"A great joy!" for Cardinal-designate Wuerl of Washington, DC
The Archbishop of Washington, DC, Donald W. Wuerl, is one of the 24 Cardinals-designate
named on Wednesday during Pope Benedict XVI's weekly General Audience.The Cardinal-designate
told Chris Altieri that his first thought, on learning of the honour, was that it
really belongs to all the faithful of the Church in the US capital. “I got the news yesterday,” said Cardinal-designate Wuerl, “and yesterday was the feast of the North American Martyrs," he continued, "and one of the things that struck me was [that] all of them did the same work, all of them paid the same price for bearing witness, and yet, when we look at the liturgy, only two of them are mentioned by name; the rest are listed as companions – and I thought, ‘that really is a metaphor for the Church of Washington, and this honour.”
Archbishop Wuerl went on to say, “Everybody here, all the priests, all the religious, all the lay faithful work so hard on behalf of the Gospel.”
At the end of his reflection, the Cardinal-designate explained that the honor also serves to strengthen bonds of communion between the Church in Washington, DC and the Successor to Peter. “In accepting this honor,” he said, “I renew my pledge to the Holy Father: a pledge of fidelity, affection and loyalty to him.”
“This is a time, in the words of Pope Benedict, to re-propose the perennial truth of Christ’s Gospel,” said Cardinal-designate Wuerl, “it’s a great joy.”
The Consistory for the creation of new Cardinals is scheduled for this coming November 20th.
Listen to Cardinal-designate Wuerl's extended interview with Chris Altieri...
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