Tuesday was a perfect day for the three-hour bus ride to Assisi. The priests were up and gone by 8 am. No one can doubt the universal devotion to "il poverello," St. Francis of Assisi. Even the Pope himself chose the name for his papacy. The priests were impressed by the reverent atmosphere everywhere. They visited the tombs of both St. Francis and St. Clare and spent the day walking, praying and enjoying the holy environment. Msgr. Thomas Mullelly, Vicar for Clergy, presided and preached the Mass. Fr. J.C. Garrett, Catholic chaplain at Rider University and Notre Dame High School (Lawrenceville) reflected to me "Yesterday we were at Mass with thousands and today with only 13 of us ... It was every bit as meaningful and beautiful."

Back in Rome, another group of our priests took the tour of the excavations underneath St. Peter's Basilica. I had obtained special tickets for them last week. Fr. Ian Trammell, pastor of St. Gregory's, described the tour as "fantastic." The tour guide, a native Roman, was involved with the excavation project itself many years ago. She knew everything about the Basilica.  The priests were absolutely amazed.

I was not able to attend either event since I had pre-arranged meetings at various Vatican Offices. One that was especially interesting was held at the Congregation for Divine Worship. I wanted to discuss some of our Churches in the Diocese and some liturgical practices. The Secretary of the Congregation, Archbishop Roche from Leeds, England, was extremely helpful. He asked about the use of the extraordinary form (1962 Latin) of the Mass in our Diocese. Fr. Brian Woodrow accompanied me and gave a good report. My secretary Jason was also present and we left for lunch with one of the Cardinals who I knew at Catholic University.

The afternoon was free for the priests. The Assisi tour returned to Bonus Pastor around 7:30 and the men headed out for pizza. Tomorrow, we would attend the papal audience at 10:30.