FAITH/STORIES
Editor’s note: The following is the address of Pope Benedict XVI to the bishops of Western Canada during their ad limina visit to the Vatican Oct. 9.
“We should celebrate and rejoice. . . he has come to life; he was lost and is found” (Lk 15:32). With fraternal affection I warmly welcome you, the bishops of the Western Catholic Conference of Canada, and I thank Bishop (Gerald) Wiesner for the good wishes offered on your behalf. I warmly reciprocate them and assure you, and those entrusted to your pastoral care, of my prayers and solicitude. Your meeting with the successor of Peter concludes the visits ad limina Apostolorum of the Canadian bishops’ conference. Notwithstanding the increasingly secular climate within which you serve, your reports contain much from which you can draw encouragement. In particular, I have been heartened to note the zeal and generosity of your priests, the selfless dedication of the religious present in your dioceses and the increasing readiness among the laity to embolden their witness to Christ’s truth and love in their homes, schools, places of work and in the public sphere.
I am always amazed and saddened how newspaper columnists who preface their remarks by stating they "are not Catholics" but are quick to criticize the Pope for what he may or may not do, and then proceed to tell him what he should do.