Displaying items by tag: Pope Francis

Here's something you normally don't see at a football game: lots of guys wearing black and white around a guy who's wearing an all-white robe and cap.

Seven members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame including Franco Harris, Ronnie Lott and Floyd Little met with Pope Francis at the Vatican today. The Pope even blessed their Gold Jackets; Hall of Fame officials invited the Pope to visit Canton in 2020 during the Hall's Centennial Celebration.

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(Pro Football HOF) Led by seven Gold Jackets – CURTIS MARTIN, CHRIS DOLEMAN, FRANCO HARRIS, JIM TAYLOR, RONNIE LOTT, FLOYD LITTLE and 2017 Enshrinee JERRY JONES – along with Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Trustees Chairman Randy Hunt, and trip organizers Hall of Fame Board Member Stephen Schott and Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Carl A. Anderson, Pope Francis greeted and addressed this historic occasion at 8:57 a.m. local time at the Vatican today.

"I am pleased to greet you, the members and directors of the American Pro Football Hall of Fame and welcome you to the Vatican. Teamwork, fair play and the pursuit of personal excellence are the values — in the religious sense, we can say virtues that have guided your commitment, on and off the field" said the Pope, the first ever Pontiff from South America and the first ever Jesuit Pontiff. "These values meet the needs of our brothers and sisters and combat the exaggerated individualism, indifference and injustice that hold us back from living as one human family".

His Holiness then personally greeted and blessed the Gold Jackets, their wives, Hall of Fame board members and their wives, Hall staff members, as well as dignitaries from the Knights of Columbus.

Hunt offered the Pontiff the Hall's support of a worldwide conference on sports and invited His Holiness to attend the Centennial Celebration in Canton, Ohio on September 17, 2020.

The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland announcing this morning that Bishop Richard Lennon has been granted early retirement status from Pope Francis from the Vatican. Lennon has served as Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland for the past 11 and a half years. 

In a press conference late Wednesday morning, Bishop Lennon announced that he had recently been diagnosed with vascular dimentia. He stated that due to the progressive nature of the disease, he would be unable to continue his work as Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland. 

The mandatory retirement age for bishops in the U.S. is 75. Bishop Lennon is 69, but his health has been failing over the past few years. He reportedly sent a letter to Pope Francis back in November to address the issue and the Pope has granted him early retirement.

The Pope has appointed Bishop Daniel Edward Thomas of Toledo as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Cleveland, that covers Medina, Summit, and Wayne Counties. The search for a permanent replacement is underway.