Monday,
June 16, 2008 The
Eucharist, God’s gift par excellence “The
Church has received the Eucharist from Christ […] as the gift par excellenc
[…] God had prepared for this gift of gifts throughout the whole course of
salvation history. [….] The Eucharist accompanies the pilgrimage of God’s
people. [….] The Eucharist constantly nourishes the Church, for from the
Eucharist the Church draws her life and her reason for existence.” The
Eucharist, God’s Gift for the Life
of the World, Chapter I
Catechist:
Archbishop Donald Wuerl, Washington DC
Continent
of the day: North America Donald
William Wuerl, born Nov.
12, 1940, in Pittsburgh, received seminary training
in Ohio, Washington and Rome before his Dec. 17, 1966, ordination in Rome. He earned graduate degrees
from Catholic University and two pontifical universities
in Rome -- Gregorian University and the University of St. Thomas.
He worked at the Vatican, 1969-79, returning to Pittsburgh after Cardinal Wright's death
to serve as vice rector and then rector of St. Paul's College Seminary. In 1982
he was appointed executive secretary to Bishop John A. Marshall of Burlington, Vt., for a papally
mandated study of U.S. seminaries being conducted
by Bishop Marshall.
Named an auxiliary bishop for Seattle on Dec. 3, 1985, he was ordained to the episcopacy by Pope John Paul II on Jan. 6, 1986. Following a two-year Vatican investigation of Seattle Archbishop Raymond
G. Hunthausen, the Vatican directed the archbishop in
September 1986 to delegate to Bishop Wuerl final decision-making
authority over several aspects of church life.
He was given complete authority
over liturgy, the archdiocesan church court, seminarians and priestly formation,
laicized priests and moral issues of health care and ministry to homosexuals.
Archbishop Hunthausen's authority was restored in May
1987. Bishop Wuerl was named the 11th bishop of Pittsburgh and installed there on Feb. 12, 1988.
Bishop Wuerl began
a three-year term as chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Catechesis
in November 2004 and also serves on the Committee on Education's Subcommittee
on "Sapientia Christiana" and as a consultant
to the Task Force on Catholic Bishops and Politicians, chaired by Cardinal McCarrick.
As the head of the Washington Archdiocese, Archbishop Wuerl
is the national spotlight. His post in the nation's capital places him on the
church's front line regarding the relationship between faith and politics and
the relationship of the church with public officials whose stands sometimes oppose
Catholic teachings.
This often involves looking for the fine line that separates
influencing policy from becoming involved in partisan politics. It includes being
pastoral to controversial Catholic politicians while not signaling support for
any positions they may have contrary to church teachings.
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