NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

THE ANGELUS AT LORENZAGO - 7/22/07

THE POPE ON VACATION, LORENZAGO DI CADORE, JULY 9-27



In his Angelus message today, the Holy Father today recalled Pope Benedict XV's historic appeal in 1917 for an end to 'useless slaughter' and, in even more impassioned terms, re-stated his own often-repeated appeal for an end to the many violent conflicts in the world today.

He chose to concentrate on his message for peace and an end to wars, without the usual brief homily that he gives on the Gospel of the day.

Here are SKY videoclips of the Angelus that also show
informal footage from the Pope's outings.
www.skylife.it/application/html/455/singolo_cronaca_45...
www.skylife.it/videoTg24Single/45524

[A translation of the full text of the Holy Father's words is at the bottom of this post. It has also been posted in the AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS thread.]



Here is an early bulletin from the news agency ADNkronos, translated:


Lorenzago di Cadore, July 22 (Adnkronos) - "War means yielding to the temptation of Evil - it is the hell which has ruined the wonderful garden of the world," Benedict XVI said today, celebrating his second Angelus in the Dolomites at the piazza of this town.

More than 10,000 pilgrims gathered to listen to the Pope. Prominent guests included the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola; the Bishop of Hongkong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, who came with 60 Chinese pilgrims; Mons, Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops conference; and Edoardo Luciani, a brother of the late John Paul I, who was a native of Belluno province....




Here are the accounts by AP and Reuters:


Pope urges an end to all wars
By TRISHA THOMAS


LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy, July 22 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI called Sunday for an end to all wars, saying they were "useless slaughters" that bring hell to paradise on Earth.

Benedict made the appeal in this small mountain town in Italy's Veneto region while on vacation. He recalled that 90 years ago — on Aug. 1, 1917 — predecessor Pope Benedict XV urged a similar end to the first World War, then ravaging this part of northern Italy.

"While this inhuman conflict raged, the pope had the courage to affirm that it was a 'useless slaughter,'" Benedict said. "These words — 'useless slaughter' — contained a fuller prophetic value that can be applied to so many other conflicts that have cut off countless human lives."

Benedict didn't cite any conflicts in particular in his comments to several hundred faithful gathered in the main piazza of Lorenzago di Cadore for his traditional Sunday blessing. Rather, he made a general appeal.

"From this place of peace, where one still senses how unacceptable the horrors of 'useless slaughters' are, I renew the appeal to pursue the path of rights, to strongly refuse the recourse to weapons and refuse to confront new situations with old systems," he said.

He reminded the faithful that God put man on Earth to take care of his "paradise," but that man sinned and began making war.

"The consequence is that in this stupendous garden which is the world, there is now room for hell," he said.

Benedict has been stepping up his peace appeals in recent weeks, starting with a major call issued June 17 in the hillside town of Assisi, known for the message of peace brought by St. Francis. During that sermon, Benedict decried the horrors of fighting and terrorism in Iraq, Lebanon, the Holy Land and elsewhere in the Middle East and called for an end to all bloody conflicts.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, noted that when then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger decided to call himself Benedict XVI, he did so noting that the last Pope Benedict had been a pope who called for peace during World War I.

"It was very unpopular then, but it became very prophetic," Lombardi said on RAI state television. "Recalling this great pontificate, Benedict XVI took his name as an announcer of peace."

Benedict's blessing was attended by several top prelates from the area, as well as Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, an outspoken critic of China's treatment of Catholics in the underground church. He traveled to Lorenzago, near Italy's border with Austria, with some 60 pilgrims.

Last month, Benedict issued a letter to China's 12 million Catholics, urging them to unite under his authority.




Pope calls for peace
to make "heaven" on earth


LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy, July 22 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict made an appeal for peace on Sunday, saying nations should halt bloody conflicts around the world to create a heaven on earth.

Addressing the faithful at his mountain retreat in the Italian Dolomites, the Pope said his summer holiday made him particularly sensitive to the suffering caused by war.

"In these days of rest ... I feel even more intensely the painful impact of the news I receive about bloody conflicts and violent events happening in so many parts of the world," he told worshippers gathered in the sunny mountain valley town.

"The beauty of nature reminds us that we were instructed by God to cultivate and keep this garden that is the earth. If men lived in peace with God and with each other, the earth really would look like a 'heaven'."

The Pontiff quoted Benedict XV, pope during World War I, who in 1917 called that global conflict a "pointless carnage."

"Those words, 'pointless carnage', have a wider, prophetic value and can be applied to many other conflicts which have cut short so many human lives." He did not refer explicitly to any current conflict.

The Pope prayed for peace and made a plea for people to "refuse with determination the race for arms and, more generally, to reject the temptation to deal with new situations with old systems."

The 80-year-old Pope is due to return to the Vatican at the end of this month after his spell in the mountains.



Translation of
THE HOLY FATHER'S MESSAGE
AT ANGELUS TODAY



Dear brothers and sisters!

In these days of rest which, thanks to God, I am spending here in Cadore, I feel even more intensely the sorrowful impact of the news that reaches me about the bloody encounters and episodes of violence which are taking place in so many parts of the world. This has led me to reflect even more on the tragedy of human freedom in the world.

The beauty of nature reminds us that we have been placed by God to 'cultivate and protect' this 'garden' which is Earth (cfr Gn 2,81-7). If men lived in peace with God and among themselves, then earth would truly resemble a Paradise. But sin unfortunately ruined the divine plan, generating divisions among men and bringing death to the world.

And so it happens that men yield to the temptations of the Evil One and make war against each other. The consequence is that, in this wondrous 'garden' which the world should be, spaces of 'hell' have opened up.

War, with its trail of mourning and destruction, has always been rightly considered a calamity that opposes the plan of God, who has created everything for life, and in particular, wished to make of the human species a family.

I cannot, at this moment, fail to go back to a significant date, August 1, 1917, just about 90 years ago, when my venerated predecessor, Pope Benedict XV, addressed his famous note to the belligerent powers, calling on them to put an end to the First World War (cfr AAS 9 [1917], 417-420).

While that tremendous conflict raged, the Pope had the courage to say that it was a 'useless slaughter.' This expression of his has been inscribed in history. It was justified in the concrete situation of that summer of 1917, specially on this front in the Veneto.

But those words 'useless slaughter' also contain a much wider prophetic value and can be applied to so many other conflicts which have carried off so many human lives.

This very land where we are, which in itself speaks of peace and harmony, was a theater of the First World War, as we are still reminded today by some moving Alpine songs. They tell us of events that cannot be forgotten.

We must`guard in memory the negative experiences which unfortunately, our fathers had to suffer in order that they may not be repeated.

Pope Benedict XV's note was not limited to condemning the war. It also indicated, on a juridical basis, the means to construct a just and lasting peace: the moral force of the law, balanced and controlled disarmament, arbitration of controversies, freedom of the seas, reciprocal condonation of war damages, restitution of occupied territories, and equitable negotiations to resolve disputes.

The proposal of the Holy See was oriented towards the future of Europe and the world, according to a plan with Christian inspiration that could be shared by all because it was founded on the rights of man.

It is the same formulation that the Servants of God Paul VI and John Paul II advocated in their memorable addresses to the General Assembly of the United Nations, repeating, in the name of the Church, "War never again!"

From this place of peace, in which the inhabitants are more vividly aware how unacceptable are the horrors of 'useless slaughters', I renew an appeal to follow tenaciously the rule of law, to reject the arms race with determination, and in general to resist the temptation of facing new situations with old ways.

With these thoughts and hopes in our hearts, let us now raise a special prayer for peace in the world, entrusting it to the Most Holy Mary, Queen of Peace.

After the Angelus, the Pope added these greetings:

Here at the Piazza of Lorenzago, I wish to address my most heartfelt greetings to the residents of this beautiful town who have received me with such affection, and I thank once again the Mayor and the municipal administration for their diligent hospitality, as I also thank the authorities of the Veneto region and the province of Belluno, and the mayors of all the towns in the Cadore.

I greet the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola, and the Bishop of Hongkong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun, who is with us today. I greet the president of the Italian bishops conference, Mons. Angelo Bagnasco; the Bishop of Belluno-Feltre, Mons. Giuseppe Andrich; the Bishop of Treviso, Mons. Andrea Mazzocato; and the representatives of lay associations in the Diocese of Belluno-Feltre.

I am very happy for the presence here of Signor Edoardo Luciani, brother of the Servant of God John Paul I, and I greet him most especially.

I welcome with joy all the vacationers and pilgrims, in particular, the Fathers of the Congregation of the Schools of Charity, Cavanis Institute, who are holding their Chapter General meeting.

Dear brothers, I encourage you to pursue with enthusiasm your educational mission in order to transmit to the new generations solid motivations for life and hope.

I also salute the Franciscan Sisters of Christ the King, the youth of the pastoral union of Cappella Maggiore-Anzano-Sarmede, the Association of Sons of the Church, the Folklore Dance group of Udine and so many other youth groups.

[He addressed a greeting to German-speaking pilgrims].

To all, I wish a good Sunday and a serene vacation time.