Australia’s new Ambassador to the Holy See has held his first formal reception at the Australian Embassy in Rome, promoting the upcoming Australian tour of a relic of St Francis Xavier.
John McCarthy and wife Christine hosted a veritable who’s who of Australia’s Rome-based Religious leaders, as well the Roman Curia’s most senior official for the New Evangelisation, Archbishop Rino Fisichella.
Guests included tour progenitor, Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Peter Comensoli and the recently installed Bishop of Toowoomba, Robert McGuckin, who was in Rome as part of his instruction for his new role.
Ambassador McCarthy began proceedings by condemning the killing of the United State’s ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three of his staffers earlier this week, leading guests in a minute’s silence to pray for the deceased and their loved ones.
In welcoming the visit of St Francis Xavier’s arm throughout Australia, Mr McCarthy praised Bishop Comensoli for his “creativity and initiative” in conceiving and organising the two-and-a-half-month long tour, which begins in Sydney this Sunday.
Bishop Comensoli said the tour, dubbed the Pilgrimage of Grace, was one way Australians could participate in the the Australian Church’s national Year of Grace, by coming closer to Christ through the relics of one of the greatest missionary evangelisers.
“In Australia, at this time, we particularly need to embed ourselves again in Our Lord, Jesus Christ if we are going to be people of the New Evangelisation” Bishop Comensoli told guests.
“We cannot be those people unless we are people of Christ.”
Bishop Comensoli said he immediately thought of St Francis Xavier when first considering the idea of bringing a relic to Australia because of his ongoing fondness for Wollongong, his home diocese, where the cathedral is dedicated to the saint’s patronage.
Bishop Comensoli thanked the relic’s Jesuit custodians for agreeing to the tour and said he was looking forward to receiving it for transport at the Gesu, the principal Jesuit Church in Rome and home to the arm since 1614.
St Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was a co-founder of the Society of Jesus and missioned extensively in India, Japan, Borneo and the Moluccas, striving to learn local languages and receiving thousands into the Church.
The Pilgrimage of Grace tour begins on Sunday at the Jesuit parish of St Mary’s in North Sydney where Cardinal George Pell will be the event’s main preacher.
Perth Catholics will get the chance to venerate the relic when it tours locally from October 25-30. The tour will conclude in Sydney on December 3, the Feast Day of St Francis Xavier.