Portugal: Bishops, “ad limina” visit to the Vatican beginning today. Father Barbosa, “moment of listening and dialogue”

Today, the Bishops of Portugal started their ad limina visit to the Vatican, which will continue until Friday 24 May. The last visit of the Portuguese Bishops to Rome was in September 2015. The current visit will include numerous working meetings with the heads of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and a final audience with Pope Francis. The programme for the week also includes four celebrations in the papal basilicas, a Mass at the Church of Saint Anthony of the Portuguese in Rome, as well as several meetings with the media to report on the progress of the work. Father Manuel Barbosa, Secretary of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference, stressed that this visit is “always a moment of listening and dialogue” between the bishops, the dioceses, the Bishops’ Conference and the various bodies of the Catholic Church in Portugal. It is an obligation for the Bishops of the whole world, under Canon Law, to make an “ad limina Apostolorum” visit (to the tombs of the Apostles) to the Pope and the Holy See to present reports on the Catholic communities of each diocese.
Carlo Galasso