Detroit’s bishops carry a spiritual bouquet from Detroit to the Holy Father during their ad limina pilgrimage

Detroit — Archbishop Allen Vigneron and his fellow bishops from Detroit – Bishop Francis Reiss, Bishop Donald Hanchon, Bishop Michael Byrnes and Bishop Arturo Cepeda – journeyed to the Vatican from Feb. 1-6 for their periodic “ad limina” pilgrimage to the pope.

Such a pilgrimage is made approximately every five to 10 years by the bishop of each diocese. The term “ad limina” is Latin, meaning “to the threshold (of the Apostles).”

On this visit, the bishops kept a log of their travels on the Web so that the faithful of the Archdiocese ofDetroitcould follow along. Also, they brought the Holy Father a “spiritual bouquet” – pledges of prayers and good works that Catholics in the Archdiocese ofDetroithave dedicated to the intentions of the pope. A full record of the bishops’ pilgrimage can be found online at www.aodonline.org/adlimina.

Following are some excerpts of what the bishops had “blogged” during their pilgrimage:

Day: Feb. 1

Occasion: Mass at the tomb of St. Peter



Archbishop Vigneron: “This is, along with the audience with the Holy Father, at the heart of what this pilgrimage is for – the strengthening of our communion with the whole Catholic Church, which means not just communion with Pope Benedict, but with Pope Benedict as the successor of Peter, and through him, all the way back to the prince of the apostles, Peter.  And that’s important because it was Jesus himself who chose Peter.”

Bishop Byrnes: “…even the most extreme human measures, like execution, are powerless in the face of the truth of what God the Father has done in raising his Son from the tomb. In fact, the blood of the martyrs has always been the strongest evidence of that truth… But attempts to silence our testimony continue in our midst throughout our generations. The recent attack on Catholic institutions by the Department of Health and Human Services is but another example.

“If history has taught us anything, all such attempts are bound to fail. The Church has one foundation, Jesus Christ (1 Cor 3:11), and He is building it on the Rock of Peter’s faith. No human efforts, however mightily one might labor, will be effective in the face of that truth.”

Day: Feb. 2

Occasion: Mass at St. Paul Outside the Walls





Archbishop Vigneron: “It seemed a particular gift that on the day when the Church remembers that the Infant Jesus was declared to be a light of revelation to the Gentiles, we were at the tomb of the Apostle of the Gentiles.…It gives me a lot of support to realize that the work that I’m engaged in is work that began with St. Paul himself, and that no matter what the cost for the work, God will be glorified. And as St. Paul said, there is a merited crown that awaits all of us who serve Christ.”

Bishop Francis Reiss: “We are scheduled for our meeting with the Holy Father at 10:30 on Friday morning. As I am preparing for the visit, I am very much aware that Bishop Kevin Britt — one of our former auxiliaries and former Bishop of Grand Rapids— is no longer with us. He died just one week after he returned from Romeat our last Ad limina visit in 2004.  He was in my prayers at Mass this Morning.”

Day: Feb. 3

Occasion: Meeting with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI



Archbishop Vigneron: “We talked (with the pope) about really all the themes that are important in the pastoral life of the Catholic Church in our diocese. The Holy Father was very sympathetic when we told him about the economic troubles of our region. He assured us of his prayers… Throughout all of his remarks, and also a theme in our conversation with him, was the New Evangelization, which gives us all great hope for the future — especially the evangelization of families.

And through it all, the Holy Father expressed his support for all of us, his prayers for us bishops and our people. We assured him of your prayers. And the meeting was filled with the sort of Light that comes from faith in Jesus Christ.”

Day: Feb. 4

Occasion: Mass at St. Mary Major, canceled due to snowfall

Bishop Cepeda: “This morning by 9:00am we received the call that our meeting to the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, and The Tribunal Meetings had been cancelled! Snow is not falling but is very much staying in the Streets… Romans don’t know what to do… And I don’t know what to say! I guess snow is following me from Detroit.”

Day: Feb. 5

Occasion: Mass at Cas Santa Maria

Bishop Hanchon: “It’s about 10 minutes after five o’clock on a Sunday afternoon in Rome. It’s just starting to be a beautiful dusk. We celebrated Mass this morning and finally got out from under the snow to Casa Santa Maria, which is the original North American seminary… Tomorrow we are going to be visiting several more congregations. Because of the snow on Saturday we missed our appointment with the Congregation for Saints, but that was an important one on our list. So we’re hoping to catch that tomorrow, sneaking it in between some others on Monday, our last day, and talk about Bishop Baraga.”

Day: Feb. 6

Occasion: Concluding Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran



Archbishop Vigneron: “Today in the afternoon we had the last official celebration of our Ad limina pilgrimage with the bishops of Ohio and Michigan, along with the priests and seminarians from our diocese who are studying here in Rome, at Mass at the Lateran Basilica. The formal title for that is the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour because it is the Holy Father’s cathedral. As I was offering Mass I thought this was a great way to consummate, bring to a fitting conclusion, our pilgrimage. And I’ve made it very much my prayer to ask the Lord to bless the Holy Father in his ministry for the priests and the people of the Diocese of Rome and I’m sure he very much has all of us in the Archdiocese of Detroit in his prayer.”