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Networking Meeting on Catholic Higher Education in Rome
Also of interest in Rome:
Dinner with Ambassador Ken Hackett
Ambassador Ken Hackett with his wife, Joan
This talk lately reminds me i forgot to post about my first meeting with Ambassador Ken Hackett, back in early October:
On Thursday night [Oct.3], my past and present Rome worlds met one another when the entire Rome program of the Catholic University of America and Loyola University Maryland descended upon the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas to welcome U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Ken Hackett and his wife, Joan, on their twelfth day in Rome.
His predecessor, Prof. Miguel Diaz, was a theologian serving as the link between the U.S. government and the theologian-pope Ratzinger. Now we have the recently retired head of caritas in the U.S. representing the government to the very service-oriented successor of Peter.
Whatever else one can say about President Obama, his picks for US Ambassador to the Holy See have been more spot-on as genuinely Catholic picks than any president in our history – judged on pastoral and theological, rather than political, qualifications. If that were the only criterion (it is not, to be sure) he would be the most Catholic president we have ever had. Reflect on that for a moment…!
If I were to sum up the Ambassador’s approach, it is that he intends to have fun the next three years. Not, “fun”, as in he’s going to spend his entire assignment on a yacht in the Mediterranean or something. But, fun, as in, here is someone who has lived the “poor church for the poor” after 40 years in Catholic Relief Services, and is coming to Rome just as we have a bishop imbued deeply in the spirit of the poverello of Assisi.
***
An interesting historical note: Ambassador Hackett is recipient of the 2012 Laetare Medal, the same honor which the shortest-serving US Ambassador to the Holy See, Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard law professor, refused in 2009 so that she would not have to share the platform with President Obama, who was receiving an honorary doctorate that year – as have all U.S. presidents since Eisenhower. Brutta figura or principled stand? A bit of each, I think.
Summer 2013
In the last few months, while the world has witnessed the first resignation of the bishop of Rome in six centuries, the election of one with the hopes of the world on his shoulders, renewed violence in Egypt and ongoing horror in Syria, the change in my own life is both far more modest, and more pleasant to share. Of the others, no doubt more will be said.
In May I was informed that my hours at the John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue will be reduced. The Russell Berrie Foundation and the Angelicum– co-operators in the direction of the Center – have been very generous in keeping me on as the Graduate Assistant (and de facto only regular staff person) for the last two years since my fellowship was concluded. I will continue for the coming academic year in the same capacity, and await anxiously news of the next stage of the Center and the Russell Berrie Fellowship in Interreligious Studies at the Angelicum, and whether I may continue to be a part of it.
The reduction in hours, including two summer months without any work, meant three things:
- I would have to find additional work to pay for my studies and living expenses (no doctoral stipends in Rome!);
- I would have to leave the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas, my home in Rome the last four years;
- I would have an entirely free summer – and even fewer resources with which to enjoy it.
As with my original move to Rome, however, providence provides.
Within a week, three work opportunities presented themselves, which all eventually came to fruition. One even had the advantage of ‘killing two birds with one stone’ and taking care of the accommodation question as well.
- In mid-August, I take on the role of Resident Manager (Domers, read ‘rector’) for The Catholic University of America’s flagship study abroad program, happily joining the staff of my first graduate school, in the city of my latest.
It comes with a spacious corner apartment at the Prati campus – furnished in the colors of Halloween. (I kid you not: Pumpkin-colored couch, dining room chairs, tableware, salad bowl, etc… St. Mary Magdalen folks, Fr. Marquart would have absolutely loved it…).
The 70’s would be proud
- In mid-September, I begin teaching my first university level course as an Adjunct Assistant Professor for Assumption College (Worcester, MA) for their new Rome program. My course is part of the core curriculum, titled “Contemporary Catholicism”. And I get to teach it, in Rome, in the semester that Popes John XXXIII and John Paul II are being canonized. How about them apples, fellow theologians? Preparing the syllabus took the first part of my summer vacation, but has been a great deal of fun.
- In February, I start teaching my first specialized course in Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue at the university level, this time at one of the Roman colleges (seminaries), the Pontifical Beda College, where second-career Anglophone seminarians usually find themselves. The course is offered during the fourth year, so all of my students will be transitional deacons – which should make for some fun conversations given my research area!
As for the free summer? Staying in Rome is an expensive proposition… but so is returning home to Seattle.
Suddenly, a little casual research into the interplay of Eastern Orthodoxy and Islam in central and southeastern Europe seemed appealing. It is amazing how far you can get there on a limited budget, a ecumenical network, and whatever else providence can provide…
Lay Centre on EWTN
In other news… The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas appears on the 4 February, EWTN “Vaticano” feature. The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas is Rome’s premier collegio for lay students at the pontifical universities, institutes, and athenae.
The whole clip is only 27.00 long, and the section on the Lay Centre begins at 21.00
[embedding is not functioning at the moment, but you can go to the link here:]
Cantaur comes to the Lay Centre
The voicemail was indistinct there almost too much distortion to hear the speaker at the other end. Only after a third attempt could I recognize the familiar Australian accent of Dr. Margie Richardson, wife of Canon David Richardson of the Anglican Centre in Rome.
So I resorted to checking my personal email at work to see if there was news:
“The Archbishop of Canterbury may want to stop by tomorrow morning to see the garden and say hello. A.J., would you please welcome him and show him around?”
Even in Rome, that does not happen every day! How could I say no?
His Grace started this morning at San Gregorio Magno, the point from which Gregory the Great sent Augustine to Canterbury to evangelize more of the British Isles, and where the Archbishop and the Pope Benedict celebrated a solemn vespers together earlier this year to mark the 1000th anniversary of the Camaldoli community there.
Then, with the Richardsons, Msgr. Mark Langham of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Canon Jonathan Goodall, theologian-ecumenist of Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop toured the Passionist-operated Basilica of San Giovanni e Paolo, and received a brief tour of the Lay Centre and Passionist gardens, including the remains of the Temple of Divine Claudius.
After admiring our view and a few moments of gracious conversation, they were whisked away in Vatican state cars to the Anglican Centre for lunch and preparation for the Archbishop’s address to the Synod of Bishops this evening.
A president, an archbishop, and an ambassador sit down for dinner…
After a summer attempting to survive the Roman heat on my own, with the generosity of friends and colleagues allowing me to housesit in lieu of rent, I moved back into the Lay Centre in early September. Our first guest dinner was a typical Lay Centre affair, in that guests included the following:
- Mary McAleese, Former President of Ireland, and former Lay Centre resident
- Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, recently retired Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt, and one of the Church’s leading experts on Islam and Interreligious Dialogue
- Lithuanian Ambassador to the Holy See Irina Vaišvilaitė, another former resident of the Lay Centre.
Archbishop Fitzgerald updated us on the process for the election of the Coptic pope, which was still ongoing. Involving laity, clergy, and religious, the original field of nominations was 17, bishops and monks, which was whittled down to 5, and then three whose names were submitted to be selected by a blindfolded altar boy. A great deal of consultation and lay involvement went into the decision making fo who those names would be, yet room was left in the process for divine guidance, in the form of the blind innocence of a child.
Ambassador Vaišvilaitė shared her experience of presenting her credentials to the Holy Father at Castel Gandolfo, in an unusual individual meeting and conversation at the summer retreat.
President McAleese is returning to Rome to finish her doctorate in canon law, and now at the Irish College, which is practically bereft of new Irish seminarians after the much contested Dolan Report earlier this year.
In other words, just another evening at the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas!
The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas: Catholic, Ecumenical, and Interreligious
I wrote the following for Koinonia, the newsletter of the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. It was published in the winter 2012 issue:
For Avner, an Israeli Jew, Yom Kippur this year meant spending the day at a Benedictine retreat center with his new housemates and attending his first Catholic mass. It inspired him to fast for the Day of Atonement for the first time in years.
For Kassim, a Muslim father of three from Ghana, his first Sunday in Rome was marked by the celebration of the Eucharist as well – at St. Peter’s Basilica with Pope Benedict XVI and all the bishops of Africa, including Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana. Matthew, a Christian born in Singapore and living in Australia, experienced for the first time a Shabbat meal with a rabbi; Muhamed, a Sunni imam from Bosnia studied the liturgy of the hours in the Latin tradition alongside a Belarusian Orthodox scripture scholar and a Syro-Malabar Catholic liturgist.
When a rabbi, an imam, and a minister sit down together, it sounds like the beginning of a joke. Mention that they are housemates, too, and you suspect there is a punch line coming. Add that this is in the heart of Rome, in a Catholic residence for students of the Pontifical Universities in the Eternal City, and your skepticism is almost justified.
For twenty-five years, however, the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas has been just that: a Catholic collegio [1]committed to the formation of future theologians and church leaders in their Catholic identity – and precisely by virtue of that commitment, also a house of hospitality to ecumenical and interreligious scholars in Rome.
The Lay Centre was founded by Dr. Donna Orsuto, of Ohio, and Ms. Riekie van Velzen, of the Netherlands, in 1986 – a time when, surprisingly, there were still very few lay students in the pontifical universities, and when no Roman collegio was open to people who were not priests, seminarians, or religious. It was born out of the Foyer Unitas (literally, Hearth of Unity) of the Ladies of Bethany, which they had operated since 1952 as an information and hospitality center for non-Catholic pilgrims to Rome, including some of the ecumenical observers at Vatican II.
During the recent twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations, the co-founders, Dr. Orsuto and Ms. van Velzen were honored by Pope Benedict XVI as Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and Dame of the Order of Pope St. Sylvester, respectively.
Three-fold Mission
The Lay Centre’s mission is threefold:
- To provide a formation program for the resident student community based on the four pillars of Christian formation identified by the Holy See: spiritual, intellectual, human and pastoral.
- To provide ongoing adult faith formation to the expatriate Anglophone communities of Rome.
- To provide a series of international programs giving church leaders from around the world a unique opportunity to explore the history and theology of Rome.
There are currently twenty-two residents of sixteen nationalities and from five continents. They are agnostic and Jewish, Shi’a and Sunni, Orthodox and Catholic (even Latin and Eastern!). In such a milieu, there is ample opportunity for a dialogue of life and hands-on learning from a cross-cultural context.
Food and mealtimes always provide such occasions: One student is vegetarian, the three Muslims have three different approaches to halal, and during advent the Orthodox have gone temporarily vegan. As an Italian dinner is never complete without wine on the table, the Sicilian blood-orange juice was redubbed “Muslim red wine” by those not permitted to partake of the Christian variety. Dinnertime conversation can range from the World Cup to circumcision practices in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. A trip to the kitchen for a midnight snack can turn into a two-hour conversation about different religions’ perspectives on agnosticism and secularity.
The Prayer Life of the House
As a lay Catholic Christian community, the prayer life of the house is decidedly in that tradition; members of other churches are welcome to participate, and members of other faiths are welcome to observe, as appropriate. Before the main community meal of the day, all who choose to do so pray either midday prayer or vespers in common, and every day ends with a form of night prayer. A weekly community night includes the celebration of the Eucharist with a guest bishop or priest, dinner, and a formation session. Meal prayers might come from any tradition and be in any language.
Prayer also presents the opportunities for respectful presence and observation at the prayer of another religion, like the Jewish and Muslim encounters with the Mass mentioned above. Prayer can be a time for hospitality: During a recent evening event, one of the Muslim guests asked his Lay Centre hosts for a quiet place to pray maghrib. One Catholic resident immediately went to his room to retrieve a prayer mat he kept for just such occasions, as the other resident volunteered to wait during her friends’ prayer to make sure he was not disturbed.
In October, the Lay Centre organized [2] a pilgrimage to Assisi to join Pope Benedict XVI and other leaders of the world’s religions for the Pilgrimage of Peace, Pilgrimage of Truth,marking the 25th anniversary of the historic first interreligious gathering in Assisi with Pope John Paul II. Though the official agenda included several speeches and declarations of commitment to peace, no form of common prayer was scheduled.
Prayer, pilgrimage, and community are separated only with difficulty, however. As the group wandered around the ancient town for half an hour before dinner, some found their way to San Stefano, a simple 12th century church. Instinctively, Christians made their way to the front benches to quietly pray, while in the vestibule, an imam and a dervish began their own prayers. Our agnostic housemate took time to reflect outside with a cigarette.
Like the medieval church in which we found ourselves – simple, quiet, and peaceful – the prayer and reflection expressed our unity and our diversity. It is precisely this community without communion which marks life in the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas and makes it an oasis of hospitality and dialogue in the heart of Rome.
A.J. Boyd is a graduate student in ecumenism at Rome’s Angelicum University, and graduate assistant at the Pope John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue. Before returning to studies full-time, he was a lay ecclesial minister for the Archdiocese of Seattle and active in ecumenical and interreligious work in the United States. This is his third year at the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas.
1 In the Pontifical Roman system, Universities are the accredited institutions of post-secondary education. Colleges, which are generally seminaries, are the residences and houses of formation where most university students are presumed to live and receive the balance of their formation. 2 In collaboration with the Pope John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue (Rome)
Year in Review
As the Year of Grace 2011 ended, I reviewed my “to write” file for the blog, and found no less than 22 pages of notes on events and ideas I had not had time to develop into full posts. Here is a list of some highlights from the last year, with links to posts if I have them and as I develop them!
December:
- Mom visits Rome!
- Christmas at Caravita; generosity of hosts for Christmas Eve (Cindy) and Christmas Day (Jill)
- Lay Centre Board member Ralph Dwan called home to God
- Interdisciplinary Conference on Sharing Sacred Spaces
- Lord Jonathan Sacks lecture
- Lay Centre 25th Anniversary and Papal Knighthood for co-founders
- Chicago CTU Board in Rome, new Alliance with Lay Centre
- my step-sister wins a new car!
November:
- Cardinal Kasper in the classroom: Unity, Catholicity, and Apostolicity of the Church
- Colloquium on Anglican Patrimony in Light of the Apostolic Constitution: Liturgical Perspectives – Bishop Stephen Platten of Wakefield; Canon Jonathan Goodall; Fr. Keith Pecklers, SJ
- Board of Governors of the Anglican Centre visit the Lay Centre
- Canon Nicholas Sagovsky lecture, “Being an Anglican in 21st century”
- Embassy DVC on Religion in Foreign Policy with ND
- Angelicum Rector Charles Morerod, OP nominated bishop of Fribourg, Lausanne, and Geneva
- Casa Internationale Giovanni XXIII: The other lay collegio in Rome
October:
- Pilgrimage of Peace, Pilgrimage of Truth: 25th Anniversary of Assisi gathering of World’s Religious Leaders
- Tom Ryan, CSP in Rome
- Russell Berrie Orientation: Shabbat Shopping during Sukkot
- Lay Centre Orientation: Yom Kippur and an Israeli’s first Mass
- Ambassador Miguel Diaz helps launch Religion in Foreign Policy initiative
September:
August:
- Short visit home in the Pacific Northwest
- Cascade Covenant Church
- Helping my sister move: 16 hours on the road, 45 minutes unpacking the truck
- My brother’s new house
July:
- Netherlands: visiting Eveline, Clare
- New York/New Jersey: visiting Courtney, Liam, Rob
- Lay Centre 25th Anniversary Colloquium: My paper on the laity and ecumenism
June:
- Archbishop Sartain of Seattle in Rome for Pallium
- EuroPride in Rome – monastic perspectives from the hill
May
- Notre Dame Chorale Concert at Sant’Ignazio: Michael and Kerri Castorano
- Eucharistic Procession with Cardinal Marc Ouellet
- Notre Dame Glee Club and Fr. Michael Driscoll in Rome
- Lay Centre alumnus Theodosius Kyriakidis debuts his documentary film on Greek Christians in Asia Minor; another alumnus Mustafa Cenap Aydin of Turkey responds
- Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald and Leijla Demiri present on Interfaith Dialogue of life
- Beatification of JPII
April:
- Fr. Michael Casey, O.Cist. visits Lay Centre
- Assisi and Florence with Courtney and co.
- David Ford and Stephen Kepnes: The Future of Theology
- Annual JPII Lecture David Ford on Scriptural Reasoning
- Paschal Triduum in Rome
- Culture Week in Rome
- Meeting with Fr. Norbert Hofmann
March:
- Cardinal Walter Kasper, “Why I am a Man of Hope” lecture at Lay Centre
- Dame Mary Tanner at Anglican Center
- Colloquium on Anglican Patrimony in light of the Apostolic Constitution: A Canon Law Perspective
Earlier unwritten posts:
- Cardinal Levada visits the Lay Centre
- Springtime of Faith Summit in Rome – local presenters include two cardinals, two professors, and me!
Ideas, ongoing or upcoming:
- Liberal and Conservative in the Church (see june 26, Feb 2)
- Nostra Aetate, Dabru Amet, and Common Word
- ARCIC III and Personal Ordinariates
- Clericalism and Anti-clericalism
- Laïcite, laity, secularism, and secularity
- Vocations: discernment or recruiting office?
- Catholic Education beyond parochial schools
- “Catholic” vs. “Roman Catholic”: What’s in a Name?
- The Bologna Process and Pontifical Universities
- Papal honors as ecclesiological indicator
- Liturgy Wars: Episode V – The New Translation
- Call for a Common Easter
- The Big Sort
- Ecumenical Updates: Where have we got with all this dialogue?
- Wikipedia as Courtyard of the Gentiles: A call for biographical articles on great ecumenists and other theologians
- A Parable: The Kingdom of God is like the Electromagnetic Spectrum and it is Easier for a Colorblind Man to Pass Through 400-789 Terrahertz than to Enter it…
- Upcoming article in Koinonia
- Upcoming article and presentation for Assisi 2012: Ecclesiological Investigations Network conference
And finally: “The Diaconate in the International Ecumenical Dialogues: Toward an Understanding of the Deacon as Minister of Unity.” a tesina to be submitted for the License in Sacred Theology…
A Tale of Two Dames
At the beginning of this year, a small group of Lay Centre residents and friends started asking the question, “During this anniversary year, how can we appropriately honor all the work that Donna and Riekie have put in over the last 25 years?”
And the answer presented itself: “We cannot… but the pope can!”
On Thursday, December 1, 2011, the co-founders of the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas were invested with two of the pontifical orders of knighthood:
- Prof. Donna Orsuto was created a
Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great; - Ms. Riekie van Velzen was created a
Dame of the Order of Pope St. Sylvester.
The investiture took place during a mass celebrated at the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo by Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CSsR, Secretary of the Pontifical Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, in front of over 150 residents, guests, and friends of the Lay Centre.
Archbishop Tobin invests Dames Donna and Riekie with the insignia of their orders
The Eucharist was part of a week of events celebrating the Lay Centre’s 25th anniversary and a new alliance with the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, IL, USA. The papal honors were a surprise to nearly everyone present, even the honorees.
“When Donna invited me to celebrate this liturgy tonight, she mentioned that St. Gregory the Great had grown up in the neighborhood and played on the property,” Archbishop Tobin said just before introducing the awards, “she had no idea that her relationship with St. Gregory was about to move to a new level!”
Truth be told, we were a little concerned that if Donna or Riekie found out beforehand, they would be too nervous or too humble to accept!
Nancy Lindsay, chair of the Board of Directors, introduced the nomination at the end of the homily. Archbishop Tobin read the papal briefs officially creating the Church’s two newest Dames, and blessed the insignia of the Orders before presenting them to Professor Orsuto and Ms. van Velzen. I had the great privilege to serve as Master of Ceremonies for the entire liturgy, including preparing the Rite of Investiture (based on resources borrowed from the Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain, who have an excellent website)
Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great
The orders carry no obligations, and primarily only ceremonial privileges: Both women are now entitled with the style “Dame” (the female equivalent of “Sir”), post-nominal lettering of the order (Donna Orsuto, DSG; Riekie van Velzen, DSS), a place in processions and seating in the sanctuary during liturgies and church events, etc. They even earn salutes from the Swiss Guard if they are wearing the insignia of the order. But the right attached to the orders that both seemed most interested in was that, as Equestrian Orders, the new Dames have the privilege of riding a horse into St. Peter’s Basilica! (Not that anyone has tried in recent decades…)
The Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great was founded in 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI. It is conferred as a reward for services to the Holy See and the Church on gentlemen and ladies who “by reason of their nobility, the renown of their deeds, or the degree of their munificence are deemed worthy to be honored by a public expression of esteem on the part of the Holy See.”
Pontifical Order of Pope St. Sylvester
The Pontifical Order of Pope St. Sylvester was founded a decade later, in 1841, also by Pope Gregory XVI. It is conferred as an honor for “the laity who are active in the apostolate, in particular in the exercise of their professional duties and masters of the different arts.”
On a personal note, I have to say thank you a thousand times (mille grazie!) to Bishop Brian Farrell of the PCPCU for helping us navigate the process of the nominations, and devoting a great deal of time to the effort on our behalf. It is not as if he has nothing else to do, as secretary of a Pontifical Council and on the team leading the Apostolic Visitation of the Legion of Christ! The demands of his office even meant he could not be there in person, to deliver the awards he had helped obtain, as he was in Constantinople representing Pope Benedict to Patriarch Bartholomew on the patronal feast day of the Holy See of Constantinople (St. Andrew’s Day, 30 November).
Likewise many thanks to Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald for his support and direction in the process, Archbishop Joseph Tobin for presenting the honors on behalf of the Holy Father, to Cardinal Koch for his sponsorship of the nomination, and to Cardinal Bertone for his approval of the same!
Rite of Investiture of Papal Knighthood
Celebration of the Eucharist
Thursday of the First Week of Advent
25th Anniversary of the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas
Investiture of Papal Orders of Knighthood
At the conclusion of the homily
Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CSsR, and Master of Ceremonies A.J. Boyd stand at the chair
MC Boyd invites Nancy Lindsay, Chair of the Lay Centre Board of Directors, to the podium
Servers bring a table with the Papal Briefs and the insignia of the orders and place in front-center.
Presentation of the Nomination: Nancy Lindsay
Your Excellency,
For twenty-five years, the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas has contributed to the Church of Rome, and to the entire Catholic Church, through its commitment to community and ecclesial formation of students, to hospitality and dialogue, fidelity to the Church, and outreach to the broader community.
The co-founders of the Lay Centre, Professor Donna Orsuto and Signora Henrica van Velzen have lived in Rome for more than thirty years each, and have lead the growth of the Lay Centre from its modest beginnings within Foyer Unitas in 1986. Their service to the Church has had an impact beyond all expectations. As Fr. Francois-Xavier Dumortier, SJ, Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, said during his visit to the Lay Centre in March, “this community has had a significant impact in Rome – on one hand, yes, it is a small community, but it is in fact a big thing!”
It is for their decades of dedicated service to the Church, both individually and in particular for the creation, development and growth of the Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas and its notable contribution to the life of the Church in Rome and the world – and with considerable gratitude to Bishop Brian Farrell, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, and Cardinal Kurt Koch, for their support and sponsorship of this nomination – that we propose Professoressa Donna Orsuto for recognition with the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and Signora Henrica van Velzen with the Order of Pope St. Sylvester.
Introduction of the Orders: Archbishop Tobin
The Pontifical Order of St. Gregory the Great was founded in 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI. It is conferred as a reward for services to the Holy See and the Church on gentlemen and ladies who “by reason of their nobility, the renown of their deeds, or the degree of their munificence are deemed worthy to be honored by a public expression of esteem on the part of the Holy See.”
The Pontifical Order of Pope St. Sylvester was founded a decade later, in 1841, also by Pope Gregory XVI. It is conferred as an honor for “the laity who are active in the apostolate, in particular in the exercise of their professional duties and masters of the different arts.”
Becoming a Papal Dame does not merely mean receiving a title of honor – even though it is well deserved – but fighting evil, promoting good and defending the weak and oppressed against injustice.
Archbishop Tobin or MC Boyd invites the candidates to present themselves before the altar.
Archbishop Tobin, with mitre and crozier,
and MC Boyd, process to the front of the altar.
MC Boyd holds the order of investiture for Archbishop Tobin
Reading of the Papal Decree: Archbishop Tobin
Addressed to Donna and Riekie:
The Papal Brief which creates you, Donna Orsuto, a Dame of St. Gregory the Great reads as follows:
Benedict XVI, Supreme Pontiff, gladly acceding to a request made to Us from which we have gathered that you are most deserving for what you have done for the Holy Catholic Church and its affairs, and in order that We might give a clear sign of Our pleasure and appreciation, We choose, make and declare you, Donna Lynn Orsuto, of the diocese of Rome, a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. We bestow on you the right to use and enjoy all the privileges which go with this high dignity.
Given at St. Peter’s in Rome on 7 October 2011,
Signed and sealed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State.
Likewise, the Papal Brief which creates you, Henrica van Velzen, a Dame of Pope St. Sylvester, reads as follows:
Benedict XVI, Supreme Pontiff, gladly acceding to a request made to Us from which we have gathered that you are most deserving for what you have done for the Holy Catholic Church and its affairs, and in order that We might give a clear sign of Our pleasure and appreciation, We choose, make and declare you, Henrica Filomena Apollonia van Velzen, of the diocese of Rome, a Dame of the Order of Pope St. Sylvester. We bestow on you the right to use and enjoy all the privileges which go with this high dignity.
Given at St. Peter’s in Rome on 7 October 2011,
Signed and sealed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State.
Oath and Blessing of insignia: Archbishop Tobin
I have been delegated by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to invest you with the insignia of the Orders to which he has appointed you.
Before performing this solemn task, I must ask you: Do you promise faithfully to maintain unswerving fidelity to God, the Supreme Pontiff, the Holy See and the Holy Church and exercise the office of a Pontifical Dame in accordance with the high ideals and standards expected of you?
Donna and Riekie: I do.
Archbishop Tobin blesses the Brief and Insignia saying:
Almighty and Eternal God,
bless these symbols approved by your Servant, Pope Benedict XVI.
We invoke your omnipotent power to confound all evil spirits
and protect your servants Donna Orsuto and Henrica van Velzen,
who, from this day forward, wear them.
Protect your Dames from all harm
and may they be ever faithful to you all the days of their life.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Investiture of insignia
Archbishop Tobin to Donna Orsuto:
In the name of the Holy Father I herewith invest you with the insignia of a Dame of St. Gregory the Great and I present to you the Papal Brief.
Archbishop Tobin to Riekie van Velzen:
In the name of the Holy Father I herewith invest you with the insignia of a Dame of Pope St. Sylvester and I present to you the Papal Brief.
MC Boyd or Archbishop Tobin presents the newly invested Dames to the Assembly, before all retire to their respective places.
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