The document “is really retrieving the idea of vocation for all those involved in agriculture,” said Jim Ennis, executive director of St. Paul-based Catholic Rural Life. “There’s a special, unique role that farmers, ranchers and all those involved in agricultural production and bringing food to our tables play in how important it is, and the Church affirms it.”
The last full week of September felt like our entire country had an encounter with a saint. People I met who were paying attention to the visit of our Holy Father were surprised by joy. Many could not explain what was happening in them as they watched Pope Francis on TV or waved at him from a crowd.
The Catholic Spirit asked pilgrims from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who encountered Pope Francis during his apostolic journey in the U.S. to reflect on the meaning of his visit. The following are a section of their responses. The responses were edited for length and clarity.
Having emigrated from Mexico eight years ago, Maria Negreros is concerned about immigrant families trying to make it in the United States. She has been happy to hear that Pope Francis shares her concerns, and she’s excited to be one of 60 people from a metro interfaith group traveling to Philadelphia for his visit.
Although the students didn’t get to pose the questions to the pontiff, they did have the opportunity to hear if he answered any of them during his address to a joint meeting of Congress Sept. 24. The students were dismissed from first hour to join others from theology and social studies classes in the commons and hear what Pope Francis had to say not just to members of Congress, but to all Americans.
As a guest of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Tim Marx, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, was seated in the gallery of the Capitol Sept. 24 to hear Pope Francis address a joint meeting of Congress. Marx said he’s bringing inspiration and affirmation from the pontiff home to Minnesota.
Mary Jo Copeland, founder of Sharing and Caring Hands in Minneapolis, got to do it not once, but twice during a private audience the afternoon of Sept. 24 at the Vatican Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The moment Bob Labat had been waiting for came when he walked into the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Sept. 23 for the canonization Mass of Junipero Serra. Pope Francis made the dream of thousands of Serra Club members come true, including Labat, who just ended his one-year term as president of the national council.
By walking from Pennsylvania to Washington, Juana Flores and about 100 other women hope to get Pope Francis' attention so he can deliver a strong message that America needs to treat its immigrants with dignity and respect.
