23 August, 2006
VATICAN
Pope: Apocalypse, a comfort
for Christians persecuted
in Asia and rest of the world


Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Suffering is not “the last word” in the history of the world and the Church, but a “point of passage towards happiness and, even it [suffering] is already mysteriously soaked” with “joy” and “hope”.

Benedict XVI spoke these words to more than 7,000 pilgrims gathered in Paul VI Hall for the weekly audience, explaining the highlights of the book of the Apocalypse of St John, often moving away from his prepared speech to add impromptu comments.

The pope said that contrary to usual interpretation, the Apocalypse was not about an “overhanging catastrophe” or “enigmas to be resolved”. Rather it told about the persecutions suffered by Christians throughout history, aiming to instill the certainty of a “victory of the Lamb, slaughtered and yet standing upright”, becoming a comfort for Christians, especially those of Asia.

The reference to Asia and persecution against Christians is above all literary: the Apocalypse, said the pontiff, “should be understood in the background of the dramatic experiences of the seven Churches of Asia (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea) that at the end of the first century had to face heavy difficulties in their witness to Christ. John turned to them, showing animated pastoral sensitivity towards the persecuted Christians, who he exhorted to remain strong in the faith and not to identify with the pagan world.”

But speaking then about the one of the symbols of the Apocalypse (the scroll no one could open that drove the apostle to tears, Apoc.5:4), he adds: “Probably this cry expressed the bewilderment of the Asian churches about the silence of God in the face of persecutions they were subject to then. It is a bewilderment that could well reflect our dismay in the face of serious difficulties, misunderstandings and hostilities that the Church still suffers today in several parts of the world. They are sufferings the Church certainly does not deserve, just as Jesus himself did not merit his torment.”

Speaking off the cuff, the pope continued: The “meaning of the history of mankind”, “the destiny of history” is in the hands of Jesus Christ, who the Apocalypse reveals as the “slaughtered Lamb, defenceless, wounded, dead, but upright, alive, participating in the divine power of the Father”.

“Jesus, although he was killed by an act of violence, instead of collapsing to the ground, paradoxically remains firmly on his feet, because the resurrection has definitely won over death”.

The meaning of victory over persecution was affirmed by Benedict XVI when he explained the symbol of the “Woman who delivers a male Son, and the complementary one of the Dragon who has by now fallen from the heavens. Although active in the persecution of the Woman and her other children, he has now been overcome at the core and his ultimate defeat will be unmistakably manifested.” [This was not in the Italian transcript published online by the Vatican.]

Here too, the pope talked off the cuff for a while, explaining that the Woman is Mary, but also the church “that gives birth with great suffering in every age, defenceless, weak. While she is persecuted by the Dragon, she is protected by the consolations of God. It is this woman who triumphs in the end, not the dragon.”

The pope continued spontaneously: “The Woman who is persecuted appears at the end like a Bride, the new Jerusalem, where there are no more tears and everything is light, because her light is the Lamb.”

“For this reason,” continued Benedict XVI, “the Apocalypse of John, although it is pervaded by continual references to suffering and tribulations – the obscure face of reality – is just as much permeated by frequent hymns of praise that sort of represent the luminous face of history... We are faced here with a typical Christian paradox, according to which suffering is never perceived as the last word, but is rather seen as a point of passage towards happiness, and even it [suffering] is already mysteriously soaked with joy that springs from hope.”

The pope ended his reflection by explaining the last words with which “the Seer of Patmos” concludes his book, the invocation, “Come Lord Jesus”, “pulsing with anxious expectation”.

Here too, the pope added a reflection on impulse, saying that this waiting had three dimensions: that of the “definitive victory of the Lord who comes and transforms the world”; the “Eucharistic, of now, in which He anticipates his final coming”; the eschatological, in which the Church says: You have already come, it is a joy for us, but come fully.” And nearly as if to express the impatience of this wait, Benedict XVI ended with a prayer: “Come Lord Jesus, come and transform the world, and may your Peace triumph. Amen.”

At the end of the audience, the pope greeted all the pilgrims in different languages. Speaking in English, he greeted a group of priests from Taiwan and members of St Mary’s Hospital of Luodong (Taiwan) as well as youth from Nanzan University of Nagoya (Japan).

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In the AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS thread, I have posted a translation of the Italian transcript published online by the Vatican (and missing the sentence I italicized in the above report). However, this AsiaNews report is invaluable because the reporter on the scene identifies for us the passages in the Pope's catechesis which he extemporized.

After his little visit to the shrine of the MADONNA DEL TUFO in the Alban Hills near Castel Gandolfo recently, the Holy Father made another unheralded pilgrimage yesterday to another shrine in the area. Thanks to Ratzi-leLLa in the main forum for this item from the Italian news agency APCOM, here in translation -
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Castel Gandolfo, August 23, 2006 (Apcom) - An unscheduled pilgrimage for Benedict XVI who, yesterday afternoon, in a "strictly private visit", went to Nemi in the heart of the Castelli Romani [name given to the cluster of towns in the Alban Hills near Rome, among them Castel Gandolfo and the tourist towns of Tivoli and Frascati] to visit the Convent of San Raimondo and the Sanctuary of the Crucified Jesus.

During the brief visit, the Pope also met with the Mercedari priests in charge of the Sanctuary.

"It was a historic day for the Convent in Nemi and for the Sanctuary," said Fr. Giacinto Masala, rector of the Sanctuary. "But it was a strictly private visit."

The Pope left the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo at 4:30 p.m., accompanied by his visiting brother, Mons. Georg Ratzinger, and some Papal aides.

According to a French news agency report, after the Pope had spent some time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and the Crucifix at the Sanctuary, he joined in the recitation of Vespers for Mary as Queen Mother (Madonna Regina), whose feast was celebrated yesterday.

Father Giacinto later recounted the history of the Sanctuary to the Pope.

The Pope then visited the Cubiculum, or "room of the Popes" in the sanctuary, and then spent some time on a terrace which faces the Lake of Diana.

Around 7 p.m., after having greeted a small crowd that had gathered in front of the Sanctuary, the Pope and his entourage headed back to Castel Gandolfo.

The Sanctuary of the Crucified Jesus was constructed in 1637 at the behest of Mario Frangipane, who was lord of Nemi at that time. It was annexed to a Franciscan convent, which has since become a Mercedari convent. [I am sorry I do not know the English name of the Mercedari order.]

It was originally dedicated to the Madonna because the original icon venerated there was a Madonna from Versacarro. It became known as the Sanctuary of the Crucified Jesus after a wooden Crucifix by Friar Vincenzo of Bassiano was installed.

Legend says that Friar Vincenzo, who was frustrated at not being able to fashion the face of Christ in a 'worthy' manner, decided to pray about it and sleep on it. When he woke up, he was stunned to find that a face had been sculptured perfectly on the wood of the crucifix.
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Later, when I am not at work, I will see what we can find online about this miraculous Crucifix. I can't wait to see what the miraculously sculptured face looks like!.

8/25/06
P.S. Surprisingly very little to find online about the Shrine and the Crucifix of Nemi, but I did find this picture from a site that's sponsoring a late August retreat of sorts in Nemi.
The picture is not captioned but it is placed next to a paragraph about the Shrine and the Curcifix, so I imagine it must be the 'miraculous' face (especially since one small item I saw elsewhere said that there were details of the face -teeth and inside palate - that 'could not possibly have been done with the tools available at the time').

Friar Vincenzo is said to have sculpted other Crucifixes so it would be interesting to see the others.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/08/2006 20.46]

Pope Benedict brings new style to Vatican


By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - "You must know everything about this place," Pope Benedict said.

"Not as much as I would like to, Your Holiness," I replied.

It was June 17, 2005 and I was one of two journalists present in the papal apartments in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace to cover a visit by the president of Slovakia as a "pool reporter" for the Vatican press corps.

It was my first time under the new papacy, then little more than two months old. Under John Paul, I had been in that same room with the likes of Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and Nelson Mandela.

After the Pope and the visitor conclude private talks, delegations and pool reporters are allowed into the private study.

The hope is that a newsworthy tidbit will emerge from the pleasantries.

However, this is not the White House. Reporters are told not to ask questions -- on pain of not being allowed back. You try to behave like a fly on a wall, albeit a frescoed wall.

After the VIPs leave, reporters occasionally get to greet the Pope. While they do, his official photographer snaps away.

During John Paul's papacy, my mother received so many pictures of me with John Paul that her friends would joke that she did not need wallpaper in her living room.

Benedict's words to me were prompted by my introduction: "Your Holiness, I'm Phil Pullella. I work for Reuters and I've been in Rome for more than 20 years."

The exchange lasted less than 15 seconds but it sent my mind racing backwards in time.

Covering the papacy of John Paul for nearly 25 year was like a roller coaster ride.

It included an assassination attempt in 1981, the fall of the Berlin Wall nudged by his support of the Solidarity union in his native Poland, trips from Alaska to the Asia, and finally the long, wrenching decline of a giant of history.

John Paul invited visitors to his private morning mass, engaging them later at breakfast on issues facing the Church and the world. Lively intellectual banter was part of the menu for his dinners with "outside" guests.

LESS THAN ZERO

A much more reserved man than his predecessor, Benedict has installed a new, quieter style in the Vatican's "Sacred Palaces", as the Holy See's buildings are known in Italian.

A German, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger lets few "outsiders" into his private apartments, so hints of what is on his mind rarely trickle out.

Even Vatican officials on other floors in the papal palace say they sometimes have trouble guessing what the Pope will decide.

One source famously told me during the first year of the papacy: "I can assure you, we not only know zero, we know less than zero."

Monsignor Georg Ganswein, a 49-year old German with boyish good looks, is the Pope's private secretary.

His style is more reserved that that of Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, a sharp, flesh-pressing operator who was the long-time personal secretary to John Paul.

Dziwisz used an extensive web of contacts with journalists and politicians to promote John Paul and let people know what was on his master's mind.

Under Benedict, only those reporters who are doing a pool assignment for the first time can greet him and have their picture taken with him.

Occasionally, Ganswein, a very friendly person with a ready smile, asks reporters himself if they have ever been in the frescoed room before for a pool assignment since Benedict's election on April 19, 2005.

The second time I went up he asked several of us that question.

"Do I really have to be honest?" I asked in jest.

Smiling, he responded: "Yes, you really do have to be honest."

So, I stepped aside and did not get a second picture with the Pope. Sorry mum.

[Modificato da benefan 24/08/2006 22.59]

[This article repeats some of the details of one above but also gives insight into Papa's relationship with Georg. Very sweet.]


Pope Tours Nemi Shrine With Brother

Ratzingers Pay Surprise Visit

VATICAN CITY, AUG. 24, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI made an unexpected trip with his brother to the town of Nemi to visit a shrine dedicated to the crucifix.

The Pope and his brother also visited with the Mercedarian friars who reside at the shrine.

The Pope's brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, 82, is spending a few days with the Pope at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo.

"It was a private visit to the shrine and the convent," explained Father Giacinto Masala, director of the shrine.

Benedict XVI and his brother left Castel Gandolfo around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Upon his arrival in Nemi, he spent some time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament and a crucifix created by Friar Vincenzo da Bassiano in the 17th century.

The Bishop of Rome then presided over vespers of the Virgin Mary.

Upon leaving, he paused to greet people who gathered upon hearing the news of the Pope's visit. He returned to Castel Gandolfo at 7 p.m.

In statements to Vatican Radio on Thursday, Father Masala said the visit was a surprise, as he was only told a few hours earlier.

Papal impressions

In his comments to the religious, the Holy Father said that what most impressed him about the shrine was the crucifix.

"On entering the church, the Pope paid much attention to his brother," "as he had some difficulty walking. I must say that the Pope paid more attention to his brother than to all the rest. This attitude of the Pope is very beautiful."

Monsignor Georg Ratzinger was music director of Regensburg Cathedral before retiring in 1994.

Benedict XVI plans to visit his brother at his home in Regensburg during his trip to Bavaria this September.

Sandro Magister has a brief piece this weekend about the Pope's catechesis at the general audience on Wednesday on-
www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=79721&eng=y
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“Apocalypse Now”:
The Pope Rewrites the Script
In his latest Wednesday catechesis,
Benedict XVI deciphers for the faithful
the enigma of the book of Revelation.
It is not the Dragon that triumphs, but the Lamb:
“Do not be afraid of the silence of God”

by Sandro Magister



ROMA, August 26, 2006 – In his latest Wednesday general audience, with thousands of pilgrims from all over the world, Benedict XVI continued his catecheses dedicated to the twelve apostles.

In the preceding chapters of this cycle, pope Joseph Ratzinger had sketched the profiles of Peter, Andrew, James the Greater, James the Lesser, and John, in that order.

In the case of John, he first described his life. Then, in a second catechesis, he discussed the central content of the Gospel and the letters that bear his name: charity, or love.

In this third catechesis dedicated to John, delivered to the faithful on Wednesday, August 23, 2006, Benedict XVI instead focused on the book of Revelation, which also bears the name of the apostle.

The book of Revelation, the last one in the Bible, is held to be one of the most difficult to read and interpret. In modern terminology, its Greek title, “Apocalypse,” is in general associated with the imminent arrival of a catastrophe.

But Benedict XVI has worked the miracle of synthesizing and clarifying in a simple way the meaning of the Apocalypse, in an address of only 1200 words.

The aim of the book, he said, “is to unveil, from the death and resurrection of Christ, the meaning of human history.”

Without Christ, he continued, history remains undecipherable – both yesterday’s history and that which is unfolding today. The seven Churches of Asia which John addresses in his book are in anguish “because of God's silence in the face of the persecutions to which they were exposed at that time. It is a disconcertment which might well reflect our surprise in the face of the grave difficulties, misunderstandings and hostilities that the Church also suffers today in several parts of the world.”

It is only Christ, the Lamb who has been slain and yet lives, who is able to open the sealed book of history and reveal its contents – Christ who has come, who will return at the end of time, and who comes today in the Eucharist.

[Magister then reprints ZENIT's English translation of the Pope's catechesis as written, not as delivered, "without the improvised comments that the pope added here and there, in the colloquial style he typically uses when addressing the faithful". You may read that on the link provided above.

Our full translation of the catechesis with additional interpellations by the Pope is found in the thread AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS -
freeforumzone.leonardo.it/viewmessaggi.aspx?f=65482&idd...

About our translation of the Wednesday catechesis, allow me to quote a beautiful compliment from Amy Welborn about it in her blog of 8/23/06:

"Teresa Benedetta at the PRF has her translation up, with the extemporaneous portions underlined. Do read Teresa's translation - it communicates the warmth and immediacy of the Pope's words in a way the AsiaNews report doesn't quite convey:..."

And she goes on to quote some parts of the translation. I do thank her very much for this, and I am gratified to the extent that my humble efforts are able to catch the spirit and tone as well as the sense of the Pope's words .

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/08/2006 0.07]

Ratzi-lella has posted an article from the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero today on the Pope's visit next Friday to Manoppello. Here is a translation:

PESCARA - Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Sanctuary of the Holy Face in Manoppello, this Friday, Sept. 1, is atrracting much attention from the international press, according to data compiled by the president of the regional board for tourism promotion in the Abruzzo region, Carlo Costantini.

Particularly active are the German-speaking media. At the end of July, when the details for the visit were finalized, the German news agency dpa took the lead in publicizing it. This was followed by reportage on Manoppello and its holy icon by important German-language periodicals like Stern, Focus, Frankfuerter Allgemeine Zeitung, Wiener Zeitung and Catholic news agencies. Likewise, there has been extensive radio and TV coverage by German agencies.

Now, the mainstream media is looking at the significance of this Papal pilgrimage, referring to the hypotheses about the image of the Holy Face, its known history and stories about it, citing especially the studies made by Prof. Heinrich Pfeiffer, lecturer on Christian art at the Gregorian University of Rome, who is considreed the leading scholar on the relic.

Christian Geyer, in the cultural section of the Franfuerter Allgemeine Zeitung on August 3, called the image "an enigma."

The German press also cites a book by journalist Paul Badde with the results of his research on the nature of the cloth (mussel silk) on which the Holy Face is impressed.

Other observations center around the significance of the 'private' nature of the Pope's pilgrimage and the opinions expressed by Cardinals Joachim Meisner of Cologne and Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna, who have visited Manoppello and have spoken to the Pope about their impressions.

In the English press, Desmond O'Grady, in an article for the Daily Telegraph on August 21 entitled "The Pope prepares to look at the Holy Face of Christ in a monastery", describes the proposed visit and its possible significance.

The tabloid Daily Mail appears to advocate the hypothesis that the Manoppello image is Veronica's Veil, with an article entitled ”Pope to inspect Christ’s face on Veronica’s veil”.

The Age, Australia's leading newspaper, also had a substantial article on the Holy Face on August 22, as did the English-language Mumbai Mirror of India.

Numerous Internet sites and Catholic portals around the world have been reporting the forthcoming visit. The Corriere Canadese, an Italian language daily newspaper published in Toronto, reported on the annual procession of the Holy Face held August 6 in Richmond Hill near Toronto and announced that several immigrants from the Abruzzo region were going home for the Pope's visit to Manoppello.

Costantini said that his tourism association is following media interest in the event, since it would mean an increase in visitors to the region for both touristic and religious purposes.

He says that the Abruzzo region is becoming an autonomous pilgrim destination for foreigners, no longer connected merely to the religious itinerary of foreigners visiting Italy.

The Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto, which will host the Pope's visit, confirmed the Pope's schedule (first released last month) today:

9:45 AM The Pope's helicopter lands. He will be welcomed by Archbishop Bruno Forte; the president of the Abruzzo region, Ottaviano del Turco; the prefects of Chieti and Pescara districts; the presidents of the provinces of Chieti and Pescara; the mayor of Manoppello; the rector of the Sanctuary, and by military authorities.

10:00 AM At the Sanctuary of the Holy Face - Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; veneration of the relic; greeting by Mons,. Forte; and an address by the Holy Fahter.

11:30 AM Departure by helicopter back to Castel Gandolfo.

I have to say that while I believe the Holy Shroud and the Sudarium are authentic, I am not convinced about the Holy Face of Manoppello. To me it just looks like bad medieval art.

Police Declare Germany Safe for Papal Visit


Sunday , August 27, 2006
Fox News

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI will be safe when he visits Germany next month, a top police official said, weeks after an attempted train bombing exposed holes in Germany's counterterrorism strategy.

Joerg Ziercke, head of the Federal Criminal Office, said in remarks published Sunday that the detention of three suspects for the failed July 31 attack meant the risk of terrorism in Germany had eased.

According to the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Ziercke also doubted that Islamic extremists would target the pontiff. However, he said that all security measures and precautions had been taken.

"The pope is safe in Germany," Ziercke was quoted as saying. "The current arrests mean that the danger has peaked."

Benedict visits his native Bavaria in southern Germany in mid-September, including stops in Munich and the village of Marktl am Inn, where he was born.

German authorities are holding a Lebanese man and a Syrian in connection with the failed attack on two trains in western Germany. A third suspect is in Lebanese detention.

Prosecutors say the attack failed only because the bombs, built to a design downloaded from the Internet and concealed in wheeled suitcases, failed to explode.

Investigators are still looking into the suspects' motives and affiliation, though Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms said Saturday the trio may have acted "on the basis of convictions shared by Al Qaeda."

Politicians have responded with demands for tougher counterterrorism measures and for Muslims in Germany to do more to unmask extremists in their ranks.

In particular, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are urging their Social Democrat coalition partners to quickly approve a national database on potential terrorists.

Hardliners insist the information stored in the database must include a suspect's religious affiliation -- a proposal resisted by liberals and civil rights groups.

"Islamic terror is fed by a perverted version of Islam," Edmund Stoiber, the conservative governor of Bavaria, wrote in a guest column for Bild am Sonntag on Sunday. "Every minus for the anti-terror database is a minus for the security of our citizens."

Social Democrat leader Kurt Beck has cautioned repeatedly against "protecting freedom to death."

Not to engage in any polemics about the Holy Face of Manoppello, but I would just like to point out that from all published accounts, scientific studies of it have shown that the image could not have been painted or drawn, and that it superimposes perfectly on the face in the Shroud of Turin. Therefore, it would not be considered 'art' in any way.

Also, I think that Cardinal Meisner and Cardinal Schoenborn, among others, gave the Pope enough reason to make a pilgrimage to see it and venerate it. [The term 'veneration of the relic' was used for the Pope's program announced by the Archdiocese of Chieti.]

It must also be considered in relation to the Mandylion of Edessa, the icon kept by the Roman Pontiffs through the ages and said to have been Veronica's Veil, which, according to the journalist Paul Badde who has seen both images and inspected them closely, appears to be a poor copy of the icon of Manoppello.

In any case, I personally think that regardless of the icon's authenticity - just as for the Shroud of Turin - what matters is the faith that it inspires in people, and if that inspiration helps to make them better persons, then the icon has done what a holy icon should do.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/08/2006 20.17]

Pope Benedict XVI received Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany in private audience at Castel Gandolfo this morning. Their conversation lasted for 40 minutes amd was descrobed as very cardinal.

The meeting precedes the Pope's visit to Bavaria in two weeks. Merkel will be among the officials who will greet the Pope when he arrives in Munich, an will have a formal meeting with the Pope later that day.

The two first met in Cologne last year, when Merkel was leader of the German opposition.*

*[A later news report points out that the first meeting between them was actually after the funeral Mass for John Paul II and then again after Pope Benedict's inaugural Mass. So the Pope's remark reported later about their having met in previous circumstances when they were both 'differently situated' referred to ther actual first meeting when he was not yet Pope and she was not yet Chancellor. ]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/08/2006 18.02]

[More detail on Papa's visit with Angela Merkel today.]


Benedict XVI receives German Chancellor ahead of Pontiff's trip to homeland

Castelgandolfo, Aug. 28, 2006 (CNA) - Pope Benedict XVI visited with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today at his summer residence, Castelgandolfo. The two reportedly discussed current situations in the Middle East and the mounting tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Merkel told Deutsche Welle that she and Benedict, “had a very intense exchange on world politics, especially on the Middle East, but also on how the international community should deal with Iran.”

"I was longing to pay this visit to the pope before he comes to Germany in September," Merkel said prior to the visit. "I'm very glad that it will happen now…I'm also here to express the respect of all Germans which I represent as German chancellor."

The Chancellor told reporters that the hour-long audience was, "very impressive."

Merkel has had one prior meeting with the Pope, when she was head of the Christian Democratic Union Party, a party with strong ties to German Catholics.

While Merkel was raised in a Protestant northern German family – her mother is a Protestant minister – she and Benedict are said to get along very well.

“The pope is a great leader of Christianity to which my protestant faith also belongs,” Merkel said.

Merkel, whose educational background is in physics, reportedly maintains a strong Christian faith. “I pray because it gives me an opportunity to contemplate,” Deutsche Welle reported her as saying. “Our faith makes us aware of the fact that many things are beyond the powers of human beings. But the Christian faith also moves the dignity of human life onto centre stage giving the religion a crucial role in present-day life.”

From the Vatican bulletin of the day and from a few items posted by Francesca in the main forum:

As anticipated by the Italian press yesterday, the Holy FAther today announced the appointment of Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, currently Military Chaplain for Italy, as the Archbishop of Genoa to succeed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who assumes his new position as Vatican Secretary of State on Sep., 15.

The announcement came today on the feast of the Madonna della Guardia, patron of Genoa and all of Liguria. It is widely expected that Mons. Bagnasco will be raised to the rank of cardinal in the next consistory.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Bertone has scheduled a series of farewell audiences with his Genoese parishioners. Laymen will meet him from 10:30-12:30 daily on September 5,6,8 and 9; and priests on Sept. 7, from 9:30-1 p.m., then 4:30 onwards.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/08/2006 18.32]

And here is the translation of another news item posted by Francesca this morning-


The Holy Father will not be present at the meeting for peace to be held in Assissi next week under the auspices of the Community of Snat'Egidio, but he has been "very encouraging," says the community's spokesman Mario Marazziti.

"We think that he will be sending a message to Assissi as well," he added.

Benedict XVI received a delegation from Sant'Egidio at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo yesterday. The delegation included founder Andrea Riccardi, its president Marco Impagliazzo, and its spiritual adviser and Bishop of Terni-

The meeting for peace will take place in Assissi on September 4-5 to mark the 20th anniversary of teh inter-religious meeting held there by John Paul II.

Marazziti said the Pope's absence at this meeting was expected since he has cut down his public commitments .

The Pope's meeting with the Sant'Egidio delegation lasted 40 minutes and it was "very warm and affectionate, with discussions that were in depth."

"Dialog between the great religions and peace were discussed, as well as Africa and the wars in that continent," said Marazziti, who pointed out that Sant'Egidio recently played an active role towards the signing of an agreement to stop hostilities in northern Uganda.

"The Pope wanted to know how our contacts there were doing and he was pleased with the news we gave him."

Among the religious leadrs expected in Assissi next week are Grand Rabbi Cohen of Haifa (Israel); Rabbis Toaff and Di Segni from Rome; Ibrahim Ezzedine, adviser to the presidency of the United Arab Emirates; Ishmael Noko, secretary of the Wolrd Lutheran Federation; and Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Conference of European Churches.

The Pope will be represented by Cardinals Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Councils for Inter-religious DIalog and for Culture) and Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.

The encounter is called "For a world of peace - religions and cultures in dialog."

Jesus excludes no one from his loving embrace, pope tells audience

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Jesus excludes no one from his loving embrace because he came especially to save sinners and social outcasts, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The good news of the Gospels consists precisely in Jesus' message that God offers his grace above all to those who seem furthest from being holy, the pope said Aug. 30 at his weekly general audience.

In front of some 8,000 pilgrims packed into the Paul VI hall, the pope continued his series of audience talks about the apostles with a reflection on the life and Gospel of St. Matthew.

Matthew was a tax collector for the Roman occupiers in Israel and, therefore, like all the tax collectors at the time, was much hated by his fellow Jews, who considered him to be a public sinner.

But Jesus invited Matthew and other marginalized people to "follow me" and even invited them to eat with him, the pope said.

To those who were scandalized by Jesus associating with the community's outcasts, the pope quoted Jesus as saying: "Those who are well don't need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

"Jesus excludes no one from his friendship," said the pope. Rather, he makes a special invitation to those who have humbly acknowledged their sins and are willing to leave their old ways of life behind for a new life with Christ, Pope Benedict said.

For example, in St. Luke's account of the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the humble sinner who begs God's forgiveness will be justified in God's eyes before the self-righteous person who proudly vaunts his or her moral perfection.

This seemingly paradoxical teaching is also reflected in the figure of St. Matthew, the pope said, since the person who seems furthest from being holy can become the first to enter the kingdom of heaven and act as an example of God's welcoming mercy.

Matthew did not hesitate to answer Jesus' call even though it meant leaving everything behind, especially his job -- an occupation that had been his one sure source of income, but which was also often unjust and dishonest work, said the pope.

"Matthew understood that knowing Jesus would not allow him to continue an activity God disapproved of," he said.

"Even today it is not admissible to be attached to things that are incompatible with following Jesus, such as is the case with dishonest wealth," he said.

Just as Matthew decided to leave behind an immoral livelihood in order to follow Christ, the pope said all people are called to remove themselves from "a situation of sin" so as to embark on a new way of life and "follow Jesus completely."

At the end of the two-hour audience, the pope individually greeted and blessed a long line of physically disabled children and adults, including an African woman who left behind her wheelchair to walk resolutely up to the pope using crutches and two artificial legs.

After greeting other pilgrims, the pope returned by helicopter to his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome.

The full text of the Pope's catechesis at the general audience today can be found on our AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS thread.

Very quick message! Friday's Papal visit to Manopello will be shown on EWTN - 8.30 am London time; 9.30 am Rome time

and THE German television interview is to be shown on Saturday [check www.ewtn.com Television Specials] at 22.00 London time. Also, I've been assured that the whole Bavarian trip is going to be on EWTN....Phew! I was really worried as it's not showing up on the programme schedules for September.

Love to all - Mary x

[Modificato da maryjos 30/08/2006 21.54]

Benedictus posted this delicious little item from Corriere della Sera today, here in translation:

"St. Francis was not only an environmentalist and a pacifist: above all, he was a convert!"

Benedict XVI pointed this out today at a meeting with parish priests of the diocese of Albano whom he met at the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo.

Answering a question by one of the priests, the Pope cited an initiative by the Bishop of Assisi to mark this jubilee year of St. Francis: "Mons. Sorrentino has declared it a year to devote to (the aspect of St. Francis's) conversion in order to counteract popular misconceptions about the saint."

He explained further: "At first, Francis was some sort of a playboy [he used the English word], but he soon realized that this was not all to life, that he should open up himself to God and to others."

To the priests of the Castelli Romani area, the Pope extended a message of hope, exhorting them to be courageous.

"Notwithstanding so many sufferings and failings," he told them, "The Church has survived...Two thousand years of history...overcoming through the centuries Muslim invasions, illuministic secularizing currents, Marxism, Hitler who wished to destroy Catholicism..."

Papa Ratzinger made special mention of the dificulties being experienced by Christians in Msulim lands, and by the flowering Churches in Northern Africa who are being threatned by Muslim influences.

So many times, he said, the Church "has appeared as though it would have come to an end", but even when intellectuals like Rousseau and Voltaire gave it up for dead, so many saints continued to give it new life. he reminded them that the 19th century was a century of saints, of religious congregations, and that the Christian faith is stronger than any of the ideological currents that come and go.
----------------------------------------------------------------


Oh, what wonderful news! This means we can look forward to a transcript of yet another of this Pope's spontaneous Q&A encounters with parish priests!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 31/08/2006 22.22]

Pope says visit to Germany to be personal, chance to thank people

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's September pilgrimage to southern Germany features 14 liturgies or religious encounters and only three public secular events.

That fact alone says a lot about the pope's homecoming visit and about his entire papacy to date.

From Sept. 9 to 14, the 79-year-old pontiff will return to his Bavarian roots, stopping in Marktl am Inn where he was born, in Altotting where he used to pray at a local shrine, in Regensburg where he taught and in Munich where he was a bishop.

Along the way, he will preside over a string of public Masses, prayer services, processions and blessings. The visit is predominantly personal and religious, and the pope explained why in a recent interview with German TV and radio.

"I want to see again the places where I grew up, the people who touched and shaped my life. I want to thank these people," the pope said.

Naturally, the pope added, he also wants to express a message that goes beyond his native state of Bavaria. But when asked what the themes or issues would be, the pope said he hadn't really chosen any -- it would be the liturgy that would suggest them.

"The basic theme is that we have to rediscover God, not just any God, but the God that has a human face, because when we see Jesus Christ we see God," he said.

Starting from that awareness, he said, people find a way to meet each other in the family, among generations and among cultures. The path to peaceful coexistence in today's world is essential, he said, but "we won't find it if we don't receive light from above."

In the same interview, the pope said he wanted to correct a widespread public opinion that Christianity is "a collection of prohibitions." The faith is above all a positive spiritual invitation, and that's the point he wants to get across, he said.

From his own words, then, it would appear the pope is going not to chastise his native culture but to awaken it.

There's no doubt in the pope's mind that Germany, like most of Western Europe, suffers from a form of "drastic secularization" that tends to exclude God. But rather than rail against this trend, the pope seems ready to explore it sympathetically, often from the point of view of the average person.

As he told the German journalists, "Finding God inside this world has become more difficult."

Typically, Pope Benedict believes that his numerous liturgies in Bavaria are the most eloquent and forceful way to get his "message" across. Throughout his 17 months as pope, he has laid considerably more emphasis on the fundamentals of the faith and the importance of liturgical celebrations than on in-depth examination of social and political issues.

That is by design, too. The pope is convinced that Christianity as a force in the world begins with personal participation in Mass and a personal encounter with Christ.

In the recent interview, he said he hopes the German liturgies will help show that "believing is beautiful," that the church community possesses a transcendental strength, and that behind their belief lies something important.

The pope said one thing he hopes to communicate to young people in his homeland is that, despite the modern emphasis on personal freedom, they should not be afraid to make lifelong commitments like marriage or the priesthood.

In his one major encounter with the secular world, the pope will address academics at the University of Regensburg, where he once taught theology.

The pontiff will hold private talks with political leaders, and in arrival and departure ceremonies will have a chance to address national issues.

In his interview with German media, the pope was asked point-blank: What would you still like from Germans? He answered by speaking of a positive "inner transformation" of the German character since World War II, from reserved and disciplined to "spontaneous, happy and hospitable." His hope for Germany, he said, was that the Christian faith will help these virtues to grow.

Pope Benedict has given no indication that during his visit he will tackle contentious internal church issues like women's ordination, priestly celibacy and the admission of divorced and remarried Catholic to the sacraments. All were posed as challenges in a recent open letter to the pope by the lay group We Are Church, which originated in Austria and is popular in Germany.

Although We Are Church plans some protest vigils during the pope's stay, trip planners do not expect aggressive demonstrations like those carried out when Pope John Paul II made his last visit to the country in 1996.

Part of the reason may be that Pope Benedict is a native son, and the country is understandably proud to host him again. The pope has thanked Bavaria for the efforts being made for his visit, but sounded a little embarrassed, too.

"I blush when I think of all the preparations that are made for my visit, for everything that people do. My house was freshly painted, a professional school redid the fence. The evangelical professor helped to do the fence," he said.

"I find all of this extraordinary, and I don't think it's for me, but rather a sign of wanting to be part of this faith community and to serve one another," he said.

Pope to debate evolution with former students


Wed Aug 30, 2006 8:33am ET
PARIS (Reuters) - Pope Benedict gathers some of his former theology students on Friday for a private weekend debate on evolution and religion, an issue conservative Christians have turned into a political cause in the United States.

Benedict, who taught theology at four German universities before rising in the Catholic Church hierarchy, has pondered weighty ideas with his former Ph.D students at annual meetings since the late 1970s without any media fuss.

But his election as pope last year and controversies over teaching evolution in the United States have aroused lively interest in this year's reunion on September 1-3 at the papal summer residence of Castel Gondolfo outside Rome.

Religion and science blogs are buzzing about whether it means the Vatican will take a more critical view of evolution and possibly embrace "Intelligent Design," which claims to have scientific proof that human life could not have simply evolved.

But Father Stephan Horn, a German theologian organizing the pope's meeting with 39 former students, said that reflected a misunderstanding of how the so-called "student circle" works and what the Catholic Church teaches about evolution.

"We've never drawn any conclusions in our student circle," he told Reuters by telephone from Rome. "This is an open exchange of ideas that does not aim for a conclusion.

"It has nothing to do with creationism," he added, referring to a fundamentalist Protestant view that God created the world in six days as described in the Book of Genesis. "Catholic theology does not endorse creationist views."

Charles Darwin's theory of evolution has long been rejected in the United States by conservative Christians who want to have a Bible-based view of creation taught in public schools, where the church-state separation bars the teaching of religion.

More recently, Darwin's critics have campaigned to have "intelligent design" taught as a scientific alternative to evolution. President George W. Bush and other conservative politicians support this drive to "teach the controversy."

The "ID movement" does not name the designer as God, but its opponents -- including scientists who are believing Christians -- call this an unacceptable bid to sneak God into the teaching of science, which should only focus on empirical knowledge.

Catholic teaching accepts evolution as a scientific theory and does not read the Biblical story of creation literally. But it disagrees with what it calls "evolutionism," the view that the story of life has no role for God as its prime author.

"The possibility that the Creator used evolution as a tool is completely acceptable for the Catholic faith," Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, one of the two main speakers at the meeting, said last week.

Schoenborn, a close associate of Benedict, raised eyebrows last year with an article in the New York Times suggesting the Catholic Church supported the Intelligent Design movement.

He did not endorse it outright, but agreed with the ID movement's view that scientists who say evolution rules out God draw an ideological conclusion not proven by the theory.

Benedict has argued this way since his teaching days. At his inaugural mass after his election last year, he declared: "We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God."

Horn said Benedict and his students would probe further into this issue at their meeting: "We have to ask what is really scientific in Darwin's theory and its later development and where there are ideological elements that are unscientific."

[Modificato da benefan 31/08/2006 20.17]

The Activist Trap

As Election Day draws near, Benedict’s warning to his flock is timely and relevant.

By Colleen Carroll Campbell
National Review Online

The coming campaign season is shaping up to be as rough-and-tumble any in recent memory, and religious voters are once again at the center of the action. With Election Day less than three months away, Catholics of all political persuasions are working overtime to turn out the faith-based vote.

On the Right, groups such as as Priests for Life and Catholic Answers are distributing voter’s guides that urge Catholics to support candidates who stand with the Church in its opposition to abortion, euthanasia, embryonic-stem-cell research, human cloning, and same-sex marriage — five moral issues that are, according to official Church teaching, non-negotiable and always wrong. The voter’s guides make no recommendations on specific candidates or political parties, but the Priests for Life guide urges voters to consider the principles of the parties as well as the principles of particular candidates. “A pro-abortion party will not normally allow pro-life legislation to come forward, no matter how pro-life the individual lawmakers may be,” the guide says. “Do not just look at whether the candidate is pro-life. Consider whether or not, if he or she wins, the pro-abortion party will come into power.”

On the Left, Catholic leaders are urging religious voters to concentrate on other issues, namely the Iraq War. By focusing their public criticism on the President, they are hoping to make the congressional elections a referendum on Bush that energizes voters hungry for change. A group of Catholic sisters meeting in Milwaukee last month made headlines by publicly rebuking the president for policies “that continue the war in Iraq, that violate human rights along our borders, that intensify poverty, that pollute our earth, and that deny our interdependence with all peoples.” On Aug. 3, the name of death-penalty opponent Sr. Helen Prejean of Dead Man Walking appeared on a considerably more pointed statement in the New York Times that called for Bush’s ouster on account of his support for “a narrow and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism,” torture, “a murderous” war, “a culture of greed, bigotry, intolerance and ignorance,” and attempts to curb abortion. Prejean later distanced herself from that last criticism — which directly contradicts the teachings of her Church — but she made no apologies for the ad’s vitriolic tone and comparison of Bush to Hitler. “I signed the ad because as a follower of the way of Jesus and a U.S. citizen, I cannot stand by passively and silently as I witness my government wage such grievous oppression and violence,” Prejean said in a statement published on her website.

So what does the leader of the Catholic Church think about all of this faith-based political activism? Pope Benedict XVI, like Pope John Paul II before him, has publicly criticized the Bush administration’s decision to wage war in Iraq. But both also have condemned abortion, euthanasia, embryonic-stem-cell research, cloning, and same-sex marriage. And both clearly distinguished between acts that are considered intrinsically evil (such as abortion) and those which must be judged according to circumstances (such as individual military conflicts). As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) wrote to Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2004: “Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. …While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”

A war may meet the Church’s just-war criteria or it may not, but much to the chagrin of Catholic pacifists, the act of taking up arms has never been denounced by the Catholic Church as always and everywhere wrong. The same applies to a politician’s refusal to raise the minimum wage, allow unlimited immigration, or repudiate the death penalty in the case of a dangerous criminal who poses a danger to society. Policies and decisions must be evaluated in light of Christian principles, but the Catechism of the Catholic Church does not give the same unqualified answers to such questions as it does to questions about abortion or euthanasia. As Pope John Paul explained in his 1988 encyclical, The Lay Members of Christ’s Faithful People, “Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.”

Those comments would seem to resolve the question about which issues Pope Benedict and his predecessor considered most foundational to the creation of a culture of life, and thus, of paramount importance in the political process. Of course, Church teaching clearly exhorts Catholics to work to alleviate poverty, promote peace between nations, and work toward a just society, as Benedict reaffirmed last year in his first encyclical, God Is Love. But Benedict warned Catholic activists against adopting a materialist worldview wedded to the welfare state or to utopian visions of social justice, neither of which can substitute for the authentic, person-to-person charity that is the Church’s direct concern and every Christian’s obligation.

Benedict also distinguished between the role of individual lay people working in the world — who have a “direct duty to work for a just ordering of society” — and the role of the Church itself — which “cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. … She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail and prosper.”

This spiritual energy that transforms cultures and promotes peace concerns Benedict the most, and he has warned his flock — particularly the Church’s most visible representatives — against becoming so immersed in activism that they fail to fulfill their primary vocation of bringing God to the world. On Holy Thursday of this year, he urged priests to be primarily men of prayer rather than activists. The world has plenty of activists, the Pope said, but “the world needs God.” Benedict echoed this theme again last week, when he delivered an address about the “dangers of excessive activity” to an audience outside his Italian vacation home. Citing the words and example of 12th century monk St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Benedict warned his listeners that constant activism, even in pursuit of a noble cause, can lead to “hardness of heart … suffering for the spirit, loss of intelligence and dispersion of grace.”

The activist trap that Pope Benedict warns against is a common and familiar one: The temptation to align too closely with a particular political party and demonize opponents, to equate one’s personal judgments with the eternal truths of the faith, and to define “the Christian position” on every policy issue, thus losing focus on the few fundamental moral questions where authentic Christian witness is most countercultural and most needed. Lurking beneath those temptations is the one Benedict criticizes most forcefully: The human urge to use social and political activism to distract from our deepest questions, most intimate struggles, and most urgent longings for truth, goodness, beauty — and God.

While Benedict’s admonition against utopian social schemes and a materialist worldview seems particularly relevant to a Catholic liberals influenced by Marxist theories, conservatives should also beware becoming co-opted by political parties, hardened by ideology, negligent in charity, and hollowed out by incessant activity. In some ways, conservatives may need to hear Benedict’s message more than liberals. Those who believe most fervently in the socially transformative power of personal responsibility and personal conversion and in the existence of universal moral laws cannot expect to change the world through external activity and political victories alone. Their hope must lie in something deeper and more enduring, in the transcendent truths that can only be discovered in silence, solitude, and contemplation. As we leave summer behind and head into another contentious campaign season, Benedict’s advice — that we slow down, be still, and ponder the principles that inspire our activism — could not be more timely.

— Colleen Carroll Campbell, an NRO contributor, is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a former speechwriter to President George W. Bush, and author of The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy. Her new television show, Faith & Culture, debuts Sept. 3 on EWTN.

Even without reference to the upcoming midterm elections in the United States, I find Ms. Carroll's article an excellent presentation of how to distinguish the non-negotiable basic articles of Catholic faith from issues that admit of case-by-case consideration.

Maybe every Catholic in public life, or who wants to play a role in public life, should post on his/her fridge-door the following lines quoted above and written by then-Cardinal Ratzinger to Cardinal McCarrick in 2004:

“Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. …While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to abortion and euthanasia.”

Those who persist in thinking that Joseph Ratzinger has a closed mind would do well to note how he, as prefect of the CDF, referred to the question of taking arms or capital punishment. They would do well to remember that this is a theologian who has always argued that Christianity and its tenets are all defensible by reason .

Courtesy of Eugenia and Francesca in the main forum, more snippets from Italian news agencies on the Pope's meeting with parish priests of the Diocese of Albano (comprising Castel Gandolfo and the other lake towns in the Alban Hills)- see previous page:

Benedict XVI spent more than an hour talking to the parish priests of Albano at Castel Gandolfo earlier today.

Recalling to them the figure of St. Francis of Assissi, he urged that they carry out a ministry that could inspire a "conversion of young people", with Francis as a model, to take the way that can open up their lives to God, as he did in his youth.

"At first, he was some sort of 'playboy' who then felt that the life he led was not enough, and then he heard the voice of the Lord telling him to build his house..."

He also told them: "It is necessary to keep alive the flame from World Youth Day," reminding them of the great appeal that these events have to millions of young people around the world.

Therefore, he said, it was up to the parishes to promote youth activities which could engage young people in volunteer work "to give of themselves to others...guiding them towards positive commitments, towards helping others, inspired by love of God."
----------------------------------------------------------

So many films, romaniticized biographies and legends have projected a false picture of St. Francis of Assisi.

During his meeting with parish priests of Albano, the Pope sought to clarify these misconceptions with a directness that surprised many of those present.

Speaking extemporaneously, the Pope said, "St. Francis was originally some sort of a playboy who soom realized that that life was not sufficient, and so he opened up to God." [In the absence so far of an actual transcript of the pope's words, he has been quoted on this in different ways today, although the substance remains the same.]

"Francis was not just an environmentalist or a pacifist," he pointed out, referring to popular but incomplete characterizations that have been made of the saint. "Above all, he was a convert tot he faith."

The Pope referred to a recent theatrical presentation on the "Poverello" (poor one) of Assisi as an example that could be used for youth today.

It was noted how the Pope used the word 'playboy' (said in English] which was not expected from him.

He continued, "I read with great pleasure that the Bishop of Assisi, Mons. Sorrentino, has decreed the year to be dedicated to the aspect of St. Francis's conversion as a way of counteracting the popular image of him," and "to inspire young people and show then what is the real challenge."
---------------------------------------------------------------

9/2/06
NOTE: In HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES - I have posted a full translation of the Holy Father's session with the diocesan clergy of Albano, of which his brief comments on St. Francis were but a minuscule part.

In my opinion, the transcript is one of the best and most engaging documents produced in the first 16 months of Benedoict XVI's Papacy and deserves to be read in full.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/09/2006 2.46]

Christ can be seen in faces of all people, pope says at sanctuary

By Catholic News Service

MANOPPELLO, Italy (CNS) -- All Christians should be on a never-ending search for Christ, who can be seen in the faces of all people, especially the poor and needy, Pope Benedict XVI said.

To be drawn and transformed by the splendor of Jesus' face is to live in God's presence on earth, the pope said during a brief visit Sept. 1 to the Sanctuary of the Holy Face in this small city some 120 miles east of Rome.

Some scholars believe the sanctuary houses "Veronica's Veil," the cloth used by Veronica to wipe Christ's face prior to his crucifixion and which, according to tradition, now contains the image of Christ's face.

"We will be filled with the presence of God" by imitating the lives of the saints who lovingly recognized the face of Jesus in their brothers and sisters, "especially the poorest and those most in need," Pope Benedict said.

The pope flew by helicopter early in the morning from his summer home at the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo to visit the church that houses the 7-inch-by-9.5-inch transparent veil that portrays the image of a male face with long hair and a beard. Studies have found no pigments or paints were used to create the image.

The two-hour stopover marked the first time a pope visited this small city of 6,000 people and its sanctuary.

In a speech to priests, religious and pilgrims who packed the long, narrow church, the pope quoted Jesus, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father."

In order to recognize Christ, especially in other people or in one's daily life, people must have "innocent hands and pure hearts," Pope Benedict said.

Having innocent hands means living one's existence "enlightened by the truth of love that conquers indifference, doubt, lies and selfishness," he said. A pure heart, he added, is a heart that has been "captured by divine beauty" and houses Christ's very image.

It was only after Jesus' passion and resurrection that the disciples recognized him as the true Son of God, "the Messiah promised for the redemption of the world," said the pope.

"Looking for Jesus' face must be the yearning of all of us Christians," the pope said. For those who persevere in that search, he said, Jesus "will be there at the end of our earthly pilgrimage."

The pope also made an urgent appeal for greater respect for the environment. The church in Italy marked its first day of reflection and prayer for the protection of the environment Sept. 1.

The pope said nature was in great danger as it is "always ever more exposed to serious risks of environmental degradation" and must be "defended and safeguarded."

After arriving in this small city nestled in the mountains not far from the Adriatic Sea, the pope walked to the Sanctuary of the Holy Face and was met by local city and church officials. He greeted thousands of exuberant pilgrims who lined the streets as they cheered and waved small yellow and white Vatican flags.

Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto told Vatican Radio Aug. 31 that, before his election to the pontificate, Pope Benedict, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had hoped to visit and pray at the shrine.

The visit was "a personal pilgrimage," the archbishop told Vatican Radio, "to highlight the importance of faith in looking toward the face of Jesus in life."

The archbishop, a close collaborator of the pope's through their work on the International Theological Commission, led the pope to the sanctuary.

A Capuchin friar unlocked and opened the protective glass case housing the icon above the church's altar. The pope spent several minutes venerating the relic.

Pope Benedict and his ex-students holding seminar on evolution

By Ian Fisher
The New York Times
Published: September 1, 2006

ROME They meet every year, the eminent German professor and his old doctoral students, for a weekend of high-minded talk on a chosen topic. For years it was nothing more than that.

But now the professor, once called Joseph Ratzinger, has become Pope Benedict XVI. And this year, for three days beginning Friday, the topic on the table is evolution, an issue perched on the ever more contentious front between science and belief.
And so the questions rise as the meeting unfolds at a papal palace just outside Rome. Is this merely another yearly seminar? Or is the leader of the world's billion Roman Catholics signaling that he may join in earnest the emotional debate over evolution, intelligent design and all that might mean for politics and faith, especially in the United States?

There is no way to know immediately, though many church experts believe that the pope has fewer problems with the science of evolution than with its use to wipe God more cleanly from a secular world. No document will be published afterward, no news conference given.

But the seminar comes after a year particularly fraught over the issue of evolution, in America - with the fight over intelligent design - and in the church. Last year a leading cardinal, who will speak at the meeting, expressed doubts that Darwinism and Catholicism were compatible, and the pope declared the creation of the universe an "intelligent project."

And so scientists and believers from around the world, on all sides of an extraordinarily charged debate, are watching the meeting carefully.

Proponents of intelligent design, defeated in a high-profile court case last year in Pennsylvania, say they are pleased that their ideas, which posit that life is so complex that it requires an active creator, may get a fair hearing in the lofty circles of Professor Ratzinger's seminars.

"I think this is indicative of an opening and expansion of the discussion, the discussion over Darwinism and evolution generally," said Bruce Chapman, president of the Discovery Institute, one of the main proponents of intelligent design. "It's very helpful to our desire to see an expanded dialogue in many quarters."

On the other side, scientists and theologians who support evolution say they worry that, even inadvertently, the church may be driving a wedge between itself and science.

"If for some reason the Catholic Church gets on the wrong side of the science, then it's going to in the long term do huge damage, just as it did when they went against Galileo," said Lawrence Krauss, chairman of the physics department at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a highly visible opponent of intelligent design. "It threatened their credibility."

"Because like it or not," he added, "evolution happened."

The meeting opened Friday morning at Castel Gandolfo, a papal palace that stands as a sort of symbol for the church's coexistence with science. Castel Gandolfo houses a world-class observatory - with a telescope that Pope John Paul II enjoyed looking through - built a century after the church acknowledged its mistake in condemning Galileo for his postulation that planets revolve around the sun.
Similarly, the church has moved from neutrality to a something like acceptance of evolutionary theory, though drawing a thick bottom line that God is the ultimate creator.

In 1996, John Paul declared evolution as "more than a hypothesis," and in 2004 as Cardinal Ratzinger, Benedict endorsed the scientific view that the earth is roughly four billion years old and that species changed through evolution. Indeed, there has been no credible scientific challenge to the idea that evolution, the foundation of modern biology, explains the diversity of life on earth.

Given that history, scientists and church experts say they cannot imagine the study session ending with any alignment of the pope or the church with intelligent design or American-style creationism, which often posits that Earth is only about 6,000 years old.

"I suspect they will try to avoid it," said the Reverend Joseph Fessio, an American priest and former student of the pope's, who is taking part in the meeting, "because intelligent design has been represented either as a religion, which it is not, or as a science, which I think is indefensible."

But Fessio and others say the pope, based on his statements and writings, remains deeply concerned specifically about the contention among some supporters of modern evolution that the theory refutes any role of God in creation.

"Given this ideology, the temptation or danger is real to say that you don't have any need of God, that the spirit doesn't exist," said Fiorenzo Facchini, an Italian priest and paleoanthropologist. "And the church should keep guard against this and denounce it."

Facchini wrote an influential article this year in the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, praising as "correct" the decision in January by a judge in Pennsylvania that intelligent design should not be taught as a scientific alternative to evolution.
Nonetheless he cautioned that the mechanisms of evolution are not all known - and that just as religion has no business in science, science should not overstep its bounds in declaring that God could have no role in creation.

That is a similar line of thinking presented over many years by Benedict, whose main preoccupation is growing secularism, and it is likely to be a central part of the discussions this weekend.

In his book "Truth and Tolerance" (Ignatius Press, 2004), written when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, he wrote of what he called an effort to turn evolution into a "universal philosophy" that explained all of life.

"This evolutionary ethic that inevitably takes as its key concept the model of selectivity, that is, the struggle for survival, the victory of the fittest, successful adaptation, has little comfort to offer," he wrote. "Even when people try to make it more attractive in various ways, it ultimately remains a bloodthirsty ethic."

After John Paul died in April 2005, Benedict signaled a similar concern in his homily at the Mass in which he was formally installed as pope.

"We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution," he said. "Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary."

But some students of the pope say his doubts go deeper into the science of evolutionary theory. In his writings he has echoed the questions of anti-Darwinians about how evolution can transform one species into another.

The pope "does not accept at face value the scientific theory," said Dominique Tassot, director of the French group, the Center for Studies and Prospectives on Science. "He wants to make people reconsider the question."

As might be expected from a German professor, all sides of the evolution question will get a hearing, though with an emphasis on skepticism. The seminar on Friday reportedly began with a presentation by Peter Schuster, an eminent molecular biologist, president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and a defender of evolution.

There will be three other speakers to the study group, most notably Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, who sparked a contentious debate last year after he wrote an Op-Ed article for The New York Times questioning evolution. The article was submitted by the same public relations firm used by the Discovery Institute.

The two other speakers are Professor Robert Spaemann, a German philosopher who has criticized evolution as a full philosophical theory; and the Reverend Paul Elbrich, a Jesuit priest and scientist whose work on proteins questions whether chance alone could play the decisive role in evolution.

The pope's annual seminars do not shy away from difficult topics. Last year the issue under discussion was Islam.

I am reserving space here for translations of a flood of articles in the Italian press today reporting and commenting on the Holy Father's visit to the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello yesterday.

What most of the reporting does not mention is that the Pope's pilgrimage comes in the fifth centenary year of the 'arrival' of the Image in Manoppello in 1506, where records say a stranger handed it in a rolled packet to a leading citizen of the town. It was kept a family possession for almost a century until it was turned over to the Capuchins who have kept custody of it since.

For a change, much of the Italian mainstream media covered the event in the way it deserved - except state television RAI which not only did not broadcast the live coverage of the event but also gave it no more than a few seconds mention in their newscasts yesterday! [They might have drawn more viewers even than the 5 million who tuned in to the Pope's Angelus last Sunday!]
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As usual, Avvenire's on-site correspondent gives readers a more complete, more detailed, less generic kind of reporting on a Papal happening.


ALONG THE WAYS OF FAITH:
At Manoppello, the Pope
as advocate of Beauty
By Salvatore Mazza

To the youth: 'Whoever meets Jesus
must allow himself to be drawn to Him.
Do not draw back if He calls you
to the priesthood to place your life
in the service of everyone."



To seek the face of the Lord, to 'know Him' so that "in Him we may find the way of our life."

And "whoever meets Jesus allows himself to be drawn to Him,", whoever "is willing to follow Him up to the sacrifice of one's life...already lives in God on this earth, attracted and transformed by the radiance of His Face."

This is "the experience of the true friends of God, the saints, who recognized and loved in their brothers, especially the poorest and the neediest, the face of that God so long contemplated with love at prayer."

Benedict XVI, with these simple words, explained yesterday the reason for his 'private pilgrimage' to the sanctuary of Manoppello, which harbors the relic considered to be an imprint of the Holy Face of Christ, and which most historians now consider to be the authentic 'Veronica Romanica' [the cloth supposedly given by a Jerusalem woman to Jesus to wipe His Face on His way to Calvary, and which tradition says was kept in the Vatican as a relic for centuries until it disappeared in the Middle Ages, to reappear in Manoppello in 1506].

A private pilgrimage in strict terms - "but nevertheless, being an ecclesial pilgrimage, it cannot be considered completely private," the Pope said jestingly to the more than 8,000 pilgrims who had gathered to greet him at the Abruzzi shrine.

Where, on the first day of prayer ever dedicated by the Church in Italy to the protection of Nature ('safeguarding Creation'), the Pope did not fail to make a strong appeal to "respect Nature, God's great gift, which here we are able to admire by looking at the stupendous montains that surround us."

A gift, he added, that "is more and more exposed to serious risks of environmental degradation which must therefore be defended and protected."

This was almost a lightning visit which the Pope made to this sanctuary in the foothills of the Maiella. The "first, and significant" visit of a Pope to the Church of Abruzzo - said the Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, Mons. Bruno Forte, in greeting the Pope, after having organized a a celebratory popular welcome that was more than just warm.






Arriving by helicopter straight from Castel Gandolfo around 9:45 a.m., and welcomed by Mons. Forte and local authorities, Benedict XVI immediately plunged into a wave of welcomers that lined the 200-meter route he walked towards the entrance to the Sanctuary.

At this point, Benedict's first unprogrammed gesture. He turned to the crowd and spontaneously gave a brief speech, thanking them "for this most cordial welcome."

"I see," he said, "that the Church is indeed one great family. Where the Father (Papa) is, the family gathers."



And to the accompaniment of applause and chants and the waving of thousands of yellow-and-white flaglets, he added, "I am very grateful for your welcome, and that in this way, I am seeing the beauty of this part of Italy."

He added a special greeting for the sick: "You are in our prayers, even as you pray for us."

And to the youth, "We are all searching for the Face of the Lord, and that is the sense of my visit to Manoppello. A Face that together we will always seek to know better in order to find the way of our life."

Inside the little church, he was greeted by the diocesan clergy and the religious of the area, including the Capuchin monks who are in charge of the Sanctuary.

Benedict XVI received the greetings of the Abruzzi bishops and spent a little more time with the Archbishop emeritus of Pescara-Penne, Antonio Iannucci, who was one of the conciliar Fathers at Vatican-II.


Then the Pope turned to kneel in front of the Holy Face, remaining in silent prayer for about five minutes, with his eyes raised to the icon. At the end, he went up the steps of the altar towards the reliquary to bless it.




This was followed by the official speeches. First of all, the greeting by Mons. Forte, whom the Pope would later salute as "my friend of many years, a friend from whom I have learned much, whose books I have read, and with whom I have worked a lot."









In his discourse, the Pope pointed out that "to recognize the Face of the Lord in that of our brothers and in the events of daily life, we need innocent hands and pure hearts," that is, a life "illumined by the truth of love which triumphs over indifference, doubt, lies and selfishness; besides which we also need pure hearts, enraptured by divine beauty," hearts that "are imprinted with the Face of Christ." But that "to see God, we must know Christ and allow ourselves to be formed by His Spirit which guides believers to Truth in its entirety."


This was followed by the presentation of gifts to the Pope as "signs' to mark the day: an icon of the Holy Face executed by Sister Blandina Paschalis Schlomer, a German nun and scholar-expert on the Manoppello icon, who lives a cloistered life in Manoppello; a reproduction of the icon framed in silver, from the Capuchin friar-custodians of the Sanctuary; and typical products from the Abruzzi region.

At one point, the Pope rose to help a nun who had brought him a basket of products.

Later, before returning to his helicopter for the return to Castel Gandolfo, the Pope smilingly acknowledged the acclamation of hundreds of youth. Once again, he asked for the microphone to say a few words to them, urging them to "move forward along the path of faith."



His final invitation to them: "Look for the Face of Christ, and learn to recognize It... Do not draw back from the call of priesthood because it is beautiful to be with the Lord and at the service of all."

Then the return to Castel Gandolfo and a little surprise. Thanks to the splendid day over central Italy yesterday, the Papal helicopter made a slight route deviation to allow the Pope
to admire from up close the peak of the Gran Sasso mountain, the sanctuary of St. Gabriele of the Sorrowful Mother, and the Basilica of Mentorella, a shrine beloved by John Paul II and visited last year by Benedict.

Another Avvenire correspondent contributes this sidebar:

Suor Blandina:
"Everyone now knows that here
we have a Treasure"
By Piergiorgio Greco

Sister Blandina repeats it like a a refrain almost: "It is a great day for the Holy Face, this special appointment!"

She says it as she leaves her simple rustic dwelling, two steps away from the Sanctuary of the Holy Face, where years ago, she decided to settle in order to be near the mysterious Veil, to be able to see it, to contemplate it, and above all, to be able to study it.

She says it among the crowd of pilgrims who reach out to show her their affection. She says it to whoever she meets along the crowded street that leads to the Church.

And she says it with even more conviction after a morning that was extra-special and unforgettable.

Sr. Blandina Paschalis Schloemer, the German Trappist nun who has demonstrated the perfect super-imposition of the Face of Manoppello with that on the Shroud of Turin, normally stays away from the limelight, and she throws her hands up in a gesture of withdrawal.

"I don't want to say more...Just that today was truly a great day for the icon of the Holy Face."

It was an unrepeatable day: not because by his very presence, Benedict XVI thereby 'placed his seal' of authenticity on the Veil after centuries of mystery - in this respect, Mons. Bruno Forte was quite clear, specifying that the Pope's presence was not a statement in favor of its authenticity - but because after years of solitary study by both Sr. Blandina and Jesuit Fr. Heinrich Pfeiffer, something may finally change.

"With his visit, the Pope has opened the doors to greater awareness by the public of the Holy Face," the nun said. "It is what Fr. Pfeifer and I have wanted for some time, since we need the help of the entire international scientific community. Compared to the Shroud of Turin, so much study needs to be done, and so far, we have been almost alone in our studies."

That it would be a great day, Sr. Blandina had known for some time. She inscribed the date on a splendid reproduction of the icon which she painted to give the Pope as a gift from the diocese, along with a masterful film reproduction on a slide the same size as the icon and framed in silver, a sum of money for the Papal charities, and three baskets of products from Abruzzo.

On the icon which she painted on two sides of a cloth [like the original which is visible on both sides of the veil] with special paints from Germany, she also painted in Greek letters the passage from the Gospel of John which says of that first Easter day: "Peter arrived and entered the sepulcher and saw the bindings on the ground as well as the cloth that had been placed over His head."

The nun was, to say the least, radiant: "In Manoppello, the Successor of Peter has seen that veil placed over the face of Christ, imprinted with it at the moment of the Resurrection. It is a great day for the Veil - almost like 2000 years ago inside the sepulcher."

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Here is the editorial that was part of Avvenire's coverage of the day in Manoppello:


The way that leads to Christ:
Captivated by beauty,
we seek His Face
By Davide Rondoni

On his knees, in front of 'Veronica's Veil.' He put himself in their shoes. Those who were there with him in Church - his priests. And the first priests - the Apostles.

The Pope is always, in a manner of speaking, in the shoes of the first and the last among Christians. Of those who, seeing Christ up close and living with Him, asked themselves: But who is this man? And of those who were around him yesterday at the sanctuary of Manoppello.

And he invited them to the banks of the Jordan. He said: "You are persons I would like to consider lovers of Christ, attracted by him and committed to make of your own lives a continuous search for His Holy Face."

He did not say, "Boys, how much time has passed...What progress we have made!" Nor did he say, "So many problems, dear brothers - we will have a hard time of it, the world is distracted, often hostile to us..."

No, he said instead: We too, like the first two disciples, we seek the Face of Jesus, of God. Like the two first disciples who were marked by their first encounter with the man pointed out to them by John the Baptist on the banks of the Jordan.

And he said of them: "What a long road those disciples still had ahead of them! They could not even imagine how deep the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth could be, how much His Face could be unfathomable and inscrutable."

A Christian is a person who lives under an attraction, who experiences the force of a fascinating encounter. That encounter is the start of a long road along which the Face of Christ becomes clearer. It remains, as Pope Benedict said, unfathiomable. Inhabited by a Mystery. It lives the life of infinity, the infinity of God, Father of life.

To meet that Face, to look on It, brings joy to life, rids it of the poison of despair.

Benedict said: "In order to recognize the Face of the Lord in that of our brothers and in the events of everyday, we need innocent hands and pure hearts."

I thought: If innocent means spotless, then my hands aren't. I neither have innocent hands nor a pure heart. Like most others, I believe.

Then who can see the Face of Christ? What are innocent hands? Hands that can do no wrong? And is a pure heart one that is without shadows? But who doesn't have shadows?

Innocent hands, he explained, come with an "existence illuminated by the truth of love which triumphs over indifference, doubt, lies and selfishness."

And pure hearts, he said, are those "captivated by divine beauty, as the young Therese of Lisieux says in her prayer to thr Holy Face, hearts which are imprinted with the Face of Christ."

The man who never makes a mistake is not innocent. He would be impossible - a man dreamed up by the ideologies of all times, yesterday by the Marxist, today by the scientist and the fundamentalist. By their criteria, Christianity would only be for men who don't exist, never did and never will.

But the Pope says it clearly: innocence is a life illumined by the truth of love. When love triumphs over the troubles of life. Innocent hands are those that do not oppose the light of truth. Who look for it instead. They are not hands drawn back, sterile, with eyes always bent down, half-alive. Nor tepid hearts.

Rather, like those first two Apostles, with faces thrust forward, questioning eyes, inflamed hearts. Captivated by a beauty without par. Like someone in love, who lives for the joy of seeing the Beloved.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/09/2006 22.40]

Danich in the main forum shares this column, translated here, written by veteran Vatican writer Antonio Socci in the online journal LIBERO, which captures the sense of Benedict XVI's leadership of the Church - to proclaim Christianity as the good news about Christ and His positive message of love, rather than as a forbidding moral ideology.
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Enough of Catholic moralists and inquisitors!
By ANTONIO SOCCI

Enough already with all this talk to excess about sex and matters sexual. I would like to say that, even to the brilliant Lucetta Scaraffia (a regular commentator for the Italian bishops' newspaper Avvenire) who yesterday bylined a page-long article in Corriere della Sera about Catholics and 'orphan embryos' - as though the question of frozen embryos was in itself a problem relevant to faithful Catholics!

Maybe some of us are not noticing, but Benedict XVI has been giving a decisive turnaround to the Catholic Church. Not simply, for instance, by favoring the freedom of Catholics to be able to pray according to the traditional Latin rite if they wish to.

But in the ecclesiastical world itself, by wanting to put a stop to the deadly media reflex whereby the Church does not seem to do anything but preoccupy itself maniacally with oocytes, coitus, insemination, homosexuality, abortions, the Billings method, condoms, sperm, embryos. You would think it was Il Foglio [apparently a liberal paper] or the Radical Party!

In the important interview which the Pope recently gave to German TV and Vatican Radio, an interviewer noted that at the World Encounter of Families in Valencia, the Pontiff "never once mentioned the words 'homosexual marriage', he never spoke about abortion nor contraception. He added: "Attentive observers thought this was 'interesting'. Evidently your intention is to proclaim the faith and not to go around the world as an 'apostle of morality.' Could you comment on this?"

The Pope answered that he did not have much time at his disposal, and "if you have very little time, you cannot start by saying No! We should know first of all what it is that we want...Christianity, Catholicism, is not an accumulation of prohibitions but a positive option. And it is very important that it is seen in a new way, because awareness of its positiveness has practically disappeared today."

The Pope appears concerned about liberating the Church from the grim image of moral censor that the media have pinned on it, often with the collaboration of priests themselves (as the Pope said, "so much has been said about what is not allowed"), and instead, to make everyone understand that Christianity is a message of freedom and of happiness, that it exists only for man's happiness.

On the eve of the Pope's visit to Valencia, a document from the Pontifical Council for the Family, headed by Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, caused a sensation because it was so harsh and heavy-handed, to the point even of criticizing families who "only" have two children.

This document - which was issued without the Pope's knowledge but widely publicized in the media - caused such chagrin and embarrassment in the Vatican that it was never presented at a press conference [as is the usual procedure for important Vatican documents], it was never published in Osservatore Romano, and it was not included in the documents kit prepared for Valencia.

Therefore the Pope's words at the interview [Teresa's note: He also said the same thing to journalists who interviewed him on the plane going to Valencia] make clear his desire to liberate the Church from its inquisitorial and moralistic image.

Even at World Youth Day in Cologne last year, it was obvious that the Pope did not speak about sexual morality, but chose to reach the hearts of the youth by making them fall in love with the beauty of Christ, seeking to move them with the most elevated thoughts of a mystic like St. Bernard who - commenting on the Song of Songs and the kiss between two lovers as the symbol of God's love for the human being - explained the word 'adore' in the sense of its root words meaning "mouth to mouth". St. Bernard said that human love was purified not by laws of prohibition but by the 'ardor' of infinite love.

But let it be understood: it isn't that the Pope has changed the Church's stand on abortion, artificial fertilization, homosexuality and related issues. The Church remains firm in these matters.

Speaking humbly for myself, in the past one and a half years alone, I have written two books denouncing the secular assault on defenseless lives. The nihilist disintegration of our time makes it necessary that the Church raise its voice in defense of man and the rights of the weakest, out of compassion for a humanity that has gone astray and wanders in the dark.

The Pope is doing that and will continue to do so. But at the same time he knows that a moral reconstruction of society is not possible without the poweer of Christ and His grace.

But he does not wish the Church to lament day after day the evil of our time and to make accusations - rather, first of all, to make Christ known and loved.

Even two thousand years ago, the world was full of horrors: slavery, the total arbitrary domination of the powerful over the weak, infanticides, monstruous depravities, massacres, rapes.

But Christianity came into the world as the "good news" (God is among us), not as a lament. We could read the start of Benedict XVI's Papacy in the light of words by Charles Peguy: "Times were evil, even under the Romans. But Jesus came. He did not waste his time on earth by weeping and lamenting the evil of the times. He cut to the chase. Very simply. By being Christian. He did not incriminate or accuse. He redeemed. He did not incriminate the world - he saved it!" How? By coming into the world Himself. He is the only salvation.

Years ago, don Giussani (founder of the movement Communion and Liberation], speaking of John Paul II's pontificate, said that its enthusiasm-awakening center was his first encyclical, Redemptor hominis, a powerful proclamation of Christ and His message.

But, don Giussani added, "many Catholic associations have been more impressed by his documents about abortion, artificial insemination and divorce than about his encyclical on Jesus as the Redeemer of mankind."

And yet, without Christ, everything becomes nothing more than moralistic ideology - whether progressivist or convservative, nevertheless nothing more than ideology.

If one is leftist, one tends to favor above all the commandment "Do not steal" and to transform the Church into a moral, social and civic agency, to the point of considering one's own personal property as being something robbed from others, to the point, that is, of the [Marxist] ideology behind liberation theology. And it was Cardinal Ratzinger - as prefect of the ex-Holy Office - who brought to light this colossal error!

Now, as Pope, he seems to be calling us gently towards Christ, if only to avoid the other ideological risk, that which we might call conservative. It could well be Christian fundamentalism. We see it as frankly counter-productive in its political guise. Often it seems dangerous even in the battle for life which it purports to serve.

Recently, Carlo Casini, a genuine defender of life, observed that many right and just (social) measures have been quashed in Europe because of the political 'maximalism' exercised by Catholic 'integrationists' who end up being allied with the 'progressivists.'

I would like to be found wrong, but I seem to see the shadow of ideology even in the debate among Catholics about the fate of frozen embryos, as illustrated by the Corriere article yesterday.

Scaraffia described two positions. On one hand, a Commission on Bioethics - taking up an old proposal by the Movement for Life under its president D'Agostino - looks to 'adoption' preferably by sterile couples (with a view to having the embryos implanted in a uterus and having them born) of unwanted extra embryos frozen and left in storage in fertility clinics (by couples who have undergone in-vitro fertilization).

On the other hand, the director of the Center for Bioethics of the Catholic University, Adriano Pessina, considers this proposal questionable, and would prefer to accept the 'death' of these embryos because adoption would disrupt the 'unitive process' of human procreation. As though the adoption of live babies does not do that!

I know quite well that these are complex issues and that it is risky to over-simplify, but at first glance, a refusal to save defenseless lives (such as these frozen embryos) because social anthropology has a different concept of the family is nothing but ideological. It is fundamentalist and fatal. It opens the way for those who want these embryos transformed into guinea pigs for experimentation.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/09/2006 20.44]

Thanks to Ratzi-Lella, who posted the article from Corriere della Sera of 9/2/06, which is translated here:

FROM SODANO TO BERTONE
By VITTORIO MESSORI

The day after he returns from Germany, Benedict XVI will preside - within the discreet halls of the Apostolic Palace - at an event which has not taken place in 15 years and to which he has arrived in an unusual way, contrary to all tradition.

In effect, on September 15, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican Secretary of State since 1991, who will turn 80 next year, a Piedmontese from Asti, will turn over his position to Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, 72, a Piedmontese from Canavese. An unusual turnover, which has provoked much murmuring in the corridors of the Roman Curia.

The tradition has been that the resigning (or resigned) official first leaves his post and only then is his succesor announced. But Papa Ratzinger has turned things upside down.

On June 24, he had the Osservatore Romano publish the name of his new Secretary of State, while announcing at the same time that the turnover would not take place till September 15.

In effect, a "notice of dismissal" [actually, the announcement said that Sodano was retiring, not that he was dismissed] and an 'investiture' three months before the event, which gave rise to different interpretations.

The most benign interpretation supposed that the Pope, whose sensitivity for personal feelings is well known, wished to give both cardinals concerned enough time to wind up their affairs. Bertone, for instance, has to take leave of an archdiocese as complex as Genoa.

There was some malice regarding Sodano. It is not a secret (there have even been unpleasant newspaper campaigns against him) that the cardinal from Asti is suspected of having revived an old cardinal sin among prelates: that of nepotism.

One of his nephews has been accused in the media of having cultivated business deals facilitated by his powerful uncle. That gave rise to muffled but malicious comments, later reinforced by a move that could arouse the interest of a Dan Brown for some pastiche on fantasy-Vaticanology. Before leaving his position, His Eminence appointed his private sectretary to an unusual position. That of spiritual assistant or chaplain to the IOR (Istituto per le Opere di Religione), the very private and impenetrable Vatican banking institution which obsesses many professional anti-clericalists, who see it as a nest of financial intrigue, evoking names like Sindona, Calvi, Marcinkus, not to mention the Opus Dei.

Fairness however requires us to acknowledge that - despite the accusatory voices which spare no one in any hierarchy - the long life of Angelo Sodano has been spent entirely in the service of the Church. The believer must feel gratitude for a faithfulness demonstrated over decades and through so many dramatic challenges faced by the Catholic Church, especially in the tempestuous years following Vatican-II.

Sodano's difficulties with Joseph Ratzinger arise from differences of temperament and background. He is the diplomat - competent, pragmatic, and a realist who impressed John Paul II enough to call him to Rome and become his closest official aide, after having experienced first-hand Sodano's diplomatic abilities during John Paul's most sensitive visit to Pinochet's Chile.

Perhaps, it was precisely this ductility of a diplomat who is always ready for compromise that did not sit well with his fellow Cardinal who was then the Prefect of the former Holy Office.

Their confrontation was particularly harsh when Ratzinger caused the departure of Catholic representatives from German centers for abortion counselling.

While the Bavarian theologian ended a Catholic presence which in fact, had failed to stop the "killing of innocents," Sodano was more of a facilitator, who seemed to rely on the category of the lesser evil advocated by St. Thomas of Aquinas. And he was said to favor applying the same criterion to other white-hot moral issues.

Further, the CDF did not look with favor on a manner of governing the Church - in Rome and through the network of nunciatures which are agencies of the Secretariat of State, which is also the Vatican's foreign ministry - according to political and diplomatic criteria rather than religious and spiritual.

Such governance became even more evident when John Paul II, invalidated by illness and age, was forced to rely on his closest collaborators who ended up competing for hegemony.

It is a fact that when Benedict XVI was elected, experts in the Holy Palaces predicted a major change in what was the most powerful position in the universal Church. It had a power - even if only pragmatic - that was superior to the Pope's on many occasions, the Pope having been more honored than obeyed, more acclaimed than listened to. The line of command, from the Pope to the peripheries, passed through many steps.

If the change took a long time to happen, the delay was surely due to Sodano's reluctance to leave. But also due to the respectful, even timid, attitude of the gentle and patient Bavarian Pope, whom many - too many - believed, without knowing him, to be a martinet of the faith, a bulldog of orthodoxy.

Perhaps it was even due to his hesitation to offend an old and meritorious Prince of the Church that the Pope resorted to what he did: he called in his trusted Bertone and set a date for the succession, almost as if to tell him "We will have time; take care of convincing him; I am uneasy doing it myself."

Therefore, from the middle of this month, the legendary Third Loggia of the Apostolic Palace will see installed as boss a warm and loquacious Salesian, a prelate of solid force and preparation behind his good-natured appearance.

The unusual fact that he does not come from the Vatican diplomatic service - which was believed to be a school for wise government - was not by chance.

The agenda in fact calls for the Vatican to stress the spiritual, directly religious dimension of the Church ("The Vatican is not primarily a State," Bertone has said); and a restitution of the personal responsibility of the single bishop, with a re-dimensioning of the mini-Vaticans that the national bishops' conferences have become.

Further: the relationship with Muslims, seeking to revitalize the role and the experience of millions of Christians, usually Arabic, or Oriental at any rate, who have lived for 15 centuries among Muslims, not always and not everywhere as adversaries.

But the struggle for religious freedom will not be limited to the Muslim states. The Pope and his new Scretary of State are both aware that even among the Orthodox, especially Greek and Russian, whoever does not belong to the official Church is not a full-fledged citizen, and that Catholics are subject to suspicion if not outright oppression.

And in the West, the struggle against Marxism being over - because the adversary died out - the Church must carry out something that was always dear to Joseph Ratzinger: a dialog with laymen, with non-believers who are 'lovers of reason", with agnostics or even atheists who know that Christianity is not an adversary but an authoritative friend, with 20 centuries of experience in working for a more human society.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/09/2006 15.44]