| This weekend was the first of my "church dates," as Maryknoll calls our going to speak in parishes about mission and the developing countries where the Maryknollers work. The venue was Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Philly is only three hours from Maryknoll, New York by road so I borrowed the car belonging to the Advancement Department for the 266-mile roundtrip. |
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| The cathedral is a beautiful building in downtown Philadelphia, along parkways and circles laid out by William Penn. Not many people live within the boundaries of the cathedral parish and about 60% of those attending services on the weekend are visitors. |
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| The cathedral utilizes an elevated pulpit or "high ambo" for reading the scriptures and preaching. I was not used to preaching from such a pulpit, especially at a church date when I prefer to be able to walk in the aisles to show things to the congregation to illustrate the homily I am preaching. |
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| The cathedral is quite large. On Sunday afternoon it filled almost to capacity for a celebration of the sacrament of confirmation for adults. For that ceremony, Cardinal Justin Rigali was the presider. |
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| The cathedral rectory was originally built as the residence of the Archbishop of Philadelphia. It has beautiful wood work within and also has many stained glass windows and transoms throughout the house. This is the main entranceway into the house from the street. |
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| One of the recent cardinals who lived in the residence commissioned this stained glass window over the main stairway, showing the cardinal himself in the line of authority from Jesus through Pope John Paul II. Pictured in the lower panel are Blessed John Neumann and Mother Katherine Drexel, two Philadelphians who are on the path to official sainthood. |
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| Beginning around sunset a dozen or so homeless people take up positions on the church's steps and in recessed doorways for some shelter during the night. As soon as the Cathedral doors are opened in the morning, some come inside to sleep and use the restroom. |
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