but it had to be painful for him and for others of our Anglican/Episcopalian friends. The issues driving those who might take advantage of this new concession by the Pope are the ordination of women priests and bishops, of gay and lesbian priests who are openly so, etc.

I could be wrong but my sense is that not an awful lot of our brothers and sisters will take advantage  of this attempt at outreach. Here in this diocese I would be surprised if any Episcopal community would come over as there are many things about our governance structure that they do not like. We should also humbly acknowledge that there are a good number of disaffected Catholics who have become Episcopalians and are quite comfortable in their new home. Also, I can assure you that the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida has far more former Catholic priests serving as clergy than either our own or the Venice dioceses have. I have always been grateful that neither of our Churches “crow” about this reality and I assure my Episcopalian friends that it is not my intention to proselytize among their number. However, should a community wish to “come over to Rome”, it appears that it will be outside my competence and will be the business of the new prelates chosen for this purpose.

If you are interested in learning more about this announcement, today’s NEW YORK TIMES covers the story well as does the mother of all Catholics blogs, WHISPERS IN THE LOGGIA.

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In Rome, they are in the first week of a “Synod on Africa” Approximately 150 bishops from the African continent are gathered in the Synod Hall inside the Vatican for twice a day meetings. Joining them are bishops, some religious heads of orders and a few lay people. The “Synod” is an outgrowth of the desire of the fathers at the Second Vatican Council for greater collaboration between the world’s bishops and the Holy Father so once every three years an ordinary meeting is called and then as needed the Pope calls the bishops of a continent or region together. The latter is happening now. The Holy Father attends most of the General or Ordinary Sessions at which each participant is allowed to make a five minute intervention (aka “speech”). It takes the first two weeks to complete the 170 or so speeches which can be quite tedious on the attendees. Then they break down into small groups and try to make final recommendations to be voted on by the assembly and then given to the Holy Father for his final review. After about a year, the Pope issues a document on the Synod’s work.

There are no press or media allowed in the Synod Hall at any time and an occasional press briefing is held where one or more of the Synod fathers summarize the nature of the discussions to date. The working press assigned to the “Vatican beat” hate this but have learned how to live with it by developing sources within the hall who tend to share any “fireworks” that may happen. The Church has safely guarded over the centuries the role of the Pope as universal pastor of all the Churches so the synod process underscores that decisions for the good of the whole Church are solely in his hands. Many Catholics, particularly living in the world’s democracies have a hard time with this but for myself, I think it has served the Gospel far better than any other governance model. No Holy Father that I have ever known has been on a “power trip” and neither should any bishop. I have attempted to be as collaborative and collegial as I can, running almost everything through countless committees and I will continue to do that until I die or hand over the diocese to my successor. But I am also conscious of my duty to uphold the faith and traditions of our Church and to be loyal to Peter’s successor. It has been rare that I have had to swallow hard but there may been some of those moments but I only have a feel for what happens here and not how this might affect Kenya or Korea and Samoa. That is the gift of the Holy Father and the Spirit which guides him.

The Church in Africa has striven mightily to get the western world to accept that there are cultural realities which she faces that are unique to most of the continent. So for the next three weeks that will make their case to “Peter” and those who collaborate with him. But there will be no deliberative vote on Church polity at the end. They will defer to Peter and I hope you know by now how that is a good thing.

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