Today we were treated to a visit to the Missionary Sisters of Saint Peter Claver (MSSPC, for short), who have their North American headquarters in St. Paul, Minn.! We traveled by bus (a common theme on our trip here in Rome) to their residence nearby Saint Mary Major, a "papal basilica" (virtual reality tour available), where we stopped for a short visit beforehand. At the Sisters' residence, they gave a presentation on their foundress, Bl. Mary Theresa Ledochowska, and their mission as a religious congregation. We celebrated Mass (and my blogger co-hort Dn. Blake Rozier preached) in their chapel, which also includes a tomb shrine to their foundress. They then treated us to "coffee," which consisted of various goodies -- sodas, teas, cakes, cookies. They also gave us a "World Mission Rosary," distinct by its coloring of the decades for specific continents. Afterward, we took a picture with them and they gave us a tour of their chapel, Bl. Mary Theresa's private room, and a nativity scene built by one of the sisters. A summary of our visit there: have a heart for missionary charity and pray for all missionaries and their endeavors throughout the world.
After hopping on a bus back to our residence, we lunched, while Fr. Betancourt dined with Msgr. John Cihak, a priest who serves in the papal dicastery of the Congregation for Bishops (more thorough description of them available on Wikipedia). After lunch, Msgr. Cihak gave us some insights into papal dicasteries -- created to assist the Pope in his ministry of the Church universal -- and the inner-workings of his Cong. for Bishops. Most insightful was the process that occurs when an episcopal see becomes vacant (i.e., how a bishop is selected). He is originally a priest from the diocese of Portland, Oregon, and he certainly didn't expect serving in this capacity when he was being formed in seminary. However, he seemed to enjoy being with us and discussing his priestly service for the Pope.
After that, we were able to have time on our own. We need to read some documents for our assignment this week -- this Rome excursion isn't all traveling and visits to really awesome places. We also throw some learning in there as well, too!
Post by Dn. Grant Gerlach.
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