Words of Welcome from His Excellency The Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, Vicar General, R.C. Diocese of New York:

Most Holy Father, welcome to Saint Joseph’s Parish!

This community of faith was established in 1873 to serve the German Catholics residing in the Yorkville area of the Borough of Manhattan. In 1894, its present church was dedicated by His Eminence, John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York and the first American to be appointed to the College of Cardinals.

Since that time, Saint Joseph’s Parish has continued to attend to the spiritual needs of the German Catholic community. Indeed, Mass is celebrated here in German by a priest assigned to this work by the Bishops’ Conference of the Federal Republic of Germany. At the present time, however, the congregation is marvelously diverse, with parishioners whose ethnic backgrounds include the nations and peoples of Europe, Asia, Africa, and especially Latin America.

It is altogether fitting, therefore, that you are meeting here, Most Holy Father, with representatives from a wide array of Churches and Communions. For together they reflect the great variety of Christian traditions to be found throughout New York and across the nation and the world.

In 1965, with the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Bishops of the United States, guided by the Decree on Ecumenism, —Unitatis Redintegratio,— and directives of your predecessors, committed themselves to pursue ever more earnestly that unity for which the Savior prayed on the night before He died. Thus, they entered into dialogues with the Orthodox, the Episcopalians, the Lutherans, the Methodists, the Evangelicals, the Southern Baptists, the Reformed and the Polish National Catholics, among others; and from these dialogues, has come forth an extraordinary number of carefully considered statements to lead us wisely and securely on the path toward unity.

Much, of course, remains to be done especially in our parishes and congregations, where ecumenical prayer, theological discussions, and the united pursuit of justice, charity, and peace need to be promoted and encouraged across denominational boundaries with unlimited trust in the providence of our Loving God.

With all of this in mind, we again welcome you, Most Holy Father. We know of your commitment to ecumenism, and we thank you most sincerely for addressing a number of unresolved theological issues among Christians in your splendid Encyclical Letters, —God Is Love— and —Saved by Hope.— Thus it is that we await your words with interest, gratitude, and genuine affection in Jesus Christ, the one Lord and Savior of us all.

Benedict XVI Papal Address to the gathered Churches is found at the USCCB website in full.

Just watched the EWTN coverage of the event. I noticed that New York’s Edward Cardinal Egan introduced leaders of the various Churches at the conclusion of the service but snubbed the Prime Bishop of the PNCC. That after his Vicar General made a specific reference to the PNCC. A faux pas or intentional, wondering minds want to know.