The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference will from today, May 21 begin their Ad Limina visit to Rome.
The visit which is expected to last till May 27, is an obligatory visit made by all Catholic bishops within a particular country to Rome during which they pray at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.
The Bishops also meet with the Pope and Vatican officials. The last Ad Limina visit by the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference was from September 22 to 25 2014.
In the morning of Sunday, May 21, the Bishops are expected to celebrate Mass with the Ghanaian community at 8:00am Ghana time.
Ad Limina is from the Latin Ad Limina apostolorum meaning “to the threshold of the apostles”.
History of Ad Lamina
In 1585 Pope Sixtus V issued the Constitution Romanus Pontifex which set forth the norm for visits Ad Limina. On December 31, 1909, Pope Pius X stated in a Decree for the Consistorial Congregation that a bishop needs to deliver an account of the state of his diocese to the pope once every five years, starting in 1911.
What happens during an Ad Lamina visit?
During this visit, the bishops will have an audience with Pope Francis. They will also meet with Vatican officials from many of the departments and offices in the Roman Curia and present the “health status” of the Catholic Church in Ghana.
They will have the opportunity to celebrate Holy Masse at the major churches of Rome: St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran and St. Mary Major.
They will also be expected to present a quinquennial report to the Pope.
What is a Quinquennial report?
The quinquennial report is a detailed report on the affairs of a particular diocese. It presents to the Holy Father and the Vatican an update on the activities of the bishop and diocese in several areas, including the liturgical and sacramental life of the local Church, Catholic education, evangelization, communications, social teachings of the Church, the financial state of the diocese and more.
Who participates in Ad Limina visits?
Every active and able bishop within a particular country can make an Ad Limina pilgrimage. So all the 23 members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference are going. Out of this number, 8 are going for the first time.
How often is the visit?
The Code of Canon Law dictates that the visits are supposed to occur every five years.
However, the number of dioceses and bishops throughout the world has grown too large for that five-year schedule to be practical. There are currently 3,019 dioceses, prelatures and vicariates around the world. To maintain a five-year schedule, the Holy Father would need to meet with more than one bishop every single day.
Even with Pope Francis’ practice of meeting with groups of bishops, the every-five-years timetable is not feasible given the other demands on the Holy Father’s time.
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