A Note from the Pastor Dear Parishioners, About four years ago, Archbishop Bernardito Auza was welcoming Pope Francis to the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan. The Archbishop had been appointed Permanent Observer of the Holy See in the United Nations in New York a little more than a year earlier. Before that, Archbishop Auza was the Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti during the traumatic times of the devastating earthquake in that Caribbean nation. His time in the diplomatic service of the Holy See began in the Summer of 1990. He has had assignments in other parts of the world as well. To this day, as a Papal Nuncio, or Ambassador, he keeps an incredibly busy schedule. I met His Excellency in 1989 at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the Vatican Diplomatic School, where we were both students, and I am exceedingly grateful that Archbishop Auza could come to celebrate Mass for us here today. Archbishop Auza represents the Pope as the head of the Catholic Church. It is a fascinating fact that the Pope, who holds the authority of the Catholic Church, known as the Holy See, is a recognized sovereign authority in the world as well. The Pope’s power is spiritual, but it is also temporal, or equal to the other sovereign world powers. It is a remarkable aspect of the history of the world that the Church established by Jesus and the successor of the first chosen leader, St. Peter, should be able to interact with other nations states as an equal according to International Law. No other religion has the ability or the capacity to do the same. Forgive me if I seem to digress but I wrote my doctoral dissertation on this topic. I report all of this today in order to recognize the important position that Archbishop Auza has in the Church and on the world stage as a fully accredited Ambassador at the United Nations, and again, how happy I am to welcome him to our parish on this Respect Life Sunday. The Permanent Observer’s role is primarily spiritual in nature and it is good to have him here first and foremost as a priest and a bishop. May the Lord bless him and all of us, indeed every human person, with His grace and mercy. Sincerely in Christ,
Breaking news as this bulletin went to print. Archbishop Auza has just been named Nuncio to Spain effective December 1, 2019.