Pope to new archbishops: Evil will never defeat Christ, church

By Carol Glatz and Cindy Wooden
6/29/2006
Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com)

VATICAN CITY – The powers of evil and death will never triumph over Christ and the church he built on the rock of Peter and continues to fortify with his successors, Pope Benedict XVI told new archbishops from 18 countries.

During the Mass, the pope gave the archbishops named within the previous year a pallium, a circular band of white wool marked with six black crosses. The pallium symbolizes an archbishop's authority and unity with the pope.

The pope and archbishops were dressed in brilliant red vestments, but the pope wore a longer, more traditional style of the pallium, which he reintroduced after his installation last year as bishop of Rome.

Among the 27 archbishops receiving palliums were U.S. Archbishops Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, George H. Niederauer of San Francisco and Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, as well as Canadian Archbishop Sylvain Lavoie of Keewatin-Le Pas, Manitoba.

In his homily, the pope recalled the trials of Job after God allowed Satan to test the man's faith. Similar trials continue to befall Christ's faithful, and sometimes "it seems that God gives Satan too much freedom" and "the capacity to shake us up too terribly."

But, just as Jesus prayed for Peter, he prays for the church and its people "that your own faith may not fail," he said.

After the ceremony, Archbishop Niederauer said that when the pope talked about Jesus heading toward Jerusalem for his suffering and resurrection "that road is going to be the same for us."

"We will not evade that cross, we will not evade the confrontations that come, but in Christ we will be able to carry our crosses,” he said, “and be able to keep the promise we made to Peter, the church" and Christ.

Seated near the altar was a delegation representing the leader of the world's Orthodox believers, Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, based in Istanbul, Turkey.

At the end of the Mass the pope and the head of the delegation, Metropolitan John of Pergamon, prayed together at St. Peter's tomb beneath the basilica's main altar.

The patriarch sends a delegation to the Vatican each year for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the Vatican's patron saints. This year, Pope Benedict is planning to go to Turkey Nov. 28-30 to participate in the Orthodox church's celebration of the Nov. 30 feast of St. Andrew, patron of the patriarchate.

Other guests at the pallium Mass included a 70-member choir from Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, Mich., which along with the Sistine Chapel Choir and an Italian choir provided music.

In his homily, the pope emphasized that the ministry of Peter and all Christ's disciples is "a commitment to service." An archbishop's authority over a church or an archdiocese, he said, is coupled with the responsibility of caring for his flock, like the good shepherd.

Even though Peter was weak and failed Jesus, he was still called to strengthen others because he had at last learned that building the church is not a job done alone, but is done with others and with the help of God, the pope said.

During the ceremony, each archbishop came up individually to the pope, bowed and knelt as the pope placed the woolen stole over his head. The pope warmly shook hands with each one and engaged in a brief conversation.

Archbishop DiNardo's twin sister, Peg Riesmeyer of McMurray, Pa., said later that when she saw her brother kneel for his pallium she "got teary-eyed" and thought how much she wished their parents, both of whom have died, could have been there.

"Dan always wanted to be a priest; from the time he was 4, that's what he wanted to do," she said.

She said she always felt he was destined for great things since he "seemed to have the will, the desire, the passion to become a priest," so receiving the pallium represents "a blessed, happy fulfillment of what we always thought Dan could do and would become."

Archbishop DiNardo said that becoming a new archbishop "means a great deal" and that receiving the pallium gives "the sense of your responsibility for the unity of your church."

He said Pope Benedict has referred to the pallium as "a sweet yoke," that is, a bittersweet responsibility to preserve the unity of the church with Peter and his successors.

Archbishop Wuerl said that in the Archdiocese of Washington Mass is celebrated each weekend in more than 20 languages.

The ethnic, linguistic and cultural traditions of the city's people all are part of the church there, he said, and the archbishop's job is "to highlight what we share – one faith, one baptism, one Lord – and, at the same time, to rejoice in our diversity."

Archbishop Wuerl added that with the nation's capital being in his archdiocese politics plays a big role. He said the church is not partisan, but rather speaks about issues and values, "what is needed to build a good and just society."

"In the pews are people with a range of political perspectives" and the archbishop must ensure that "the voice of the church is not pre-empted as a political voice," he said.

[Modificato da benefan 29/06/2006 22.58]

Ratzigirl posts a 'scoop' today from the widely-read online Italian column DAGOSPIA to the effect that -

Benedict XVI has approved an international Inter-Religious Encounter of Prayer for Peace organized by the Sant'Egidio Community (founded by Andrea Riccardi, a frequent contributor to the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano.)

This will take place September 4-5 in Assissi, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of an event that was dar to Pope John Paul II, and which was not fully looked on with approval at the time by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The slogan of the encounter is "For a world of peace and of reigions and cultures in dialog". Religious leadres from all over the world have been invited, along with the heads of the various Christian confessions.

"We will pray for peace together but in different places," said Mario Marazziti, spokesman for the Sant'Egidio Community.

This second Assisi encounter comes in the context of rigid norms imposed by the Vatican last November on activities that may be undertaken within the Franciscan churches in Assisi.

In 1986, pagan rituals reportedly were performed within some of these churches.

Part of the Pope's message yesterday to the new Uruguayan ambassador to the Vatican at his presentation of credentials was picked up by the Italian media today as the Vatican's opening salvo for the World Encounter of Families that opens in Valencia, Spain today. Here are translations of the articles.

The full message itself, translated from the Spanish, may be found in the HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES thread.
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New admonition from the Pope
on the eve of the Valencia encounter
By Bruno Bartoloni
Corriere della Sera

From the Vatican yesterday, Benedict XVI “opened” the World Encounter for Families taking place in Valencia Spain July 1-8, with a firm and renewed condemnation of PACS (Italy’s proposed civil-union pacts for gays and common-law couples) and homosexual unions.

The Valencia encounter opens today and will conclude on Saturday and Sunday with the presence of the Pope himself.

The Pope delivered his message in an apparently incidental manner in addressing the new ambassador of Uruguay to the Holy See, Mario Cayota Zapettini.

But the message, read in Spanish, clearly seemed addressed to the families gathered in Valencia and to Prime Minister Jose Zapatero’s secular Spain.

The Pope said matrimony was a union only between a man and a woman, and that other forms of conjugal union would usurp its rights. He reproved the media who “ridicule” the value of matrimony and the family.

He said he views “with concern” as a true and real threat to the “full dignity” of the human being “some tendencies wich seek to negate the inviolable value of human life from conception to its natural end, or to dissociate it from its natural context, namely, "human love within matrimony and a family.”

The Pope linked to the need for promoting a “culture of life”, not only for ”purely religious reasons”, the values of family as “the essential structure of society” and the question of “the union in matrimony of a man and a woman, according to the design imposed by the Creator on human life.”

Therefore, he expressed severe criticism of those means of social communcations which "denigrate or ridicule the high value of matrimony and of family, thus encouraging egoism and disorientation, instead of generosity and the sacrifices necessary to conserve the strength of this authentic primary cell of the human community.”

Benedict XVI said that “to support the family (and) help it to fulfill its indispensable tasks means to gain more social cohesion, and above all, by respecting its natural rights which cannot be dissipated in the face of other forms of (conjugal) union that presume to usurp these rights.”

Although avoiding the exasperated crusading tones taken recently by the Colombian Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, who is now in Valencia as President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Papa Ratzinger made it clear in his address to the Uruguayan ambassador that he will not hesitate to re-launch in Spain all of the Church’s firm principles on family and on the most sensitive issues regarding conjugal morality and bioethics.

He will be meeting with Prime Minister Zapatero in Valencia. The Vatican has already said that no journalists will be allowed to cover this meeting, not even at the start, as is usual with Papal audiences. At the moment, many in the Vatican consider the present Spanish government to be the number-one enemy of the traditional family.

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The Pope criticizes the media:
"Whoever denigrates the family
encourages egoism"
By Andrea Tornielli
Il Giornale

The communications media “denigrate or ridicule” the family founded on matrimony, Pope Benedict XVI said yesterday to the new Ambassador to the Holy See from Uruguay , Mario Cavota Zappettini, who presented his credentials.

On the eve of the World Encounter of Families which he will be attending in Spain next weekend, the Pope stressed once again that “matrimony” according to God’s design for human nature is that between “a man and a woman.”

Papa Ratzinger particularly reproved the mass media for how they portray the family: “Some media of social communications deigrate or ridicule the high value of matrimony and the family, thus favoring egoism and disorientation, instead of the generosity and sacrifices that are necessary to maintain the vigor of this authentic ‘primary cell’ of the human community,” he said in his address to welcome the new ambssador.

Such addresses are usually addressed principally to the new ambassador’s country of origin and therefore deal specific national issues. But the theme of family and matrimony between a man and a woman is something that the Pope has addressed whether it is to ambassadors from the Americas or from secularized Europe.

The Pope added that “to support the family (and) help it to fulfill its indispensable tasks, means to gain more social cohesion, and above all, to respect its natural rights which cannot be dissipated in the face of other forms of (conjugal) union that presume to usurp these rights.”

The Pope also reminded the new ambassador that the Church certainly promotes “a culture of life…(that is) generous and a bearer of hope, and not only for confessional (religious) motives” , because even in Uruguay, there are “many eminent persons who share the same concerns for ethical and rational reasons.” This appeared to refer to the possibility of a common front even with non-Christians in defense of human dignity.

Benedict XVI then insisted on the necessity of youth education that must not only be “technical and professional” but which addressses “every aspect of a person, of his social dimension and his desire for transcendence which is manifested in one of his most noble dimensions, namely love.”

The Pope also referred to “the vast problem of poverty and marginalization” which should have the priority attention of “governibng authorities and those in charge of public institutions.”

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/07/2006 3.04]

Yesterday, Benefan posted this item in NEWS ABOUT THE CHURCH:

Vatican City, Jun. 30, 2006 (CNA) - Vatican analyst, Sandro Magister, of the online magazine L’Espresso, says in an article to be published soon that Pope Benedict XVI will implement real liturgical reform in his upcoming Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist.

Magister bases his analysis on an interview with Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, published in the French Catholic daily La Croix.

He says that while the 15 cardinals and archbishops that make up the Synod council have already presented their recommendations, “It’s the Pope who will have the last word.”

Magister predicts there will be surprises “from Benedict XVI himself, who has very clear ideas on topics such as the Eucharist and liturgy. And he is very critical of some aspects of the post-conciliar liturgical reform.”

Here is a translation of the La Croix interview conducted by its Vatican correspondent Isabelle de Gaulmyn, published on 6/26/06 and promptly posted by Beatrice in our French section:

Vatican-II (liturgical) reforms
never really took off
The Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship says
the true spirit of Conciliar reform must be rediscovered -
Interview with Mons. Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don


One has the sense that liturgy is a priority with Benedict XVI.
With good reason. When one looks at the history of liturgy across the centuries, one sees how important it is for every man to listen to God and be in contact with Him. The Church has always been conscious that its liturgical life should be oriented towards God and provide a profoundly mystical environment.

However, for many years now, there has been a tendency to forget that, in favor of a spirit of total liberty that allows every space for invention without roots and without depth.

Has liturgy then become an object of polemics and debate within the Church and therefore a factor for serious divisions?
I think that is a purely Western phenomenon. Secularization in the West has led to a strong division between those who take refuge in mysticism, forgetting real life, and those who banalize the liturgy in depriving it of its mediating function to the beyond.

In Asia - for example, in my country Sri Lanka – each one, regardless of religion, is very conscious of man’s need to be carried beyond (the dimensions of every day). And this need should be translated into actual life.

I don’t think one must lower the sense of the divine to the level of man, but rather that we must seek to raise man towards a supra-natural dimension, where we can approach the divine mystery.

Now, the temptation to become a protagonist of this divine mystery, to seek to control it, is very strong in a society which ‘apotheosizes’ man as Western society does.

Prayer is a gift; liturgy is not determined by man himself, but by that which God causes to arise from him. It implies an attitude of adoration towards the Creator.

Do you think that Conciliar (liturgical) reform has gone too far?
It is not a question of being pro-conciliar or anti-conciliar, nor of being conservative or progressivist. I think that the reforms of Vatican-II have never really taken off.

Besides, this (liturgical) reform does not date from Vatican-II – it preceded the Council, having been borne with the liturgical movement at the start of the 20th century.

If one goes by the decree Sacrosanctum Concilium of Vatican-II, it deals with making liturgy a means of access to the faith, and any material changes in it should emerge organically, taking tradition into account, and not done precipitately.

There have been numerous drifts which have caused many to lose sight of the true sense of liturgy. One can say that the orientation of liturgical prayer after Vatican-II has not always reflected the texts of the Council, and in this sense, we can speak of a need for cotrection, of a reform of the reform. We must regain the liturgy within the true spirit of Vatican-II.

Concretely, how would this be done?
Today, the problems of liturgy revolve around the language (vernacular or Latin) and the orientation of the priest (facing the congregation or facing God).

I will surprise you: Nowhere in the conciliar decrees is its indicated that the priest should henceforth face the congregation, nor does it prohibit the use of Latin!

If the usage of current language is allowed, notably for the liturgy of the word, the decree specifies clearly that the use of Latin shall be kept in the Latin rite. So we expect the Pope to give us his instructions regarding these things.

Can we say then that all those who followed the post-conciliar reforms out of a sense of obedience, were mistaken?
No, it should not be made an ideological problem. I have noticed how much younger priests here in Rome love to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. It must be clearly pointed out that this rite, from the Missal of Pius X, is not “outlawed.”
Should a wider practice be encouraged? The Pope will decide.

But it is a certainty that a new generation demands a greater orientation towards mystery. It is not a question of form but of substance. To speak of liturgy, one must not speak only of its scientific or historico-theological sense, but above all, of an attitude of meditation, prayere and silence.

Once again, it is not about being conservative or progressivist, but simply of allowing man to pray and to listen to voice of the Lord. What takes place when we celebrate the glory of the Lord is not a purely human reality. If one forgets its mystic aspect, everything becomes muddled and confused.

If liturgy loses its mystic and celestial dimension, then who can help man and liberate him from his egoism and his self-enslavement? Liturgy should be, above all, a way of liberation, opening up man to the dimensions of the infinite.
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La Croix published this sidebar about Mons. Ranjith:

A faithful follower of Benedict XVI

58 years old, Mons. Ranjith was one of the first important Curial nominations made by Pope Benedict XVI. A native of Sri Lanka, he became Archbishop of Colombo in 1991, before being assigned to Ratnapura in 1995.

This brilliant and cultured man, who possesses great doctrinal classicism, was called to Rome in 2001 as sub-secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. But he was named Apostolic Nuncio to Indonesia in 2004, which was considered a demotion linked to the differences he had with Cardinal Cresencio Sepe, who was then the Prefect of that congregation (recently reassigned to be Archbishop of Naples).

Rannjith's nomination to the Congregation for Divine Worship to replace Mons. Sorrentino (reassigned to Assisi) as the right-hand man to Cardinal Francis Arinze, is a vindication of this man who shares Pope Benedict’s views.

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On 6/28/06, Beatrice posted an article by Jeanne Smits from the weekly magazine Present, which commented on the Ranjith interview in La Croix. As it consists mainly of quotations from the interview, I am not posting it in full.


Mons. Ranjith and
the 'reform of the reform'

“I have noticed how much younger priests here in Rome love to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. It must be clearly poinbted out that this rite, from the Missal of Pius X, is not ‘outlawed.’ Should a wider practice be encouraged? The Pope will decide…”
[A quotation from the interview with Ranjith]

This idea takes on added importance in the light of Ranjith’s having been recalled by Benedict XVI to the Roman Curia.

Better yet: This idea appears to be a urgent demand that finds support (by the Pope).

Mons. Ranjith has given another interview to a news agency in which he speaks of “some changes that have emptied the churches in ‘protestantizing’ them.”

Even more striking: These strong words come from the very heart of the Congregation for Divine Worship, not just from a member of an ad hoc study commission.

Also observe this: Mons. Ranjith denounces the current “tendency to forget” and the “spirit of total liberty that allows every space for invention without roots and without depth.”

[The writer proceeds to quote other excerpts from the La Croix interview]

Mons. Ranjith would like a return to the “true spirit of Vatican-II,” “a necessary correction,” “a reform of the reform.”

One could consider these words unsatisfactory or ambiguous, but they are clearly inscribed within the sense of a re-reading of the Council proposed by Benedict XVI in his address to the Roman Curia on December 22, 2005.

[The writer quotes more from the La Croix interview]

The “greater orientation towards mystery” which “a new generation” demands, according to Mons. Ranjith, appears to have irritated the La Croix writer (was she surprised, as Ranjith warned?) to the point that she accompanied the interview with a “Commentary” in which the newspaper’s editorial writer Michel Kubler, considering Ranjith’s statements as a “trial balloon” for some announcements which the Pope may soon make, warns:
“Such an ‘orientation’ will not fail to ‘disorient’ many more communities than those who are nostalgic for a supposed ‘Mass for always’ and who would now see their battle taken up by Rome itself. Should we envision such a (r)evolution? It seems we must.”

May Heaven grant it!
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Beatrice posted a third article called "The Pope surrounds himself with faithful followers", a long cover story in the magazine MINUTE, which analyzes recent events at the Vatican.
I will post the translation ASAP.

P.P.S. Except for Magister, who is not a journalist but a scholar-writer specializing in Church affairs, the Italian media did not pick up on the Ranjith story until an item in Il Giornale newspaper today, which summarizes the main points of the interview with La Croix, and concludes with the following statement:

Ranjith is certainly the most respected collaborator of Benedict XVI in this matter [Teresa's note: "after Cardinal Arinze," it must be said], and his statements signify that Ratzinger is close to issuing some relevant disposition in respect to the old rite (of the Mass)."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/07/2006 3.07]

Sandro Magister shows how the Pope has sought, in his recent catecheses and homilies, to explain the Primacy of Peter as Jesus Christ established it, according to the Gospels.
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The Victorious Barque of Peter,
Buffeted in Vain by Satan
In his homily for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul,
Benedict XVI describes a Church “buffeted by the wind
of ideologies,” but unsinkable. Because even in the
weakness of man,“the strength of God is revealed”
By Sandro Magister

ROMA, June 30, 2006 – At yesterday’s Mass in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, Benedict XVI dedicated his entire homily to the first of the apostles.

The primacy of Peter and his successors is one of the most controversial points among Christians. As on other occasions, Benedict XVI’s intention was clearly that of illustrating the meaning of this primacy in the light of Sacred Scripture, and thus of the will of Jesus. And he traced back to this original meaning his own office now as bishop of Rome.

As every June 29, so also this time there was present at the papal Mass in St. Peter’s a delegation from the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople. The delegation was headed by the metropolitan archbishop of Pergamum, Ioannis Zizioulas, an eminent theologian and for years a friend and a great admirer of Joseph Ratzinger.

But something else that emphasized the importance of the visit this year was the approach of Benedict XVI’s trip to Turkey: “a noble country where many holy Fathers of our ecclesial, theological and spiritual tradition spent their lives.”

Receiving the Orthodox delegation at the end of the Mass, the pope officially confirmed that he will meet with patriarch Bartholomew I next November 30, feast of Andrew the apostle, the patron of the Eastern Churches.

In greeting the delegation, the pope referred to the primacy of Peter and to Christian unity with this musical symbolism:
“I am pleased to recall how Byzantine hymnography attributes to Saint Peter a title charged with meaning, that of ‘protocoryphaeus,’ the first in the choir who has the task of maintaining the harmony of the voices, for the glory of God and the service of his people. I am therefore grateful to you who have come to unite your prayer to ours, prompted by our common commitment to continue the journey that leads us step by step to eliminate all dissonance from the choir of the one Church of Christ.”

But it was above all in the homily for the Mass that Benedict XVI went to the heart of the matter.

Before this homily, pope Ratzinger had dedicated to the apostle Peter three of the catecheses that he reads each Wednesday to the pilgrims gathered to listen to him: on May 17, May 24, and June 7.

In the catecheses following these he outlined, on June 14, the profile of Andrew; on June 21, that of James the Greater; and on June 28, that of James the Lesser. He has already announced that on Wednesdays still to come he will dedicate his catecheses to each of the other apostles.

And so, in the homily for the feast of saints Peter and Paul the pope revisited the figure of Peter from a different angle.

The Gospel proclaimed during the Mass (Matthew 16:13-21) contained the three classic images associated with the primacy of Peter: the rock, the keys, and the office of binding and loosing. But Benedict XVI said he did not want to explain these images once again, but rather to call attention “to the geographical and chronological context of these words”: the place is the spring of the Jordan, on the border of the pagan world; and the time is that of Jesus’ announcement that he is going to Jerusalem and to the Cross.

“Both things,” the pope continued, “go together and determine the inner place of the primacy [of Peter], in fact of the Church in general: the Lord is continually on a journey towards the Cross, towards the lowliness of the suffering and slain servant of God, but at the same time, he is also headed toward the vastness of the world, in which He goes before us as the Risen Lord [...]. For the Church, Good Friday and Easter always go together. [...]

"The Church – and Christ in it – still suffers today. Christ is relentlessly mocked and stricken over and over again in the figure of the Church; there are always efforts to push it out of the world. The barque of the Church is forever being buffeted by the wind of ideologies that penetrate it with their waters, seemingly condemning it to sink. And yet, precisely in the Church’s suffering, Christ is victorious. [...] He stays on his boat, the ship of the Church. Thus even in the ministry of Peter there is revealed the weakness of what comes from man, but also the strength of God.”

Later in the homily, Benedict XVI illustrated two other passages from the Gospel “in which the Lord, in a particular way each time, transmits to Peter the task that would be his.”

The first is Luke, 22:31-32, with Jesus telling Peter during the last supper:
“Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.”

The other passage is John 21:15-19, after the resurrection:
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’

"He then said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’

"He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’

"Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep. Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’

"He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, ‘Follow me.”

And here – in the complete text of the homily – is how Benedict XVI explained the primacy of Peter and his successor in the light of these two passages from the Gospel, apart from th.

[Magister posts an English translation of the homily. See
www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=68841&eng=y
I posted my translation in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES on 6/29. Translations of the Pope's catecheses and Angelus messages are in the thread AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS.]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/07/2006 19.09]

Sandro Magister reports the following in his June 30 blog, translated here -
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At the end of an interview with Avvenire on June 30, in defense of Gregorian chant, the rpesident of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Mons. Valentino Miserachs Grau, previewed some news and predicted another.

The news is that Benedict XVI will be present in November “at the inauguration of our institute which has recently been reconstructed. The fact that he will be present himself is a sign that he follows the situation closely.”

But the anticipated news concerns the Vatican Curia. Besides trimming off the superfluous, Papa Ratzinger may also be filling in some blanks.

One of these, Miserachs notes, is the lack of “a Vatican entity which authoritatively coordinates all who work with sacred music and watches over liturgical celebrations.”

He adds that “Benedict XVI, great connoisseur and passionate lover of music, will make a determinative contribution” in this respect.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/07/2006 20.13]

What good news! This may the beginning of a liturgical music renaissance in the 21st century. Grau has been griping for how long about the lack of interest in the Vatican regarding this issue. Go for it Papa!

Again thanks to Beatrice, this item from the online French journal libertepolitique, which is an advance text of an editorial to appear in next week's issue of the magazine France Catholique. Here is a translation.
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Benedict XVI and
the reform of the reform
By Gerald LeClerc


Benedict XVI is preparing to make decisions in favor of a reform of the reforms in liturgy! Some people are happy, some are not.

Not having precise information about the Holy Father’s concrete intentions, we can however understand the spirit in which it will be made, since he has expressed himself several times on the subject, and since Cardinal Ratzinger, before becoming Benedict XVI, was never miserly with his comments about the liturgical reforms that followed Vatican-II.

If the Pope will intervene in the subject at this time, it will evidently not be to start a new conflict within the Church and revive old quarrels which have divided progressivists and traditionalists over a half century.

The media system is only too happy to orchestrate oppositions which they would make analogous to political conflicts in order to blur the more serious questions, those which concern the faith itself.

And when one talks of liturgy, it is above all the faith that we speak of, according to the ancient saying, lex orandi, lex credendi. There are grounds to relativise all political and ideological – even aesthetic - sensibilities in favor of a re-focusing on the essential. It is from this point of view that Rome’s eventual steps to reconcile with the movement called traditionalist must be understood and welcomed.

A theologian like Yves Congar – who otherwise had an ecumenical and reformist reputation – did not hesitate to recognize the legitimacy of some demands coming from opponents of Vatican-II.

He admitted openly that one can be attached to the Mass of St. Pius X as long as one did not also reject the Mass of Paul VI.

Cardinal Ratzinger went further by acknowledging that there had been serious drifts in litrugical reform, which are alien to the conciliar constitution on the liturgy and that the Church should pay sustained attantion to some complaints and some objections about these reforms.

One cannot take lightly, for example, the question of the orientation of liturgy towards the direction of the rising sun which is symbolic of the risen Christ. Claudel has been much mocked for rising up against what he called “the Mass in reverse (facing the wrong way)”.

But if, with the priest turned towards the congregation, the congregation is focused on itself and forgets that liturgy is meant to be an opening towards the mystery of God, then the deviation is indeed very serious.

It seems to us that the new disposition of the Cathedral of Paris (Notre Dame), which one sees in the beautiful trransmissions by KTO, should provide ample matter for reflection.

Now, all the attention is drawn towards the great golden Cross at the back of the choir section. This provides the right orientation for liturgical acts to draw the congregation and the celebrants from contemplating themselves so they can enter into the dynamics of God’s mystery.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/07/2006 7.10]

Holy War Of Words

The Pope's planned visit to Spain is a volley in his battle against secularism


By JEFF ISRAELY | ROME
Time Magazine
Sunday, Jul. 02, 2006

The signature sound bite of Benedict XVI's papacy may have been delivered the day before he became Pope. Just hours before entering the Sistine Chapel to help choose John Paul II's successor, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger gave an impassioned sermon in which he decried the "dictatorship of relativism." The conservative German theologian used the phrase to warn against modernity's creation of a secular ideology "that does not recognize anything as definitive, and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's ego and desires." The "dictatorship of relativism" quote has become a rallying cry for some Roman Catholic conservatives, especially those dismayed by the growing spread of secularism in Europe, once the bastion of Christianity.

His message has not softened. In a June 5 speech in Rome, Benedict again warned about "our current secularized society" that, he said, "corrodes the most sacred bonds and most worthy affections of the human being, with the result that people are debilitated and our reciprocal relations rendered precarious and unstable."

Such workaday pronouncements in Rome may not draw much attention. But this week Benedict visits Spain, the European democracy that arguably best represents the relativist tyranny he so dreads. Having accepted an invitation to attend the church's World Meeting of Families in Valencia on July 8-9, Benedict will arrive in a once devoutly Catholic nation that both admirers and critics around the globe now refer to as "Zapatero's Spain." Since his March 2004 electoral victory, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has pushed through a series of social policies — from gay marriage and adoption to easier divorce proceedings and increased stem-cell research — that have made him a lightning rod in the ongoing Western debate over family values.

Disciple

And for many participants in that debate, Benedict has become the anti-Zapatero. With a fierce intellect and clear ideas about fixing Catholicism's troubles on its home continent, Benedict sees Spain as a prime battleground. When he welcomed the newly appointed Spanish ambassador to the Holy See on May 20, Benedict went beyond the typical diplomatic niceties, alluding to gay marriage, abortion and the right to a Catholic education. No doubt, the encounter with Zapatero on Saturday evening is the photo-op the worldwide media are most anticipating.

The real tone of that encounter, however, will be established after the event, when the Pope addresses the Valencia conference and sets out his views on family. Angelo Cardinal Scola, the Patriarch of Venice, a Ratzinger disciple who has written extensively on this issue, will be in Spain. "Rather than a 'better opinion,' we speak of a 'prevalent tradition,'" he tells Time. "The word family has a meaning. The word marriage means a union between a man and woman open to life. I hold that a homosexual couple does not constitute a family."

It seems likely that Benedict has chosen his destination strategically, in order to hammer home a point. (He is free to select his foreign jaunts from endless invitations.) "It's a gift for the Pope," says Austen Ivereigh, a top aide to Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster. "He can say, 'Look at Zapatero, this is what really underlies European secularism.' In Spain, he will look like he's articulating what is close to the heart of the mass of Europeans." Of course, that heart is also susceptible to relativism.

Polls consistently show that 80% of Spaniards identify themselves as Catholic, even if only about one-fourth actually practice their faith. Although gay marriage, and certainly gay adoption, is unacceptable to many, only a tiny proportion of Catholics follow the church's strict doctrine on birth control and premarital sex — doctrines that Benedict himself has recently reiterated. Rates of divorce in Spain, where just a quarter-century ago the practice was still outlawed, are about 50%, and abortion rights are guaranteed in virtually every corner of the Continent.

Faith

Still, Ivereigh, whose boss at Westminster is considered less conservative than his former fellow Cardinal Ratzinger, thinks the new Pope may be particularly well suited for swaying the European discourse. "Benedict is a real intellectual. He has an almost touching faith in the power of reason," says Ivereigh. "He's convinced that the intellectual arguments are on his side. The challenge for him is to make the case without looking like he's old-fashioned. How do you make the case about traditional marriage something interesting and exciting? But if any Pope can do it, he can."

For his part, Zapatero seems bound to look for new ways to make his case for radical social change. Though some have called for a new liberal euthanasia law, which would again raise the church's ire, the government has found that some of the changes it seeks surprisingly overlap with the church's interests — like a proposal made two weeks ago that would extend maternity leave for working mothers. But Anglo-Spanish writer Tom Burns Marañon, a liberal Catholic, anticipates an intellectual slugfest in Valencia. "What are Popes for if not to lay down the law over anything they don't like? Of course the government won't like it, but it does no harm to a government to hear the Pope criticizing them. If the Pope came here and didn't lay down the law, then Catholics would be very unhappy and the left would be in disarray. This way both sides will be happy." Spoken like a true relativist.

With reporting by Jane Walker/Madrid

Beatrice posted this cover article from the weekly French magazine MINUTE, which describes itself as 'the politically incorrect weekly magazine,' in the French section on 6/28/06. It is an analytical review of the Pope's moves so far in setting up his own government at the Vatican, after having worked for more than a year with men carried over from the previous Papacy .
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MAJOR MANEUVERS AT THE VATICAN:
The Pope surrounds himself with the faithful
By Joel Prieur
MINUTE, 6/28/06


There are multiple changes at the Vatican. They obviously follow a new logic and constitute a first turning point in the pontificate of Benedict XVI. The Holy Father is surrounding himself with faithful followers.

The election of John Paul II’s successor, Benedict XVI, had raised great hope in the traditional fringe of the Catholic Church. A little bit over a year later, the internal situation of the Church cannot seem more calm.

No great decision has been made. It seems that the new Pope has definitely chosen to pursue a politics of small steps. His great intelligence gives him undeniable superiority over any other religious leader in the world.

But his messages – like his only encyclical so far, Deus caritas est – published last January, may perhaps seem too subtle for those who would want to have something more innovative and illuminating. And when I say “too subtle”, I don’t mean only for the faithful at large, who had not read encyclicals in a long time, but for priests and even bishops.

The French bishops, for example, find it difficult to understand the Pope’s teaching about Vatican-II. Their chief, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, expressed himself on the subject last April 7. As though we were still in the 1970s and as if nothing had changed in Rome since Paul VI. As if Popes’ messages have remained the same for 40 years.

What is needed to shake this torpor of ecclesiastical executives who are cocooned within their pastoral certitudes and who seem to invariably apply the formulas of ‘post-conciliar practice” to any situation?

I think that without knowing Charles Maurras, the chief of Action Francaise, Benedict XVI found reson to apply to the insulated world of ecclesiastics the Maurrassian precept of “Politics first!” Instead of wasting his credit on sensational declarations, he has instead very carefully prepared a profound change in the managerial team at the Vatican.

And he has chosen his moment, just before the summer vacations, when in Rome, everything comes to a halt in the summer heat, to preview some of the changes which become effective on September 15.

Even as he set out to show during the first year of his Papacy that he was not the odiously conservative person he was said to be - and succeeded easily in reassuring the world without giving up anything - he is now naming men who are like him and who will be there to carry out his policies.

In the battle between the progressivists and the conservatives, Benedict XVI has not sought to sprinkle ideologies in the heart of the Roman Curia as John Paul II did by naming a progressivist cardinal here and a conservative one there, trusting in his lucky Polish stars that out of such a disparate base, a “pluralist Church” could be harmoniously constructed.

This time, for the first time probably since Pius XII, who was Pope from 1939 to 1958, all the nominations made by the Vatican have the same sense. They are men who are open in the exercise of their ministry but who are profouundly conservative in their beliefs.

The first important change is the Secretary of State. In France, the state secretaries are inferior to the ministers. In the Vatican, the Secretary of State is the number-2 man. He substitutes for the Pope on some occasions, and he presides, if one wishes to look at it thus, over a council of ministers composed of all the prefects of the different congregations. In short, it is he who gives the heavy Vatican machinery of government its spirit and its force.

The man chosen by Benedict XVI is little known outside Italy – the Archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has many arrows in his sheaf. Ordained a priest in 1960 in the Salesian Order, (the congregation founded at the end of the 19th century by the famous Don Bosco to serve an apostolate among the youth), he was destined to be one of these youth chaplains who have done so much for the Church.

Something remains of this original profile. He is capable of commenting with enthusaiasm on football matches, particularly if it involves the team which he always rooted for, Juventus of Turin.

But the studies which the young priest undertook in Rome at the start of the 1960s would take him far away from football and make of him, rather quickly, a university professor and expert in canon law and moral theology. Dean and then “Rector magnificus”, he taught at both the Lateran University and the Salesian university in Rome, where he became Rector.

His task in these positions? Essentially the formation of future priests. And since he was in Rome, he served as a consultant to the Curia. It is in this role that he found himself on the team that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger mobilized to convince Mons. Marcel Lefebvre in 1988 to return to Rome. It seems that he has often recalled this mission which was for him particularly memorable.

Cardinal Ratzinger, himself a first-rank university man, did not fail to notice this professor, who was even then well-known for his rectitude. On June 13, 1955, he made him his second-in-command at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. And they would work together for seven years, until February 2003, when Bertone was named to be Archbishop of Genoa and later cardinal (October 21 of the same year).

This diocesan responsibility would make of this university professor one of the most important men in the universal Church. His course of honor would continue without a hitch, and without the two men losing touch with each other.

In the letter which Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI sent to the faithful of Genoa to explain why he was calling their bishop to Rome where he would be his right-hand man, he acknowledged the “reciprocal familiarity and confidence” that exists between them: “He is a minister who is particularly capable of combining pastoral attention with doctrinal preparation,” he said, which in ecclesiastical language, means that he has all the qualities, personal as well as intellectual, for the post to which he was named.

I’m not a prophet but I think that Cardinal Bertone will be, starting the end of this year, somewhat more than an ordinary Secretary of State. At 71, he is in full vigor. There is no doubt that the Pope will depend on him a lot, as the aging Pius XI did on a certain Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli who would go on to become Pius XII. But from now on, it will be dificult to minimize the importance of Bertone. His nomination is nothing short of a palace revolution.

Cardinal Angelo Sodana, Secretary of State since 1991, who has passed the age limit, being 78, may well say that he has been “linked for some time by a relationship of esteem and friendship” with his successor, but the fact is the progressivists [to whom Sodano belongs] have lost their prerogatives little by little at the Vatican.

In the first place, his deputy for international relations, Mons. Giovanni Lajolo, is doubtless paying for having been too close to Sodano. He has been named to the governorship of Vatican City. Certainly, this virtually assures him of becoming a cardinal, but he leaves a very important post vacant (minister of foreign relations), which may be given to the current Apostolic Nuncio to Paris, Mons. Fortunato Baldelli, a very diplomatic personality well-known for his sympathies with the traditional world.

One must review the changes that have taken place over the past months. They all go in the same direction. Mons. Michael Fitzgerald, who was President of the Pontifical Council for Itner-Religious Dialog, was named Nuncio (a simple ambassador) to Egypt and delegate of the Holy See to the Arab League. That is not a promotion for one of the emblematic figures of pregressivism in the Vatican!

Mons. Domenico Sorrentino, the enterprising secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and advocate of an even more aggressive liturgical revolution, was named supervisor of the Basilicas of Assisi. Officially he is charged with supervising the Franciscan priests who until recently, had the right to be unsupervised, but ended up displeasing Rome by organising the sacrifice of chickens on the venerable altars of their churches, and other such monkey business in the name of “religious dialog”.

Another change? Cardinal Cresencio Sepe, the gray eminence of progressivism, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, was sent to Naples and replaced by a faithful follower of the Ratzinger line, Mons. Ivan Dias, Archbishop of Bombay.

As for Mons. Albert Ranjith of Sri Lanka, he had been ‘chased out‘ of Rome in 2004 by Cardinal Sepe himself because he found him too convervative. He has returned to Rome in glory: as secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, replacing Sorrentino. His outspokenness (see sidebar) may presage that he will eventually succeed Cardinal Francis Arinze as head of the congregation.

The entire face of the Roman Curia is changing. What will Benedict XVI do with his new team of aces? At present, no one can tell. But it is clear that he is in the process of giving himself the human elements of a solid government with a consistent policy.

In Rome, where John Paul II, much like the Queen of England, reigned with pomp without necessarily governing with rigor, the least one can say is that change is in the air! In the Vatican corridors at present, one senses the wheeze of bullets flying and each one asks, Whose turn is it?

Prieur's sidebar on Mons. Ranjith:

The little island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), south of India, counts among its citizens an ecclesiastical dignitary who does not mince words. He is Mons. Albert Malcom Ranjith Patabendige Don, secrétary of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Shortly after coming out of the closet where the pre-Ratzinger Vatican had wished to keep him (the Nunciature in Jakarta) and returning to Rome at the call of the Pope, he has given two interviews about a return to the Latin Mass, one to the Vatican news agency I-media, and the other to the French daily, La Croix.

“Today,” he says without hesitation, “the problems of liturgy concern the language (vernacular or Latin) and the position of the priest (facing the congregation or facing God)."

Here we have “one of Benedict’s men” who sees “the problems of liturgy” exactly as a French traditionalist might see them. And he poses them in the same terms.

“On this subject,” he went on, “we are waiting for the Pope to give us his instructions.”

Meanwhile, he cannot keep from remarking that “many young priests would love to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, the mass in Latin." And, he concludes, repeating a formulation made by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos on May 24, 2005, “the Missal of St. Pius X is not outlawed.” (JP)

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/07/2006 3.17]

The Vatican announced today that the Pope will spend his summer holidays, July 11-28, in Les Combes (Valle d’Aosta).

There will be no General Audiencies 12, 19 and 26 of July.

16 and 23 of July the Pope will pray the Angelus from Les Combes.

The Holy Father will return to his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo July 28.

The will be no private and special audiencies, but the General Audiencies will continue from August 2.

[Poor Papa. Gay organizations in the US and England already consider him their worst enemy and constantly criticize him in their public comments.]


Chief Rabbi Amar calls on Pope to denounce Gay Pride Parade

By Amiram Barkat and Gideon Alon,
Haaretz.com correspondents

Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, asking the Catholic leader to condemn the annual International Gay Pride parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem in August.

Amar asked the pope to "strongly and unequivocally come out against this terrible phenomenon, out of hope that a general protest from different religious leaders will awaken the lost hearts who are deceiving themselves and immeasurably harming their souls, and discourage the willful wrongdoer from cursing and corrupting the human way."

Religious and ultra-Orthodox legislators on Tuesday expressed their great dismay at plans to hold the annual event in Jerusalem.

Speaking at a special session of the Knesset Interior and Environment Committee MK Nissim Ze'ev (Shas) said "the gay parade in Jerusalem is a parade of swine on Temple Mount. It's a revolting parade of filth. Do you want to set Jerusalem alight? Do you want to force your sexual tendencies upon us?"

The comments made by MK Ze'ev infuriated Meretz MKs Zehava Gal-On and Avshalom Vilan who said they were incitement.

But the Jewish lawmakers were joined by their Muslim counterparts who attended the session alongside religious leaders of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths.

MK Ibrahim Tzartzur (Ra'am-Ta'al) said "we have not encountered this problem in Arab society. This is a wrong phenomenon that should not be empowered by allowing this provocative parade."

Committee chairman MK Ghaleb Mgadalah (Labor) pleaded before the organizers of the parade who attended the session to seriously consider holding it in Jerusalem in light of the fierce objections by representatives of the three monotheist religions.

MK Ya'akov Margi (Shas) said, "it has not yet been determined if homosexuality is an illness or a perversion. 'Pride' is a despicable attribute that should be eradicated," he said.

A representative of the Association of Gay Men, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender in Israel said "Jerusalem is not only yours. We didn't come here to have sex on the streets."