It is my great pleasure and joy to welcome everybody officially tonight. To all of you this evening you we want you to know you are perfectly welcome, it has been a tremendous honor for CTU these past several months, over a year now to have the CCGI back here in Chicago as its home base. It had a wonderful home base back in NY, Monsignor Phil Murnion whose lecture we commemorate tonight and the National Pastoral Life Center, but we are grateful for the home that was given to that and the encouragement to the Catholic Common Ground Initiative, but it is nice to have it here in Chicago, the home of Cardinal Bernardin. For us it is a great honor and we hope that we can keep faith with the very spirit and purpose of the Initiative. I was remembering and thinking about this evening and our coming together when Cardinal George, our current Archbishop came to Chicago, at that time I happen to be on the college of consulters and we were there when he had his opening press conference and one of the reporters asked the Cardinal a pretty unfair question, would he compare himself with Card. Bernardin? And the Cardinal sort of chuckled and he said, “Well cardinal Bernardin was a southern gentleman and I am from Chicago so the reaction time is different. He went onto say something I thought was a very gracious and insightful comment about Cardinal Bernardin, he said as to Cardinal Bernardin, he was the kind of leader that when there was discussion in the room and after Cardinal Bernardin had stood up to speak, when he sat down, there was more space in the room for everyone. I thought well, that is not only a very gracious and true comment about Cardinal Bernardin, but I also think it touches upon the spirit of the Catholic Common Ground project to make more space in the room for everyone. And I think we all know that art and commitment and spirit is desperately needed in our church today as its needed in our society and our wider world. So blessings upon those who are guiding…the advisory committee, blessings on our honoree tonight, blessings on our speaker, all of whom represent the very best spirit of this important Initiative. So welcome tonight, we look forward to the prayer and this evening’s presentation. Thank you.
Fr. Donal Senior Welcomes CCGI to CTU and Chicago
