LETTER FROM PRESIDENT JOHN GARVEY ANNOUNCING PAPAL VISIT

April 27, 2015
Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students,

Ctholic University President John Garvey

You may have seen media reports stating that during his upcoming visit to Washington, D.C., Pope Francis will celebrate Mass outdoors at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I am delighted today to confirm those plans. On September 23 the Holy Father will celebrate the canonization Mass for Blessed Junipero Serra from the East Portico of the Basilica, which serves as the dais of the University’s annual Commencement exercises. The congregation attending the Mass will fill our University Mall, just as our faculty, graduating students, and their families do each May for graduation.

We are overjoyed that Pope Francis will be in our midst and are working closely with the Archdiocese of Washington, the Basilica, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on plans for the Mass. While many details remain to be worked out, I can say now that the venue for the Mass will give members of the University community unique opportunities to participate in the Holy Father’s visit. As additional information becomes available we will share it with you through the University’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and hope to unveil a new website dedicated to the September visit soon.

It is with an enormous sense of pride that we can say we will be welcoming our third pope to campus during the fall semester. No other U.S. university has hosted a pope more than once. This unprecedented record signifies the central role we occupy in Catholic higher education in the United States. There is also the practical benefit of being a repeat host – we have established a committee to prepare for the Pope and have drawn on many of the same people who organized Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Catholic University seven years ago to staff it.

Let me close with a personal reflection. I had the pleasure of travelling with a group of our students to World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013. We stood in a crowd of 3 million people to hear the Holy Father preach. His joy was infectious — the kind of joy that comes from a deep faith. “Put on Christ,” Pope Francis said, “and you will find a friend in whom you can always trust; ‘put on Christ’ and you will see the wings of hope spreading and letting you journey with joy towards the future.”

I am certain that when the Holy Father visits the Basilica and our campus he will remind us of the great joy of the Gospel. As we anticipate his visit, I can say with St. Paul, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.”

Sincerely,

John Garvey
President