We are in the final hours of this Pallium Pilgrimage. From the very beginning it was clear that Our Lady and Our Lord had a divine hand in this visit to Rome. We are blessed to celebrate three significant Solemenities or Feasts, including: Tuesday, the Feast of Our Lady of Read more
Pope Francis continues to inspire. As I walked across St. Peter’s Square today, I was stopped by some people. In a conversation with a gentleman who told me he is not Catholic, he said that it is his impression that Pope Francis is getting the attention of many more people Read more
Each day of this pilgrimage has been packed from early till late, leaving only precious sleeping hours for blogging – thus the site has been quiet since our arrival on Sunday, other than a brief word of gratitude Tuesday for 25 years of priestly life and ministry. I continue to Read more
25 years ago today, Pope Francis was ordained a bishop. 25 years ago today, I was ordained a priest. Not bad company to keep! This past year I was thinking it would be nice to come back to Italy to celebrate my 25th anniversary. Then, in October, Pope Francis named Read more
With the Pallium Pilgrimage Group coming from several parts of the US, we finally came together in one group Sunday afternoon. Rome is a city with a population of 3.5 million people, and if you count all those living in the metropolitan area, it is around 5 million people! Rome Read more
Today the Church celebrates the Nativity of Saint John The Baptist. Knowing that the group from Anchorage would spend last night (Friday) flying from Anchorage to Dallas, and tonight (Saturday) flying from Dallas to Rome, I knew we would want to find a place to celebrate Mass on this Solemn Read more
Any bishop will tell you, days of ordaining new priests are about as good as it gets! I’m very grateful for the opportunity to ordain a new priest for the Archdiocese of Anchorage today. Congratulations, Rev. Robert Whitney! As if that were not good enough, in a few hours I Read more
Priesthood Ordination Homily, June 23, 2017: Solemnity Of The Most Sacred Heart Of Jesus; Co-Cathedral, Anchorage Robert, to you and your family and friends, welcome! On behalf of this local Church, I express a profound sense of gratitude to your parents, Kerry & Randy, and family for the love and Read more
“The Church draws her life from the Eucharist.” With these words, St. Pope John Paul II began his last Encyclical on the Life of the Eucharist in Relationship to the Church. This simple statement has so many implications for our lives. To fully understand this teaching, we must begin with Read more
Monday of this Week, I arrived in Indianapolis for the June 2017 Meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I was pleased that a good percentage of our time together was spent discussing pastoral issues of concern to many of our people across the United States. Another highlight was Read more