{"id":481,"date":"2008-03-11T00:43:40","date_gmt":"2008-03-11T00:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/credentials.html"},"modified":"2008-03-11T00:43:40","modified_gmt":"2008-03-11T00:43:40","slug":"credentials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/credentials.html","title":{"rendered":"Credentials"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, new US ambassador to the\u00a0Holy See\u00a0Mary Ann Glendon presented her credentials to Pope Benedict. Elizabeth Lev writes of the occasion for Zenit with her usual grace and insight<\/a> – even more so this time, since her mother is, well, Mary Ann Glendon:<\/p>\n

The door to the Pope\u2019s study opened and we entered in single file. I expected to see Benedict XVI on a raised dais in the middle of the room. Wrong. The Holy Father was standing next to the door, looking like a delighted host eager to greet long-awaited guests.
\nI had read about papal affability in the jocular exchanges between Popes and artists, not to mention the countless stories from the reign of John Paul II, but to see that friendliness in person was still surprising. No distant aura of aloofness, no chilly sanctimoniousness, but a sincere smile and frank interest in each person presented to him.
\nWith our heads in the clouds and broad smiles creasing our faces, we posed for photos and received rosaries and blessings from Benedict XVI. I thought the day had hit its zenith, but again, I was wrong.
\nAs we filed back out into the loggia, four Swiss Guards took places around the new ambassador. With their halberds raised, they formed a protective curtain around her.
\nThe stately procession made its way down the stairs to the colorful halls of the Sala Reggia and Sala Ducale, until we reached the Royal Stairs, the dramatic descent from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter’s Basilica and Square.
\nAfter 10 years of visiting the Basilica almost daily, I saw it with different eyes.
\nTurning into the bronze portals, we saw the immense nave of St. Peter\u2019s stretched out before us; the ambassador\u2019s cortege was tracing the same route as the papal procession for Mass.
\nThe size of the Basilica amazes all visitors, but for the Pope, the vast and awe-inspiring space contained within its walls must be a striking reminder of his responsibilities as the successor of St. Peter.
\nAlong the nave, Jesus\u2019 words to St. Peter shimmer in gold mosaic, while in the apse, written in both Latin and Greek, is Christ\u2019s charge to feed his 1.1 billion sheep and lambs around the world.
\nMore than just a great Catholic clubhouse, the basilica underscores the tremendous duty of the universal pastor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In case you’ve not read them:
\nThe Pope’s address to Ambassador Glendon<\/a>
\nAnd Glendon’s address to him.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, new US ambassador to the\u00a0Holy See\u00a0Mary Ann Glendon presented her credentials to Pope Benedict. Elizabeth Lev writes of the occasion for Zenit with her usual grace and insight – even more so this time, since her mother is, well, Mary Ann Glendon: The door to the Pope\u2019s study opened and we entered in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nCredentials - Via Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/credentials.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Credentials - Via Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, new US ambassador to the\u00a0Holy See\u00a0Mary Ann Glendon presented her credentials to Pope Benedict. 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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel. Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/author\/awelborn"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}