Local Priest Acting As Direct Link For World Meeting Of Families
By Mark Abrams
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has a priest in Rome who's acting as the direct link to planning and logistics for the Vatican-sponsored World Meeting of Families set for the city in September 2015.
Father Bill Donovan has been a priest for 20 years. He grew up in Havertown and is the fifth of eight children.
He's been a parish priest, a high school teacher, studied for his doctorate in philosophy in Rome, and served for 10 years as a professor at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
But for the past few months, Donovan has been working out of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family, serving as the direct link to the World Families conference for Philadelphia.
"In the next year and a half, we have a lot of work, exciting work and preparation and collaboration. And, so, this way, having a person on site at the Vatican helps the archdiocese in their planning."
And, Donovan says, that planning includes Pope Francis whom he believes will come to Philadelphia for the event.
And you can hear more of Mark's interview with Father Donovan in a podcast below: