Saginaw’s Catholic Bishop Meets Pope Francis

Bishop Robert Gruss calls his meeting this week with Pope Francis a moving experience.

The leader of the 11-county Diocese of Saginaw said the Holy Father spoke with honesty and candor about issues facing the Catholic Church, including the sex abuse scandal, sexual morality issues in society, women in the Church and how the media portrays the Pope’s comments.

Bishop Gruss is at the Vatican, along with the other bishops from Michigan and Ohio, to update the Pope on the state of each diocese. At the end of each meeting, the Pope asked the bishops to pray him and for the Church. Another part of the visit ad limina apostolorum – to the threshold of the apostles – is celebrating the Holy Eucharist in each of Rome’s four major basilicas.

The bishops also met with top Vatican leaders to discuss other issues and made a pilgrimage to the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul.