Pontifical Mass

I attended what might be called pontifical mass.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos is scheduled to lead a first-of its-kind "solemn Pontifical Mass" on Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast Washington.

The glittering assemblage of 235 Roman Catholic bishops, gathered at a solemn pontifical Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, hardly resembled a convention of gamblers.

These days it is still an arduous one, but less "miraculous" In the solemn splendor of St. Peter's in Rome, 500 North American Indians last week knelt and prayed during a pontifical Mass, along with 25,000 worshipers from around the world.

Last week he celebrated pontifical mass for his silver milestone as archbishop.