Bishops gather at St. Ben’s for support and fraternity

    You gathered for two days last week with the bishops of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama at St. Joseph’s Abbey. What was the purpose of the gathering?
    We get together every December and May. It’s a chance to socialize, share some of the things were are grateful for in our dioceses as well as some of the challenges, and then we have the opportunity to pray and celebrate Mass together. This gives us a chance to talk about a particular topic that we are concerned about or that we have in common. This is a group that gets along very well. I truly believe in the intrinsic value of support groups. It is wonderful to get together with people who are doing much the same things and who have the same great love for the church and for God. I think it’s a very good idea for priests to have support groups because they need this kind of faith sharing and support. Support groups are now part of seminary education. We hope that positive experience continues after ordination.
    Was there a special significance to this gathering because you will be going as a group in late January to Rome for your “ad limina” visit with Pope Benedict?
    Yes. We discussed the upcoming ad limina and some issues we wish to bring up in discussion with the pope. Every bishop is supposed to go to Rome every five years to visit the Holy Father and to make a pilgrimage to tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul. In the case of the U.S. bishops, it’s actually been seven years since we have made an ad limina. “Ad limina” is short for “ad limina apostolorum,” which means “to the threshold of the apostles.” We are obliged to pray at the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul for the people and the special pastoral needs of our dioceses.
    To reduce his schedule a bit, the pope has modified the format for the visit. Do you know what kind of interaction you will have with him?
    We don’t know if he will make a formal address to the bishops of our region, but we will meet him individually for a brief time and we will gather in small groups for about a 45-minute discussion. He will ask us if we have any questions or concerns.
    You are the metropolitan Archbishop of the Province of New Orleans, which includes the entire state of Louisiana. How do you relate to the other six bishops of Louisiana?
    Every bishop has pastoral governance in his own diocese, but if there were a problem or emergency to come up, the archbishop would be asked to intervene. The archbishop also is the principal celebrant for the installation and ordination of new bishops in the province. This is a collegial structure. The archbishop is the person who convenes the other bishops of the province to meetings such as the Louisiana  Conference of Catholic Bishops, which he chairs.
    On another topic, what kind of reaction have you received from either priests or parishioners about the new Roman Missal?
    I personally have not heard any serious concerns. I was at the Camp Abbey dedication last week, and I said, “Peace be with you,” and everybody responded, “And with your spirit.” I said to them, “I think you all are doing better at this than I am.”  For now, priests are a little more tied to the book than normal because the language and the style of writing are a little different. We are having to slow down. It will take a couple of months for us to be in tune with it, but I think the people are doing very well. It helps us concentrate more on the Mass.
    As chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, have you had any reaction from around the country?
    I just received a packet of articles that had appeared in various newspapers. Most of the stories do what journalists have to do – they present the positive side and they present people who don’t like it. But I didn’t find any grave misgivings in those articles.
    You celebrated an archdiocesan Mass last Saturday at St. Francis Xavier Church in which you commissioned liturgical ministers and highlighted the Year of Renewal for the Mass. Why was this important?
    It was an opportunity to gather all liturgical ministers together to thank them, to ask God’s blessings upon them and then to recommission and send them forth to carry out their ministries. Our Office of Worship, through Msgr. Ken Hedrick and his staff, will be offering workshops throughout the archdiocese in the coming year. I’m also really excited because we have chosen a book, “The Mass Explained,” by Msgr. James Moroney, that we are asking each parish to use as the basis for discussion groups during Lent. The Office of Worship will be providing some discussion questions and other materials to go along with it. Wouldn’t it be great if people throughout the entire archdiocese were reading and discussing the same book on the Eucharist? By having a “Year of Renewal,” we can really keep our focus on the treasure of the Mass and examine it in depth. I pray that it will be a fruitful experience for all Catholics in the archdiocese.
    Questions for Archbishop Aymond may be sent to [email protected].