Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
MEET THE FAMILY
Local Catholic parishes looking forward to a rare papal visit next September
The announcement by Pope Francis last Monday that he will make his first papal visit to the United States next year by vis- iting the Philadelphia area has left local parishioners excited.
Francis will visit Philadelphia in September 2015 for the World Meeting of Families. The conference is held every three years in a different city to celebrate the importance of family.
Monsignor Joseph McLoone, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Downingtown, said the congregation had prayed in church for the conference and for the Pope to be present.
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said this is an answer to those prayers.
“This moment is an historic and exhilarating one for all of
“This moment is an historic and exhilarating one for all of us to share.” — Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput
us to share,” Chaput said in a news release. “It is the answer to the countless prayers of so many people who have asked God to guide Pope Francis to Philadelphia, the culmination of many months of hopeful anticipation, and the fulfillment of my own confidence that the Holy Father would grace us with his presence next year.”
The Rev. Alfonso Concha, pastor of St. Agnes Catholic Church in West Chester, said that parishioners say this is an excellent opportunity to see the Pope.
“All of us in the parish community are very happy to hear that Pope Francis is coming to Philadelphia,” Concha said.
McLoone and Concha said they are asking parishioners to consider being a host family to welcome people from around the whole who want to be local for the event.
Both pastors said they do not have explicit plans of the celebration at this time.
St. Agnes have a proposed plan of events by following the official book of Catechesism in preparation for the World Meeting of Families entitled “Love is Our Mission — The Family Fully Alive.”
“The 10 proposed topics will help us to understand and celebrate our families,” Concha said.
The Sunday Mass schedule at both churches will be adjusted to allow parishioners to attend.
Stephen Miles, associate professor of Theology and Theology Department chairman at Immaculata University, said that every pope is different from every other pope.
“Each brings to the papacy a unique history, perspective, personality, etc,” Miles said. “Inevitably, these factors influence how the person exercises the responsibilities of the office.”
Francis is from Argen- tina, where Miles said the understanding and expression of Christian faith is “more thoroughly shaped by the reality of poverty than in many other parts of the world.”
When the participants in the last conclave elected Francis, Miles said they “knew they were electing someone whose identity— both human and priestly— was shaped by his experiences with and among the poor and by his commitments to simplicity, justice, and solidarity.”
“No one should be surprised, then, that Francis has been calling the church to greater fidelity to its teachings regarding care for the poor and the promotion of more just and authentically human societ- ies,” Miles said.
Francis is the first Jesuit pope, Miles noted, and he brings a “distinctive spirituality and style to the papacy. “
“One of the marks of a Jesuit is the readiness to discover God in unexpected places. In practice, this entails a commitment to discernment and a willingness to be content with ambiguity, at least for a while, in order to be led by the Spirit in new directions and to live more completely and joyfully in Christ. I think Francis is proposing this way of being as a path for the church,” Miles said. “As an example, I’d point to the manner in which he structured the church’s ongoing exploration of issues facing the family. That ex- ploration has included an unprecedented survey of the universal church, an Extraordinary Synod, and, now, a year-long discussion at the parish and diocesan levels that will culminate in another (Ordinary) Synod and, most likely, the publication of a papal document. This is, indeed, a new way of proceeding. Understandably, it might be concerning for Catholics who interpret the needs of the moment differently than Francis.”
Plans for Francis’ visit are expected to be released by spring 2015.
“We’re certainly very happy,” McLoone said. “We’re looking forward as Catholics to welcoming the Pope. It’s for a good reason.”
According to a news re- lease, it is expected that the Holy Father will visit Philadelphia September 25 – 27, 2015 to participate in the closing events of the Eighth World Meeting of Families.
These events include the Festival of Families, an intercultural celebration of family life around the world and a Papal Mass that Sunday. Both public events will be held on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Concha said that St. Agnes is using current activities and applying topics presented in the preparatory manual. “Our focus is on families,” Concha said. “The review, enrich, prepare families here in our parish community as we prepare to this memorable event.”
McLoone said it is important to discuss family, to learn what the church teaches people about family, to be in conversation and prayer about how important family is because it “goes beyond the Catholic church.” He said family is critical to civilization and the world.
“We all belong to God’s family,” McLoone said.
He said that they are “excited” that the Holy Father is coming. He hopes that it serves an occasion for people to be re-energized about their faith.
“There’s never been a pope with whom every Catholic was pleased,” Miles said. “But as we become more accepting of media and Internet cultures that feed on the politicization of tensions within communities, it becomes easier to imagine that the tensions are greater than they actually are. In this regard, the perception that Francis is a hero of progressive Catholics and a bane to traditionalists is tempered when one actually attends to what Francis has said. When I do this, I find it difficult to fathom how any conscientious Catholic can walk away unprovoked or unchallenged by what Francis’ words. I think that’s where we need to keep our focus.”
Chaput wrote a welcome letter on the World Meeting 2015 website that the theme, “Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive” was inspired by the early Church Father, St. Irenaeus, who wrote “the Glory of God is man fully alive.”
“The glory of men and women is their capacity to love as God loves—and no better means exists to teach the meaning of love than the family,” Chaput said. “His Holiness, Pope Francis also inspired the theme. He embodies the message of mercy, joy and love at the heart of the Gospel.”
It will be the second papal visit to Philadelphia since John Paul II celebrated Mass in Philadelphia in 1979. Francis will be the fourth reigning Pontiff to visit the U.S. in its history, according to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Rev. Victor Sharrett, pastor of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Kennett Square, said he received communion from Pope John Paul II at that event.
“This is a big deal for Catholics, but everyone is welcome to be involved,” Sharrett said. “I remember a million people came to see Pope John Paul II, and I expect it to be more when (Pope Francis) arrives. I am sure his message will be family oriented, because it comes at a time when the World Conference of Families takes place.”
In saying that every pope is different, Miles said that papacy of St. John Paul II, for example, “clearly bears the stamp of his experiences in Poland during the eras of Nazism and Communism.”
The Year of the Family, the Pontifical Council for the Family has been responsible for organizing the World Meetings of Families since its inception in 1994 by Saint John Paul II, the news release said, to “strengthen the scared bonds of family across the globe.”
For more information, vi si t www.worldmeeting2015.org.