Brett Favre Welcomes Pope Benedict to America

From 620 WTMJ:

The Pope... [will] hear from Milwaukee's top two Catholic leaders and Wisconsin's most legendary Catholic athlete while he's in [Washington, D.C.]

"There's just a sense of excitement," said Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who will join a U.S. Catholic delegation in meeting with Pope Benedict XVI tomorrow in Washington, D.C.

"He's like the earthly sign of unity in the Church. It's like your recognizing an old friend, it's like your recognizing the father of your family, the Holy Father."

Auxiliary Bishop Richard Sklba will also join the Pontiff on Thursday as part of an interfaith discussion in Washington with Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and other religious leaders.

Along with one Brett Favre.

The legendary Packers quarterback is not showing up in Washington D.C. to meet with the pontiff, but Favre, who's Catholic has taped a message for the Pontiff's Thursday Mass at Nationals Park in D.C.

According to Packer News, "A number of American Catholics, including Favre, have taped 15-minute segments welcoming the pope to the United States. They'll be shown on a large video screen at the stadium."

That's quite an honor.

This is even more of an honor:

Ever get a good opportunity at a bad time? That's what happened to Brett and Deanna Favre in the days before Favre announced his retirement from the Packers.

The Packers' chaplain, the Rev. James Baraniak, called the Favres at their Mississippi home to invite to Pope Benedict XVI's Mass in Washington, D.C., next month, according to a report by Jeff Kurowski of The Compass, the newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay. The papal advance team had invited the Favres and Packers coach Mike McCarthy.

Baraniak had a little trouble reaching the Favres. When he finally spoke to Deanna, she apologized, saying it was "an intense time," and that they weren't taking all their calls. Now we know why.

"When I shared with her the proposal, she said if it was entirely up to her, she would give me an answer immediately, but she had to talk to Brett. 'You know that husband of mine,' she said," Baraniak told Kurowski.

If only my husband had been the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers for sixteen seasons and won a Super Bowl I bet the papal advance team would have invited us to the Mass.

Oh, well.

I'm just one in a billion.