Pope's secret to effective 'ad limina' visits: being a good listener

Published: 2004-05-28

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- What can a person learn from a continuous series of 15-minute meetings with bishops from all over the world? Pope John Paul II's answer is, "I learn the church." The pope used the phrase in his new book to describe his experience of the "ad limina" visits to the Vatican that bishops make every five years to report on situations in their dioceses. The book, "Get Up, Let Us Go," was released May 18 as a fifth group of U.S. bishops were holding their 15-minute private meetings with the pope during their "ad limina" visits to Rome. Pope John Paul wrote that the "ad limina" visits he made as a bishop with Pope Paul VI in the late 1960s and early 1970s were important experiences for him and that he adapted the format as pope so that he could spend more time with each bishop. The "ad limina" visits "are a particular expression of collegiality," the pope wrote, because they allow the pope and bishops to share their experiences and "the fruits of our pastoral work."

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