By Fr. John Franck, A.A., Assistant general

On a brilliant late winter day, between 150,000-200,000 people thronged into St. Peter's Square and the boulevard connecting it with the Tiber River, to bid farewell to a pope who had made history just a short time earlier by announcing his decision to step down as bishop of Rome, the first pontiff in modern history to do so. Flags from dozens of countries, banners from parishes near and far, multi-colored scarves from schools and colleges, huge signs from various Church movements dotted the Square and added to the festive climate of the occasion.

The Assumption Family was well represented at this historic event: members of the general house community, sisters of the larger Assumption Family, students from Assumption College's Rome campus, and journalists form various Assumptionist-sponsored magazines such as Le Pèlerin.

Rome, February 22, 2013
Chair of Saint Peter

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
Vatican City
Rome

Dear Holy Father,

On this feast of the Chair of St. Peter, the Augustinians of the Assumption are united with you in heart and prayer. It was with sadness that we learned of your decision to step down from the See of Peter, even if we understand the profound reasons for it.

On behalf of all the Augustinians of the Assumption and myself, I want to convey to you our gratitude for the dedication and ardor which were yours during these years of service to our Holy Mother Church.

On Sunday, February 17^th, 2013, the Assumptionist community in Rome welcomed the first class of Assumption College (Worcester, Massachusetts, USA) students to their Rome campus on the grounds of the general house.

By Fr. Dennis Gallagher, A.A.

I recall a conversation at a local pub with a faculty friend within the first year of Benedict XVI’s pontificate. Taking the measure of Benedict and John Paul II, he observed that John Paul was a seminary professor in his former life, Benedict a university professor. The significance of the comment arose from a sense, early on, that Benedict’s writings and speeches were different from his predecessors, less encumbered by official Church language, somehow freer in their purpose of reaching a wider audience of those disposed to reasonable discourse. And so it was: throughout his eight years as Pope, he was the teacher par excellence, always ready to give an account of the hope that was in him (1 Peter 3:15), in words that people could understand, for the revitalization of the Church’s witness.