Sydney priest Fr Benjamin Saliba was stunned when Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP invited him to accompany him to the Vatican to meet Pope Leo XIV during the recent Jubilee of Youth. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
Archbishop Fisher was in Rome with a group of pilgrims attending the festival from the Sydney Archdiocese and asked Fr Saliba (the archbishop’s master of ceremonies), if he would come along to his scheduled July 28 meeting with the Pope.
The Australians gave Pope Leo a framed print of a painting by local artist Paul Newton depicting an early Catholic community in Sydney adoring the Blessed Sacrament.
They also gave him two books, Unity in Christ: Bishops, Synodality, and Communion, written by Archbishop Fisher, and A Belief in Humanity: The untold story of conciliar humanism by Sans Souci parish priest Rev Dr Thomas Carroll.
“It was a surreal experience. Pope Leo was very calm; there was a stillness to him as we introduced ourselves. He acknowledged me and gifted me with a set of Rosary beads,” Fr Saliba said.
“He asked if I’d like a photo with him and like a kid on Christmas morning I accepted with great excitement. I told him that I’m praying for him every day.
“The archbishop didn’t have to ask me to accompany him to the meeting. It was a beautiful gesture, one that I will forever be thankful for.”
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Meeting Pope Leo a “surreal experience” for Fr Benjamin Saliba (By Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly)
