Sunday, the Holy Father invited the Synod participants to join him in praying a rosary for peace at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the eve feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, which he had designated as a day of prayer and fasting for world peace.

It was a full Basilica, with all the people from the Synod and others joining us. It was a very beautiful ceremony that included praying the rosary and the Litany of Loretto, after which the Holy Father gave a short meditation.



New slate of cardinals

Of course, also that day, the Holy Father announced a new slate of cardinals. The only North American residential archbishop among them is Archbishop Leo of Toronto. Though, I was also very pleased to see the list included Father Timothy Radcliffe, who, as I mentioned last week, gave the retreat for the opening of the Synod and was the master general of the Dominican Order.



Opening Mass

Monday, I had the Opening Mass for the plenary session of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which brought together commission members from all over the world.

The Mass was celebrated in the Chapel of St. John, which is very near the Pantheon, as well as the commission's offices in Maffei.

Our sessions of the plenary began on Tuesday morning. Then, on Wednesday, we had a long meeting with the officials from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and the new head of the disciplinary section, newly ordained Bishop John Kennedy, whom I mentioned last week. We discussed the justice issues involved in their work and how it is complementary to the safeguarding mission of the commission.



Dinner in Rome

Tuesday night, I was very happy to have dinner with some of the leadership of OSV News who are in Rome for the Synod, National News Editor Peter Jesserer Smith, Senior Writer Maria Wiering, and Editor-in-Chief Gretchen Crowe.

I was very impressed with their sense of vocation and their desire to use the media as a way of spreading the Gospel. As one of the members of the OSV team said, their task is to "inform, form, and to inspire." I thought that was a beautiful way to describe their mission.



Mass at St. Peter's Basilica

Wednesday, the Synod participants gathered in St. Peter's Basilica for a Mass celebrated by Maronite Bishop Paul Rouhana, who is an auxiliary bishop of Beirut.

Bishop Youhanna Warcha, the procurator of the Maronite Patriarch in Rome, addressed us at the beginning of the Mass.

He said he was so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the Maronite liturgy with the Synod participants and invited everyone to pray for peace in the world, the Middle East and Lebanon. Of course, we also remembered Cardinal Bechara Rai, who remains in Lebanon due to the escalating situation there.