Over 10 days, I joined 111 other newly ordained bishops from Asia, Europe, Australia, South America, and North America, for conferences, prayer, and fellowship. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, presided over the congress. The Legionnaires of Christ, who hosted us at their college, Regina Apostolorum, were most gracious and accommodating.
We began each day with Mass, presided over by a visiting cardinal. The days were filled with conferences, usually two in the morning and two in the evening. The conferences were given by cardinals, bishops, and priests on topics such as, “The Bishop as Teacher of the Faith” and “The Bishop as Father, Brother, and Friend of his Priests.” One of the more interesting presentations was “The Bishop and Culture,” which explored the church’s interaction and dialogue with currents in our culture, such as art, science, and even atheism. The presentation on “Bioethics” was excellent and most interesting.
Sunday and Monday were the highlights of the week. Sunday we visited St. Peter’s Basilica, where we celebrated a beautiful solemn liturgy, for which Cardinal Re was the main celebrant. Immediately after the Mass, we processed down the steps in front of the main altar to venerate the remains of St. Peter. This was very moving for us. Some of you may know that excavations were done earlier in the 20th century to investigate whether Peter truly would have been buried at the site of the basilica (as tradition had it). The Holy Father gave his blessing to the project, “We have nothing to fear from the truth.” Indeed a first century cemetery was unearthed directly underneath the basilica. Among the many tombs, one stood out as larger and more ornate than the others. Many of the others seemed to crowd around it. The remains were exhumed. All of the bones were in tact. Tests showed that they were bones of a first century male, powerfully built, and who would have stood about 5’6” (which, I think, is the ideal size for a man!). First century graffiti was scratched across the wall of the tomb, “Petre, ora pro nobis,” (“Peter, pray for us”). That tomb was some 20 meters directly beneath the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica. The remains were entombed again at their original site, and are venerated as the remains of Peter.
Sunday evening we visited St. Paul’s Basilica, where the remains of St. Paul rest. There we prayed evening prayer together with the Benedictine abbots, who were in the midst of their own congress. The prayer was sung in beautiful Gregorian chant. This, too, was a powerful and emotional experience, to pray at the tomb of St. Paul, in this Pauline Year.
The next day, we traveled to nearby Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence, where we had an audience with Pope Benedict XVI. He welcomed us into the episcopacy and urged us to live holy lives, witnessing to the values of the Gospel. He gave us each a beautiful pectoral cross (which bishops wear over our chest). As I greet the Holy Father, I assured him that the people of San Antonio love and pray for him.
I now remain in Rome a few extra days finishing some academic business at the Gregorian University. I hope to make a weekend trip to Torre Orsaia, a village in the Region of Salerno, where I used to help minister in the parish as a priest. Be assured that I bring the prayers and intentions of Archbishop Gomez and those of the entire archdiocese to the tomb of Peter and ask him, “Petre, ora pro nobis.”
Bishop Oscar Cantú is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.