Archbishop Lori: Pope to visit amid rethinking of religion in US

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is embarking on an Apostolic Journey that will take him, for the first time in his life, to the United States of America. The Holy Father is set to arrive at a time of great social, cultural, and political ferment in the US – a principal motor of which is the very public re-thinking of the role of religion in US life.

Vatican Radio asked the President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ ad hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, Md., to describe the country and the people Pope Francis is set to visit at this moment in their history.

Click below to hear Vatican Radio's extended conversation with Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, Md., USA

“He will find a country, a culture, that is very enthusiastic about his visit,” said Archbishop Lori. “He will find a country that is in flux, in so many ways,” he continued, citing specifically the 2016 electoral race for the Presidency, which is already underway and gaining momentum, with more than a year to go before the general election. “He will find that we are in the midst of great social change: [but] I think he will find a generous, open-hearted country, albeit a country with some flaws.”

Asked what he would most hope the Holy Father takes away from his visit, and what he would be most anxious to impress upon the Holy Father about the Catholic Church in the United States, Archbishop Lori said, “Not only myself, but all of us [bishops] serve Churches that have a real heart – a heart for the poor and the needy. “We are very dedicated to being a Church that serves the poor and the needy,” he continued. “We are defending religious liberty so that we can serve and bear witness,” he explained.

Lastly, Archbishop Lori offered a word of hope for the great many faithful Catholics struggling against often mighty cultural and economic obstacles to live in fidelity to the gospel. “I’d like to tell [Pope Francis] about the many wonderful people who are struggling to make a go of their marriages, and [of] those, who are doing so heroically,” He said. “I would hope, he added, “in this time of a bit of confusion and the deterioration of the family (which also affects poverty exponentially), that we, as a Church, would give those kinds of couples a real pat on the back, real encouragement, because in many ways, I think they are the heroes in the life of the Church.”