I have just finished watching the arrival of His Holiness, Benedict XVI in Washington. His cassock looked a little bit in need of an iron, but that's how you always feel after flying across the Atlantic. Some of the assembled folks sang happy birthday a day early.
I'm really excited about the visit, and especially for the chance to concelebrate with Benedict on Saturday. It makes me so grateful to God for my baptism and my vocation. I know I'm a geek about this stuff, but I was just looking to see how far back I would have to go in the apostolic lineage of my ordination to find a common ancestor with Benedict.
The answer: to Clement XIII. Benedict was ordained bishop by Josef Stangl of Würzburg, from whom it is 15 steps back to Clement. Cardinal Seán O'Malley of Boston, who ordained me priest, was ordained bishop by Edward John Harper, C. Ss. R., from whom it is 12 steps back to Clement.
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