BishopAccountability.org
	Local Priest to Celebrate Mass with Pope Today By Stacye Lee Courier Herald April 19, 2008 http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=909&NewsID=895486&CategoryID=19667&on=0 Laurens County will have a presence at the papal Mass conducted by Pope Benedict XVI in Manhattan's St. Patrick's Cathedral today. "Just to be in the same room with him is exciting," said Father Richard Hart of the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Dublin. He will be among the more than 900 clergy in attendance at the 9:15 a.m. Mass. Hart and a fellow priest from St. Simons will represent Bishop J. Kevin Boland of the Diocese of Savannah at Mass. The diocese includes 75,000 Catholics in Georgia from Macon to Savannah. "I was quite surprised and honored that he would ask me to do this," Hart said of the invitation. The pope is expected to broach the sexual abuse crisis when he celebrates Mass for priests, deacons and members of religious orders. The pope has addressed the issue on several occasions since arriving in the United States Wednesday and has met with victims. Hart touted a child protection program called VIRTUS, developed by the National Catholic Risk Retention Group. Participation in VIRTUS is required for all priests, deacons and seminarians in the diocese, as well as full-time and part-time employees, according to the VIRTUS Web site. The Catholic church also has adopted a Save Environment Program. "We need to protect everyone," Hart said. "We have to look after our kids."
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