Rome, my home sweet home!

Martha Fernández-Sardina with a rooftop view of St. Peter’s Square, the papal apartments and the city of Rome during the recent CALL Vatican Forum. Photo provided

This past Holy Week I was blessed with an amazing trip — and I carried the archdiocese in my heart. I journeyed to Rome, for the Easter Triduum and to participate in the CALL Vatican Forum. The Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL) is an organization founded by Archbishop José H. Gomez as a means of bringing about the “evangelization of culture” by seeking to be a voice for social and faith issues important to the church and to Latinos in the United States.

Our Vatican Forum afforded us some unprecedented opportunities: from the privilege of lodging where cardinals and bishops lodge, to the immense privilege of being warmly received by and dialoguing with high-ranking Vatican officials. Our journey began with the Wednesday papal audience at St. Peter’s Square. Thanks to the press credentials of our own Father Gonzalo Meza, I was just six feet away from the pope. I called out to him with excitement, and upon reviewing my pictures I realized he looked right at me!

Wednesday afternoon, we visited the Vatican Museums and beheld the story of faith that is beautifully told in the paintings that grace both the walls and the ceilings of one of the most-visited museums in the world. The evening included Mass and a reception at the North American College, where U.S. dioceses send seminarians for priestly formation. Among those who welcomed us was our own San Antonio seminarian, Matthew V. Smith.

If Mass at the NAC was a treat — in a chapel where hundreds of good men have prayed and been formed, many of whom have become bishops and cardinals — an even greater treat was to have Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, near the tomb of St. Peter and John Paul II; at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major which houses the remains of Jesus’ manger; and at the feet of St. Paul, the greatest evangelizer of all times.

Thursday morning, we visited the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and dialogued with Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli — whom I had the privilege of interviewing in Dallas about a year ago — and several staff members. Their commitment to promoting the use of modern media for evangelization was evident. Archbishop Celli asked us to be mindful of those who have no faith and those who have drifted from the Lord and his church, especially secularized youth. This challenge to evangelize using the media echoes what Archbishop Gomez says in his recent pastoral letter, You Will Be My Witnesses: On The Christian Mission To Evangelize and Proclaim Jesus Christ and what Pope Paul VI said years ago: “…these powerful means…(are) a modern and effective version of the pulpit. Thanks to them (the church) succeeds in speaking to the multitudes.” (On Evangelization in the Modern World, 45)

Thursday, we visited the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Dr. Miguel H. Díaz, and held a reception for him and other dignitaries, including Cardinal William Joseph Levada, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Friday, we were received by Dr. Guzmán Carriquiry and Msgr. Miguel Delgado at the Pontifical Council for the Laity, which assists the pope in his dealings with lay ecclesial movements — a meaningful visit for me given my work with them locally and our annual Pentecost Eve Mass (May 22, 6:30 p.m., St. Rose of Lima Church).

At the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace we were received by Cardinal Peter Turkson and staff. During our dialogue, he invited CALL to provide feedback on the pope’s encyclical letter Caritas et veritate, On Integral Human Development In Charity and Truth. How humbling to be reminded that Vatican officials are truly interested in what lay men and women do in the world, and that our experience is of great value to them.

The visit with the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, where we were received by Archbishop Antonio María Veglió and Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, was a reminder of the need for a comprehensive view of “people on the move,” including immigrants, foreign students and tourists — all of whom need and deserve our pastoral care.

On Friday, we met with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the Prefect of the Pontifical Congregation for Bishops which assists the Holy Father in the selection and assignment of bishops. Fully aware that the pope had just appointed the founder and episcopal moderator of CALL, Archbishop Gomez, as coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles, he shared in the joy expressed by all who received us. The confidence in Archbishop Gomez shared by the prelates we met was a source of healthy pride for us — twice as much for those of us who work closely with him and live within the archdiocese he has shepherded over the past five years. As President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Cardinal Re is hopeful for the future of the Church in America, “the continent of hope” as it is called, and he asked us to help in its continued growth and purification.

Saturday was a work day too! Yes, they work on Saturdays in The Vatican, even during the Easter Octave. At the Secretariat of State, on behalf of Cardinal Bertone, we were received by the Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, American Monsignor Peter Brian Wells and Scottish Monsignor Leo Cushley, who stated that the Holy Father’s choice of a Latino as the successor of Cardinal Mahony speaks eloquently about the importance of Hispanics, the fastest growing segment of the US population, accounting for almost half the population of Catholics in this country. Monsignor Cushley brought us to a rooftop for a magnificent view of St. Peter’s Square, the papal apartments, and the city of Rome. Oh, the unmerited privilege of being in such high places!

Our Vatican Forum ended with a visit to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops where we conversed with Bishop Nicola Eterovic about his work and ours, and about the forthcoming papal document on the 2008 Synod of Bishops on The Word of God in the Life and The Mission of the Church. I shared with him how 124 of our parishes distributed 182,000 CDs with the New Testament during our 40-day Lenten listening program, and that 600 people participated in our 6-week Lectio Divina, Pilgrimage With The Word — signs that pastors and people are interested in the Word of God and the various Archdiocesan Bible Initiatives we continue to develop in San Antonio.

Before leaving Rome, I visited the Vatican Press Office and picked up a copy of the official Bolletino with the announcement of archbishop’s new assignment. I was interviewed at Vatican Radio, and briefly interviewed by Zenit news agency, after arranging interviews for several CALL board members and a representative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Before all these meetings, I took a two-day prayer escapade to Assisi and stayed with three Franciscan Sisters, thanks to our own Father David Gutiérrez, TOR. I prayed at the tombs of Sts. Francis and Clare, at the foot of the San Damiano Cross from which Jesus asked St. Francis to “rebuild my church,” and at none other than the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula, which the city and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are named after. Minutes after departing from Our Lady of the Angels, I learned of the news of the archbishop’s leave to Los Angeles. I’m so glad I prayed for him in that special sanctuary!

This was a tremendously blessed trip! Despite the long walks in high heels on streets paved with cobblestones on Holy Thursday to adore the Blessed Sacrament in seven different churches … Despite the cold and rainy Easter Sunday Mass with the pope (one of three Masses and six events with the pope) …Despite all this, it was a very blessed trip! For more information on the Vatican Forum and trip, find the blog and the podcast of the April 19 radio show at www.archsa.org/Evangelizationand visit www.call-usa.org.

Martha Fernández-Sardina is director of the archdiocesan Office for Evangelization.