Monsignor Mark Coleridge, Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne and a former chaplain to John Paul II, writes an appreciation of Benedict XVI for the newspaper The Australian today on
www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18658281%255E7583...
---------------------------------------------------------------

Not the Panzer Pope but
a surprising man of the people
On the nuances and changes in papal style
from the extroverted John Paul II
to the introverted Benedict XVI
By Mons. Mark Coleridge

March 31, 2006
THE City of Rome certainly had a life before even the papacy appeared on the scene. But a couple of millenniums later, it's hard to imagine the city without the pope or the pope without the city. This was never more evident than a year ago when Rome became once again the Urbs Orbis, the city of the world, as it bade farewell to the first Slav pope in history, who had become so much part of the story of Rome.

There is often a wryness about the Romans, who think they've seen it all before, and indeed they have seen an awful lot in their long history. But Rome had never seen a pope such as John Paul II and they certainly had never seen a funeral such as his. He impressed the Romans in life, but he impressed them even more in death.

Almost as remarkable as the life and death of John Paul II was the election of a German pope, the first in 1000 years, to succeed the Polish pope. Here you had, one after another, popes elected from two of the great enemies of World War II, the memories of which linger in all kinds of ways.

As with Karol Wojtyla, Joseph Ratzinger knew the war and its horrors at first hand, and you cannot understand either man unless you see them both against the backdrop of World War II and its aftermath.

But for all the traditional enmity between Poland and Germany, and for all the great differences of personality between the two men, the symbiosis between them grew remarkably through the years.

John Paul II was the archetypal extrovert, never more himself than when mixing it with the huge crowds he understood and loved so well. Benedict XVI is the archetypal introvert, a man more at home with his books than with the crowds.

Yet, every Friday, Ratzinger would meet John Paul II and from those conversations many of the great themes of the Wojtyla pontificate took shape.

However, after a year of BenedictXVI, what is striking is just how different he is from John Paul II. It's not just the difference of personality but a different way of being pope. The style is less epic and more intimate. It's more a cameo than the huge fresco of the Wojtyla pontificate. He's less of an orator and more professorial in style. He's less of an actor and more restrained as a public presence.

As a teacher and preacher, he is proving to be a hit, but that is no surprise to anyone who knew him and his work before he was Pope. The public image of him as God's rottweiler or some implacable ideological warrior was always absurd and that is now clear to all. He was always a man of the highest refinement and deepest insight, and that shines forth from all that he has said and done as Pope.

He's also not afraid to ad lib, which was something John Paul II was slow to do. Mind you, ad libbing can be dangerous for a pope; people are quick to jump on any slip of the tongue and make a mountain out of a molehill. But Benedict XVI has a deep assurance about him that leaves him unafraid to speak off the cuff, whether to clergy or to heads of state. He's not a man given to slips of the tongue.

Yet he is emerging as a Pope of surprises. This is something he shares with his predecessor. John Paul II used to love pulling all kinds of rabbits from the hat. He was a master of wrong-footing his critics and of surprising even those who worked most closely with him. Benedict XVI is proving to be a bit the same. He surprised everyone - even his guest - when he invited his old foe Hans Kueng to lunch. He's also surprised people by dropping the traditional papal crown from his coat-of-arms and the traditional title of Patriarch of the West.

Then he wrong-footed many by producing a first encyclical letter that spoke in simple and compelling ways about love. Many had expected some thunderbolt about truth and error from the Panzer Pope, but what they got was something quite different.

They expected anathemas, but what they got was a summons to a larger vision of human possibility in a world where that vision seems always to be shrinking.

Another surprise is just how sprightly he seems to be in the job. Many were unsure about his health and energy levels when he was elected last year at 78. But, a year into the job, he seems in great form. He looks better than he did as a cardinal and he seems to be enjoying the job.

One sign of this is that he's staying around much longer after public audiences than he did in the early days. He seems to have acquired a taste for meeting the people, perhaps because he has been surprised himself that he's drawing even bigger crowds than John Paul II. No one can quite explain that, but there seems to be some unexpected chemistry between him and the people. Here again he's turning out to be not quite the Pope that many expected.



Photos: Osservatore Romano, from audience of 3/2/9/06

What will that produce in the long term? No one can tell. It depends in part how long Benedict XVI lives. But the church already feels different, neither better nor worse, simply different. And people in the Roman Curia speak openly about a change of mood and pace under the new Pope.

At this stage, Benedict XVI is harder to read than his predecessor. But as a theologian he has always had the ability to say deep and complex things in simple ways. That combination may well be the hallmark of his pontificate.

In his own quiet and incisive way, the Bavarian Pope is adding another episode to the remarkable story of the city and the papacy. Without setting out to do it, Benedict XVI is showing what a remarkable institution the papacy is. For all the differences of style and personality, something deeper and more vital continues.

An old professor, who never wanted to be pope and never imagined he would be, is turning out to be a source of fresh energy in the job. Who would have thought of that? Not even the Romans, I suspect.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Monsignor Coleridge! Thank you for a beautiful article. Your testimony is even more powerful because you worked with John Paul and were his chaplain.

There must be something in the Archdiocese of Sydney that produces properly orthodox and oh-so-congenial prelates like Cardinal Pell and Mons. Coleridge. Maybe the Mahonys and Gumbletons of America should spend a sabbatical in Sydney to purge themselves of their liberal delusions.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2006 0.52]

Thank you for all these loving and positive articles about our beloved Papa Benedetto XVI at the end of his first year!
I wish we could put them all together in a book, get thousands of copies printed and post them through the letter boxes of all those sad liberals [they don't know how to smile - have you noticed?] who even now haven't accepted this wonderful, intelligent, knowledgeable, gifted.......and beautiful man as their Holy Father.
IT'S A GREAT TIME FOR THE CHURCH....A GREAT TIME TO BE CATHOLIC!

Love and Peace - Mary x

MARYJOS - There are none more blind than those who refuse to see. We can stuff all we want up the liberals'...er...all right, "mailboxes"...they still won't see because they don't want to. Because each of these arrogant misguided supercilious beings really does not recognize any authority but his own. "What Pope? What Magisterium? I think so, I say so - it must be so!"

And that they do not want to accept the Pope? It is infinitely their loss! What a pity, but unfortunately, there is never joy in Mudville (to put a peculiar spin on a saying), so they have no use at all for an angel of joy.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2006 1.29]

Published today, 4/1/06, this the third in a series of interviews by Corriere della Sera about Papal policy and politics leading to the first anniversary of John Paul's death and Benedict's election.

The first two were conducted by Gian Guido Vecchi with Prof. Giorgio Rumi of the University of Milan and with Prof. Lorenzo Ornaghi of the Catholic University in Milan, published 3/17 and 3/27, respectively, with translations in English posted on this thread. This one was conducted by the paper’s chief Vatican correspondent, Luigi Accatoli.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Wojtyla and Ratzinger:
No inferiority complex for the Church!

“There is growing awareness that the Catholic Church should not have any inferiority complex with respect to any other cultural matrix, and two men, each in his own way, have led us to this awareness – the Pope who left us last year and the Pope elected to succeed him.”

Mons. Rino Fisichella, rector of the Lateran University in Rome, says that of the elements of continuity between the two Papacies, perhaps that is the easiest to grasp.

And this infusion of self-confidence has been done through what acts or words?
“John Paul II gave it to us by saying 'man himself is the first and primary way of the Church' and showing how, by following this way, Christians can never go wrong with respect to justice, liberty or peace. Benedict XVI, by denouncing the insidiousness of relativism which would impose its own laws and denies the existence of absolute values. Both of them have championed the dignity of the human being in every moment of its existence.”

But is there not rather among Christians today the feeling that they are in an epochal crisis?
“Certainly, there is awareness of the cultural crisis we are going through, but that is now accompanied by a growing consciousness of the antidote to that crisis, namely, the rediscovery of the Christian roots of our humanism. If we look at the whole world situation today and consider things in depth, we cannot help but recognize that the ferments which will bring about major changes for the future come from Christianity.”

Examples?
“The concern for the lot of children and minors and for the victims of new slaveries; for solidarity among peoples; for the lives of the weakest and those who suffer, for lives to be born and those that are terminal, for all couples whose union gives rise to new life.”

The world seems to appreciate these concerns when they are expressed as concrete help for one’s fellowmen, but not when they are stated as truths or standards…
“Here I see what the two Popes have contributed in exhorting Christians not to be afraid to proclaim such beliefs. It appears the world has not yet fully appreciated the serious drift in values and what it is heading for, and it is normal – I would even say inevitable – that the Church makes its voice heard, in every possible way, whenever it sees that secular politics makes man a pawn and threatens life itself.”

There are those who say that one year after his death, Papa Wojtyla has already been forgotten…
[Comment by T-B: Even as a rhetorical question, this statement is just absurd, and Fisichella should have said so!]
“No one can ignore the thousands of persons who visit his tomb daily. That river of pilgrims will keep his reputation of saintliness alive!”

What is his most vivid legacy?
“Jesus Christ as the answer to whoever asks what is the sense in life. He said it in Redemptoris humanis at the start of his Pontificate.”

And to the ordinary man?
“The meaning he has given to suffering, to ilLness and to old age. When the Church affirms that every life is a gift from God and always deserves to be lived, we have his own personal witness that brings that teaching to life!”

And there are those who say that the new Pope still has not shown us who he is…
“His choice to dedicate his first encyclical to the key word in Christianity, which is ‘love,’ is definitely a manifestation. In fact, therein lies the program for his pontificate.”

Can you elaborate on that?
“I think that Benedict XVI has chosen for himself the role of catechist in chief. He is not aiming to achieve specific goals as much as he is trying to focus on the essentials. To interpret and to present to everyone, in answer to specific contemporary needs, the richness of the Christian message. He has become the most important of the great masters that emerged from Vatican-II. When he is seated on the Papal chair and explains the Scriptures, I see in him Augustine, Gregory the Great and Leo the Great, who spoke to the faithful as pastors and theologians.”

With a theologian Pope, who draws attention to the doctrine of the faith, isn’t there a risk of cooling ecumenical relations?
“I see him in total continuity with his predecessor on this matter. Of course, he will pursue dialog in total clarity, but the impetus will not be any less. Already, he will be going to Turkey in November to meet the Patriarch of Constantinople, and he will not abandon the dialog with other Churches about the Petrine ministry.”

But there is a risk of confrontation with Islam and lay culture….
“Confrontation is a word that is alien to this Pope’s spirit. From his meeting with Muslim leaders in Cologne, we know that he wants both dialog and collaboration, to the extent of helping each other reciprocally towards a deeper appreciation of the truth in our respective cultures and faiths.”

Do you think that the denunciation of the “dictatorship of relativism” was a message of peace?
“It is a harsh term, but it makes it clear that if truth counts for less and everything degrades into personal opinion, then it is far less likely to result in a cohesive human community nor to give much courage to face the future. But that warning (Ratzinger’s) was not made by an enemy of humanity, rather by a man who frequently talks about joy.”

By opposing relativism, will not the Pope end up allied with the conservatives?
“Quite the contrary. The critique of relativism is the condition for making progress. If we do not share common values, we cannot construct the future.”

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2006 1.32]

thanks for all those wonderful articles!one cant please everyone but we know God loves Papa and is continually guiding him.

Since the "anniversary articles" started coming in, I had been wondering where the first false note would come from to strike discord in the favorable consensus over Papa's first year as Pope. Here it is, and it comes from Le Monde, the hoity-toity newspaper of record for the French elite, in its issue of 3/31/06. It is not altogether negative - it is just too condescending (how dare!!!) and.....let Beatrice, who posted the original article in the French section, tell you where its main defect lies. Here is her introduction, in translation -

One has had too much already of the usual coupling which contrasts the “late great charismatic Pope” (even though most did not refer to him that way when he was alive) and his “modest and humble successor” who has taken up the reins of power “discreetly”.

The cliche has been worn to a frazzle, usually by those who have deliberately closed their eyes and plugged their ears! It is said by those who do not watch or who ignore the general audiences and the Angelus with this Pope, and who obviously did not see the same things we saw in Cologne!

Unfortunately, it is this media misrepresentation that is the only information available to the so-called “educated” or “informed” Frenchman (he reads LE MONDE, note well!). And that is how lies and misrepresentations end up as “fact.”

My aside: You will note that despite the writer's obvious bias for the figure of legend, he makes the facile generalization in at least two places that the Church suffered because John Paul II was travelling too much!
Here is my trnslation of the article-
----------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis
JOHN-PAUL II, the mythic Pope
by Henri Tincq

A living Pope is venerated like a saint. A dead Pope is forgotten. This axiom, well known to historians of the Papacy, fails in the case of John Paul II, a remarkable exception. After his death on April 2, 2005, at 21:37, his glory is intact one year later.

Two Popes are currently at the head of the Catholic Church: the mythic Pope who still reigns in people’s memories, in their emotions, in their minds. And the Pope, who without romanticism, has been taking up the tasks of governing the Church. One Pope with a planetary vision and a communicative energy. And the Pope of charity – subject of his first encyclical – and of a subtle intelligence now put to the test by reality. A dyarchy from which John Paul II’s successor does not at all appear to mind but cannot mask the differences.

John Paul II is the object of a cult that cannot be denied. The best barometer is the influx of crowds – 12,00o-15,000 daily – who make a pilgrimage to his tomb in the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Describing the agony of the dying Pope, a book with many authors – principally Mons. Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was his private secretary, now Cardinal and Archbishop of Cracow, and Renato Bzuzzonetti, his private doctor – contributes to the collective emotion and the legend. This book, just released in Italy, is called “Let me go home to my Father’s house”, from the last words John Paul II was heard to say before he died.

This liturgy of remembrance is sustained by the beatification process which began almost instantaneously. The ecclesiastic tribunal charged with investigating the cause for the Pope’s beatification was scheduled to close the first phase of its work today in Poland. It heard numerous witnesses speaking of the childhood and early years of Karol Wojtyla, and then went to France where a nun – whose name nor congregation has not been disclosed – was reportedly cured in June 2005 of Parkinson’s disease through John Paul’s intercession. A miracle happening after the candidate’s death is needed to advance the cause for beatification.

“Papolatry” has survived the Pope’s death. His heritage, far from being squandered, is being refreshed. Behind a mask of supposed “faithfulness”, the history of Popes is in fact made up of discontinuities. Between Pius IX, model of the “intransigent” Popes of the 19th century, and Leo XIII, the first “open”-minded Pope at the start of the 20th century; between Pius X, the Pope of “anti-modernism”, and Benedict XV, the Pope during the Great War; between Pius XII and John XXIII, the Pope of Vatican-II.

To push the image further, one might say that Benedict XVI governs where John Paul II reigned. He governs humbly and discreetly, without panache nor an avalanche of speeches and kilometers. But he governs and reshapes, but with such an economy of action that John Paul II’s pontificate may soon appear in comparison like a flamboyant interlude.

Who, other than Joseph Ratzinger, would have been in a position to take in hand the government of a Church that was left to itself in favor of planetary travel? To slowly reform the Roman Curia, to renew ecumenical ties, to extend his hand to the traditionalist heirs of Mgr. Lefebvre as well as to the progressivist Hans Kueng, to give the local Churches more space and attention?

European like Wojtyla, faced with the same totalitarianisms in the past century, the Pope’s right hand for a quarter of a century, there can be no doubt about his ablity to preserve John Paul’s legacy. At the same time, he is also best positioned to see the failures and deficiencies of the John-Paul system, particularly the hypertrophy of pontifical power to a level never reached in the history of the Church. [Really! More than the Renaissance Popes? Come on, M. Tincq]

One year after John Paul’s death, the principal change has been manifested in papal power being re-focused on the core of a Pope’s mission – to teach, to preside in charity, to unify. Nothing spectacular, but it is underway, it has begun.

World Youth Day is no longer a fever of frenzy around a charismatic protagonist. It is more like “surfing” on the wave of new spiritual movements and religion a la carte. In Cologne, the young people got gentle pedagogy, no moral lessons, just an invitation to rejoin their parishes and classic church activities. This may endanger the numerical and media success of WYD, but that argument carries no weight with John Paul II’s successor.

The same (changes) are happening in the Montinian Curia (devised by Paul VI, Giovanni Montini, who was Pope from 1963-1978) – an efficient and devoted machine that had grown too topheavy. All that weight has ended up betraying the best inspirations of Vatican II, especially “collegiality,” that ideal of Church governance that would be shared between Rome and the local churches. John Paul II never dared attack this institution which grew even more powerful and autonomous as the Pope roamed the globe. Thus, the continuing process of hyper-centralization under his reign.

Benedict XVI has harnessed himself to the task. Gently, he is re-designing the responsibility of the dicasteries, and Vatican observers expect that the Curia will soon lose as much as 30% of its personnel – those to be sent back to their home dioceses which need priests more than Rome needs bureaucrats. They also expect that the Bishops Synod will become a true deliberative body and that the College of Cardinals will fully exercise its role as the Church’s Senate.

The same gentle evolution in the dialog between religions. Ecumenism among Christian churches is returning to the classic ways of meetings among theologians and courtesy visits. In Serbia, a new Catholic-Orthodox commission created last September, appears to be dealing with a rupture that had been widening since the fall of the Berlin Wall, a rupture that had been atttributed to arrogance fron Rome.

Benedict XVI will visit the Patriarch of Constantinople in Istanbul this November but will be a guest of the Turkish government as well. And if the German Pope has taken on the same priority given by the Polish Pope to the “older brothers" in the Jewish faith, he has been more reticent about “the spirit of Assisi,” which came to mean a gathering of all religions on equal footing. The disappointment over a dialog with Muslims – evident after the Mohammed cartoons controversy –has led to a less naive and firmer strategy vis-à-vis Islam.

Thus, a realistic, pragmatic approach to the obstacles in the way of the Church has replaced the prophetism of John Paul II, who made history on the cusp of two centuries. This “last of the giants” drew to his funeral on April 8, 2005, millions of the faithful and 150 heads of state and government, as well as religious leaders of every profession. Benedict XVI as Pope is no longer the planetary Pastor (that John Paul was), but the modest, inspired Pope of a transition towards a Church that is less monarchical, more collegial, and at peace.
----------------------------------------------------------------
And here is Beatrice's post-script to Mr. Tincq:

Henri Tincq’s article, somewhat positive in places (he cannot but report “counter-truths” otherwise he would lose his ‘credibility” with his audience!), is not surprising at all, but my indignation remains intact!

Through his eyes, Benedict XVI’s extraordinary aura, which has been underscored by all who have witnessed it (I think particularly of what the painter Ulisse Sartini said) , becomes nothing more than the parsimonious activity of some theologian clerk!

Still, I must say that he sounds “moderate” compared to some of his readers who have written to the paper. One went so far as to accuse the Western media of “culpable complicity” with the Papacy (quite obviously, a delirious rant!), calling the Catholic Church a vast sect, characterized by
fanatic exploiters and criminals against humanity (sic)!

What can you answer to such ill will, except to say that everything in excess is to be derided? But to call the Catholic Church a sect! A sect is usually reserved for initiates who once in it cannot freely get out. Which is evidently not the case with the Universal Church. Well, Le Monde has the readers it deserves!

Finally, does the largest daily newspaper in France really need to hire a “specialist” correspondent simply to peddle cliches?

And my own further comments:
1) "Two Popes are currently at the head of the Catholic Church..." Uh, uh! In the papacy, more than in secular monarchy, the formula "The Pope/King is dead, long live the Pope/King" applies, and each humble member of the Church knows it instinctively. We have one Pope at a time, and Masses all over the globe since April 19, 2005, pray for the Pope who is alive.

2) The trouble with comparisons is that describing what one person is often implies that the other person isn't like that at all or is the exact opposite. To carry off a head-to-head comparison properly requires punctilious respect for truth and fairness, coupled with the right words and tone to convey that truth.

The run-of-the-mill Wojtyla-Ratzinger comparisons do not meet those criteria. M. Tincq's is particularly galling because he is so hagiographic of one and patronizing of the other (despite the fact that he obviously sees good qualities there, just not "great" enough for him). "Modest" and "humble" are admirable adjectives, but not in the reductive way Tincq uses them to refer to Benedict, almost as though, as Beatrice says, he were a shuffling insignificant clerk (who somehow succeeded a prince)!

And Tincq suffers from the garden-variety journalist's assumption that because one Pope was charismatic, great, a giant, then that totally excludes the possibility that his successor could also be charismatic or great or a giant! Why else would normally intelligent people ignore very obvious facts?

3) How many times have we heard journalists intone that someone is "the last of the giants"? In my lifetime, I heard it said of Churchill, then De Gaulle, then Reagan, and now John Paul. Man is continually evolving (though not necessarily nor always for the better) and among the billions who live and will live, surely there will always be some individuals who will stand out in their day and age. Even Ratzinger will not be the "last of the giants"!

4) What is the reason for "concluding" that "Benedict is no longer the planetary pastor"? Has the universal Church shrunk? Will he be heard less because he will not be travelling to as many places? I call this the Paul Elie fallacy - pronouncing a definitive judgment on the basis of personal prejudice and wishful thinking rather than fact!

P.S. I just read a remarkable letter posted by Kiko, our 18-year-old French Benaddict, addressed to John Paul-II whom he adored and loved more than anyone in the world, he says, more than his parents even, and whom he thanks for many things, not the least of which is that he made it possible for Joseph Ratzinger to succeed him and gave him, Kiko, another Pope to love. The Henri Tincqs of the world should read it to see how it is possible to have two loyalties, two loves, that do not cancel out each other!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2006 7.53]

John Paul II:
A travelling companion for each of us


“Our beloved Pope has been a travelling companion for each of us and has been able to speak with authority even to those who are not of the Christian faith...because he constantly drew closer to God in prayer, in contemplation, in his love of truth and beauty…nd from him we can reap once again the spiritual legacy which he has left us.”

Thus Benedict XVI - at around 21:37 approximately (the time when Pope John Paul II died last year) - defined Karol Wojtyla during a brief address from his study window at the Apostolic Palace at the end of the recitation of the Holy Rosary led by him.

Perhaps as many as 150,000 people gathered at St. Peter’s Square for a Marian vigil that started earlier, among red-and-white Polish flags and streamers invoking the grace of the late Pope, “Karol the Great.” Many streamers carried the words “Santo Subito” or its equivalent in Polish and English.

The event at the Vatican was linked by satellite to a commemoration in Cracow, hometown of the late Pope. At the end of his brief address from his study window, the Pope addressed the Polish people in Polish, assuring them that the memory and spiritual presence of John Paul II will always be alive "among us."

Earlier today:

Benedict XVI: Open wide the doors to Christ!
Let us persevere in the living legacy of John Paul II

Benedict XVI recalls the “great pope” John Paul II, on the first anniversary of his death. The pope mentions this evening’s appointment for a Marian vigil and tomorrow’s mass in St Peter’s Square, both in memory of John Paul II.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Benedict XVI today recalled his predecessor John Paul II, exactly a year after his death on 2 April 2005. He was speaking before the Angelus prayer to tens of thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square.

Interrupted by frequent applause from his audience, Benedict XVI recalled how the deceased pope had carried out the final acts of “his earthly pilgrimage… from this very room”, that is, the study the pope was talking from, leaving a “profound mark” on the history of the Church and the whole world.

The pope also recalled the “agony and death” of the Polish pope, practically “an extension of the Easter triduum”: of his Via Crucis (way of the cross) on Good Friday, which he took part in from his private chapel, of his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing on Easter day itself.

“We will never forget this blessing,” said a moved Benedict XVI. “It was the most pained and moving blessing”, a sure sign that John Paul II wanted to live his ministry fully, “to the very end”.

Referring to this evening’s Marian vigil in St Peter’s square, due to take place at the exact time (9.37pm) of John Paul II’s death, and to tomorrow’s mass that he will preside over, Benedict XVI highlighted the “immense heritage” Pope Wojtyla left the Church and the world, that could be summed up in the words inaugurating his pontificate: “Open, no, open wide the doors to Christ!”

Benedict XVI said: “This is an unforgettable appeal that I still hear, as though it was being said today.” The pontiff said John Paul II’s life, “his person, his actions, his apostolic trips, his meeting crowds, believers, governments, religious leaders, and social realities” were “a great gesture confirming his first words”.

Pope Wojtyla “announced Christ to all”, in deep sympathy with the second Vatican Council, offering the presence of Christ to mankind’s expectations of “justice, truth, freedom, peace”.

Towards the end, Benedict XVI recalled the last days of John Paul II, sick and in silence. The pope said the Lord “stripped him of everything to assimilate him with himself… His gestures and proclamations were reduced to the bare essential: to the gift of himself to the last”. The pope added: “His death was the fulfillment of a testimony of faith that touched many men of goodwill”.

Introducing the Angelus prayer, Benedict stressed that John Paul II died on Saturday, “the day dedicated to Mary”, to who we ask to “make ours that which this great pontiff showed and taught us”.

He also invited all youth to participate in the vigil on Thursday 6 April in the lead-up to the XXI World Youth Day. This vigil too, held in St Peter’s square, will mark the memory of John Paul II.

After the prayer, the pope greeted pilgrims in several languages, especially the Poles, who came to Rome to honour the memory of Pope Wojtyla. In Italian, he recalled the little Thomas, an 18-month-old epileptic baby, kidnapped some weeks ago, whose death was announced in the news only yesterday. The pope also recalled, in prayer, “all victims of violence”.

Before the greetings, the pope launched an appeal for two days of prayer and fasting for peace in Iraq, on 3 and 4 April. The appeal, made by Benedict XVI, was the desire of the Patriarch of Baghdad, Emmanuel Delly and the Iraqi bishops, and it has been made to all believers, including Muslims.
--------------------------------------------------------------

A full translation of the Pope's words at Angelus today has been posted in the AUDIENCES AND ANGELUS thread, and of his evening address in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/04/2006 23.05]

Nice to be able to lift a translation from someone else, for a change! Austrian-born(?) Gerald Augustinus at closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/ posts his translation of a news analysis by Michael Prueller in Vienna's Die Presse of 4/3/06, as follows (translation of the title is mine, as he didn't translate it):
----------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis
Benedikt XVI follows his predecessor's course
but is more than just "executor of a will"
By Michael Prueller

The slow dying, the death at 9:37 pm on April 2nd 2005, the joyous, peaceful stream of millions of pilgrims to the funeral, and subsequently the election of Benedict XVI on April 19th - what has remained of those days that captured the world? What is different today?

The downright tender memories of many of the old Pope have remained. A person visiting Rome these days will see the large number of the faithful who stand in line for hours to see his grave. Nothing is arranged or artificial. Nostalgia is not a topic. The postcard selection is split evenly between old and new Pope, but it's obvious that the Romans have started to love Papa Ratzinger quite some time ago.

It's not just Romans either - according to police estimates, there's never been a time when so many people have visited Rome as in the past 12 months.

The Church still shows herself to be "more courageous, more free and younger", as Ratzinger had referred to the legacy of the Woytila Pontificate. Some people - mainly journalists who don't have much to write home about- are a bit irritated since, in their view, Benedict has not used the legacy to make more forceful points. Furthermore, there's little insider information to be had in the Vatican of Benedict XVI. The long expected Curia-reform hasn't made that much progress either. Others don't really expect any change in regards to the so-called 'hot topics'.

Inertia in the Church? Only if one were to consider the expansion of John Paul II's legacy, with new accents, inertia. "The Church does not proclaim the Gospel to gain power or to claim a great number of people as her own, she proclaims it, because joy does not belong just to us, because the love given to us demands proclamation."

These words of then-Cardinal-Ratzinger from 2004 could be by John Paul. They show the concern of both men: A Church that helps to derive joy from encountering Christ. This is not about dealing with historical events or dogmatic disputes of old but about a personal relationship with a God present today, that the Church views as and wants to relate as accessible, visible and tangible.

Even more so than John Paul who grew up in Catholic Poland, Benedicts focuses his attention on the person grown up without faith. Because men do not find faith through rules, this Pope foregoes even more than his predecessor stern admonitions - sexual morals were no topic in Cologne - and instead explains the basic contents of the Faith first.

There seems to be a misunderstanding that Ratzinger has become milder as Pope. He made it clear that he insists on proclaiming, without compromises and with discipline, the Faith and morals of the Church. It would seem irresponsible to him to give people who are searching an erroneous or incomplete 'manual' for their peace of mind/soul, therefore there is no compatibility issue with a theology of love.

It seems that he is taking his time, which may be tied to the impression that time is working in the Church's favor: In many places 'mass-Catholicism' is still decreasing, but, more importantly, the firm core of the Church has been growing. The most visible example: the rapidly growing movements within the Church that have topped the 100-million-mark - 10% of Catholics.

At the beginning, it's frequently not the Catechism that's the focus of such seekers, but curiosity, maybe longing. It leads to prayer in many people, in forms often fallen out of use elsewhere - from the Rosary to Adoration - from which stems a very emotional encounter with God.

These people experience Church not as a merciless construct of rules or as a narrow organizational platform for social activism, but as framework of a direct encounter with salvation that they experience as welcome, comfortable and joyful. Correspondingly, their approach to rules and recommendations of the Church is warm and thankful. This is, despite side effects on the fringes of the Church, a dream come true for the Church.

Benedict can afford to be relaxed - thouroughly prepare the Curia reform, skip 'careerists' when it comes to naming new Cardinals, take his personality a bit into the background. The seed has been sown, after all.

Many people in the global Church are anxiously awaiting big decisions, or programmatic statements. But Benedict does not seem to be someone pressed to act quickly or rashly because he supposedly only has little time. He rather seems to be someone who knows that he is not that important. He has his duties, but no historical mission. (Gerald's comment: As in...he's not Jack Bauer, the fate of the Church does not solely depend on him, since things have been built on rock, therefore he is confident and not hard-pressed to act)
---------------------------------------------------------------


Translation quibble: In the last paragraph, the sentence
"He rather seems to be someone who knows that he is not that important" may seem puzzling or ambiguous. In German it was "Eher wie jemand, der weiss, dass es auf ihn nicht so sehr ankommt." As an idiom, the phrase is as Gerald translated it - "he is not that important." I probably would have translated the sense of it in a more "literal' way, i.e. -"someone who knows that not everything depends on him."

VATICAN CITY, aPRIL 3, 2005(AP) Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics to look ahead, one year after the death of Pope John Paul II, saying they should heed the late pontiff's exhortation and not be afraid to follow Christ.

Benedict made the appeal during a solemn Mass attended by tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square to mark the first anniversary of John Paul's death. The Mass followed a candlelit vigil the night before, during which Benedict said John Paul's memory was still very much alive.

"This evening, our thoughts turn with emotion to the moment of the death of our beloved pontiff, but at the same time the heart, as it were, is urged to look forward," Benedict said in his homily.

He said the faithful should follow John Paul's repeated appeals to "go forward without fear on the path of being loyal to the Gospel and being witnesses to Christ in the third millennium."

Tens of thousands of people, including Italian politicians and actress Sophia Loren, attended the Mass. Two dozen cardinals celebrated the Mass, among them John Paul's longtime private secretary, recently elevated Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Poland.

Dziwisz has been at the forefront in pushing for John Paul to be beatified _ the first step to possible sainthood.

Benedict, who placed John Paul on the fast track for beatification, has been supporting the effort as well, highlighting in recent homilies the late pope's suffering _ and on Monday, his faith.

"Those who were able to get close to him could almost touch with their hand his sound and solid faith," Benedict said in his homily.

"A convincing, strong and authentic faith, free of fear and compromise, which touched the hearts of so many people thanks to his many apostolic pilgrimages around the world and especially thanks to his last 'voyage,' which was his agony and his death."

The scene was far more solemn than the evening before, when the square twinkled with the lights of thousands of candles and fluttered with the red-and-white flags of John Paul's native Poland.

Vatican analyst evaluates pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI

Madrid, Apr. 04, 2006 (CNA) - One year after the death of John Paul II and the beginning of the pontificate of Benedict XVI, Vatican analyst Sandro Magister has offered an evaluation of both papacies, highlighting the similarities and differences in style of the two popes.

In an interview with the Spanish daily, El Correo, Magister offered a brief analysis of the first year of Benedict XVI’s pontificate, noting that the Pope “has inaugurated a very particular style, substantially based on words.” Benedict, he stated, “acts as a sort modern-day doctor of the Church, teaching what he believes to be the central element to be defended and appreciated: Christian truth.”

According to Magister, the response to this new style has been “unexpected, surpassing all expectations.” The proof lies in the high numbers of attendance at St. Peter’s, “greater than for John Paul II, double or even triple,” he added.

“And what is most important is that people listen to him with great attentiveness. He is a Pope who speaks and is truly listened to, in contrast somewhat to John Paul II, who people came more to see than to hear. He attracts attention, and in any case, he inspires respect for his serenity and depth,” he wrote.

Asked about changes in the Curia, Magister pointed out that “they have been few and measured, but they have already set a course that will be followed in the coming months.” “The naming of his successor to the Doctrine of the Faith, William J. Levada, indicates that this congregation will again become the central institute of the Curia, under the direct control of the Pope.”

“Levada”, he said, “does not have the role of protagonist, but rather of executor of orders. This is returning the office to what it was before Paul VI, who made the Secretary of State the central focal point of the Curia. Therefore I see the Secretary of State losing power in the future.”

The Italian journalist also pointed to important changes in two other dicasteries. “At the Congregation for Divine Worship, which deals with issues very dear to the Pope, such as the liturgy, he has named a completely unknown bishop of Sri Lanka who is very close to him, and he has relieved Fitzgerald as president of Inter-Religious Dialogue because of his different vision especially with regards to Islam.”

Magister also underscored the Pope’s openness to dialogue and debate, noting that he is “very willing to meet with people and have serious discussions.” “The number of people he meets with daily is less than that of John Paul II, but the meetings last longer and are richer,” he adds.

Benedict XVI “speaks and discusses with many people, at the audiences, at the synod, with the bishops. But later, he makes the decisions personally and alone, and that’s why we are almost always taken by surprise.”

Continuity and complimentarity

Asked his opinion on the pontificate of John Paul II one year after his passing, Magister responded that the late Pope “was sometimes a genius at laying out great perspectives, he wrote great titles. Benedict XVI, on the other hand, is writing the story behind the titles.”

“But there is an element of continuity,” he said: “John Paul II returned the Church to the center of public life and Benedict XVI wants to build the capacity of the Church to communicate with the world upon this foundation of great visibility.”

Magister also noted that Benedict XVI is continuing the dialogue begun by John Paul II with other Christians and with different groups inside the Church, “but in a much more selective way. He appreciates the positive in each movement, but he has no problem calling them to a new discipline. He has done so with the Neocatechumenate.”

“With other Christians, the Pope wants to highlight not so much that which unites them but that which separates them, thus underscoring the uniqueness of Roman Catholicism. He is not proposing that we find common ground and leave the divisions in parenthesis, but rather he is going to the heart of the divisions in order to see which road to take from there,” Magister said.

Lastly, Magister noted that Benedict has a unique strategy in dealing with other religions. “When he met with Muslims in Cologne, it was not at a mosque, but at the bishop’s residence , with a large cross behind him.”

Pope Benedict will preside over Vatican’s Holy Week celebrations

Vatican City, Apr. 04, 2006 (CNA) - The Holy See has released its schedule for the celebration of Holy Week and the Easter Triduum this year in the Vatican. Officials announced that Pope Benedict himself will preside at the solemn events which mark the holiest days on the Church calendar.

The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff said in a statement today that the Church’s Holy Week celebrations will begin April 9th--Palm Sunday--with the traditional blessing of palms and olive branches. Following a procession, Pope Benedict will preside at the Mass of the Lord’s Passion.

On Holy Thursday morning in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Father will concelebrate the Chrism Mass with Cardinals Bishops and a number of priests from the diocese of Rome.

The Holy See called this concelebration “a sign of the close union between the pastor of the Universal Church and his brothers in the priestly ministry.”

That evening, the Easter Triduum will begin at the Basilica of St. John Lateran at 5.30 p.m. with the Mass of Our Lord's Last Supper, presided at by the Holy Father. During the liturgy, the Pope will wash the feet of 12 place recalling Jesus own action at the Last Supper.

Those present will be invited to give alms for the victims of recent landslides in Maasin, Philippines.

Following Mass, the Blessed Sacrament will be transferred to the chapel of reposition, where it will remain until Saturday night, signifying Jesus’ death and burial.

On Good Friday, Pope Benedict will preside at the celebration of the Passion of Our Lord in the Vatican Basilica before leading the Stations of the Cross at Rome’s Coliseum at 9.15 p.m. Following that, he will address the gathered faithful and will impart his apostolic blessing.

The pinnacle of the Holy Week celebrations, the Easter Vigil will begin at 10.00 p.m. in St. Peter's Basilica, where the Pope will begin by blessing the new fire in the atrium of the church.

Benedict will then preside over the Mass and the Baptismal liturgies. He will concelebrate with members of the College of Cardinals who are in Rome.

Triduum celebrations will conclude on Easter Sunday at 10.30 a.m., when the Holy Father will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Square, after which he will impart the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing ("to the city and the world").

This historic blessing will be given from the central loggia of the Vatican Basilica.

Pope Benedict’s success is down to priorities, style and content

By Rónán Mullen
Irish Examiner.com
05/04/06

LAST Sunday’s gatherings in Rome, Poland and elsewhere to mark the first anniversary of Pope John Paul’s death were exactly what you would have expected: big, atmospheric, emotional events.

The memory of a great man lives among his followers, in the Church and the world. No surprise there.

The big surprise is the man who now sits on the Chair of Peter. It is almost a year since the world greeted the news of a Ratzinger papacy with some trepidation. What had the cardinals done, many wondered at the time.

How could the man known for so long as the ‘enforcer’ follow the charismatic John Paul? The clue was in the question, of course. By the time he died, Pope John Paul had won a place in all but the most obdurate of hearts. But he had plenty of critics throughout his papacy, particularly in the west.

In hindsight, it seems obvious that the cardinals were looking for someone who would not buckle under the weight of his predecessor’s legacy.

They needed a man with a character and style of his own, who could address the challenges of the age. And so they chose Ratzinger.

Time seems to have proven them right. Consider this hard-to-believe statistic: the number of people attending the new Pope’s liturgies and preaching is running at double the turnout for Pope John Paul’s gatherings.

No doubt, this is partly due to the novelty factor and also to the wave of interest and goodwill generated by Pope John Paul’s death and its dramatic aftermath. But there seems to be something else. Benedict is interesting people.

His success, so far, is down to three things: priorities, style and content.

First, priorities. Nowhere is the radical nature of his agenda more apparent than in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love). As US commentator George Weigel put it, those who bought into the notion of Joseph Ratzinger as ‘God’s rottweiler’, obsessed with morality and doctrine, might have expected a document called ‘No You Don’t’.

Instead, they got a 60-page meditation on the central notion of the Christian faith - the claim that ‘God is Love’. You might think it rather daring, to say the least, for him to expound on erotic love when so many people think the Church should shut up about such matters.

But as Benedict sees it, you can’t explain the Church’s vision of the universe, or its teachings on moral and social issues, without first reflecting deeply on the nature of love - human and divine.

Benedict teaches that God’s relationship with the world is best understood as a love story, not as a relationship of power or a clash of wills. With the birth of Jesus Christ, God comes into history in search of man, desiring to draw people into a community of love.

As God’s love enters more deeply into people’s lives, he writes, “self-abandonment to God increases and God becomes our joy”.

His open style is noteworthy too. One of the more engaging features of his pontificate is a willingness to discard the script and launch into dialogue with his audience. At the beginning of Lent, it is traditional for the Pope to meet with the priests of his diocese in Rome.

This year, Benedict departed from the prepared text and responded spontaneously to questions the priests posed, on a variety of issues from the role of women in the Church to relationship between Christianity and Islam. In the same spirit of dialogue, he granted an early meeting to long-time Church dissenter Hans Kung, to the surprise of many commentators and critics.

His third strength is in the quality of his content. At his first Mass in St John Lateran, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, he made it clear that he was not out to promote his own personal viewpoints. The Pope “must not proclaim his own ideas”, he declared, “but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism”.

Having established the boundaries of his remit, the new Pope then proved himself quite willing to discuss the hard questions, and even consider the possibility of change. For example, he raised the difficult question of the Church’s ministry to people in second unions. And while confirming the Church’s traditional belief that the Lord has reserved priestly ministry for men, he declared it “right to wonder if even in ministerial service ... more room and more positions of responsibility might be offered to women”.

IN THE world of politics, it is frequently the case that the supposed hardliners are the ones most capable of leading their people through a process of change.

There may be a parallel with Pope Benedict.

He is, of course, classically conservative in that he will protect the traditions and teaching of the Church. But as one of the world’s finest theologians, he may also discern where progress is desirable in the light of the developing tradition of the Church, and come up with some surprisingly radical responses to some of the challenges of the times.

In the end, his most attractive quality is probably the very thing that many people feared in the past - his German directness. Keen to promote good relations with China, the new Pope nevertheless put down a strong marker with the appointment of Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, bishop of Hong Kong, as cardinal. Progress in the Church’s relations with China?

Yes. But human rights and freedom of religion for its people are the necessary prerequisite.

It’s the same with Turkey. Benedict will visit Istanbul in November, at the invitation of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, and the Ankara government. But not for Ratzinger the softly-softly diplomacy that characterises Irish, British and other government utterances before their trade missions to dodgy regimes.

At the Vatican recently, Benedict recalled the ‘great evil’ of the slaughter of the Armenians, suffered by them in the name of the Christian faith. To even mention this massacre is a crime in Turkey. The latest issue of La Civiltà Cattolica, a Jesuit magazine known to be vetted and approved by the Vatican, gives a positive assessment of politically moderate Islam currently in power in Turkey but denounces the lack of religious freedom afflicting the Christian minorities in Turkey today.

Again, the full implementation of religious liberty is a necessary condition, the Holy See believes, for the eventual admission of Turkey to the EU.

Straight talking but open to dialogue. That’s the Benedict style.

Perhaps it is still too early to say whether this Pope will live on in people’s affections the way his predecessor has done. But this is no interregnum papacy. Benedict has set about making his own unique contribution to the history of the Catholic Church. At the age of 79, perhaps the only thing against him is time.

---

Perhaps it is still too early to say whether this Pope will live on in people’s affections the way his predecessor has done. But this is no interregnum papacy. Benedict has set about making his own unique contribution to the history of the Catholic Church. At the age of 79, perhaps the only thing against him is time.

---

1. He will definitely live on in our affections and I'm really fed up with these comparisions.That's so stupid.

2. Nobody said this was an interregnum papacy apart from ignorant fools.

3. Benedict has already made his own unique very special contribution to the history of church. May be some people should start reading his books, because he can do more than just kiss babies.

4. And I just ignore the last sentence.

Beatrice posts in the French section this surprisingly positive though partial and superficial assessment of Benedict's first year from the French newspaper Le Figaro. The writer limits himself to administrative changes made by Benedict. Here is a translation:
----------------------------------------------------------------
Benedict XVI succeeds in putting his mark
at the heart of the Vatican
By Herve Yannou
03 April 2006

Little by little, Benedict XVI is turning the page (in the transition) from John Paul II, although one year after the passing of the Polish Pope, the Commendatore’s statue [a reference from the opera Don Giovanni] still presides at St. Peter’s. Benedict’s references to his “well-loved” predecessor, always much applauded, have become more rare and perhaps, less emotion-laden. The time of mourning is over.

Cardinal Ratzinger had served John Paul II for 24 years – involved in all the great texts of his pontificate, sometimes critical of his initiatives, omnipotent during the last years of the reign. These days, Benedict XVI goes forward on his own, slowly but constantly.

He has invited the Church to digest and interiorize John Paul’s polymorphic legacy, but he is also imposing his mark on it.

“The Pope is not the geopolitician of the Church,” explains Cardijnal Roger Etchegaray. “What he intends is to save the patrimony of the faith.”

To those who find that this Pontificate has been off to a slow start, the cardinals would reply that Benedict was not elected to copy the charismatic Karol Wojtyla. He has used the first year to diagnose the problems and then tend to the Church from the inside.

The expectations are great. But Benedict XVI has already taken in hand the Church’s central government which was paralyzed during the last years of John Paul. A difficult end to a reign that the Lithuanian Cardinal Audris Juosaz does not hesistate to criticize: “Everyone worked somewhat like a free wheel, without a team effort.”

His German colleague Karl Lehmann wishes that henceforth there may be more regular meetings among the cardinals. Like all the other Princes of the Church, desirous of regaining prerogatives that had eroded in the course of history, they want more collegiality amd more decentralization. "Let someone give the general line, and let it be carried out at the periphery.”

Today, Benedict XVI personally studies a number of files and is always listening, even if he decides alone. He has taken on himself to check off the list of complaints (charges) raised by the cardinals rught after John Paul died. Long before his election, Joseph Ratzinger had called for a rationalization of services in the Roman Curia. Such changes would respond less to administrative concerns then to the orientations which the Pope wishes to give.

So he has integrated the pontifical council for immigrants and itinerants to the council for justice and peace, and that for “inter-religious dialog” to the council on culture. It shows an intention to place the dialog with non-Christian religions in a cultural rather than religious context.

The Pope has thus shown that he does not share all the actions of his predecessor. Department fusions such as those described above should proceed, for instance in the fields of communication and the liturgy.

He has also blown the dust off the institution called the Synod of Bishops last October, restored regular meetings among his ministers, adopted to current use the informal work gathering of the Church Senate on the eve of the consistory, and wants to convene them more often. If for the time being, Johnn Paul’s principal collaboarators are still in position, the Pope has also named, without too much fuss, men of his confidence. The first ones named are far from anodyne.

Cardinal William Joseph Levada, whom he chose to replace him at the CDF, is wholly devoted to him. The new theologian of the Pontifical House, the Polish Dominican Wojciech Giertych, is known for his doctrinal rigor. The Pope has moved out Mgr. Michael Fitzgerald, who was in charge of the Muslim portfolio and whose syncretist ideas Benedict does not share.

The same thing for liturgical matters. “With John-Paul II, I was a bit more free, while with Benedict XVI, I have to more careful ebcause he is an expert in liturgy,” remarked Mgr. Piero Marini, who organized grand showpiece Masses for the late Pope. So,to mark a return to moderation, Mgr. Domenico Sorrentino, who was Number-2 man in the ministry for the Discipline of the Cult, was replaced by Mgr. Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige, much more in harmony with the Pope on liturgy.

Benedict XVI intends to move from a Papacy of gestures to a Papacy of words. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Wojtyla’s longtime spokesman, will be leaving. The last key person to be replaced is Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State who has “guided” the Pope through an administration which, paradoxically, he himself does not know well. The Pope and the Cardinal have different sensibilities, and Benedict XVI intends to both reign and govern.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/04/2006 14.49]

Pope to participate in Thursday-evening WYD session

Rome, Apr. 05 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) will welcome the young Catholics of the Rome diocese to St. Peter's Square on Thursday evening, April 6, as the world's dioceses prepare to observe the 21st World Youth Day (WYD) on April 9.

The vicariate for the Rome diocese has announced that during his April 6 meeting with the young WYD participants, the Holy Father will forego his usual address, instead engaging in a question-and-answer session. Then he will accompany some young people on a visit to the tomb of Pope John Paul II (bio - news).

The papal appearance will come after a musical program, presented by the choir of the Rome diocese. After the Pope arrives at 6 in the evening, and is introduced by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the WYD Cross will be brought to the front of the Vatican basilica. The evening's program will also include a performance of Bach's Ave Maria by the Chinese soloist Hong Mei.

The evening's meeting in St. Peter's Square will be part of a 3-day meeting, culminating with Mass for Palm Sunday. The young participants will hear from Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne, the host city for last year's WYD festivities; and Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, the host for the next worldwide observance in 2008.

Anniversaries mark papal schedule after Easter

Vatican, Apr. 05 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) will have a few days of rest immediately after Easter, as he marks the first anniversary of his election.

After celebrating Easter Sunday Mass in the morning in St. Peter's Square, and delivering his Urbi et Orbi message at noon, the Holy Father will travel to Castel Gandolfo, to spend a few days of rest there. On Easter Sunday, April 16, the Pope will also be celebrating his 79th birthday.

On Easter Monday-- Pasquetta or "Little Easter" in Italy-- the Pope will make a single public appearance at the papal summer residence, to lead the Regina Caeli: the midday prayer that replaces the Angelus during the 40 days of Eastertide.

Tuesday, April 18 will be the anniversary of the date when the cardinals opened the conclave that would elect a successor to Pope John Paul II (bio - news). Cardinal Ratzinger was the principal celebrant of the Mass Pro Eligendo Romano Pontefice, after which the 115 cardinal-electors filed into the Sistine Chapel to begin their deliberations.

April 19, then, will be the first anniversary of the new Pope's election. Pope Benedict plans to travel by helicopter to the Vatican that day for his regular weekly public audience, returning to Castel Gandolfo in the afternoon.

On Friday, April 21, the Pontiff will hold a morning audience with the bishops of Ghana, who are making their ad limina visit to the Vatican. Later in the day he will return to the Vatican, again traveling by helicopter, to attend an evening concert celebrating the founding of the city of Rome-- according to legend, in 253 BC.

On April 22, Cardinal Angelo Sodano will be the principal celebrant at a Mass in the Vatican basilica for the Society of Jesus, marking the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier. (Some commentators see it as significant that although the Pope will be at the Vatican, the Secretary of State will be presiding-- arguably a sign of the Pope's dissatisfaction with the Jesuit order.) Pope Benedict will address the congregation at the conclusion of the Mass.

On Sunday, April 22, the Pope will hold his usual Regina Caeli audience. Then on April 24 he will mark the anniversary of his inaugural Mass as Roman Pontiff.

Ratzigirl has posted an item from ANSA, the Italian news agency, which reports that Shimon Peres, a former Israeli prime minister and a Nobel Peace Prize winner told reporters today:
"The Pope says he will come (to Israel) early next year."

Peres saw the Pope in a private audience earlier and was asked what the Pope said to an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (The invitation was originally extended to the Pope last year by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, months before the stroke that led to his present coma).

Here is a later account from AP:

ROME, April 6, 2005(AP)- Pope Benedict XVI is considering visiting Israel in early 2007, former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Thursday after meeting with the pontiff.

Peres renewed an invitation, first made last year by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "He indicated that he may do it in the first part of next year," Peres told a news conference.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls confirmed the invitation had been extended but gave no details on Benedict's response.

Peres said he did not think outstanding issues between the Vatican and Israel over taxation of church properties would preclude a papal visit. Some analysts have suggested the pope might not make the trip until the issues are worked out.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner also dismissed concern that a Hamas-led government in the Palestinian territories would prevent the pope from visiting, saying: "I hope that by then the problem will not remain. Hamas made a government, but I don't see how they can govern."

Pope John Paul II visited the Holy Land in 2000, meeting with Israeli officials as well as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during a stop in the Palestinian territories.

Benedict has continued John Paul's outreach to the Jews, visiting a synagogue in Cologne, Germany, during his first trip abroad last year.

Navarro-Valls said Peres' meeting with the pope and the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, also covered peace prospects in the region. "In that context, there was unanimity in condemning every form of terrorism under whatever pretext is made to justify it," the statement said.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/04/2006 15.04]

New pope confounds critics and supporters

My opinion Andrew M. Greeley
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.06.2006

A year ago when the conclave was over, many of us went home depressed (in part perhaps by the unseasonably chill and wet Roman spring). Richard John Neuhaus, an American priest and editor, was allegedly predicting that there would be a house cleaning in the church in this country. He seemed to know whom the new pope would clean out. Like the Lord High Executioner in "The Mikado," he apparently had a little list.

I adopted the stand of the Swiss theologian Hans Kung, once a colleague and friend of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, and then a bitter enemy. Kung offered wise advice that most people on both sides of the Catholic divide ignored. Give him time, said Professor Kung, suspend judgment and see what he does.

Today the division between the polarized factions in the church continues. However, those who were delighted are now displeased, and those who were discouraged are now cautiously hopeful. The new pope has managed to confound almost everyone as he strives for moderation and healing.

Media coverage during and after the conclave created a negative image of Papa Ratzinger — the Panzer Cardinal, the Hitler Youth Pope, the pope who condemned Harry Potter, the pope who fired the editor of the Jesuit magazine America, the pope who banned gay men in seminaries. Most of these images were false.

Before the pope was elected, the Rev. Thomas Reece of America was done in by the secret denunciation of a clique of American bishops who were involved in the sexual abuse scandal and was not supported strongly enough by his Jesuit superiors. The instruction — not a doctrinal statement — on gays in seminaries did not say that they all should be banned, though it suited the interests of both the gays and the gay bashers to create that image. The comment on Harry Potter was in a private letter written years ago and not an official position.

A year later the conservative Catholics are the ones who are angry. The pope has not repealed the council, he has not imposed the old Latin Mass, he has not banned women from the liturgy, he has defended the council's statement on religious liberty.

Even the less drastic expectations of some conservatives have not happened. The priest and editor who is alleged to have predicted a "housecleaning" in the church in this country after the conclave has written recently a hysterical and, some would say, disrespectful lament about the pope's failures. His editorial seemed obsessed with the homosexual issue. He demanded that the pope resist his propensity not to hurt people's feelings. The pope, he protested, has appointed bishops who are "soft" on homosexuality, he has not clamped down on Jesuits who defend homosexuals, he has failed to make it clear that homosexuals cannot be priests.

Among the things the pope did was to reconcile with Kung, a powerful act of graciousness and humanity that moved some priests who knew both to tears. He has reached out to leaders of other faiths and religions. He has given wonderful little homilies in Roman parishes — without notes. He has defended religious liberty.

In his first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," a sensitive reflection on love, human and divine, he linked erotic love between man and woman to God's love for humans. (A perspective that dates back to St. Paul, though it has often been ignored.) There were no condemnations, no denunciations, only warmth, sympathy and understanding. Moreover, the agony and the ecstasy of human love is a subject on which the huge middle majority of Catholics can readily agree.

On the basis of the record and not media images, Papa Benedetto seems to have chosen a course of moderation and healing, a quiet time in which Catholics can listen carefully to the wisdom of their heritage as updated by the Vatican Council. The pope has not returned to the fiery liberalism of his youth. It does not seem likely that there will be change on hot-button issues like celibacy and the ordination of women. One might question the wisdom of such a strategy. But the blood purge that some wanted and others feared does not seem likely.

There remain serious problems — the apparent decline of the faith in Europe, the loss of credibility of the Church teachers especially on sexual matters, the shortage of priests, the bitter antagonism between church leaders and homosexuals, the persistence of the sexual abuse crisis.

Yet, if the pope's goal has been to bind up wounds, he has made a good beginning.


The Rev. Andrew M. Greeley, a Catholic priest, teaches at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona.

[Modificato da benefan 06/04/2006 17.49]

Montage by Sylvie. Photos from www.catholicpressphoto.com/servizi/2006-04-06-giovani/def...

VATICAN CITY, 6 April 2005(AP)- Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday he became convinced he should become a priest to help confront what he called the "anti-human culture" of the Nazis in his native Germany.

Benedict made the comments during a meeting with thousands of young people in St. Peter's Square during which he took questions from five students on issues such as the family, how to read the Bible and faith and reason.

Asked by one student how he realized his own priestly vocation, the 78-year-old pontiff said that when he was young in Germany it was more "normal" to accept faith and vocations than it is today.

"There was the Nazi regime," Benedict said. "We were told very loudly that in the new Germany 'there will not be anymore priests, there will be no more consecrated life, we don't need this anymore, find another profession.'"

"But actually hearing these loud voices, I understood that in confronting the brutality of this system, this inhuman face, that there is a need for priests, precisely as a contrast to this anti-human culture," he said.

Benedict was enrolled in the Hitler Youth as a teen and later deserted from the German army near the end of World War II.

The pope acknowledged that he had doubts about the commitment required for joining the priesthood and whether his love for theology alone was enough of a reason to become ordained.

"I asked myself if I really had the capacity to live an entirely celibate life," he said. "Being a theoretical and not practical man, I also knew it wasn't enough to love theology to be a good priest, but I also needed to be available to young people, old, sick and poor people."

He said that in the end, God as well as friends and other priests helped him to decide.

The meeting was Benedict's second in which he has publicly fielded questions from young Catholics. Benedict also has met several times with priests in informal town-hall style question-and-answer sessions.

Benedict was asked how Catholics can harmonize the apparent conflict between faith and reason. He gave a highly philosophical response that touched on mathematics, chaos theory and the "intelligent design" behind creation.

In November, Benedict waded indirectly into the evolution debate in the United States, saying the universe was made by an "intelligent project" and criticizing those who in the name of science say its creation was without direction or order.

At the end of the meeting, Benedict joined a few young people at the tomb of Pope John Paul II to pray, concluding the Vatican's commemorations of the first anniversary of the pontiff's death.

Here is how AsiaNews reported the event:

Meeting youth, Benedict XVI talked
about his vocation that grew
out of love for liturgy and theology.
The pope went down with youth
to the tomb of John Paul II.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) – It was the “brutality” of Nazism, of this “anti-human culture” that helped the young Joseph Ratzinger discover his vocation for the priesthood.

“It confirmed to me that the Gospel shows us the right road, that we must help so that its road will triumph”, said Benedict XVI. He was responding to one of the questions put to him by five youth of the diocese of Rome, who took part in a meeting to prepare for the upcoming World Youth Day.

A vocation that grew with the “beauty of the liturgy” and with “love of knowledge”, that is, with theology.

Replying to a question about his vocation, the Pope said: “I grew up in a world very different to the present one, but at the end, things come together. At the time, on the one hand, it was still normal to go to church and to accept the Revelation; on the other, there was the Nazi regime that was telling me the new Germany would no longer need priests. But it was precisely this clash with the brutality of this system, of this anti-human culture, that confirmed to me that the Gospel shows us the right way, that we must help so that its road will triumph.

"My vocation grew almost naturally with me, without great conversion moments. Helped by my parents and by the parish priest, I discovered the beauty of the liturgy which, in a certain sense, opens up the heavens. In the second place, I was helped by the beauty of knowledge, understanding the Sacred Scripture as much as possible, entering in this Dialogue with God that is theology.

"Naturally, difficulties could not but be present, I asked myself if I would be able to live in celibacy for all my life, and I was aware that loving theology was not enough to be a good priest; one also needed to be always available for sick people, the poor and youth. To be simple with the simple. I asked myself if I would be capable of living all this. I was helped by the company of friends and good priests."

There was a spontaneous festive atmosphere in a meeting that swiftly turned into a celebration, with at least 30,000 Roman youth present. However there were also flags of Poland, Czech Republic and Mexico waving among the crowd in St Peter’s Square, around Benedict XVI. A meeting that re-evoked memories of John Paul II, who came up with the idea of World Youth Day and who gave youth, in the now-distant 1984, the cross that the youth today carried inside the basilica, going to pay homage at the tomb of Wojtyla with Benedict XVI.

Choirs, dance and music welcomed Benedict XVI into the square, as did the words of Maddalena Santoro, the sister of Fr Andrea, who read some writings of the murdered priest, including: “I feel I am a priest for all, because they are sons loved by God: God loves Jews, he loves Christians, he loves Muslims.” The pope embraced her and Fr Andrea’s mother, Maria.

The questions posed by youth inevitably included one about the family, marriage and sexuality, asked to the Pope by Anna, aged 19 years.

His reply was that loving was often understood to be something egotistical, that consumeristic culture had emptied of meaning, whereas it was really letting go of oneself and therefore self-discovery. In the Bible itself, right after creation, “the sacred author gives a definition of marriage, following the other, so as to become a sole existence, flesh born of communion of love that unites and thus creates the future.”

"With time, all cultures became stained by the mistakes of mankind and thus the original plan of God was obscured, even if man could never completely forget or wipe it out. Thus it is with monogamy. Thus, marriage and affection become possible even if they appear impossible in the climate of our world.

"Notwithstanding all other models of life, there are many Christian families living with joy, according to the model indicated by the creator.
"We know that to achieve great success, in sport for example, training, discipline and renunciation are called for. This is how it is with life too: becoming man demands renunciation that is not negative, but which helps us become truly men, and if there is a consumeristic culture that does not want us to live according to God’s plan, we must create islands of Catholic culture, in which to live according to the creator’s plan."

And to the question “what is expected of us”, Benedict XVI replied: “Making God present in society”.
---------------------------------------------------------------


P.S. 4/7/05 1843 EDT - A translation of the full transcript of the above encounter may now be found in the thread
HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/04/2006 0.51]

Pope surprises by not being the 'Rottweiler' he was expected to be

By Russell Shaw
4/5/2006
Our Sunday Visitor

VATICAN CITY – In the year since his election as top leader of the church, Pope Benedict XVI has surprised and sometimes confounded critics and supporters alike. His message to both camps is that he intends to be pope his way, not theirs.

And not Pope John Paul II's way either, it seems. Pope Benedict reveres his charismatic predecessor and is committed to spreading his teaching, but he wisely hasn't tried to imitate him. Instead, in matters of style and also substance, he has brought his own distinctive manner to the office – one that's quiet, serene and now and then forceful.

As the whole world is aware, Pope Benedict came to the papacy with a reputation as a tough enforcer of orthodoxy. After nearly 24 years as prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, it was said, he could be counted on to crack down hard on dissent. So far he hasn't. His emphasis has been on reconciling.

He has reached out to everyone from arch-liberal theologian Father Hans Kung to far-right adherents of the Society of St. Pius X, which the excommunicated Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded before his death. In both cases the pope apparently has sought to keep his dialogue partners within – or else bring them back to – the Catholic fold.

He also has his eye on closer relations – even reunion, if he can bring it off – with the Orthodox, an objective sought by Pope John Paul. In late November, Pope Benedict will travel to Istanbul for a meeting with the patriarch of Constantinople as part of this continuing project.

Back to basics

In matters of a doctrinal nature, the approach of this theologian-turned-pope has essentially been back to basics. Three fundamental ideas – truth, love, faith – are central to much he has said and written in the past year, with the figure of Christ serving to unite these concepts in his synthesis.

Superficially simple yet, in fact, highly sophisticated, this theme was foreshadowed in something he said several years before becoming pope: "Nowadays especially, with the complexity of our problems, Christianity often becomes so complicated for us that we can no longer see the forest for the trees. It is a matter of being led back to the simple heart of it, not to anything else, but to the essentials, to conversion, to faith, hope and love."

Unpredictable pope

Doctrine is not the only area where Pope Benedict has been a surprise. So far, he has not done many of the things predicted just a year ago, while his slow, careful decision-making style repeatedly has frustrated the guesses of journalists and others predicting fast, dramatic action.

A case in point is the long-awaited reorganization of the Roman curia, the central administrative machinery of the church that deals with issues like doctrine, liturgy, canon law, the priesthood and much else.

Last fall, even people in the curia were predicting big changes in December, but December came and went without them. Pope Benedict made his first, minor moves toward a restructuring in March. It's widely assumed that there is more to come, perhaps soon after Easter.

A curial official who works closely with Pope Benedict XVI describes him as a highly disciplined man who prepares his daily schedule in the manner of a professor – which he was for years – preparing his next day's class. But while that might sound stiffly Germanic, in person he is visibly relaxed and warm.

One sign that he feels at home with his job is his surprising custom of holding unrehearsed question-and-answer sessions with priests. Presumably, he will continue to do that as often as the spirit moves him.

This is more give-and-take in public than even the outgoing Pope John Paul engaged in and an indicator that Pope Benedict is sure of himself. Previously it was often said that a pope couldn't risk taking questions in an open forum lest he make a mistake – something he couldn't afford to do, given his office.

Pope Benedict apparently doesn't expect to make mistakes, and may not be too worried about it if he does.

Liturgical change?

Another area where Pope Benedict is expected to make changes is the liturgy, although no one is sure exactly what the changes will be or when they will come. In very general terms, however, he is thought likely to move to correct liturgical abuses and excesses that have become entrenched since the Second Vatican Council.

Already Benedict has lived up to at least one widely-shared expectation regarding the council. Speaking to members of the Roman Curia before Christmas, he contrasted interpretations of Vatican II stressing "discontinuity and rupture" with those emphasizing "reform," and made it clear he comes down on the side of reform.

In this way Pope Benedict was throwing down the gauntlet to people who say the council issued a standing invitation to ongoing, radical change. How Vatican II ought to be interpreted may seem an issue of merely academic concern, but it's far more than that. At the heart of it is which changes are acceptable and which are not.

But up to now a laid-back style and a back-to-basics message have been the marks of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. "Service to the faith, which is a witness to the one who is the entire truth, is also a service to joy," he told the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in February. Pretty clearly, he wants to be a joyful pope.

- - -

Russell Shaw is a contributing editor of Our Sunday Visitor.

---

Pretty clearly, he wants to be a joyful pope.

---

Oh, at last, someone (in the media) sees it! What a delight to read an article like Russell Shaw's above!
Thank you, Benefan. He totally gets it about Papa. I didn't see one bit to quibble about in his article.
May his tribe increase.


AND IF YOU WANT TO GET INTO ECSTASIES
OVER THE MIND OF BENEDICT -

P.S. 4/7/05 1843 EDT - A translation of the full transcript of the Q&A between the Pope and the youth from
yesterday may now be found in the thread HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES.

He is once again passionate about the perils of secularism and relativism, and how the greatest challenge for Christians today is to make God present in public life, by having God as companion and friend in one's own private life.

He speaks of how one must read Scripture - and when he urges lectio divina, he tells us to go read Cardinal Martini, "a master of lectio divina," on this subject. Not his own writings but Martini's! - the man most people said was the progressives' leading candidate against Joseph Ratzinger just before the Conclave.

There's a beautiful exposition on how God the Creator instituted the sacrament of marriage almost immediately after he had created man, in which he underscores that the essence of matrimony is for man and woman to unite in love to become one flesh, inseparable, and create new life and the future of humanity together.

Of course, the most quoted part in the news reports was how he came about his vocation, and as always with Papa, he is most moving when he uses his own story to show how a Christian seeks to cope with life and its problems.

Fittingly however, the culmination of this highly unusual Q&A was his answer to how a Christian may reconcile faith and science. The man once wrongly tagged the Grand Inquisitor, and whom his critics sought to tar because he headed an office that had been responsible for some excesses in the remote past, began by quoting "the great Galileo" - often cited of course as one of the most pre-eminent victims of the Inquisition.

Then he proceeds to a lucid analysis of how an invention of the human mind like mathematics actually correlates to the objective structure of nature and matter, which it has been able not only to describe but also to harness for practical uses. He mentions but dismisses chaos theory, because he says if chaos had the upper hand, then technology would be impossible as chaos would render science unreliable.

This all leads to the conclusion that the coincidence of subjective rationality (mathematics) and objective reality (matter) points to a common First Reason, namely the Creator, God who is love. And that this is the option that Christians choose to believe.

I never thought I'd ever hear a Pope (or even a head of state, say - a public personage of great importance, in short) who could launch impromptu into such a brief but cogent resume of 'fides et ratio' via a disquisition on mathematics and the physics of matter. But this Pope was speaking to an audience of university students, and so he spoke to them at a level that assumed they had been taught their science correctly, and how exhilarating it was! I hope that most of the youth present there the other afternoon appreciated how extraordinary the occasion was - and the man himself!

Ratzigirl says - and I agree - that a streamer seen among the audience said it best:
BENEDETTO, SEI IMMENSO!
Coming from a crowd most reporters cavalierly presumed was composed mainly of Wojtyla's vaunted "Papa-boys," I am very happy for those among them who have the sense to recognize Benedict for who he is, and pray that those who do not yet do so will come to their senses soon!

P.S. I was just reading in the main forum where none of Italy's main newspapers reported this Q&A as a story, with the exception of Corriere della Sera, which ran a small item of a few paragraphs (I'll post the translation) and completely ignored the faith-and-reason discussion, which I thought was the most fascinating part!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/04/2006 4.50]

Bruno Bartoloni writes his account of the Pope's encounter with the Roman youth Thursday afternoon in the 4/7/06 issue of Corriere della Sera. Here is a translation -
---------------------------------------------------------------

ROME - A lesson of life and of faith from Benedict XVI yesterday on St. Peter’s Square, where 30,000 young people came to celebrate in preparation for their World Day next Sunday but also to ask questions about existence and transcendence of the theologian-pope.

The origin of his priestly vocation as an answer to the inhuman Nazi ideology, as articulated by the Pope for the first time, and the testimony of Maddalena, a sister of Don Andrea Santoro, who came to speak of pardon, bearing the bible of her brother, a Roman priest who was killed in Turkey by an assassin’s bullet, were the most moving parts of the encounter. Also present was Don Santoro’s mother Maria.

At the end of the event, Papa Ratzinger, accompanied by some youth representatives, descended into St, Peter’s tomb [actually the destination was John Paul II’s tomb – what an odd oversight on the part of the journalist!] with the Cross of World Youth Day which will soon leave for Australia and the next big WYD date in August 2008.

The question on the Pope’s vocation was asked by Vittorio, a 20-year-old catechist who is still hesitating before making his decision. The Pope explained that in his time, people lived their daily lives as good Christians, but on the other hand, the Nazi regime was screaming that in the new Germany there would be no more priests nor the consecrated life.

“Find another profession, we were told, but precisely on hearing these loud voices, precisely in confronting the brutality of the sisystem, I understood that priests were needed precisely as an answer to this system with an inhuman face.”

Long applause greeted the Pope’s disclosure. He went on to explain that he remains fascinated by the beauty of liturgy which allows us to a taste of divine beauty, and of how he was helped by the “beauty of knowing”, of the “great adventure of a dialog with God which is what theology is,” and of the deeper understanding of God’s word made possible by masters of Scripture such as, for example, Cardinal Martini.

He also admitted that “there was no lack of difficulties” for him, and he had to ask himself truthfully “whether he would have the capacity to live a life of celibacy altogether”, and that he found the answer in constant availability to everyone who needed him.

Anna, a 19-year-old iterature student, posed the most delicate questions: consumerism, the effort of loving, sexuality, premarital relations, family.

“The sacrament of matrimony is not an invention of the Church,” the Pope said, recalling that it was created with man himself, in the dynamism of love between a man and a woman, at the very beginning of the Biblical account of Creation.

Against the culture of consumerism, the Pope said, it is necessary “to create islands, oases, large areas of Catholic culture where the divine design is lived.”

To Nelly, a girl originally from the Cape Verde islands, the Pope said a God who preached violence was unacceptable, and that God “is not a private matter,” as preached by a secularism which represents “the great challenge of our time.”

The afternoon of celebration was accompanied by songs by many pop artists including Povia, who won the last songwriting award at the San Remo Festival.
----------------------------------------------------------------

After even a cursory reading of the Q&A transcript, one finds Bartoloni's account rather haphazard. He paraphrases a lot that he presents as direct quotes, and he omits altogether the final question about reconciling faith and science, and the Pope's brilliant philosophical-scientific precis of the Christian rationale for the existence of God.

Also, he should have fleshed out the few lines he had about the participation of Don Santoro's sister and mother in the afternoon's event. Their participation was unique and Don Santoro's death itself was unique enough to merit the kind of detail they would give to, say, a crime story! Just the fact for instance that Mama Santoro kissed the Pope on the cheek was extraordinary in itself!

What's wrong with these journalists who can't see the obvious?

...BUT WHAT WAS DISCUSSED?

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 7, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI presided over his second official meeting with officials of the Roman Curia.

The Vatican press office confirmed today's meeting, held in the Bologna Hall of the Apostolic Palace, but gave no details about the issues discussed.

It was the second meeting of this kind called by the Pope. At a meeting Feb. 13, the topics discussed included the question of reconciliation with the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Subsequently, the Holy Father requested that the issue also be addressed during the March 23 meeting of the world's cardinals, on the eve of the consistory.
---------------------------------------------------------------

The blogosphere is buzzing with a supposed Radio Vatican announcement on its Italian service that the Pope was all set to sign, or has signed, a motu proprio "to liberalize the Mass with respect to the rite of St. Pius X", and that this big announcement may be made on Monday of Holy Week.

I am holding my breath! Could this be the co-existence of rites I have been praying for? .

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/04/2006 9.09]

[G][/G]...that it WILL be the co-existence of rites that you have been hoping for. I'm holding thumbs too...

VATICAN CITY, 9 April 2006 (AP-) Pope Benedict XVI blessed palm fronds and olive branches Sunday in the Vatican, opening a ritual-filled Holy Week that pilgrims in Jerusalem celebrated in a procession retracing Jesus's triumphant return to the holy city some 2,000 years ago.

Wearing embroidered red vestments, Benedict processed through St. Peter's Square in Rome, which was lush with the palms and olive trees that are emblematic of the ceremony.

The pope told tens of thousands of people gathered under a brilliant springtime sun that the olive branches were symbols of Christ's peace, the palms symbols of his martyrdom. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the church's weeklong commemoration of the last days of Christ's life and his resurrection on Easter Sunday in the Christian tradition.

"With this liturgical assembly we enter into Holy Week, to live the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ," Benedict said in an opening prayer of the Palm Sunday Mass.

Pope John Paul II had made a tradition of dedicating Palm Sunday to the world's young people, and Benedict continued that legacy in his first year as pope.

After the Mass, young people from Cologne, Germany, which hosted last year's World Youth Day, formally handed over the large wooden cross used during the church's international celebration to a group of youngsters from Sydney, Australia, who are hosting the next gathering in 2008.

Benedict told them that for many, the cross on which Christ was crucified signified only his death and sacrifice. "But Palm Sunday tells us that ... it is the cross that is the true tree of life," he said, calling the cross a symbol of poverty, peace and the universality of the church.

According to tradition, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey a week before his crucifixion as followers spread palm branches in his path.

In Jerusalem on Sunday, some 20,000 pilgrims from around the world joyously waved palm fronds and flags as they marched from the Mount of Olives into the holy city.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah _ the top Roman Catholic official in the Holy Land _ led the procession, which included a mix of young and old, as local Scouts in assorted uniforms walked alongside elderly nuns and priests in colorful robes.

The march drew large crowds for the second year in a row, after several years when pilgrims stayed away because of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Armed Israeli police on horseback and on motorcycles accompanied the procession.

A cacophony of sounds filled the air as some marchers strummed guitars and others banged drums and hoisted loudspeakers _ playing songs and prayers in a variety of languages. Others hummed nearly silent hymns.

"It reminds me of a Thanksgiving Day parade," said Sister Catherine Hurley from Newton, N.J. "It's not how I would do it, but I'm happy that they are doing it."

Nevertheless, Hurley, a Salesian sister dressed in white with a large cross hanging from her neck, said she was "overwhelmed" by the number of Christians "of all shapes and sizes" converging in the Holy Land.

Pilgrims prayed in several languages, as Haitians, Poles, Ethiopians and Bolivians walked alongside each other, flipping through their prayer books as they marched.

This year's Holy Week will likely be bittersweet for many Roman Catholics, who remember the 2005 ceremonies, when John Paul made his final public appearances, unable to speak to the faithful but determined nevertheless to participate as best he could.



Here is the AsiaNews report:

Vatican City, 9 April 2006 (AsiaNews) – At least 80,000 youth, from Rome and around the world, took part in the celebration of the XXI World Youth Day (WYD) in St Peter’s Square, together with Benedict XVI, on the same day as the Church marks Palm Sunday and the Lord’s Passion at the start of the Holy Week rites.

That the WYD should coincide with Palm Sunday was planned by John Paul II 20 years ago. Over the years, celebrations in Rome and different dioceses alternated with world meetings, the last of which was held in Cologne last August.

A delegation of youth from Sydney (Australia) – the XXIII WYD in 2008 will be held there – attended today’s celebration. At the end of the Mass, a group of youth from Cologne passed the Holy Year Cross and the Icon of the Blessed Virgin, “Salus Populi Romani”, to the Sydney delegation.

For years, the Cross – and later the Icon too – has accompanied the pilgrimage of WYD youth around the world. The pope, in his homily, explained the symbol of the Cross and the pilgrimage, “from Cologne to Sydney – a journey through continents and cultures, a journey through a world torn and tormented by violence! Symbolically, it is like the journey from sea to sea, from the rivers to the ends of the earth. It is the journey of He who, in the sign of the Cross, gives us peace and makes us bearers of his peace.”

The Cross, a sign of contradiction and of life, was at the heart of the pope’s homily, given after the dramatic account of the Passion by the evangelist Mark....

(The English translation of tthe full text of the homily is posted in HOMILIES, MESSAGES, DISCOURSES]

At the end of the mass, the pope greeted youth in different languages, recalling that the “passing of the Cross, after each world meeting, has become a ‘tradition’, in the sense of traditio, a highly symbolic delivery, to be lived with great faith, with a commitment to undertake a journey of conversion in the footsteps of Jesus.”

A group of youth from Cologne delivered the Cross and the Icon of the Virgin into the hands of the group from Sydney, while Cardinal Meissner, archbishop of Cologne, embraced Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of the Australian city.

At one point, a youth cried out: “Viva il papa!” (Long live the pope!) The pope quickly replied: “Let us now hail Our Lady, with the prayer of the Angelus”. Benedict XVI told youth they would meet in 2008 in Sydney, “God willing”.

In the Italian Il Tempo today, Vatican correspondent Paolo Luigi Rodari goes out on a limb to anticipate what may be a Papal authorization to validate the old Mass. Rodari is the reporter who first came out with a story on the Pope's first encyclical last summer, reporting what the title was and that it would try, among other things, to reconcile the concepts of eros and agape. So, quite apart from my own personal wishful thinking on this issue, I am inclined to believe he has reason to go out on a limb as he does. Here is a translation -
---------------------------------------------------------------



In the next few days, maybe by Maundy Thursday* (the news is still unconfirmed), Benedict XVI may carry out an official act that will allow priests who wish to do so to celebrate Mass according to the pre-Vatican II rite, the Mass called St. Pius X’s Mass, and he could do this simply by declaring officially that that rite is still valid because no one ever abolished it.

An act by the Pope which, if carried out, may be an important turning point in confronting the issue of the schismatic Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) founded by Bishop Marcel Lefebvre.

With this kind of indult, in fact, all the traditionalists in the Roman Catholic Church can celebrate the old Mass without having to ask the permission of their local bishop. At the same time, the Lefebvrians, seeing this opening to tradition by Rome, may finally agree to accept without conditions the documents of Vatican-II, and they too may now celebrate the old Mass freely.

Yesterday, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, the organism created after the excommunication of Lefebvre in 1988 to oversee relations beween the Holy See and the Lefebvrians, had three new names added to it by the Pope, all three recently named cardinals: William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux and president of the French bishops conference; and Antonio Canizares Llovera, archbishop of Toledo.

They were probably added at the suggestion of Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, president of the Commission. New cardinals are often named to one or more of the Curial dicasteries, but each of the three new members of Ecclesia Dei are also particularly qualified. [All three are also known to share the Pope’s views on doctrine and liturgy.]

Levada, because the commission necessarily deals with doctrinal matters; Ricard, because he was already in Ecclesia Dei as a bishop (France having the most number of Lefebvrians). Canizares Llovera’s nomination was not as easily foreseen, but his excellent theological training can only be an asset to the commission.

*Rumors earlier in the week said it could be as early as tomorrow, Monday.
P.S. I used the picture to brighten up the report - and this page!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/04/2006 14.56]

Pope urges students at Opus Dei conference to share their faith

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Meeting with some 5,000 university students attending an Opus Dei-sponsored conference, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged them to deepen their friendship with Christ so they can share their faith with their friends.

The UNIV 2006 Conference brought students from some 200 universities in 32 countries to Rome for a week of study and exchanges on faith and modern life, focusing especially on the mass media.

Meeting the students April 10, the pope said it was obvious that the mass media do not always promote "personal relations, sincere dialogue and friendship among people," and they do not always help people cultivate their relationships with God.

The only way to combat the negative influence of the media, he said, is to "keep Jesus as one of your dearest friends, rather your best friend. Then you will see how friendship with him will lead to you opening yourselves to others."

Pope Benedict reminded the students that St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei, used to preach about the "apostolate of friendship," which involved being a true friend to others and sharing faith with them.

"Every Christian is called to be a friend of God and, with his grace, to attract one's friends to him," the pope said.

The pope told the students that through prayer and the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and penance, they would grow in friendship with Jesus and become a "new generation of apostles."

Anthony Njubi Gichiki from the Opus Dei-related Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya, spoke on behalf of the students, first of all in conveying their best wishes to the pope for his 79th birthday April 16.

At the end of the audience, a young woman presented Pope Benedict with a birthday cake; atop the chocolate icing sat a grand piano made of dark chocolate.

As described in the story above -

DEAR MAG6, I am not sure which comment of mine you were reacting to. I've been leaving comments everywhere these days, in the hope precisely of drawing other comments and reactions. [I have absolutely no feel or sense for what is likely to draw reactions. I certainly hoped the Dalai Lama interview would - Nope! not a single comment, though much of what he said cried out for comments. But Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton! - who knew?] In Post #1968 above on this page, on 4/7/06, I did an impromptu precis of the dialog - I wasn't meaning to, but I felt very frustrated that the journalists weren't doing it.

As for your implied question of "how does this man do it?", I'm sure Papa drew on all his years of being a theology professor and therefore subject to all kinds of questions from his students [can you imagine how argumentative a theology class could be?], plus all the years at CDF, fielding all sorts of questions - hostile, challenging, inane, contentious, provocative, silly - mostly from reporters out to "get" him.

Not for nothing was he christened "Goldmund" as a young lecturer. He obviously always had a gift for communicating, and one of the best things in that serendipitous German blurb that turned up with one of the Cardinal-Ratzi pix was something he said: "Erst in der Sagbarkeit bewaehrt sich der Gedanke" - which I translated as "Thought is best preserved when it is said well," the principle of good communications, and practically a slogan for the advertising industry! It would have been preferable to have a direct one-word English translation for Sagbarkeit, the quality of being sayable or expressible - in a way that's easily remembered, it's implied.

[Now that I'm looking it over, I can see that the quotation could be translated better as "Thought validates itself if it can be expressed well." Either way, it's a sophisticated variation of what good teachers always say, "If you can't say what you have to say in simple words, go back and rethink it."]



When media types say "People came to see John Paul, but they come to listen to Benedict" [a simplistic facile formulation that I abhor because it insults both Popes], I think what they really want to say is, "You know what? We all thought John Paul was a great communicator, and he was in his own way, but this guy's even better!" No one, of course, has the guts to say it.

About whether the Pope knew the questions beforehand, it's possible Cardinal Ruini told him or Giorgio, but I don't think that was critical at all. He knows what Catholic kids in that age group would be concerned about, that the questions would have to do with practical applications to their lives not scholarly issues, and Ruini's people vet the questions beforehand anyway so nasty surprises were unlikely. Besides, he was only going to have to deal with 5 questions.

About permission to translate what the Pope says, I don't know what the rules are. The way I understand it: in general, if you're translating anything in order to be able to quote excerpts and comment on those excerpts, that's perfectly legitimate. But if you're translating a whole piece in order to publish it as an uncommented text, it may be a violation of copyright.

It is not copyright violation at all - and this I am sure of from personal experience - if what you're translating is an item that comes from a news service of which you, or the commercial medium that is using the translated piece, are a subscriber. [In the Philippines, our media are at least bilingual - we have separate English and Filipino newspapers, as well as separate English and Filipino newscasts on radio and TV. So since the major wire services and news agencies do not provide any material in Filipino, the media are free to translate anything they get in the subscription service into Filipino or any of the other regional Philippine languages that the media market reaches.]

If you meant the Pope's dialog with the students specifically, I think the Vatican made it clear recently that their copyright regulations do not cover the Pope's public discourses when these are used for news and information purposes. They charged copyright fees from publishers/authors who used Cardinal Ratzinger's words from previously published books, articles, and discourses, for a commercial anthology or "dictionary" of his ideas on different subjects, and they did so without as much as seeking authorization. So that was a clear violation.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/04/2006 8.03]

Now comes CNA with the same story about a possible new life for the old Mass!

Vatican City, Apr. 10, 2006 (CNA) - A source at the Vatican has told CNA that during Holy Week Pope Benedict XVI may grant universal permission to use the Missal of St. Pius V, the liturgical rite used in the Church before Vatican II.

According to the source, the announcement could come “between Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday,” but the exact day has not yet been set. Nevertheless, the source said the decision has already been made by the Holy Father and that it’s “only a matter of time” before it is publicly announced.

“A minor official gesture by the Holy Father would be enough to allow the Mass according to the 1962 Missal to celebrated by whoever desires to do so, thus reiterating that this rite is still valid today simply because it was not abolished,” the source told CNA.

The announcement would be in the context of “the reform of the reform” that Pope Benedict XVI is promoting, which includes norms and principles that will be made public in the upcoming post-synod Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist.

At the same time, such a gesture by the Pope could contribute to ending the schism with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988.

On Saturday, Pope Benedict XVI named three new members to the Ecclesia Dei Commission, created by Pope John Paul II in order to reach out to the Lefebvrists. They are Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Richard, Archbishop of Bordeaux of president of the Bishops’ Conference of France, and Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera of Toledo, Spain.