Wuerl to be Installed Today - Mass in Washington, D.C., Will Mark His Debut as Archbishop

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

WASHINGTON -- Dressed in plain black clericals, Archbishop-designate Donald Wuerl entered the nearly empty Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception yesterday and walked to the sanctuary where he will be formally installed today as head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.

He took his place alongside retiring Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and, with the basilica's chief liturgist acting as a stand-in for papal nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the three men bowed before the altar. The other two escorted the former bishop of Pittsburgh to the archbishop's throne, where he pantomimed receiving the crozier, or shepherd's staff, from the papal nuncio.

Yesterday's rehearsal was brief, while today's 2 p.m. Mass will last about two hours. The procession will include nine cardinals, 70 bishops, 250 priests -- about 50 of them from Pittsburgh -- 63 deacons and seven Eastern Orthodox Bishops and priests. The installation, like other large archdiocesan events, is being held in the 3,000-seat basilica because the 1,000-seat cathedral is too small for the expected crowd.

My Comments:
Interesting that this should take place on the Feast Day of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher.

I'm praying that those saints will watch over and intercede on behalf of Abp. Wuerl, that he will have the same strength of conviction and resolve as did those martyrs in confronting the modern-day Henrys who would use their political power to assault the Church and her teachings.