Acta Apostolicae Sedis - Commentarium Officiale284

ITINERA APOSTOLICA

HOMILIAE

I

In Eucharistica Celebratione Vasintoniae habita apud «Nationals Parks Stadium».*

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

''Peace be with you!''.1 With these, the first words of the Risen Lord to his

disciples, I greet all of you in the joy of this Easter season. Before all else, I

thank God for the blessing of being in your midst. I am particularly grateful

to Archbishop Wuerl for his kind words of welcome.

Our Mass today brings the Church in the United States back to its roots in

nearby Maryland, and commemorates the bicentennial of the first chapter of

its remarkable growth - the division by my predecessor, Pope Pius VII, of

the original Diocese of Baltimore and the establishment of the Dioceses of

Boston, Bardstown (now Louisville), New York and Philadelphia. Two hun-

dred years later, the Church in America can rightfully praise the accomplish-

ment of past generations in bringing together widely differing immigrant

groups within the unity of the Catholic faith and in a common commitment

to the spread of the Gospel. At the same time, conscious of its rich diversity,

the Catholic community in this country has come to appreciate ever more

fully the importance of each individual and group offering its own particular

gifts to the whole. The Church in the United States is now called to look to

the future, firmly grounded in the faith passed on by previous generations,

and ready to meet new challenges - challenges no less demanding than those

faced by your forebears - with the hope born of God's love, poured into our

hearts by the Holy Spirit.2

In the exercise of my ministry as the Successor of Peter, I have come to

America to confirm you, my brothers and sisters, in the faith of the Apostles.3

* Die 17 Aprilis 2008. 1 Jn 20:19. 2 Cf. Rom 5:5. 3 Cf. Lk 22:32.