Will the pope visit S.A.? We\'ll see
Will the pope visit S.A.? 'We'll see'
J. Michael Parker
Express-News Religion Writer
ROME - Pope Benedict XVI told San Antonio Archbishop Jos� Gomez on
Thursday
that it's possible he'll visit the city to attend the 275th birthday
celebration of San Fernando Cathedral next year.
Gomez said the 78-year-old pontiff didn't commit himself to an
invitation
but, "he smiled and said, 'We'll see.'"
The invitation was extended in the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall near St.
Peter's Basilica during a gathering for archbishops who received the
pallium, the principal symbol of their office, on Wednesday.
About 2,500 pilgrims from San Antonio, Houston and other dioceses from
around the world gathered in the 12,000-seat hall.
Each bishop knelt before the pope to receive his blessing, then rose
and
exchanged a few words with him. When Gomez did so, he mentioned the
upcoming
275th birthday celebration of San Fernando Cathedral.
The pope "couldn't believe (that an American church could be so old) at
first," Gomez later said in an interview. "He asked, 'Is it possible?'
and
then he remembered it was built during Spanish colonial times."
Gomez also introduced his four sisters to the pope. He said they were
so
deeply touched upon meeting the pope that they were crying and weren't
able
to say much.
He said Benedict XVI was impressed that so many of Gomez's friends came
to
Rome to see him receive the pallium.
"He said, 'You have a lot of people here. And they are loud,'" the
archbishop said.
They proved it by shouting, "Viva San Antonio!" as the archbishop
walked
past them returning to his seat. That brought a bright smile from
Gomez,
whose face, in the words of Denver pilgrim Voradel Carey, "looked liked
2,000 watts of light."
"Never in a million years did I expect to be here. I got so emotional
when
he spoke to the archbishop and his sisters," Carey said.
Teresa Hinojosa of San Antonio said that seeing Gomez, her former
spiritual
director from 1987-99, receive the pallium from Benedict was awesome.
Gomez "is a great example of the fact that God exalts the humble, and
God is
not through with him yet," Hinojosa said. "This is just the beginning
of a
great pastoral future for him."
Auxiliary Bishop Patrick Zurek said he told Benedict that his
grandmother
was born in a village not far from Markt Am Inn, Germany, the pope's
birthplace.
"He was holding both of my hands in his the whole time we were talking,
and
when I said that, he squeezed my hands and said, 'We may be related,'"
Zurek
said.
San Antonio pilgrims arrived at the gate just south of St. Peter's
Square at
9 a.m. . They were in the shade provided by the massive 17th-century
Bernini
colonnade enclosing the square, but the heat and humidity still were
oppressive.
They finally were admitted at 10:45 a.m. to the cavernous auditorium
and
waited patiently for the pontiff's arrival.
At 11:30 a.m., a smiling Pope Benedict XVI, accompanied by a retinue of
aides, strode briskly onto the stage through a door at the left.
Pilgrims
from several countries applauded and cheered him as he raised both arms
high
above his head in greeting. Then he sat in a high-backed chair on the
stage.
He read greetings in Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish,
congratulating the archbishops he had honored Wednesday.
Later Thursday, pilgrims attended Mass at the Church of Our Lady of
Guadalupe on Rome's outskirts. Gomez presided and was joined by Zurek;
Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput; Fargo, N.D., Bishop Samuel Aquila;
and
priests of the San Antonio, Denver, and Rome dioceses and Opus Dei.
As he often does, Gomez injected humor into his homily, noting that "we
wanted to make sure that the weather for the visit in Rome was like we
have
in Texas, but I think we prayed a little too hard."