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ORLANDO, Fla. – New models of pastoral leadership will be required for a U.S. church that has changed significantly from a generation ago and will continue to change.

This column is the first in a three-part series by Father Lawrence. To concelebrate Mass with Pope Benedict XVI at Nationals Park last week, I had to get out of bed by 4 a.m., a task I do not undertake lightly. But I was sure it was going to be worth it, and it was. When you celebrate the Eucharist with the pope, you know – not in your head, nor even in your gut, but deep down in your bones – that you are a part of something that is 25,000 miles around and 2,000 years deep.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – A Jaffna diocesan priest active in promoting human rights was killed April 20 by a roadside bomb on the way back to his church after celebrating Mass in a parish substation.

It was a week that most of us will long remember and gratefully recall! In a message videotaped before his arrival, Pope Benedict XVI clearly stated the theme he would develop in keeping with “three simple but essential words: ‘Christ Our Hope.’ ” He said he wished to “proclaim this great truth: Jesus Christ is hope for men and women of every language, race, culture and social condition.”

NEW YORK – As they prepared to meet Pope Benedict XVI for his first papal visit to the United States, many U.S. Catholics couldn’t help but compare him to Pope John Paul II, whom they had known for nearly three decades.