15-24 September 2008

Bishop Terry writes,
Very shortly after I had received my nomination as Bishop of Middlesbrough from the Holy Father, I also received a letter of congratulations from the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. After the formal congratulations he invited me to attend, with all the other newly nominated bishops, a Convention entitled “Pilgrimage to the Tomb of St Peter”. Well I have just returned from this interesting and very informative event.
From what I had heard of the Conference from other bishops who had attended it before me, it wasn’t going to be a holiday. And indeed it wasn’t! It was a cross between a junior bishop’s induction course, and an ecclesiastical health farm. Having said all that, it was a really exciting and thought-provoking experience.
First of all there were 111 of us from 33 countries. There were also representatives from the Eastern Rite, Ukraine, Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankan rites. The variety of backgrounds and pastoral challenges was enormous – some dioceses with over 1.5 million Catholics and 1,000 priests; other dioceses which covered an area exceeding that of the British Isles; a diocese which consisted of only seven parishes and five priests, and everything in between. Some bishops looked as though they had been born to the job, elegant and stylish, others looked as though they had just tied up their donkey around the back; some bishops had obviously travelled the world and could conduct themselves in several languages fluently, others had never left their native country, area or town.
Over the week we had 25 presentations from heads of the various congregations and offices basically telling us what our responsibilities were as a bishop and how they could help us. Some of the many themes which came through were the importance of being present in, and visiting the diocese, while at the same time recognising that the bishop also has a role to play in the larger Church both at national and international level. It was a little daunting to hear it spelt out just how responsible is the person of the bishop – and without prayer and support in prayer, without the action of the Spirit, closeness to Christ and the love of the Father, it would be impossible.
During the course of the Conference we were able to celebrate Mass over the Tomb of St Peter in the Vatican and then as a group of bishops, we went down to kneel before the tomb and prayed for his intercession. Later on that day we also went to the Basilica of St Paul outside the Walls and prayed at the tomb of the Apostle. On the penultimate day we were taken to Castelgandolfo to meet the Holy Father. He spoke to all of us gathered together, then he met each of us individually. I was able to take the loyal greetings of all from our diocese to him and he sent his blessing to us.