by The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt

Bishop of New Ulm

The election of our new Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is a source of joy for the priests, religious and laity of the Diocese of New Ulm. As he takes up his responsibilities for pastoring the Universal Church , we offer him the pledge of our Catholic faith as well as our own personal prayers.

The Bishop of Rome is one of the great sources of unity in the Catholic Church and I urge all of us to renew our determination to work toward that unity for which our Lord, Jesus Christ, so ardently prayed at the Last Supper ( St. John’s Gospel, chapter 17).

At the same time, the Pope is one of the most visible symbols of moral authority in the world, defending the values of world peace, social justice and the dignity of each human person. As we have seen in the recent tragedy of Terri Schiavo and as we see with the daily, shameful death toll from abortion, the sacredness of life is being systematically undermined in our society and the lives of the poor, the handicapped, the unborn, the aged, and the non productive are seriously at risk. Our late beloved Pope John Paul II was a staunch defender of life and we look forward to our new Holy Father taking up that same role as a witness to the hope offered in the world by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

At this moment, I trust that as a local Church, we as a Diocese will use the extraordinary media focus of these past weeks to reach out and invite fallen away Catholics and the unchurched to become active members of our parishes as well as to renew our call to young men for priestly service and young women to consecrated religious life.

May Mary, Mother of the Church, and Mother of us all, give her maternal guidance and encouragement to Pope Benedict XVI as he leads us to Christ’s eternal truth in this new Millennium of God’s grace and favor.