Bishop Provost to Make Ad Limina Visit to Rome

Monday, 09 January 2012 11:21

LAKE CHARLES -- Bishop Glen John Provost, Bishop of Lake Charles, will be joining his brother bishops from Region V of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for his first visit ad limina apostolorum to report on the progress of the local Church of Southwest Louisiana to Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Provost and his brother bishops will be at the Vatican for a week at the end of January. Every Bishop in the world is required to make such a journey every five years. This year, 2012, is that year for the Bishops of the United States. Ad limina apostolorum literally means “to the threshold of the Apostles.” This refers to the fact that foremost among the bishops’ obligations while in Rome is to make a personal visit to pray at the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul. The bishops in Region V, made up of dioceses and archdioceses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee will offer Mass together in both of the basilicas. This is an important reminder that bishops are not businessmen or bureaucrats reporting to “corporate headquarters.” “We are successors of the Apostles with the successor of St. Peter as our visible head,” Bishop Provost said. “We are shepherds, and accomplish our mission in and with the help of the communion of saints."    During Bishop Provost’s time at the Vatican, there will be audiences with the Holy Father, which will provide an opportunity for the Bishops, as pastors, to discuss with the Pope the state of the individual local Churches and in the United States.    Bishop Provost will also meet with the various offices of the Vatican Curia, which assists the Pope in his pastoral care of the universal church. The areas that are covered include doctrine, worship, education, clergy, religious, Christian unity and family life, among others. These various offices or Dicasteries, as they are known, will have seen the pertinent section of a lengthy report, written in 2011 and previously forwarded to the Vatican. It is known as the Quinquennial. This report revisited the joys and the sorrows, the rewarding times and the challenging ones, the accomplishments and crosses, not only for Bishop Provost but also for the Diocese of Lake Charles over the last several years.    The ad limina visit is an ancient custom that goes back at least to the time of Pope St. Leo III who died in the year 816. Later it developed into a discipline of the church. It requires bishops to make a programmed visit to Rome every five years or sometimes longer, as is the case now. The last U.S. visit was eight years ago.