Archbishop Recounts Papal Visit

D.C.'s Wuerl Tells Calvert Congregation of Pope's Joy, Message

Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl offered perspective on last month's historic papal visit during a talk at a Calvert County parish last week.

Wuerl, who spoke Wednesday evening at Covenant Community of Jesus the Good Shepherd in Owings, explained his role in hosting Pope Benedict XVI and his entourage. The archbishop also spoke of the larger message of Benedict's visit.

The pope's "smiling, beaming face" could be seen as soon as he landed at Andrews Air Force Base, and the smile did not leave his face for the entire visit, Wuerl said.

"I think we recognized he was happy to be here. He was happy to be with us," Wuerl said.

Washingtonians did their best to welcome the pope, Wuerl said. They lined the streets of the District to wave and cheer. Wuerl said the pope's secretary told him to look up at the faces pressed against the glass in the office buildings along the pope's motorcade route.

The archbishop recalled a woman employed at the hotel where the pope's entourage was staying. She approached Wuerl one morning as he arrived to meet the pope. With tears in her eyes, the woman explained that she had seen the pope on television the previous night and she could see that "he loves us," Wuerl told the nearly 300 people in the Owings church's hall.

Wuerl, who acknowledged that he misses the motorcades and riding in the Popemobile, said everyone was excited "because we know who he is," a descendant of St. Peter, a man who connects all Catholics back to the Apostles.

The archbishop described Benedict passing out rosaries and medals to the people waiting to see him. He said that as the pope approached the throngs, his security people would rush to hold up the fencing that kept the crowds at bay.

"Everywhere he went, he tried to be where we were," Wuerl said.

The pope's message of evangelism and reaffirmation of the faith was inspiring, Wuerl said, with countless people telling him they were moved by the visit. And that feeling was returned, Wuerl said.

He said the papal Mass at Nationals Stadium showed Benedict "the face of the church in our country," with many ethnic groups and backgrounds among the 45,000 people who filled the stadium. It was the silence during the Eucharist that the pope specifically noted.

"The Holy Father turned and said, 'That liturgy was a true prayer,' " Wuerl said.

John Withers, 50, of Leonardtown said his eyes welled up at that moment in the archbishop's speech.

"It was confirmation of what we had done," said Withers, who was a member of the Papal Mass Choir. "It was like a personal thank-you."

The Rev. Michael J. King, pastor at Jesus the Good Shepherd, said he invited Wuerl to the area to give members of the Southern Maryland parishes who were unable to take part in the festivities surrounding the pope's visit a sense of the experience.

Jennifer Colosi, 34, of Owings, a member of the Papal Mass Choir, said the archbishop's speech gave her a new level of understanding.

"It was wonderful tonight to hear the archbishop's personal anecdotes behind the scenes of his interactions with the pope. It makes him so beautifully human and endearing," she said.