Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz had his first meeting with Pope Francis on Monday along with other officers of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Kurtz, vice-president of the conference, is in Rome for a series of meetings between Vatican officials and the small delegation of American bishops. In brief video highlights distributed from the meeting, Kurtz thanks Francis, asks for his prayers and says he’ll pray for him.
This could well be just the first of several such meetings for Archbishop Kurtz. New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, current president of the conference, is completing his term later this fall, and often the vice-president is elected to succeed a president.
The American conference officers make an annual visit to Rome “to exchange information with the prefects of different Pontifical Congregations about developments in the U.S. Church and other churches around the world,” according to a Vatican statement:
“The highlight of course, is going to see the Pope. So we got to do that, we got to see Pope Francis which for us was exciting,” Cardinal Dolan said. “I hadn’t seen him since the conclave and …Archbishop Joe Kurtz, the Archbishop of Louisville who’s the Vice President of the USCCB…I don’t think he had met the Holy Father. So this was very exciting and it was really just kind of a friendly conversation. It wasn’t so much that we had business – because traditionally when you go to see the Pope, it’s kind of a meeting of brothers. And that’s what it was for us. With the other ones, like when we see a prefect of a congregation, we’ll have an agenda: these are items, these are business things that we know that you’re interested in, that you’ve asked us to follow up on. With the Holy Father of course, no. …”
In Kurtz’s blog, written from Rome before the meeting, he cites the words and example of Francis when the pontiff went to Assisi on Oct. 4 — the hometown and feast day of St. Francis, whose name the pope adopted.
“Pope Francis called on all to imitate St. Francis as this great saint imitated the Lord Jesus in his simplicity of life and generosity. That generosity in sharing what he had with others uncovered for him a joy that is lasting in this world and provided a glimpse of what we hope for in heaven.
… The power of example – St. Francis, Pope Francis, and so many generous friends whom we encounter – also can move us to deep generosity. I have never regretted giving; though there have been times in my life that I look back at lost opportunities to share with others. Thank God for the witness of Pope Francis!
