so-called modern-day world. who would have thought we would be witnessing what we re witnessing today? we ve got to be very strong, very, very smart, and we ve got to come together, not only as a nation, but as a world community. thank you very much. god bless you, and god bless america. thank you. thank you. thank you very much. [ applause ] as ronald reagan would say, there you go again. thank you very much, donald. we re honored by your presence. this dinner is a fund-raiser for the needy children of the arch diocese. i m pleased to announce that tonight we have raised $6 million.
while his was built with the hands of god. and nobody can compete with god. is that correct? nobody? right? that s right. no contest. it s great to be here with a thousand wonderful people, or as i call it, a small, intimate dinner with some friends. or as hillary calls it, her largest crowd of the season. oh, this is corny stuff. i do recognize that i come into this event with a little bit of an advantage. i know that so many of you in the arch diocese already have a place in your heart for a guy who started out as a carpenter
you will patly decided which churches closed and which did not. you can hardly assign a priest to a parish with 80 families when this s one-half mile away. how did you choose how you would consolidate? it wasn t easy. we got some outside professionals who have a good track record of helping other diocese do this. they met with our people and looked at the demographics of the arch diocese and divide it had 370 or so parishes that we had. one that closed was this one, our lady of peace said good-bye to its priests, had the locks changed and is now holding services outside as worshippers refuse to give up on their hundr hundred-year-old parish. it s the kind of scene that reflects what s been going on across the nation. let s face it, religious practice is down. why is that?
spirit, pray for me. don t forget the homework. [ laughter ] [ applause ] bishop robert barron from the arch diocese of los angeles is watching with us. and bishop, in the least narcissistic way possible, this pope has asked at every stop that people pray for him, as a messenger, really. well, it s such a basic instinct of catholics to ask each other to pray for us. it binds us together. remember, he said the other day, that in prayer, we re all equal.
why would the school wait until mid-march if they know they buy them earlier? probably they were receiving from the arch diocese and getting complaints. oh prom is coming. oh program. yow, they also have a dress code for the guy. you throw on a tux and you re done. no more of the short sleeved tuxes. that s what i always laugh you can look at a wedding and what women go through they have been planning for their whole lives. there is no modern groom magazine. they do all of this and the man across has rented shoes.