Bishops of Province of St. Paul travel to Rome in December for ad limina visit

visit includes both individual and group meeting with Pope John Paul II

by Mark Kemmeter

Diocesan Coordinator of Staff

Bishop John C. Nienstedt, along with ten other bishops from Minnesota and the Dakotas, traveled to Rome on December 3, 2004 to present Pope John Paul II their diocese’s Quinquennial Report which details the state of their diocese over the past five years. “Quinquennial” is Latin for five years. This report details everything from the names and titles of all diocesan employees to diocesan goals for the future. In addition, the report states statistical data on advisory councils, the tribunal, publications, the clergy and educational institutions, just to name a few. An Executive Summary of the report was published in the November, 2004 issue of The Prairie Catholic.

Officially, the visit is termed an

ad limina, from the Latin which means “to the threshold” of the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul. This is Bishop Nienstedt’s first visit as the head of a diocese and his first opportunity for a private ten to fifteen minute audience with Pope John Paul II.

The New Ulm report focuses on the future as much as it reflects on the past. In Bishop Nienstedt’s words, “After compiling this report, I am convinced more than ever that the pastoral activity undertaken in the past six years will lead to greater unity and growth in faith as we enter the future.” In the conclusion to the report, he adds, “I believe the Diocese of New Ulm has a bright future.”

There are challenges, however, that will need to be addressed. Of highest priority is the need for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Various recruitment strategies have been developed and are being implemented in the regions of the diocese. Planning is also underway to establish a formation program for permanent deacons and lay ecclesial ministers who will have significant roles in future pastoral activity.

Population changes in the diocese are evident in growth to the east, decline to the west and an increase in immigrants, particularly Hispanics. The Area Faith Community model which is being implemented is the primary means to address these shifts for the present and into the future.

A special Task Force on Hispanic ministry will soon present recommendations for the integration of the ministry into the Area Faith Communities. A study on the impact of these demographic changes to Catholic schools is also nearing completion.

The greatest challenge will be continual communal and personal growth in holiness. Plans for an evangelization thrust which will coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the diocese are underway. As Bishop Nienstedt states in the report, “growth in holiness involves the daily pattern of personal prayer, the celebration of the sacraments according to church norms and expectations, the transmission of the truths of the faith to adults and children alike, the exercise of good stewardship over the resources entrusted to our care, the formation of a deep sense of community with a Catholic identity, a preferential option for the poor, the sick, the stranger and the marginalized, and a dedicated concern to protect and promote the common good of the society in which we live.”