As I left off last week, I explained that I attended the Rector's Dinner at the Pontifical North American College last Thursday evening.

They had not been able to hold the dinner for two years, so it was wonderful to be able to gather with friends and benefactors of the seminary once again. Among those in attendance were many members of the Papal Foundation and Mario Paredes with members of his physician group, SOMOS.

I was one of the honorees of the evening. In my remarks, I talked about the importance of the priesthood in the Catholic Church and the North American College's crucial role as one of our largest and most influential seminaries for North America.

I also thanked the people for their support of the seminary and noted that everyone in the United States has a stake in supporting the seminary because of its important role in training Church leadership for our country.

The other honorees of the evening were Lynne and Dennis Jilot.

I was very impressed by their remarks. They are clearly very interested in supporting the Church and, particularly, promoting vocations.

The dinner was a great success and it was a beautiful evening. It was also an opportunity to thank Msgr. Peter Harman, as he is finishing up his six years as rector of the NAC.



Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

Friday morning, I had Mass with the members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors at the Tomb of St. Peter.

Later that day, we had an audience with the Holy Father. We met in the library and had a dialogue with him about his hopes for the commission going forward with the new structure from "Praedicate Evangelium."

It was a very positive meeting, and the members were all delighted to have the opportunity to spend that time with the Holy Father.



From Italy to Brazil

From Rome, I traveled to Brazil for a gathering of Capuchin friars from throughout the hemisphere.

There has been quite a build-up to the meeting, which was held to promote greater fraternity and collaboration among the provinces of the Americas. There will be a similar gathering in Europe this summer.

Brazil is one of the countries with the largest Capuchin presence. There are over a thousand friars and 30 Capuchin bishops in the country.

We met at the retreat house run by the province of Sao Paulo.

Our Father General from Rome, Father Roberto, and a number of his staff were with us, along with representatives of all the provinces of Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

I was asked to give a conference on the Capuchin charisms.