Sunday August 28 we traveled a few miles south of Rome, into the mountains, to the papal summer residence: Castel Gandolfo. It is perched over lake Albano, which you can see it is circular because it is formed from a volcano.
Just last week my brother saw (he told me about a mile away) Pope Benedict in Cologne, Germany for World Youth Day and I was happy to have my turn to see him although because of me being a seminarian from the USA I believe I got a lot better view of him.
We were in front of the front row to pray the Angelus with the Holy Father at noon. What a powerful experience! Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th reigning pope since St. Peter (Matt. 16:18-19), addressed us and thanked us for being there. We sang “Ad multos annos” which is Latin for “to many years”. He was very warm with all the different groups there.
Catholics call the pontiff ‘Holy Father’ because of the office he holds, namely the Vicar of St. Peter, and the more authoritative title of Vicar of Christ since that was what St. Peter was. In all the Scriptural references listing the twelve Apostles St. Peter has a special primacy. Nearly all Christians hold the profession of Christian Faith of the Nicene Creed, which was approved at the Council of Constantinople in the year 381. At the end of the Creed we profess the four marks of the Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.
One of the ways the Church is Apostolic is to mean that She (the Church) can trace all validly ordained priests, bishops, and popes back to the twelve Apostles.
This is why this was a powerful experience for me. The Church has survived 2,000 years and just as if St. Peter were standing before me, I pledge my life to Pope Benedict’s words and leadership (even though he is still human, makes mistakes, and sins he has the special Grace of being the Vicar of Christ on Earth due to his office).
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