Bishop Barbarito: pope’s visit is a time of renewal
CHRISTOPHER GUNTY | FC
Bishop Gerald E. Barbarito makes a point to William Gibson, Washington bureau chief for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, during an interview in Washington after the U.S. bishops meeting April 16 with Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Barbarito told the Florida Catholic he considers the pope “intellectually astonishing but a man of tremendous gentleness.”
PALM BEACH GARDENS | Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito said he was a boy when he saw Pope Paul VI during the church leader’s first visit to America, a significant event marking the first time ever a pope set foot on the continent.
“It was back in 1965,” the bishop said. “I went to Yankee Stadium to see him.”
Bishop Barbarito recently visited New York and Yankee Stadium again, as well as Washington, D.C., to see another pope on his first visit there.
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Washington April 15, the day before his 81st birthday and four days before the third anniversary of his election as pope.
“We are all excited,” Bishop Barbarito said days before leaving on his trip as part of a pilgrimage to be with hundreds of thousands of others gathered to see Pope Benedict XVI.
Each diocese in Florida was given an allotment of tickets for the two Masses celebrated by the pope during his visit. The Diocese of Palm Beach received 75 tickets that went to people on a first-come, first-served basis.
“We are most the church when we celebrate the Eucharist,” Bishop Barbarito said about the Masses celebrated in Nationals Park in Washington April 17 and Yankee Stadium April 20.
Pope Benedict also met with President Bush at the White House April 16 and spoke at the United Nations April 18.
“For us this pope is a father. We call him ‘Holy Father.’ He is for us as Catholics a focal point — a source of unity — the successor of St. Peter upon whom Christ founded the church. It is a time of renewal,” said Bishop Barbarito. “It is time for people to renew their faith, renew their belief in the church, renew their alliance to the Holy Father. It is an exciting time.”
From the Diocese of Palm Beach, clergy, religious and laypeople participated in events in Washington and New York. For example, a group of youths from St. Peter Parish in Jupiter headed to Washington. A large group of families with children and individuals from St. Paul of the Cross in North Palm Beach traveled to New York together. Young adults from local universities, led by the diocesan Campus Ministry Office, also went to New York. While there, they participated in service work on the streets of the city.
“He is our father,” Bishop Barbarito said about Pope Benedict. “He loves us. He cares for us. His outreach to us is a sign of what we are all about as Catholics, which is a people who believe in a loving God — a loving God, who is with us — who heals us.
“The pope gives that hope. This particular pope in general — he preaches that so clearly.”