Bishop Duca of Shreveport Meets the Holy Father and Goes to Bishop School

Well that is pretty exciting for him and for us Catholics in the Diocese of Shreveport Louisiana. Sad the Shreveport Times did not carry this event.

The above new edition of the Catholic Connection can be downloaded in PDF form here. However I will post the story as my Bishop going to Rome. It appears when there is a new Bishop they now have got to go to "Bishop" school in Rome for a l;ittle over a week so this is pretty interesting for those outside my neck of the woods as to what goes on.

It must have been pretty cool meeting him for the first time and going hey thanks for the promotion!!!

Bishop Duca Meets Pope
Benedict XVI

Following his ordination and installation as bishop for the Diocese of Shreveport, the
Vatican required Bishop Michael Duca to attend a new bishop workshop in Rome, titled “The
Pilgrimage to the Tomb of St. Peter.”

This workshop is a relatively new requirement setup by the Congregation of Bishops to help orient new bishops from around the world to the basic responsibilities of their assigned office. The nine day schedule was a rigorous one, with mass, speakers and conferences running from 7:30 each morning until as late as 10:00 each evening.

Church officials gave talks on their respective fields, and information was presented in a very straightforward, nonpartisan way. The focus of the presentations Bishop Duca
said was, “all the different areas that come under the bishop’s responsibilities. The responsibilities to teach, to govern, to sanctify in his diocese.” These topics included everything from the administration duties of the bishop and the bishop’s relationship with the
people to bioethics and ecumenism.

Although the wide range of topics was a lot to takein, Bishop Duca felt that, “all the talks together really did drive home the responsibilities of the office of bishop. … It’s easy to get caught up in the issues ofyour particular diocese, seeing these issues all togetherreally helps you remember all the different areas.”

The new bishops conference was a multi-cultural scene with 110 bishops attending from all over the globe. Only seven of the attendees were from the United States, and roughly 20 were from English speaking countries like Ireland and Australia.

Talks were given in a variety of languages, withsimultaneous translations. Texts of the topics were also provided. Following the week of presentations, the bishops
had the opportunity to meet several distinguished people, including the leaders of the American College in Rome and the Ambassador to the Vatican from the United States. They also had the exclusive opportunity to see and pray over the tomb of St. Peter in St. Peter’s
Basilica, spend time alone in the Sistine Chapel and visit the tomb of St. Paul. But all of these amazing events were just the beginning.

After a week in Rome, the bishops were taken to Castel Gandolofo, the Pope’s summer
residence, where they were given the opportunity towalk in the gardens. They were then escorted to a special room where they met with the Holy Father. Although Pope Benedict XVI addressed the bishops in Italian, they were provided with texts of the meeting in their own languages. Following this gathering, each bishop was able to personally greet the
Holy Father.

During their time with the Holy Father each bishop received a pectoral cross and
special blessing from Pope Benedict.

Bishop Duca said meeting the Holy Father was one of the best parts of his timein Rome, “It was the first time I really made contact with him, and he was the one who called me to this. It
was a chance for me to say thank you and givegreetings to him.”

Besides meeting the Holy Father, Bishop Duca said, “the next best thing was that I was able to meet other bishops who were in the same situation I was.”During their time between conferences, Bishop Duca was able to talk with the other six new bishops fromthe United States about different questions, issues and experiences.

Upon returning to Shreveport, Bishop Duca said this experience left him feeling excited and a little overwhelmed about all the responsibilities and blessings of his new office.