NEWT GINGRICH: The Universality Of The Catholic Church

Callista and I attended the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception three times this Holy Week.

The Basilica is the largest Catholic Church in America – and one of the 10 largest churches in the world. It seats more than 3,500 people, and on Easter Sunday it was standing room only.

While watching people receive communion, I was struck by the extraordinary diversity of people at the Basilica. On every one of the three days, the variety of dress and ethnicities was a tribute to the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is truly universal.

As the Basilica points out on its website, with more than 80 chapels and oratories, the diversity of the Catholic faith around the world is well represented:

“Among the nationalities and ethnicities represented throughout the Basilica are African, Austrian, Chinese, Cuban, Czech, Filipino, French, German, Guamanian, Hungarian, Indian, Irish, Italian, Korean, Latin American, Lebanese, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Slovak, Slovenian, and Vietnamese.”

The late Pope Francis’s emphasis on helping and loving everyone dramatically furthered the attractiveness and growth of the Catholic Church. In Africa and South Asia especially there has been a dramatic increase in those who adopt Catholicism. This was reflected during Easter Week at the Basilica.

When Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio chose Francis as his papal name in 2013, it was a clear signal of commitment to a papacy focused on and dedicated to serving the poor. Just like