(Following is an English translation of a Nov. 18 apostolic blessing from Pope Francis to Cardinal Donald Wuerl and the clergy and faithful of the Archdiocese of Washington, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.)

To Our Venerable Brother, Donald William Wuerl, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Metropolitan Archbishop of Washington

We are glad to recognize that you, our Venerable Brother, will soon complete the 50th year since, clothed in priestly adornments, you began the presbyteral ministry for love of Christ and the good of the whole Church. This happy occasion will be most welcome to you as well as to all who follow your exceptional dedication with joyful admiration. Truly noteworthy are the works whereby you, zealous and earnest for the mysteries of faith in God, have nourished the souls of Christ’s faithful with heavenly grace. And so, we write you this letter to offer you heartfelt congratulations on this joyful occasion and to wish you happy and salutary tidings from God.

For in fact, you, our Venerable Brother, wherever you have exercised your pastoral office – first in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, then at the Congregation for Clergy, and having received episcopal consecration in 1986, first in the Archdiocese of Seattle as Auxiliary and then in your home of Pittsburgh as Ordinary – pouring out the immense treasures of your teaching and charity, you have generously “laid down your life for the sheep,” taught the mercy of Jesus, and forgiven the sins of the people. Then in 2006, our predecessor, Benedict XVI, named you Metropolitan Archbishop of Washington, and many works testify to your dedication and expertise in this see. For this reason, in 2010, our same predecessor decorated you with the honored purple of Rome.

You have also applied yourself earnestly in four Synods of Bishops, one of which, in 2012, you took part as Relator Generalis. Furthermore, you have shown particular solicitude by affording distinguished help in various Dicasteries, including the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith, for Bishops, and for Clergy, as well as the Pontifical Councils for the Unity of Christians and for Culture, and finally, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.

Recalling these particular praises of yours with pleasant memory, Our Venerable Brother, we congratulate you on carrying out with vigor the pastoral task entrusted to you in many weighty offices with such activity and for so long a time, and we wish you ever more abundant fruits from God.

That the erstwhile celebrations may be salutary for you and the Christian people, we impart with utmost love in the Lord the Apostolic Blessing, a token and expression of heavenly protection and aid, as a particular witness to our charity, both to you, as well as to all the clergy and faithful entrusted to your vigilant care, asking at the same time for your prayers for our Petrine ministry.

From the Offices of the Vatican, November 18, 2016, the Jubilee of Mercy, the fourth year of Our Pontificate.

Francis