Triumph of the Cross: Homily of Archbishop Timothy Dolan at Memorial Mass for Archbishop Pietro Sambi

“We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee! Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World!”

Cardinal Wuerl, Cardinal Baum, eminent cardinals;

My brother bishops;

Msgr. Lantheaume;

Brother priests and deacons;

Consecrated women and men religious;

Distinguished members of the diplomatic corps and public officials;

Brothers and sisters in Christ;

Friends in faith and prayer:

If I am not mistaken, it was at the installation of Peter Christensen as bishop of Superior, Wisconsin…

As Metropolitan Archbishop of Milwaukee I was with our still relatively new apostolic nuncio, Pietro Sambi, vesting before the Mass. When we joined the other bishops to vest, he asked me if we bishops here in America wore our pectoral cross on the inside or outside of the chasuble. I replied “Eccellenza, as a matter of fact, all the bishops will watch to see what you do and then follow suit!”

His eyes sparkled and he said, “Then I will keep changing it back and forth to confuse everybody.”

Then he commented, “As long as it is over our heart, it does not really make any difference.”

As long as the cross is on our heart, nothing else really makes any difference.

“We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee! Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.”

That’s why it made so much sense to have the memorial Mass for our beloved nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, today: not just because so many of us still mourning bishops would be here in D.C. for the meeting of the Administrative Committee of our Conference; not just because people are all back to normal after summer vacations, but because it is the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross.

In the luminous life and ministry of Pietro Sambi, to be sure, effective and memorable diplomatic service on behalf of the Apostolic See in Cameroon, Cuba, Africa, Nicaragua, Belgium, India, Burundi, Indonesia, Israel, and as we fondly and gratefully recall, here in the United States of America, radiantly stands out.

But we acclaim today that what is of far more profound meaning and of everlasting consequence in his life was that the cross of Christ, triumphant over sin, Satan, and death, was on his heart.

That he was baptized into the mystery of the cross of Christ four days after his birth in Forli, Italy, in 1938;

That he was nourished with the precious blood of Christ shed on the cross, and sacramentally sealed on his soul with the victory of the cross through the sacrament of confirmation; ordained a priest to spread the victory of the cross in 1964; and had the cross placed over his heart when ordained a bishop in 1985…

In lumine tuo, “in your light” he chose as his motto, professing the light of Easter morning, the triumph of the cross, after the darkness of Good Friday.

As Monsignor Lantheaume and other loyal members of his household can attest; as Cardinal Wuerl, Archbishop O’Brien, and I can verify—since we had the honor of tracing the cross upon him on his deathbed—Pietro Sambi knew the mystery of the cross as well in his final, unexpected illness.

But he had witnessed it too as he saw the cross in his varied diplomatic missions, in the poverty and oppression of peoples, in religious acrimony and war.

We bishops of the United States will never forget the warm, personable manner in which he summoned us to be ambassadors of the healing and reconciliation won by Jesus on the cross, and be ever grateful for the tender way he unfailingly responded to our own needs.

He certainly viewed his diplomatic vocation, as an ambassador of the vicar of the crucified one, as an extension of the invitation to mercy, reconciliation, unity, peace, and life inherent in the Triumph of the Cross;

He saw his diplomatic mission as an encouragement of the most noble virtues illuminated by the light of the cross: trust, honesty, and unity.

So today, as we celebrate the victory of the cross, we confess our faith in Jesus—in lumine tuo—that, “by dying, He destroyed our death; that by rising, He restored our life;”

We trust, that by His mercy, Pietro Sambi now shares in that triumph forever;

We praise God for the gift that our nuncio was to the Church, to the diplomatic world, to us here in the United States…as, like Archbishop Sambi, we place the cross over our hearts.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord!

And let perpetual light shine upon him!

May he rest in peace! Amen!

May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace!

Amen!

“We adore Thee, O Christ, and we praise Thee! Because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World!”

The Sambi Send-Off

Over 85 U.S. bishops -- including seven cardinals -- gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate conception in Washington today for a memorial Mass for the late Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, who died July 27.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the USCCB, celebrated the Mass and gave the homily. Upon the nuncio's death, Archbishop Dolan called Archbishop Sambi -- who served as nuncio from December 2005 till his death -- a friend of the Church in the United States. The turnout at today's Mass suggested that a good many people -- bishops and not -- agreed.

The presence of the diplomatic community and other dignitaries, including Vice President Biden, reflected the nature of the work of an apostolic (or papal) nuncio.

Some background:

The apostolic nuncio is the closest thing the Vatican has to a ambassador, except unlike an ambassador, which represents his or her country, a nuncio is the personal representative of the pope. So along with his diplomatic duties, the work of a nuncio involves being the eyes and ears of the pope, making recommendations to Rome for bishop appointments.

In this light, Archbishop Sambi's five-and-a-half-year tenure was greatly influential in shaping the U.S. Catholic hierarchy. Dioceses to receive new leadership on his watch included Washington, Baltimore, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, as well as Seattle, Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Antonio, Cincinnati, Louisville, Miami and Pittsburgh. This is quite a footprint.

It's worth noting that Archbishop Sambi's death comes only a few years after the deaths after not one, but two of his predecessors as nuncio to the United States.

On January 10, 2009, Cardinal Pio Laghi, nuncio to the United States from 1980-1990, died in Rome. During his tenure, Laghi established full diplomatic relations between the United States and the Holy See, making him this country's first actual nuncio (his predecessors were called apostolic delegates). After his time as nuncio, Laghi returned to Rome where he was made a cardinal and became Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. His successor (Cardinal Agostino Cacciavillan, U.S. nuncio from 1990-1998) was also made a cardinal after finishing stint in the United States, and it was widely held that Archbishop Sambi was bound for a Vatican post and a cardinal's hat before his untimely death.

Eleven days after Cardinal Laghi's death, his predecessor, Archbishop Jean Jadot, died at age 99. Jadot served as apostolic delegate to the United States from 1973-1980, and true to form of being the pope's eyes and ears, his nickname was "Paul's Man in Washington."

They are followed all too quickly by Archbishop Sambi.