By PAUL WIRTH, Diocesan Communications Staff
Bishop Alfred Schlert will make a pilgrimage to Rome next week to meet with Pope Francis, to pray at the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul, and to report to Vatican officials on the state of the Diocese of Allentown.
Bishop Schlert will join his brother Bishops from Pennsylvania and New Jersey on the pilgrimage, which will include a group meeting and discussion with the Pope on Thanksgiving Day. The American holiday is not celebrated in Italy.
The visit is intended to strengthen a Bishop’s responsibility as a successor of the apostles, and to reinforce his hierarchical communion with the Pope, who is the successor of Peter.
It will be Bishop Schlert’s first such visit as Bishop of Allentown. All Bishops make the pilgrimage and meet the Pope once every five to seven years.
The meeting with Pope Francis is expected to encompass a wide range of topics, particularly those of importance in the United States. Other Bishops who have made such visits report that the Pope is open to discussing any and all issues.
Other spiritual highlights of the pilgrimage will include the celebration of Mass in the crypt of St. Peter, beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, along with visits to pray at the other Papal basilicas in Rome: St. Paul Outside the Walls, which contains the tomb of the apostle Paul; St. Mary Major; and St. John Lateran.
While in Rome, Bishop Schlert also will attend Vatican meetings on the protection of minors, on the Sacraments, on Catholic Education, and on many other topics.
The formal name of the periodic visit made by Bishops is “ad limina apostolorum,” which is Latin for “at the threshold of the apostles.”
“I look forward to joining my brother Bishops in our meeting with the Holy Father to discuss issues important to today’s Catholics, and to our Church,” Bishop Schlert said. “The faithful of the Diocese will be in my prayers. Through the intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, the Patroness of the Diocese of Allentown, I pray for a successful and fruitful visit.”
