Archbishop Wuerl hopes pope's visit will energize people's faith

Published: 2007-11-15

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said he hopes Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the nation's capital next spring will deepen the faith of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Washington and give them new energy. "Personally, I'm thrilled that he will be here and be with all of us," he said. "There is so much renewal going on, among our young people, in the whole church," he said. "His visit will be a reaffirmation of that. But also I'd like to think it's going to be a way of just re-energizing us." He said he believes the emphasis of the pope's trip will be "on the renewal of the faith life of the church." Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, announced the pontiff's April 15-20 visit to Washington and New York -- billed as an "Apostolic Visit to the United States of America and to the Seat of the United Nations" -- at the Nov. 12 opening session of the U.S. bishops' national meeting in Baltimore. Shortly after the nuncio spoke, the archbishop told the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Washington Archdiocese, that the visit "will be an opportunity for all of us in the church in Washington to show the Holy Father our affection, to show him our profound loyalty, but also to demonstrate to him how alive the church in Washington is, how profoundly faith-filled the church is."

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