“He was the picture we have always seen - joyful,” Bishop del Riego said. “It was something very special.”
While he sensed some tiredness in the Holy Father, Bishop del Riego said Pope Francis demonstrated his trademark humility when the bishops in attendance approached him.
“He would not allow us to kneel,” said Bishop del Riego. “He just [picked] us up. He is very strong!”
In their brief conversation Bishop del Riego said he asked Pope Francis to pray for Bishop Barnes, the people of the Diocese of San Bernardino and specifically for a personal friend who is ill.
The occasion for the meeting was the Seventh World Congress for the Pastoral Care of Migrants which took place Nov. 19-21. Bishop del Riego was selected as one of 71 bishops to participate in the Congress because he is the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers. The purpose of the Congress was to advance the Church’s capacity for advocacy on the issue of immigration and its ability to provide pastoral care to migrants.
Bishop del Riego said the Congress helped him to see that challenges related to immigration are happening all over the world.
“It was an eye opener,” he said. “I had the impression that immigration was an issue in the United States and Europe. It’s much more than that.”
On the final day of the immigration meeting word came of President Barack Obama’s announcement of executive action on the same subject, which Bishop del Riego said was greeted with joy. The timing of the two events was not a coincidence but a “sign of the Spirit at work,” Bishop del Riego said.
In his Nov. 21 address at the Congress Pope Francis outlined the important role of the Church as a welcoming presence to immigrants, regardless of their origin or destination.
“The Church, beyond being a community of the faithful that sees the face of Jesus in its neighbor, is a Mother without limits and without frontiers,” he said. “…she strives to foster the culture of welcome and solidarity, where no one is considered useless, out of place or disposable.”