We arrived at the Residenza Madri Pie, five minutes’ walk from St Peter’s Basilica, on Sunday, in time for supper and an orientation session for the days ahead.
Bishops, individually and in groups, have been making these visits Ad Limina Apostolorum (“to the thresholds of the Apostles”) since at least the 4th century. In the Middle Ages, bishops were expected to visit the pope annually, but this became problematic as it meant they were too often out of their dioceses. So Sixtus V (d 1590) established the current practice of visiting once every five years.
