Summit Reflects "Positive Development"
of Orthodox/Catholic Relations

MOSCOW, JULY 6, 2006 (Zenit.org).- During the World Meeting of Religious Leaders, Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow expressed his gratitude to Pope Benedict XVI for his attention to this meeting.

"We are very grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for the high value he placed on the idea of holding an interreligious summit and, in addition, for wishing success to all participants in the works," said the Patriarch.

The Vatican delegation sent to the summit reflected the "positive development of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church," Alexy II said.

"Our collaboration as a whole is especially necessary today because the common positions we hold on many current questions unite our Churches and are an excellent opportunity to be united witnesses of Christian values to the world," he added.

At the end of the summit, several representatives of the Catholic delegation concelebrated Mass in the city's cathedral with Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow.

Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, preached the homily, which, as Archbishop Kondrusiewicz affirmed, was the first joint sermon to resound in Moscow's cathedral.

From the Vatican Information Service:


HOLY FATHER BEGINS A BRIEF HOLIDAY IN VALLE D'AOSTA

VATICAN CITY, JUL 11, 2006 (VIS) - At 10.30 a.m. today, Benedict XVI left Rome by plane and, following an hour-long flight, arrived at the airport of Saint Christophe in the Valle d'Aosta region of northwestern Italy. He then travelled by car to the residence of Les Combes where he will spend a 17-day vacation.

As he did last year, the Pope will stay in a chalet belonging to the Salesian Order, the same as that in which John Paul II also used to spend his holidays. The building, made of wood and stone, has two floors and is surrounded by a large garden. It stands at an altitude of 1,200 meters and has views over Mont Blanc and other mountains on the French-Italian frontier as well as over the Italian-Swiss Alps.

The only two public ceremonies the Pope is due to attend during his vacation are scheduled for July 16 and 23, when he will pray the Angelus from the house in which he is staying. Access to this event is open to everyone, says a communique from the diocese of Aosta, and all those wishing to do so may go to Les Combes to hear the Holy Father and pray with him.

Benedict XVI will stay at Les Combes - located some 20 kilometers from the city of Aosta within the municipality of Introd - until July 28.

Following his vacation in Valle d'Aosta, the Pope will move to his summer residence of Castelgandolfo, 30 kilometers south of Rome, where he will remain until the end of September.

The Pope's next apostolic trip, the fourth since the start of his pontificate, will take him to Germany from September 9 to 14.



[I really think this location is the best place to see Papa up close since usually only 6,000-7,000 people manage to climb the mountain and attend his angeluses as opposed to the mob scenes in Rome. What we need to do as a group is make reservations in Introd as soon as we hear that Papa plans to vacation there. We can spread out around the mountain and in the village with our binoculars and whenever he comes down the mountain to go sightseeing, we can text-message each other and show up en masse wherever he stops. It might be kind of hard to all fit in the same cable car going up to Mt. Blanc but it would be cozy.]

Pope begins Alpine vacation

Jul. 11 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Valle d'Aosta on July 11 to begin his summer vacation in the Italian Alps.

The Holy Father will stay in the little village of Les Combes, in northeast Italy near the French border, until July 28. At the conclusion of his vacation the Pope will go to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, to remain there through September.

The Pope left the Vatican on Tuesday morning, traveling by helicopter to the Ciampino airport, where he boarded a flight to Valle d'Aosta. He was welcomed there by Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi and local government officials, as well as about 200 of the faithful. After exchanging a few words with the crowd, he continued by car to Les Combes, where another short welcoming ceremony awaited him.

Pope Benedict will spend most of his vacation time in isolation, in the chalet where his predecessor, John Paul II, enjoyed several summer breaks. The Pontiff is scheduled to make only two public appearances, to pray the Angelus on Sunday, July 16, and again on July 23, at Les Combes. He will not hold his regular Wednesday public audiences.

Last year, staying in the same spot, Pope Benedict used his leisure time for reading and writing, spending hours at the piano, and taking walks through the scenic region. (He also began drafting his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est) Local officials said that they had marked off several hiking trails for the Pontiff, while also doing their best to ensure that his repose is not interrupted. Although Les Combes is an isolated village, with few means of public access, extra security forces are on duty during the Pope's stay.

Joking with journalists, the Pope remarked that he hoped they, too, would be able to enjoy some relaxation during his vacation.

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[Only 200 were on hand for his arrival? We could easily have gotten to the front of that crowd.]

All news about the Pope during and about his trips to Poland and Valencia are found in their respective threads. Similarly, his trip to Bavaria will occupy a separate thread.

[This story has more details about Papa's arrival in Val d'Aosta and how he will spend his summer vacation.]

Benedict XVI Begins Vacation in Alps

Family-style Welcome Greets His Arrival

INTROD, Italy, JULY 12, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Study and rest is what the Pope plans for his summer vacation in the village of Les Combes in the heart of the Italian Alps.

On Tuesday, just over a day after his arrival from the closing of the 5th World Meeting of Families in Spain, Benedict XVI traveled by helicopter from the Vatican to Rome's Ciampino airport where he boarded a plane that landed in Aosta Valley's Saint Christophe airport shortly before midday.

He will be in the Aosta Valley until July 28.

He was received by Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi, civil and military authorities and some 200 people who greeted him with prolonged applause.

The Bishop of Rome went by car to Les Combes of Introd, where he was welcomed by the mayor and the Salesian community, whose rector major is Father Pascual Chavez.

It was a "family" welcome: "the residents of Introd were present, as were the children of the day care center who recited a poem," Salvatore Mazza, reporter of the Italian newspaper Avvenire, said on Vatican Radio.

"The Pope was really in a good mood; he spent time with everyone." He was "very happy to be back" in Les Combes, "also because he was impressed by the reception he was given last year," Mazza said.

No plans

As it is "a period of rest" there are "no plans," Mazza reported. But, the journalist explained that during last year's vacation, the Pope "in general spent the morning working in the house, while in the afternoon he would walk on one of the paths -- there are about 100 -- that go from Les Combes into the woods."

In this period of rest, the Wednesday general audiences are suspended.

However, the Pope will keep his appointments with the faithful at midday on Sunday, July 16 and July 23, to pray the Angelus from his residence in Les Combes.

The chalet is the same one in which John Paul II stayed. Located about a mile above sea level, it is on a property that the Salesians use for young people's gatherings during the year and for summer camps.

From a large window in the dining room, the Holy Father can see Mont Blanc, Europe's highest peak, and the forests that surround the chalet, which has a garden and a small square dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

At the entrance to the forest surrounding the villa, there is a tree-lined path with the Stations of the Cross.

After his stay in the Aosta Valley, the Holy Father will go to the papal summer residence of Castelgandolfo, some 19 miles south of Rome, where he will remain until the end of September.

A friend

In the Aosta Valley, the Pope is welcomed "as a friend," said Bishop Anfossi on Vatican Radio.

"We want this vacation to have a private character, so that the Pope has all the time to himself … therefore, there will be great discretion, which is a specific characteristic of ours," said the prelate in reference to residents of the valley.

However, Bishop Anfossi said on Vatican Radio that "We have a beautiful surprise for the Pope: our valley, which is French-speaking, has a community of German-speaking people.

"They arrived from Switzerland in the Middle Ages. They are the Walser, and they speak Teoch, a German dialect. We want them to be present at the Angelus of the second Sunday. We also hope he will be able to have a meeting with young people."

The chalet in Les Combes has a piano that might enable Benedict XVI to enjoy his favorite pastime.

Here is a translation of a front-page article in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale today. It is bylined "The Editors" (La Redazione) rather than by a single writer. (The newspaper's principal Vatican correspondent is Andrea Tornielli.)

Should we hold our breath just yet? If this were any other Pope, I would say that nothing will probably happen during the Pope's vacation, especially not something as "big" as this event (if it happens). But B16 marches to his own beat, so one never knows - he may even announce it at the next Angelus message, if there is anything to announce!

Right now, however, I still do not get the sense that the Lefebvrians will go for it. Nothing in their statements and actions over the past few weeks gives ground for optimism, but the persons responsible for this article obviously have their reasons to think otherwise. So let us hope and pray...
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AN ACCORD IS NEARER*
WITH THE LEFEBVRIANS

Everything is ready for an agreement between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) founded by the rebel Bishop Marcel Lefebvre.

For several weeks, the Vatican has transmitted precise proposals for an agreement and a return of the Lefebvrians to full communion with the Church of Rome.

Negotiations have been going on since 2000, but there was an acceleration shortly after there was a new Pope. Benedict XVI received Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the Lefbevrians, in Castel Gandolfo last summer.

But Fellay has yet to say Yes to the Vatican proposals. Two days ago, he was reelected for another 12 years as head of the movement.

Elected to be his “first and second assistants” were Don Niklaus Pfluger and don Marco Nely. Pfluger belongs to the intransigents in the movement, whereas Nely is more open to dialogue.

It is possible that Fellay deliberately temporized, knowing that his term was about to expire and anticipating reelection. But now the Vatican is awaiting his signals.

The terms of the agreement would include an approval of the theological accord worked out in 1988 between Mons. Lefebvre and then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger; a revocation of the excommunication order issued by the Vatican after Lefebvre ordained four bishops against the express order of the Vatican; and a canonical structure similar to a military ordinariate, which would allow the SSPX to keep its seminaries and train priests.

In the context of the accords, the Holy See would announce a liberalization of St. Pius X’s pre-Conciliar Missal – a move that is much awaited even by traditionalists within the Church.

*The headline given to the story is sort of playing it safe -
It doesn't say "L'accordo e vicino" (Accord is near) but "L'accordo e piu vicino" (Accord is nearer)!
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And in a related story, that perhaps is even more 'sensational', Beatrice in the French section (where she also posted the Il Giornale article as carried in French by Forum Catholique today) posted an Agence France Presse story, which is translated here:

VATICAN CITY, July 13, 2006 (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI will put an end to “abuses” in the celebration of the Mass and will put an end to “confrontations” with advocates of the Latin Mass.

Mons. Albert Malcolm Patabendige Don, recently-named secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worhsip and the Discipline of the Sacraments, told the news agency I-Media that the Pope “would take such measures” since the liturgy of the Catholic Church has become too often “a form of scandal.”

The prelate denounced some abuses in the implementation of liturgical reforms introduced after the second Vatican Council about 40 years ago.

These reforms, particularly the ‘abandon’ of the so-called Tridentine Mass (celebrated in Latin, with the priest facing the altar away from the congregation), “have not brought the expected benefits,” He said.

These reforms have never been accepted by Catholic traditionalists such as the followers of the late French Bishop Marcel Lebevre.

Pope Benedict XVI, who met last summer with Lefebvre’s successor as head of the movement, Mons. Bernard Fellay, is known to be working for a return of the Lefebvrists to the Church.

Mons. Ranjith says the Pope “will take steps to show us how seriously we should celebrate the liturgy.”

He said that the Vatican receives every day “many signed letters by people complaining of numerous liturgical abuses by priests who do as they please, of bishops who close their eyes to such abuses or who even justify what the priests do in the name of 'renewal'… "

But “the Tridentine Mass does not belong to the Lefebvrists,” he adds, so it is time to “stop the confrontations.”

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This is Mons. Ranjith's third and strongest declaration of the sort in the past few weeks. Either he is preparing the ground for major announcements, or he is being too outspoken and indiscreet. But since the Pope recalled him from 'exile' in Indonesia to fill his current position, I do not think he would dare be indiscreet. So, fingers crossed....

P.S. Here is (part of?) Catholic World News's report - MORE SUBDUED THAN TEH afp STORY - on Mons. Ranjith's latest I-Media interview, as reported by Gerlad Augustinus on closedcafeteria.blogspot.com
(One has to be a paying subscriber to access CWN online) -
--------------------------------------------------------------

The Vatican is planning to restore some disciplinary control of the liturgy, according the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, in response to widespread abuses.

Speaking to the I-Media news agency in Rome, Archbishop Albert Malcom Ranjith Patabendige Don will soon take steps to indicate the importance of following the Church's liturgical guidelines.

Asked whether Pope Benedict XVI is preparing a document on the liturgy, Archbishop Ranjith answered indirectly, noting that the Holy Father has written and spoken extensively on liturgical issues in past years.

Pope Benedict is keenly aware of today's challenges, he said, and determined to restore a proper sense of reverence to the liturgy.

The Sri Lankan prelate said that some of his thoughts had been taken out of context after a previous interview with the French newspaper La Croix. He had not intended to suggest that the liturgical reforms of Vatican II had failed, he stressed; rather, he meant that some liturgical changes had produced an overreaction, and a loss of appreciation for Church traditions.

As a result, he said, "the reforms of the Council did not bear the expected fruit, because of the way in which they were interpreted and put into practice." Now, he continued, the great challenge for the Church is to promote a deeper understanding of the liturgical reforms: one in keeping with the constant traditions of Catholicism.

Archbishop Ranjith said that two extremes must be avoided: a liturgical free-for-all in which "every priest of bishop does what he wants, which creates confusion;" or a complete abandonment of liturgical reforms, leading to a vision that is "closed up in the past." Today, he said, those two extremes are becoming more prominent, and the Church needs to establish a middle ground.

Every day, the archbishop disclosed, the Congregation for Divine Worship receives new complaints about serious liturgical abuses, and complaints that local bishops have failed to correct them. If the Church fails to curb these abuses, he said, "people will attend the Tridentine Mass, and our churches will be empty." Liturgical guidelines are set forth clearly, he observed, in the Roman Missal and in Church documents. Now "some discipline is necessary regarding what we do at the altar."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 14/07/2006 6.37]

In www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=71323&eng=y today,
Sandro Magister gives an overview of the Holy Father's steps over the past few months to place his mark on the Roman Curia.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Ratzinger’s New Team
Trained in the Holy Office
Dias, Bertone, Lajolo, Lombardi...
Appointment by appointment,
Benedict XVI is changing the face
of the Church’s central governance.
At the center is the pope himself,
and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

by Sandro Magister


ROMA, July 14, 2006 – Benedict XVI’s second summer as pope opened with a lightning visit to Valencia, Spain, and will close with a visit to his native land of Bavaria, from September 9 to 14.

He has already announced, after his return to Rome, that his first act of governance will be the change of the secretary of state, with cardinal Tarcisio Bertone replacing cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Benedict XVI’s initial plans did not include making the announcement as early as he did, with an official statement last June 22. But the resistance he encountered within the curia convinced him to nip the opposition in the bud.

Bertone is not a career diplomat – as almost all the secretaries of state have been in recent centuries - but he comes from the ranks of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which he was the secretary from 1995 to 2003. He was the number two man, with Joseph Ratzinger as prefect, and now he is again becoming the main collaborator of the new pope.

It is an historic vindication for the Holy Office. Called by this name until the 1960’s, the congregation was referred to within the Vatican as “la Suprema.” Its highest official was the pope himself, and the rest of the curia hinged upon it.

But then came Paul VI, and the secretariat of state became the central axis of the curia. With John Paul II, who had little interest in Church governance, the power of the secretariat of state in the Church’s internal and external affairs grew even greater.

It is no surprise that in the last change of the papacy, the two head honchos of diplomacy and of the curia – cardinals Sodano and Achille Silvestrini – were the ones most staunchly opposed to the election of Ratzinger, just as they later tried to block the appointment of Bertone.

More than diplomacy, it is important to Benedict XVI that his secretary of state be highly skilled “in pastoral practice and doctrinal understanding.” And Bertone, in the pope’s view, has both of these prerequisites: apart from being a professor of canon law and rector of the pontifical university of his order, the Salesians, he was the bishop of Vercelli, and most recently of Genoa.

Ratzinger discovered him in 1988, and since then he has had him work on the most intricate and controversial issues: the schism of the ultra-traditionalist archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, liberation theology, the married men with children who were ordained as priests in communist Czechoslovakia, the third secret of Fatima, the apparitions of Medjugorje, the scandal of pedophile priests in the United States, the marriage of archbishop Emmanuel Milingo to one of the members of the sect of Sun Myung Moon.

As pope, Ratzinger has kept him as an adviser and a friend: not a week has gone by that they have not spoken together or seen each other. The battle against cultural and political relativism, as embodied in Spain by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, will be one of the first challenges for the new secretary of state.

In the Italian bishops’ conference (CEI), Bertone has earned the reputation of being a diehard follower of Ratzinger. In the last general assembly, in mid-May, he stood up to criticize the ideas on bioethics backed by cardinal Carlo Maria Martini in “L’Espresso”. Not yet having chosen him as secretary of state, Benedict XVI is said to have thought of him as the future president of the CEI, an appointment that is reserved to the pope as the primate of Italy.

In order to speed up the replacement of the current president, Camillo Ruini, last winter cardinal Sodano engineered a maneuver that produced two results contrary to his intentions: the reconfirmation of Ruini by the pope, and the hastened dismissal of Sodano himself.

In order to guess who will really be the next president of the CEI, one should look at Benedict XVI’s replacement for Bertone as archbishop of Genoa. Ruini’s preferred candidate is the current bishop of Piacenza and Bobbio, Luciano Monari, who is from Ruini’s home town of Sassuolo. He is an expert in Sacred Scripture, and enjoys great respect among both conservatives and moderate progressives, so much so that the bishops of the CEI have already elected him as their vice-president.

Another change that Benedict XVI will make on September 15 is in the Vatican’s central administration (the “governatorato”) and in the pontifical commission for Vatican City. Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, who is going into retirement, will be replaced by archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, currently the Holy See foreign minister.

Ratzinger has known Lajolo well as a diplomat since he was the nuncio in Germany. And among the diplomats in the curia, he is the one who has most quickly fallen into line with the new pope. In promoting him to his new post, Benedict XVI is entrusting him with the task of putting in order the governance and finance of the pontifical state, together with another trusted cardinal, Attilio Nicora, president of the administration of the patrimony of the Apostolic See and the architect of plans to pare down the apparatus of the curia which have already been placed on the pope’s desk.

At the head of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), the Vatican bank, there remains firmly in place the man who rehabilitated it, Angelo Caloia. But before he left the scene, cardinal Sodano placed beside Caloia his own secretary, Piero Pioppo, reviving for his sake the post of prelate for the IOR, which had been in disuse since 1993.

The candidate most suited to replace Lajolo as the new foreign minister is Fortunato Baldelli, presently the nuncio in Paris and before that in Peru and Angola.

Baldelli, a native of Umbria, does not belong to any of the three geographical families into which the great majority of the Italian diplomats are divided: those from the Piedmont region of Sodano; from the Romagna area of Silvestrini, and from the Emilia area of former secretary of state Agostino Casaroli, still remembered as the creator of the Ostpolitik used with the Soviet empire.

But the most striking sign of the shift in the Holy See’s international politics undertaken by Benedict XVI is the addition to the curia of Indian cardinal Ivan Dias, archbishop of Bombay and formerly a diplomat to many countries around the world.

Dias replaced cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, who was transferred to Naples, as the new prefect of the congregation “de Propaganda Fide,” for the evangelization of the peoples, which oversees more than a thousand dioceses in crucial areas such as Africa, China, India, and the rest of Asia (6).

With Bertone, Dias, and the new foreign minister, the Church’s international politics will be less passive and more interventionist, less “realist” and more “Wilsonian” , conducted along the great ideological battle lines that influence laws, customs, and coexistence among peoples.

In Italy, in Spain, and in the West, the principles that Benedict XVI defines as “non-negotiable” are life, the family, and education. In the Islamic countries, the key issue is religious liberty. The same goes for China. There the new course of Vatican geopolitics was reinforced by the naming as cardinal – a move resolutely decided by Benedict XVI against the judgment of Sodano and his followers – of the combative bishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen Ze-kiun.

In other offices of the curia, the pope’s guidelines have already left their mark with earlier removals, replacements, consolidations, and confirmations.

In the area of the liturgy, the new secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, archbishop Malcolm Ranjith of Sri Lanka, has made it clear that there are “corrections” of certain postconciliar tendencies on the way, which will be discussed in the document finalizing the synod on the Eucharist that Benedict XVI will publish by the end of the summer.

Some of these “reforms of the reform” will concern music. On June 30, the head of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Msgr. Valentino Miserachs Grau, announced that the pope will make a personal visit there in November to inaugurate the new academic year. And he said he expects the creation of a new Vatican office “that would coordinate with authority the activity of all those who work in liturgical music, and would watch over the liturgical celebrations.”

Benedict XVI’s thought on the matter was confirmed with a concert held in his honor on June 24 in the Sistine Chapel by Maestro Domenico Bartolucci, a living symbol of liturgical music inspired by Gregorian chant and polyphony.

Other alterations are foreseen for other offices of the curia. One of the candidates for prefect of a congregation is the current secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Angelo Amato, whom Ratzinger knows very well and trusts completely. Amato’s promotion would be further confirmation of the preeminence of the Holy Office within the new curia, in part as the training ground of its most highly placed officials.

Last there is the change in the direction of the Vatican press office, announced on July 11. Replacing Joaquín Navarro-Valls, a numerary of Opus Dei, is Fr. Federico Lombardi, a Jesuit.

Lombardi is the director general of Vatican radio and television, and the former vice-director of La Civiltà Cattolica. His nomination foreshadows the coordination of the communication agencies in service of the pope, which now are disconnected and in disarray.

L’Osservatore Romano is also expecting a new director who will rebuild it from the ground up.

But the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, a shriveled and useless branch which has been without a secretary for a year and a half, is expected simply to be lopped off.

For a pope who has so much invested in the preaching of the Word, good communication is everything. It is itself a message.

Pope Benedict's Back-to-Basics Strategy

By James Maldonado Berry
ARLINGTON CATHOLIC HERALD Columnist
(From the Issue of 7/13/06)

Described by more than a few prominent Catholics around the world as perhaps one of the Church’s greatest theologians ever, Pope Benedict XVI made the objectives of his pontificate clear from the start. Certainly, Christian unity ranks among the pope’s highest priorities. In particular he hopes to bridge the millennia-long gap between Catholics and Orthodox after centuries of bitter division.

He has reminded the powers in the upper echelons of the European Union that Europe, as a cultural and political entity, cannot simply glide forward effortlessly into the 21st century without an unequivocal recognition and acceptance of its Christian heritage; playing hide-and-seek with one’s identity is a dangerous game and the pope has been the leading voice on this front, warning Europe of the inherent risks involved in trying to turn a blind eye to 2,000 years of Christian contributions to modern-day Europe. At a time when unambiguous moral clarity in the world is sorely needed, this “simple and humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard” has demonstrated that he is not going to take a backseat on the world stage.

The above-mentioned items may be understood as a look outward in terms of the Church’s relationship with the world and other Christians. One of the pope’s top “in-house” objectives regarding the Catholic faithful and the Church itself has been described by some as a “back-to-basics” strategy, intended to call believers back to the fundamental tenets of the Faith, reminding the faithful of the Eucharist’s central role in the life of the Church and the liturgy’s irreplaceable position within the prayer life of the universal Church. Like Pope John Paul II before him, Pope Benedict XVI is striving for a full and faithful implementation of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, a council both pontiffs believe was a great blessing to the Church.

No doubt, the pope is not unaware of the fact that many Catholics in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council were poorly catechized, or simply not catechized at all. As a result, a generation or two of Catholics have been raised with little understanding of the most basic teachings of the Faith, most significantly in the arena of the Church’s sacramental life and her moral teachings. The timing for this catechetical paucity was particularly destructive, as moral relativism and positivism found fertile soil to germinate in the garden of post-1960s society.

This catechetical void has been a principle source of concern for the pope, well aware of the confusion that has resulted among Catholics over the past several decades regarding Church teaching. His goal is simple: to dispel the fog of doctrinal confusion and cut through the excess theological buildup that has accumulated over the years and summon Catholics back to the core tenets of the Faith; the real presence, the sacraments and the liturgy stand out most prominently in his addresses to the faithful over the past year.

A ray of light which can be interpreted as a positive development of the past decade or so in the world of catechesis has been a noticeable surge in interest among Catholics to discover for the first time the beauty of Church’s teachings. This surge has resulted in a host of resources online and elsewhere for curious Catholics looking for clear-cut answers to thorny questions regarding the Faith and their lives.

The particular style of Pope Benedict XVI is perfectly suited to respond to this groundswell in interest among Catholics. His discourses are remarkably direct, lucid and precise, yet deeply profound, rich and laden with varying levels of meaning. His homilies and writings could be described as neatly packaged theological time bombs, unadorned with ostentatious complexities while systematically designed to dispense rich pearls of wisdom upon further meditation and reflection. No one will feel left out or sidelined if they find themselves in his presence as he gives an address.

I am reminded of a memorable event last fall, when the pope spoke to thousands of young children gathered in St. Peter’s Square who were preparing for their first Communion. His message contained profound insights that proved enlightening even to the older and more educated present, all the while remaining simple enough overall for the children to grasp.

His first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est,” delves deeply into hermeneutics and philosophical observations about the meaning of authentic love, but it is far from a rarefied, stuffy academic paper. The pontiff unassumingly guides the reader throughout the richly laced pages as he cogently lays out his thesis. He possesses the unique gift to make complex subject matter attainable, reachable and relevant to everyday people, thanks to his careful choice of words, his style, which favors brevity over superfluity, and the seamless presentation and flow of his logic. The old adage, “timing is everything” rings eminently true for the arrival of Benedict to St. Peter’s Chair. Catholics can look back over the first year of his pontificate with gratitude, and forward to the sunrise and springtime ahead with great hope.

Maldonado-Berry is currently studying Social Communication at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome. He also works for the Vatican at Vatican Information Service (VIS).

VATICAN CITY, JULY 14, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Given the crisis unleashed in recent days in the Middle East, the Holy See condemns both the terrorist attacks and the military reprisals, and appeals for sincere dialogue.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, made a statement on Vatican Radio, which was fully transcribed and published in Italian by the Vatican press office.

"The news we are receiving from the Middle East is certainly worrying," he said.

Cardinal Sodano confirmed that Benedict XVI -- who is spending a few days of rest in the Italian Alps -- "and all his collaborators are following with great attention the latest dramatic episodes, which risk degenerating into a conflict with international repercussions."

"As in the past, the Holy See also condemns both the terrorist attacks on the one side and the military reprisals on the other. Indeed, a state's right to self-defense does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law, especially as regards the protection of civilian populations," Cardinal Sodano said.

"In particular, the Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation, and gives assurances of its closeness to those people who have suffered so much in the defense of their own independence," he continued.

"Once again," he said, "it appears obvious that the only path worthy of our civilization is that of sincere dialogue between the contending parties."

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Sodano's statement appears to lay the brunt of the blame on Israel. Would the Pope himself make such an openly partisan statement? The Osservatore Romano itself, in the issue of 7/15/06, has a front-page feature story on how Lebanese rockets[according to other stories, made in Iran] had hit Haifa, Israel's third largest city and site of the biblical Mount Carmel.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/07/2006 14.53]

Here is a translation of an Italian news agency item posted by Ratzigirl in the main forum just now:

Benedict XVI follows what happens in the world even while on vacation.

Friday afternoon (7/14) he visited the cloister of the Carmelite sisters in Quart, near his vacation villa in Les Combes, where he told the nuns: "I thank you for what you do to help alleviate suffering in the world," referring to a contribuiton they had made to the Pope's charitable works.

"We know how mankind suffer today from violence of all kinds. There is much suffering in the Holy Land, much suffering in Lebanon and other parts of the world.

"I thank you for the works of charity which you do, because you do not only help to relieve material hunger but also the hunger for God resulting from great spiritual poverty. The absence of God is poverty itself. I trust your prayers as well in behalf of suffering people in the Middle East and other parts of the world."

The Pope also spoke of the Middle East in a brief talk with newsmen who awaited him in Les Combes: "Let us pray, above all, that the violence will stop, and let us place our trust in the Lord."

About his vacation, he said: "To see these mountains is to see something of the Creator Himself. I am very happy here, the place is so beautiful and the Lord has also given us good weather. I thank God that I am able to live these days in holy peace."

And here's the above story as reported in today's issue of the newspaper Il Messaggero which I have just seen online - in which the writer seems to share the doubt I expressed two posts earlier about Cardinal Sodano's appearing to lay full blame on Israel. -

The Pope: May the violence stop!
Sodano condemns attacks
by ORAZIO PETROSILLO

INTROD (AOSTA) - The terrible news of war in the Holy Land and in Lebanon is being received with consternation by Pope Benedict XVI during his vacation in Val d'Aosta.

And while Cardinal Angelo Sodano, outgoing Secretary of State who remains in place till September 15, 'deplored' in the name of the Holy See "the attack on Lebanon as a free and sovereign nation," the Pope expressed his entire "concern for the outbreak of violence in the Holy Land" and specially in a region particularly dear to Christians, that of Haifa and Mount Carmel.

Tomorrow, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Madonna of Mt. Carmel, the Biblical mountain which rises outside Haifa, one of the targets of Lebanese rocket attacks.

Because of this feast, the Pope visited the convent of the barefoot Carmelite nuns in Quart, not far from Aosta city.
Greeted by newsmen upon his return to Les Combes not far from the papal villa, the Pope courteously asked his driver to stop, and spoke to the press.

Answering a question about the Middle East situation, the Pope reiterated an invitation to "pray so that everyone may stop this violence and work together instead in that region."

Earlier, Cardinal Sodano had declared on Vatican Radio that "the Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation" and that the Pope and his co-workers, in Val d'Aosta, "are attentively following the recent events which threaten to degenerate into a conflict with international repercussions."

As it has done recently, the Holy See once again "condemned both terrorist acts on the one hand as well as military reprisals on the other."

Criticizing Israel (without mentioning it by name), Sodano said "the right of self-defense of any State does not exempt it from respecting international norms, especially those regarding the protection of civilian populations*."

"It seems evident," he concluded that the only way worthy of our civilization is that of sincere dialog among all parties concerned."
---------------------------------------------------------------

Again, one must take exception of Sodano's words here. Haifa, Israel's third largest city, was attacked by a cluster of Lebanese rockets fired towards the city at random - was that not an attack on a civilian population? Israel responded by bombing specific targets (known terrorist havens and arsenals).

Of course, violence is objectionable, whoever does it. But who started it this time? To begin with, wasn't the rocket attack on Haifa an attack on a 'free and sovereign nation" - Israel in this case - by terrorists urged on by Syria and Iran? Does anyone really expect Israel to just sit back and be attacked without responding in the most efficient way possible - by striking at the actual source of aggression, the Lebanon-based terrorists? Israel has not attacked any government office or Lebanese military unit!

One wants to ask Sodano, as a commentator said he would like to ask Jacques Chirac (who condemned Israel similarly)- "Would you just sit back if some terrorists in Switzerland or Belgium lobbed rockets at Paris?" [Maybe he would, though, as he has not shown any backbone at all! Even worse, in the name of this idiotic so-called political correctness of all cowardly defeatist liberals, he might even go to a mosque and say "Praised be Allah for this!"]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/07/2006 16.54]

Forgive me for the oversight but between all the attention to Valencia and my personal overload of tasks, I didn't check Sandro Magister's blog for days, only to find out several translation-worthy items, the earlies of which dates to July 4, as follows (which surprisingly, I have not seen reported elsewhere either!)
----------------------------------------------------------------

Ratzinger and the Jews:
What he has written

In a small book called "Svegliati! Non dimenticare la tua creatura, l'uomo!" (Awake, do not forget man, your creature), the Vatican Publishing House has re-published the address read at Auschwitz-Birkenau on May 28, by Pope Benedict XVI, along with other texts published by the Church hierarchy about the Jews after the Second Vatican Council.

Among these tests is one that was not easily researchable but which synthesises best the thinking of this Pope on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. It is an article published by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the December 29, 2000, issue of L'Osservatore Romano.

In that article, Ratzinger writes, among other things, exactly that which his critics today accuse him of keeping quiet about:

"Certainly, from the beginning, the relation between the nascent Church and Israel was often of a conflicting character. The Church was considered a degenerate daughter, while the Christians thought the mother was blind and obstinate. In the history of Christinanity, such relations, already difficult to begin with, degenerated further, directly giving rise in many cases to anti-Jewish attitudes which have produced deplorable acts of violence throughout history.

"Even if the last execrable experience of the Shoah was perpetrated in the name of an anti-Christian ideology, which wished to strike at the Christian faith in its Abramic roots, through the people of Israel, it cannot be denied that insufficient resistance on the part of Christians to this atrocity could be explained by the anti-Jewish legacy present in the hearts of not a few Christians."

[He then gives a link to an Italian site where the full text of the Ratzinger article is available - www.nostreradici.it/Abramo_eredita.htm
I have posted the translation of the text both in the APOSTOLIC VOYAGE TO POLAND thread and IN HIS OWN WORDS.]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/07/2006 17.27]

Every day, the archbishop disclosed, the Congregation for Divine Worship receives new complaints about serious liturgical abuses, and complaints that local bishops have failed to correct them. If the Church fails to curb these abuses, he said, "people will attend the Tridentine Mass, and our churches will be empty." Liturgical guidelines are set forth clearly, he observed, in the Roman Missal and in Church documents. Now "some discipline is necessary regarding what we do at the altar." - Quote from a post above.
Perhaps a definitive document, issued under the signature of Benedict XVI, is needed. "Redemptionis Sacramentum" is largely ignored, certainly in my diocese. The Tridentine Mass has never been "outlawed", but it just doesn't get celebrated. The Latin Mass Society has had one Tridentine Mass so far this year in Taunton, though there is one every third Sunday in Glastonbury.
But it isn't so much a return to the Tridentine rite that is needed, in my opinion. It is a reverent and correct celebration of the Novus Ordo - sometimes in Latin. I've never heard it in Latin, except in Papal Masses and on EWTN's daily Mass.
Abuses such as female servers at weekdays Mass, when no server at all is necessary, the priest leaving the altar at the Sign of Peace and shaking hands with nearly the whole congregation, the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion being referred to as Eucharistic Ministers [which they are NOT - only priests are ordinary ministers, therefore lay people are extra-ordinary ministers]. I am , of necessity, one of these, and have tried to sort out the correct nomenclature, yet the term Eucharistic Minister continues to be used. I'm considered a bit of a nuisance, because I believe that Mass should be celebrated properly. The holding of hands at the Our Father...oh no!...but it happens in my parish.
Does anyone else have to put up with these things? I'd be interested to know.
The Pius X schismatics: they just can't see that THEY are causing what appears to be a split in the Catholic Church. They are nothing but a nuisance and should come back into communion with the Holy See at once.
Laudetur Jesus Christus!
Mary

[Modificato da maryjos 15/07/2006 19.42]

---

---

About his vacation, he said: "To see these mountains is to see something of the Creator Himself. I am very happy here, the place is so beautiful and the Lord has also given us good weather. I thank God that I am able to live these days in holy peace."

Our dear Papa is still visiting people - though I'm sure the Carmelite enclosure was a quiet and holy place. But he was waylaid by journalists once again. Please, leave him alone now. He's told you what a beautiful place God has created for him to spend his holidays. Let him enjoy the holy peace!

Personally, I don't think he should give his usual Angelus blessing and talk. But that could be because I know I can't possibly get there - so I'd better shut up!

On a lighter note: even Pooh Bear and I have vowed to keep away - wow, that's quite something! We've rolled up the magic carpet. But, oh we do miss Papa!
Love and Peace ~Mary~

Dear Mary...I am rather shocked at your litany of liturgical liberties taken in your parish! Fortunately, the three or four local churches I alternate going to near my place have all been fairly straightforward and non-controversial in celebrating the Novus Ordo. And they do not mind people holding out their tongue instead of their hands for the Host!

However, in the interest of further discussion on the subject, would you mind posting your very interesting item in the thread REFLECTIONS ON THE FAITH... as well?

As for the comment on the press 'ambushing' the Holy Father, I don't think he minds - he knows he has control! According to one story, he asked his driver to stop the car, so he could greet the newsmen. He's generous, and he knows it's what they do for a living. And maybe he wanted to speak about the Middle East himself instead of letting Sodano take matters into his own hands!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/07/2006 22.36]

16 July, 2006
VATICAN – HOLY LAND
Pope: Acts of terrorism and reprisals
in Holy Land unjustifiable

Les Combes (AsiaNews) – The conflict under way in the Holy Land finds its origins in “objective situations of violations of law and justice. But neither terrorist acts nor reprisals” can ever be justified.

The Holy Land and Lebanon were preying on the mind of Benedict XVI today in Valle D’Aosta – where he has gone for some time of rest – as he called on “local Churches to offer special prayers for peace in the Holy Land and all the Middle East”.

The escalation of clashes in Lebanon and the danger of further aggravation of the conflict are clearly worrying Benedict XVI and the Vatican, which is multiplying its efforts to urge the warring parties to reason and dialogue.

Today, the Pope explicitly made concrete references to “objective situations of violations of law and justice” that call to mind the Territories, but also to acts expressly defined as “terrorist” and to “reprisals”, both described as unjustifiable.

Benedict XVI told the crowd of around 10,000 people who went up to Les Combes to participate in the Sunday Angelus: “The news coming from the Holy Land in recent days gives cause for further, serious concern among all, especially because of the increased actions of war in Lebanon as well, and the many victims among the civilian population.

"At the core of this ruthless enmity, there are, alas, objective situations of violations of law and justice. But neither terrorist acts nor reprisals, especially when they have tragic consequences for the civilian population, can ever be justified. Taking such paths, as bitter experience has shown, does not lead to positive results.”

The pope, who talked about the Holy Land after the recital of the Angelus, then recalled, as he had already done before the Marian prayer, that “today is dedicated to Our Lady of Mt Carmel, the mount of the Holy Land which, a few km from Lebanon, dominates the Israeli city of Haifa, also recently hit. Let us pray to Mary, Queen of Peace, that she may beseech God to grant the fundamental gift of harmony, leading political leaders back to the path of reason and to opening new opportunities of dialogue and understanding. In this perspective, I invite all local Churches to offer special prayers for peace in the Holy Land and all the Middle East.”

On Friday, the pope went to visit a convent of the Carmelites not far from the small villa where he spending his holidays and where he prayed for the Holy Land.

Today, after exalting the beauty of the mountains, saying they are a tribute to their Creator, the pope said that “by happy coincidence, this Sunday falls on 16 July, the day when the liturgy recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. Carmel, the headland which rises above the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, at the same level as Galilee, has many natural grottoes among its peaks, sought after by hermits".

He continued:
"The most celebrated of these men of God was the great prophet Elijah, who in the IX century before Christ strenuously defended the purity of the faith in the one true God from contamination by idolatrous cults.

"Drawing inspiration from the figure of Elijah, the contemplative Order of the “Carmelites” emerged, the religious family that featured among its members great saints like Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Teresa of the Child Jesus and Teresa blessed by the Cross (Edith Stein).

"The Carmelites spread the devotion of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel among the Christian people, highlighting her as a model of prayer, contemplation and dedication to God”.

The pope added: “Today I want to entrust all communities of contemplative life scattered around the world to the Queen of Mt Carmel, especially those of the Carmelite Order, including the monastery of Quart, not far from here. May Mary help each and every Christian meet God in the silence of prayer.”

----------------------------------------------------------------
10,000 came to Les Combes for the Angelus today. Is that a record? Yesterday, a local news item said the commune of Introd was prepared for about 5,000 pilgrims. Last year, the attendance at the two Sundays when the Pope led the Angelus in Les Combes was 5,000 and 7,000, respectively. Just out of curiosity, does anyone have any figures for when JP-II was in Les Combes?

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/07/2006 18.19]

10,000 at Les Combes

Wow, what a crowd! I wonder how they all fit in the little area that Papa does his angelus thing. I also wonder how many of them had to walk for an hour and a quarter up the mountain since the security people were going to restrict the number of cars and buses going up there. It would seem that a lot of people would have had to hike. Of course, most of us would consider an hour and a quarter hike up a mountain as nothing to get close to Papa.

Ratzigirl just posted an Italian news report placing the number as "more than 5000". The report says less than a thousand cars had gone up by the time they closed the traffic at 11 a.m., but that most of the pilgrims apparently decided to walk. The commune had volunteers posted along the way to give them bottled water.

And you're right, benefan. To Benaddicts, an hour and a quarter would be nothing! Besides, what could be more pleasant than an unhurried walk up an Alpine mountainside along pedestrian lanes in the shade of all those trees, breathing the mountain air and enjoying the view? I'll answer my own rhetorical question! Seeing Papa at the end of that walk, and then walking down this time instead of up!

7/18/06
P.S. A wrap-up story by Avvenire's Salvatore Mazza on the weekend in Les Combes says the crowd was "over 7,000" - similar to the crowd attendance on Benedict's second Angelus at Les Combes last year.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/07/2006 1.41]

Interview with Fr Joseph Fessio, SJ.
(Available in August 2006 issue of Inside the Vatican magazine.)

- by Andrew Rabel

Fr Joseph Fessio SJ was a keynote speaker at the national conference of the Australian Catholic Students Association on the weekend of July 7-9 in Newman College at the University of Melbourne.

Fr Fessio is the founder and director of Ignatius Press, the largest Catholic publishing house in the US, and the Provost of Ave Maria College in Naples, Florida. A regular commentator on Catholic affairs, he did his doctoral thesis on Hans Urs Von Balthasar under then Professor Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, at the University of Regensburg, Bavaria in 1975.

In 1996, he founded Adoremus to push Cardinal Raztinger’s goal of the “reform of the reform.” As a close friend of the Holy Father, he has a unique perspective to comment on the affairs and controversies within the Church. At the conference, ITV was able to sit down with Fr Fessio and discuss some of these with him.

1. With the election of Pope Benedict, many of his supporters expected a tough crackdown on dissenters in the Church. But it seems that the Holy Father is moving at his own pace in those areas, to the impatience of some of his diehard following. Is the reaction of some columnists a fair one?

I don’t think it is fair. I think he has continued what he has done as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in responding to serious problems that have come to his attention. But he is someone who works slowly but very surely in a certain direction, and I have not seen any problem that he is aware of that he is not taken steps to address. That may not please some people, but he has a lot of things he has to do.

2. Are his recent appointments in the Curia significant, or are they just the result of personnel who needed to be moved, because the incumbents were aged?

I think the answer to that is both. Clearly, when he makes a decision to merge the Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue with Culture; and merged the Immigration Council with that of Justice & Peace, he has a plan and I can’t believe that plan is limited to those particular dicasteries. So I am convinced that he from his long experience of being in the Vatican, knows the direction he wants to move in, but rather than imposing that as something from above, he is waiting for opportunities to advance the plan.

I think a good example is the Secretary of State. Cardinal Sodano was past retirement age, and it was important for the Holy Father to have someone in that position who he could work well with. He chose Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, someone he has every confidence in, and worked with him for over eight years as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This will I think strengthen the Pope’s ability to carry out reforms and plans he has.

3. What is your opinion over the appointment of your old bishop, Cardinal William Levada of San Francisco in Pope Benedict’s previous position as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?

It’s an appointment which has puzzled many people. Certainly, Cardinal Levada is a loyal member of the Church, and is supportive of the Holy Father. It is also difficult for anyone to fill the shoes of Cardinal Ratzinger himself, when he was so extraordinary at doing this job.

As a matter of fact, I am not sure that this office is quite as important as people think it is. I think what made people believe it was so important was the fact that Cardinal Ratzinger was the Prefect.

There was some speculation after the election of the Pope, there would be no one to replace him because he would bring all of this activity under his own direction [before the election of Pius XII, Pacelli had been Secretary of State and when he became Pope largely seconded that dicastery]. In a sense, we have a Pope who is a very doctrinal and theological man and therefore while he certainly needs the help of an important staff and in different curial offices, he doesn’t need to find someone of his own stature which would be very hard to find anywhere.

I think that the Holy Father picked someone that he knew could work with him, and even in the Holy Office itself, it wasn’t a one-man-show. One of the things Cardinal Ratzinger did inside it was set up a collaborative structure, where there was a very definite process by which different issues could be handled. I think the Congregation works very well, and functions very smoothly and therefore it is not as important who it is that occupies any particular position inside the office. It is kind of like the old Jesuit school system, where it doesn’t require any particular geniuses to make it work, it took people who were faithful to the mission, and did their jobs as prescribed, and so that in that way you can achieve a lot.

4. In the past year, particularly with the Synod of the Eucharist, and the imminent publication of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation, a lot of attention and discussion has been given to the area of liturgy, ie the recent approval by the American bishops of the new English translation of the Roman Missal. Is this a fruition of the ideals you established, when you started Adoremus and what are we in fact likely to see happen in this very vexed area?

Well, I can’t predict what specific, concrete changes will come about, through legislation or documents from the Holy Father but his views on liturgy are well known and I do not think this represents merely his own person opinions, they represent a deeper knowledge of the history of the liturgy, and its liturgical life.

I cannot believe that he will not take steps to move in the direction of a real renewal of the liturgy, and he said that publicly. Pope Benedict said we need to re-read the Vatican Council documents in the light of tradition, and that includes first and foremost Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Decree on the Liturgy.

I would certainly be surprised if nothing happened, what will happen, when it will happen, we will just have to wait and see although I believe this post-synodal exhortation will be a significant document.

5. For instance, are we likely to see a universal indult granted to the celebration of the Tridentine liturgy, and the disappearance of some liturgical concessions like communion in the hand etc (called for by 2 bishops at the Synod)?

I don’t know whether that is in the works or not, that is not an area that has been in the forefront of Pope Benedict’s writings. Certainly if you look at his writings on the liturgy, there is a great emphasis on the tradition of church music, the beautiful and holy Gregorian chant and polyphony. There is the question of the direction of prayer, and the lessening of the taboo against celebrating Mass in the direction of the East. He is very supportive of more adoration and more kneeling, liturgical actions.

So those things I think we can predict he will move towards implementing because he has written so much about it. As far as the universal indult goes, I don’t know. He certainly said he thought it was a mistake to prohibit the pre-conciliar Mass. But now after having been prohibited for so many years, I am not sure what the Holy Father will do.

6. I believe last September in Castelgandolfo, a group of you met with the Holy Father to discuss pressing issues, and what was quoted from the meeting were Pope Benedict’s concerns regarding Islam. Can you reiterate what the Holy Father said then, and are these meetings to continue?

This is a meeting of former doctoral students of the Holy Father, and the Pope wants it to continue. We will be meeting next in September and the topic will be “Evolution and Creation”. Last year, it was the Islamic concept of God, and its consequences for secular society. What the Holy Father said during the meeting basically is the same thing he said elsewhere. So, I am not going to comment on it as something he said at the meeting but if you want to see what he thinks about Islam. It is public, and he has certainly emphasised this every time he has met with the Muslims ie the need for them to insure freedom and reciprocity for our welcoming of them in Western societies, and for our freedoms in their societies.

7. In 1996, after your trip to Australia, your visit became enshrouded in controversy because of the criticisms of the then provincial, Fr Bill Uren SJ, who charged that you did not have the right permission to engage in a public ministry here from him. In retrospect, was this an error on your part?

I have made many mistakes in my life, but that was not one of them. If I want to go into another Jesuit province, I only need the permission of my own provincial, as I had then from the one in California.

He was at liberty of course to take this matter up with the Australian provincial, but that did not need my involvement.

Date: 2006-07-16

Aosta Valley's Bishop Welcomes Pope

"You Are a Pope We Listen to Because of the Things You Say"

INTROD, Italy, JULY 16, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's first public meeting with the faithful in the Aosta Valley was introduced today by the welcome of the local bishop on behalf of all those present.

Visibly happy over his meeting with pilgrims -- more than 5,000 attended -- the Holy Father heard the bishop's words with attention, often interrupted by the faithful's applause and the Pope's smiles and greetings.

The bishop of Aosta's reference to peace elicited applause also from Benedict XVI.

Here is a translation of Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi's impromptu words to the Pope, before the Holy Father's Angelus address.

* * *

Last year we said good-bye, and this year we meet again. I know that you are well, that you feel very welcomed. I am happy that you are able to have this vacation as you wish.

The second point is to be a voice for this -- what I would like to call, assembly -- because it isn't a multitude. It is well defined.

I would especially like to put the residents of the Aosta Valley first and, with them -- because our diocese is one of tourism -- all the people who are here for tourism, and also the people who are here intentionally, including from nearby countries and regions … In particular, I wish to be the voice of families.

When you arrived, both at the airport as well as along the road, most of the people were fathers and mothers with children; this is something very beautiful … frequently there were sick children, who were brought for you to bless them. Making myself the voice of families, I also want to make myself the voice of the young people who are very present.

The third point I wish to express is that we are here to hear you, as I believe that it is very different to hear you on television, on the radio or to read you in the newspapers. To be here, face to face, is a particular meeting, a special grace. I believe this is one of the reasons why we are so numerous here today. Being here, therefore, up close, to see one another without anything in between -- though very much appreciating the service the media gives us, to you, to us, to the Church -- and in particular, it seems important to me to point out that we are here to hear you. You are a Pope we listen to because of the things you say.

And, finally, we are here to pray with you. It is very important to pray to the Virgin Mary and to pray with you. It is the custom of the Christian people, after praying the rosary, to add an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and a Glory Be for the Pope's intentions. We think you are well placed among us to know what the topics are, the problems that need prayer. So we are also here to pray with you and we promise that we will pray even more for your intentions after this meeting, that the Virgin Mary may hear your prayer.

And after the notes on families and on young people, I would add the note on vocations, and <…> on peace, since the number one prayer we must raise to the Lord is that the Lord grant peace.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -
Pope Benedict is writing a book on Jesus that will become the second major theological work of his pontificate, a
Vatican source said on Tuesday.

The book, expected to be completed by the end of the summer, focuses on Jesus, the human race and Christianity's relationship with other faiths.

The work, which Benedict started before becoming pope in April 2005, comes at a time when he seeks to restore a strong sense of faith among Catholics in the face of growing secularism and competition form other religions, including Islam.

Benedict, a leading Catholic theologian and prolific author, aimed to include reflections from his experience as pope in the book written in the form of a "theological narrative," the Rome-based la Repubblica newspaper said.

La Repubblica noted that his focus on Jesus might revive the controversy surrounding "Dominus Iesus," a document he issued in 2000 when he was the Vatican's top doctrinal authority.

It said the Catholic Church was the only real church, an assertion many Protestant leaders took as insulting, and that Jesus was the only path to salvation.

The book will follow Benedict's first encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) that was issued in February.

It ranges in themes from erotic and spiritual love in a personal relationship, to the role of the Catholic Church's vast network of charity organizations around the world.

The Vatican was not immediately available for official comment on the book.

Date: 2006-07-17

Vacationing Pope Enjoying Piano

Local Clergy Say He Is "Relaxed and Happy"

INTROD, Italy, JULY 17, 2006 (Zenit.org).- During his vacation in the Italian Alps, Benedict XVI is enjoying his favorite pastime at least twice a day: his neighbors in the Aosta Valley can hear his music at the piano.

According to the Italian newspaper Avvenire's reporter, Salvatore Mazza, the Pope sits at the piano at least twice a day -- in the morning and the afternoon -- and plays his favorite classical pieces.

The local parish priest said "the Pope seems to really appreciate these days of rest; he is very relaxed and happy"; "when greeting him, on his arrival, I said to him: 'I continue to be the parish priest of Introd.' And he answered me: 'Good, the Church needs continuity,'" Father Paolo Curtaz recounted on Saturday to Avvenire.

On Sunday, pictures from the Vatican Television Center allowed one to see the Pope's activities over these days: time spent in his study in the Salesian residence, walks in the garden, moments of prayer before an image of Our Lady, and time spent at the piano playing favorite pieces.

Writing a book

Insofar as Benedict XVI's work is concerned, Mazza wrote in the Sunday edition of Avvenire that "it seems, among other things, that he has gone back to the book he was writing before being elected John Paul II's successor," "a theology text."

In statements on Vatican Radio today, Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi said "The Pope is relaxed. He certainly enjoys the freedom of not being subjected to work. He also shows that he finds time to walk, to pray …"

"Conversation with him is extremely simple, as is proper to his character. Moreover, when he speaks, he is attentive to all. We have seen that the people who come to Les Combes [where the Pope is residing] are persons who love him very much, young people who call him … There are many families (…), also many sick have come."

Bishop Anfossi told Vatican Radio that "as soon as he got into the car for the trip from the airport to the house, the first thing the Pope asked me was news on my mother's health. Frankly, I was not expecting so much delicacy."

So far, we have two indications - one, that he is finishing a book on Jesus which he had started before he became Pope. And now comes news that he is also preparing his second encyclical. Here is a translation of an Adnkronos (Italian-German news agency) story today, citing a Spanish Catholic news agency as the source::

In the mountains of Les Combes, Benedict XVI is working on a social encyclical dedicated to the theme of work. It will be called "Labor Domini," according to Aciprensa, the Latin American ecclesiastical news agency.

[The problem is Aciprensa supposedly translated "Labor Domini' into 'man's work', when it obviously means 'God's work.' Or is the encyclical to be called "Labor uomini"???]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/07/2006 20.35]

LES COMBES, Italy -
Pope Benedict XVI is writing a book about Jesus while on holiday in the Italian Alps, the Rome daily La Repubblica reported Tuesday.

Officials at the
Vatican declined to comment on the report. The newspaper said the book will be aimed at rank-and-file Catholics.

Benedict, a theologian by training, has been a prolific author since his years as a professor in his native Germany.

While on his July 11-28 holiday, the pope has taken drives through the mountains and played classical music on a piano. On Tuesday, he made an unexpected stroll across the border into Switzerland where he visited a monastery and a kennel of St. Bernard dogs.

La Repubblica did not say what the book would be called, nor when it would be published, but said Benedict has been working on it since before he became pope last year.

This is a translation of Sandro Magister's blog yesterday, which I am posting here, although in a way, the topic is peripheral to the Pope, being about Sodano really and how he insists on shooting his own quiver even from his lameduck position as retiring Secretary of State.

On the previous page of this thread, I had posted two items (Posts #3407 and 3418) about Sodano's and the Pope's (later) statements about the current Mideast Crisis, to which I added my comments questioning Sodano's blatantly partisan comments against Israel. Magister certainly confirms that impression!
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SODANO'S LAST FIRES

Punctually, in July, some fireworks between the Vatican and Israel. This year as last year, it is Cardinal Angelo Sodano who has triggered it off.

In July 2005, the spark was the omission of Israel in a list of nations that were victims of terrorism in the Angelus message read by the Pope on July 24, a Sunday, and a follw-up note from the Vatican press office which made it worse.

Then Sodano admitted that the omission was the result of an oversight, and he blamed Joaquin Navarro-Valls, then director of the Press Office, for the note. Navarro-Valls, in turn, issued a statement saying the note had been written and distributed by the Secretariat of State without his knowledge.

This year, the fire began from Sodan’s statements to Vatican Radio which were summarized in a communiqué distributed by the Press Office (now under its new director, Fr. Federico Lombardi) last Saturday.

The communiqué was immediately greeted with enthusiasm by the official ‘voice’ of Hezbollah, ‘Al Manar.’

Incredible? Not so. Because the salient passage from Sodano’s statement was this:
“The right to defend part of a state does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law, especially if it involves the protection of the civilian population. In particular, the Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation, and assures its closeness to those populations which have already suffered so much to defend their independence.” [Teresa's comment: But Signore Cardinale, the most-suffering in this respect is none other than Israel for almost 60 years now, whose neighbors have openly vowed, at one time or another, to wipe it off the surface of the earth!]

This excerpt came right after a routine re-statement of the Holy See’s impartiality between the two parties to the conflict: “As in the past, the Holy See condemns both the terrorist attacks of one as well as the military reprisals of the other.”

An impartiality that is immediately refuted by the first quotation.

But this is Sodano’s anti-Israel line, which is nothing new. It must be said, however, that there are other viewpoints within the Vatican diplomatic service.

One of this viewpoints is represented, for example, by Fr. David Maria Jaeger, Jewish-born Israeli citizen, who has been for years the Holy See’s principal negotiator with Israeli authorities.

Here is what Fr. Jaeger thinks of the current conflit, in an interview with the weekly organ “Incroci News” of the Milan archodiocese.

What are the consequences on the already difficult situation in the region of the opening of a front in Lebanon?
We have here a qualitative escalation of gravity. Israel considers itself the victim of aggression, not only by the militant organization Hezbollah but by the Lebanese government itself, and has decided to respond on the basis of this assessment.

There are enough reasons for their judgment: the Israelis point out that Hezbollah is an integral part of Lebanese institutions and is represented in the Lebanese Parliament. Moreover, the government of Lebanon has refused to take control in southern Lebanon (adjoining Israel), effectively leaving it in the hands of the Hezbollah.

Several times, the United Nations, the United States and European nations have called on Lebabon – in vain – to disarm Hezbollah, which is financed and equipped by Iran, and to take back control of southern Lebanon.

Now, the Iraelis say, if Lebanon does not decide even in this emergency to affirm its sovereignty vis-à-vis Hezbollah (which is at the service of a foreign nation that has pledged the destruction of Israel), then Lebanon risks losing all that it has achieved in 20 years of effortful, costful and hopeful reconstruction.

Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, who started in the nationalist right (of Israeli politics), seems to be the only moderating voice in all these, promising painful but measured acts [to defend his nation].

The rest of the interview may be read in Incroci News on
www.chiesadimilano.it:81/or4/or?uid=ADMIesy.main.index&oi...

Ratzigirl just posted this short item upstairs - probably from an Italian news agency - but even without attribution at the moment, it is certainly news:
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"He asked us to pray
for a return of peace,"
Carmelite sister says

"But pray also for the terrorists because they don't realize that they are doing harm not only to others but above all, to themselves."





This is among the things the Pope talked to the cloistered Carmelites of Quart, not far from his vacation villa in Les Combes, when he visited them Friday.

Sister Maria, one of the 10 nuns at Quart, is very emotional as she recounts their meeting with the Pope, who was preoccupied with events in the Holy Land and over the current armed hostilities between Israel and Lebanon.

"Now we are seeing a worsening of the conflict in Lebanon," the Pope remarked to the nuns "but there are many people who suffer hunger and violence in many other parts of the world. Violence grows where God is ignored."

Sister Maria said the Pope did not hide his concern either about the continuous emigration of Christians leaving the Holy Land.

during his current vacation, the Pope is working on a new encyclical on the theme of work, reportedly called Labor Domini
(God's work) and is also finishing a boook that examines the relationship between Christ, Christianity and other religions.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/07/2006 3.26]

And here is a translation of an even fresher report posted by Elena66c in the main forum, from Ticino online [Ticino is the Swiss region bordering on Italy].

The Pope steps over to Switzerland
to visit the Brothers of St. Bernard
AOSTA< July 18, 2006 - In his afternoon excursion today far from Les Combes, Pope Benedict XVI went to the Great St. Bernard Pass, even stepping over to the Swiss side of the border to visit the brothers at the local monastery.

On the route from els Combes, the Pope made a first stop at the Benedictine sisters' convent in Chateau Verdan. He greeted each of the sisters, exchanged a few words with them and signed their guest book.

The papal convoy then continued on towards the Alpine pass that is one of the main crossing-points betwen Italy and Switzerland, going over the Swiss border to the monastery of the Brothers of St. Bernard.

There, the Pope prayed Vespers with the brothers.

Within the monastery, there were a few visitors with whom the Pope posed for pictures. [The Italian terminology used says literally that the Pope "took pictures" among them - 'insieme alle quali Benmedetto XVI ha fatto alcune fotografie'. We'll know soon enough]

Coming out from one of the side doors into the monastery square, the Pope was greeted by some 200 tourists who had learned abut his presence.

The Pope later walked several hundred meters to visit the dog breeding center of the famous St. Bernards. His convoy was waiting for him on a clearing in Italian territory. He thus 'walked back' to Italy, not along the main highway but along a mountain path.
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Adventurous Papa! Do we have the pictures yet?

Also, as someone remarked in the main forum, he has certainly been acting like a parish priest on this vacation, with this visits to local religious communities.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/07/2006 6.02]