Today began for me with a press conference in the Press Club. Being there was a wonderful experience. It is a very imposing and luxurious place. The walls are full of photographs of so many of the great people of American media in the past. We were received by the President of the Club, and generally treated like royalty. The President, who is Jewish, chaired the press conference. And when it was all over we had lunch in the Club.
Last evening I had my first official engagement of my US tour. I am beginning here in Washington. A group of about a dozen representatives of various different reform groups gathered at the house where I am staying, and we had a long discussion on the Church, the tour, and the sort of issues that are likely to surface here in the States. The immediate thing that strikes me as different from Ireland is the sheer size of the country.
In a few days time I fly out to the States to begin my speaking tour. This tour is organised by the network of Church Reform movements in the United States. The title they have given to the tour is The Catholic Tipping Point.
In all I will be speaking in eighteen different cities over a period of thirty days. So it will be hectic. Lucky for me, it is all organised from there, so I don’t have to worry about any of the details.
