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Pastoral Messages

July 21, 2006

By Archbishop Daniel N. DiNardo

I recently returned from Rome where, along with 26 other new metropolitan archbishops from around the world, I received the Pallium stole from Pope Benedict in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, the Solemnity of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The Pallium is a narrow band of wool, marked by five crosses, that is placed over the shoulders of an archbishop and is worn on solemn occasions within his metropolitan region. It is a sign of unity with the Holy Father; it is also a sign of the archbishop’s responsibility. Some 350 people from the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, as well as people from Sioux City, my former diocese, and Pittsburgh, my hometown, were present for the event. It was a beautiful liturgical celebration and I am grateful to all who came, priests, deacons, religious and faithful, including members of the archdiocesan choir who led us in song at a special Mass for the people of Galveston-Houston on June 30 at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. Members of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre from this area were also present and I thank them for the reception held for me on the Vigil of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

I was also privileged to meet the Holy Father on June 30 at a special audience he held for all the new archbishops and the groups accompanying them. As I approached to meet him, the crowd from Galveston-Houston made their presence known and as I said who I was, the Pope said: “Ah! Texas!” I assured him of our love and loyalty and he told me to send his blessing upon all the priests, deacons, religious and faithful of this great archdiocese. He mentioned, in a special way, his blessing for the sick, and for young people.

The Pope’s Homily on the day of the celebration itself was masterful. In addition to the new archbishops and their people, members of the Roman Curia and visitors, there were also present representatives of the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I. The Holy Father used this occasion to speak about the Gospel text assigned that day, the episode recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew of Jesus with the apostles at Caesarea-Philippi. There, in Matthew 16, Jesus questions the disciples about who the Son of Man is. Peter responds: “You are Christ, the Son of the Living God.” In turn, Jesus assigns Peter a new name, a new place among the Twelve, and a new chief responsibility for his Church. “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church… And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The Holy Father mentioned that there are three “primacy” passages about Peter in the Gospels. There is Matthew 16; there is also the scene of the Last Supper in St. Luke, Chapter 22, where Jesus reminds Peter of “strengthening the brothers.” Finally, there is the scene on the lakeshore after Jesus’ Resurrection in the Gospel of St. John, Chapter 21, where Peter is told three times to “Feed my sheep.”

As he used these three scenes and the images of foundation/rock, keys, and binding/loosening, the Holy Father guided us and handed on to us what has been received from the Lord about Peter. He took particular note of the Matthew passage, the place of Caesarea-Philippi, and the location of this episode in the entire Gospel. The place of Peter’s confession is a town on the border between Israel and pagan territory. The location of this episode in the whole Gospel is immediately before the announcement of the Passion and the journey that leads to Jerusalem. The inner logic of the primacy of Peter is always tied simultaneously to the road of the cross and the lowliness of Jesus as Suffering Servant as well as to the immensity of the world where the Risen Jesus also precedes Peter and us and allows Peter and us to be heralds of Christ coming to the world and making it His own. The Church, over which Peter and his Successors preside in charity, will always be both mustard seed and the tree in whose boughs all the birds of the air make their nests.

I cannot help but note how clearly the Holy Father, while underlining obvious human weakness, emphasizes that it is the Lord’s power that grants to the Church and to Peter ever new strength. The Lord always stays in the boat of the Church. It might appear that Satan sometimes is allowed too much freedom to roam to try to show “that in man every aim is always solely utilitarian.” To this Christ responds to us as he did to Peter at the Last Supper: “I have prayed for you, Peter that your faith may not fail.” Jesus’ prayer is the limit set for the freedom of evil, and his prayer is always strong to sustain the Church, and to sustain Peter for his work throughout the ages.

Peter’s faith is not just personal; it is a service for the whole Church. Jesus has set his gaze upon him and his successors. It is a saving look. It always sustains the Church. It always sustains the man chosen as Holy Father. I have given a summary of the Pope’s homily not only for its obvious excellence but also to highlight a very important aspect of our Catholic Faith. Some people might think it difficult that a man as vulnerable as Peter was chosen by Christ to be the Rock. It has also seemed such throughout history for Peter’s successors. But what Jesus promised to Peter before his Passion, he renewed after his resurrection, indeed after Peter’s denial on Holy Thursday. He repeated his promise after receiving three times a major profession of love from the one who denied him three times. He kept repeating: “Feed my sheep.” From the time of Peter’s death at Rome, the Church of Rome has enjoyed the primacy. The bishop of Rome, upon election, receives the same charge as Peter. He is to feed the sheep. The Pope bears a special responsibility from Christ for the preservation of the faith throughout the Church and throughout the world. He strengthens his brother bishops that they too might do the same for their respective local churches. He does so with great authority and with great humility.

Brothers and sisters, in recent years there has arisen an appreciable increase in what I can only call an “anti-Roman” mentality. It certainly exists outside the Church but it is not absent within, particularly in some quarters of the United States. There is criticism of the Pope because he constantly teaches and maintains “what has been handed on,” including his own role in binding and loosening. Like all of us Popes are weak human creatures who have been called and elected to their office. Once elected, however, their office of teaching, sustained by the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Himself, is to hand on and interpret, together with the college of bishops but always as head of that college, what the Lord has given by his life, death and resurrection. The teaching is not something manufactured or “created.” The scandal of particularity of the Incarnation, that God would become man, would take flesh and have a name and place, Jesus of Nazareth, has a certain echo as well in the role of one particular Church and one bishop who becomes thereby the head of all the local churches. But the Lord has worked it that Peter and his successors and the Church of Rome are not just local, but also universal. The discovery of who we are as members of Christ’s Church involves our receptivity to the truth Jesus brings through the office of Peter as well as our own kinds of initiative in understanding the meaning of the Church. Pope Benedict has reminded us of this and many other issues, not only during his June 29th homily, but also in many other words and actions since his election as Pope. He does not write and speak at length; his writing is very compressed. What he has to say, however, is worthy of our attention and adherence.