POPE-POURRI: 'Light' news items, anecdotes about Pope Benedict now

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Okay, grab him. Maryjos and Nan, you are hugging him a little too hard. We don't want to cut off his air supply.

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: I've been framed! ROTFLOL

From the Passauer Neue Presse today, 12/24/05, an article based on reminiscences by Georg Ratzinger about the Christmases that he and his siblings had in Bavaria. Herewith, in translation -
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OF TUFFSTONE AND TEDDY BEARS
By Karl Birkenseer

When Pope Benedict was still Joseph Ratzinger, he visited the Richardi family in Pentling every year at Christmas. He was especially fascinated, according to the couple, by the Creche. He knew every figure in it and loved to look at it with the children in the family – first the Richardis’ son, then their two daughters, and later their grandchildren.

While his brother Georg played Christmas songs on the piano, the Cardinal liked to reminisce on his childhood Christmases – the family singing together after the presents were distributed, Midnight Mass in Traunstein, and the small family creche with moss and stones from the nearby woods…

In the afternoon of Christmas Eve, the Ratzinger boys would be busy with the creche. Maria, the eldest (born 1921) would be helping out their mother, but the two boys made do.

“It was a very simple creche,” Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, the former Cathedral choirmaster of Regensburg, said. “Neither of us were artists at this, but it gave us great joy.”

In Tittmoning, where the family lived from 1929-1932,they found one of the most important materials for their creche, something that served them over the years. It was volcanic tuff, lightweight and porous, with which one could build “particularly beautiful hilly landscapes”. They have not found similar material elsewhere. “So we took the tuff with us to Aschau and to Traunstein,” Georg says. “My brother even has some in Rome.”

It’s very probable that the Pope was thinking about his own experiences with creche building when, at the feast of the Immaculate Conception, he praised the Italian practice of putting up the creche the day after December 8. The Pope said it was a simple but very effective means for transmitting Catholic doctrine to children. He also urged that the days before Christmas should be marked by “inward recollection, simplicity and inner joy” rather than widespread commercialization.

This “simplicity and inner joy”, according to Monsignor Georg, marked the Christmases of their childhood. It was also marked by the children’s impatience for the arrival of the Baby Jesus.

“That is why the sharing of presents took place much earlier in our house than in other families,” he recalls. Shortly after afternoon tea at 4 p.m. , the family prayed the rosary "kneeling down, with our elbows propped up on the seat of the chair." A bell would then be rung, which signalled it was time for the children to go to the living room, where there would be a fir tree on the table with wax candles alight, “which gave the room a mystic atmosphere."

"The tree would be decorated with glass balls, angel’s hair and tinfoil strips, and with stars, hearts and comets that our mother cut out of thin metal.”

In 1936, Georg, who was by then in high school, composed a small Christmas number that the three children played for their parents – “my sister on the harmonium, my brother at the piano, while I played the violin. My mother was moved to tears, and even our father, although he was more reserved, was impressed.”

After the reading of the Christmas Gospel, the family sang carols – "Stille Nacht,"“O du froehliche,” “Ihr Kinderlein kommet” – then the gifts were distributed. “Usually things to wear, the things one needed.”

When he was 11, Georg received a book of church choral music. “My brother was happier about it than he was about his own presents, because there was not a single German word in it -everything was in Latin. That sent my brother into raptures..."

Their parents knew they would make Joseph happy if they gave him stuffed animals. Georg remembers a dog, a cat and a duck.

Joseph was not yet two years old when the following story happened. Georg remembers, “We were still in Marktl, and the store opposite our house had decorated a window for Christmas. It had a small teddy bear that my brother liked so much, so we always went near the window to look at it. When the teddy bear disappeared two days before Christmas, my brother cried bitterly. But on Christmas Eve, when we shared our gifts, there sat the bear in the living room, and everything was OK again.”

Is that story the reason why Benedict, after he became Pope, found the Papst-Teddy so cute, whereas he keeps away from any of the other fan articles?

In any case, his own childhood memories will be with him as he celebrates his first Christmas as Pope.

Georg will be flying to Rome for a two-week visit with his brother. With the renovation of the papal apartments, he now has a small room waiting for him.

He is bringing Benedict a Christmas present – a new wristwatch with a dark leather strap. Georg said it was not easy to decide what to give a Pope. I told him, 'As Pope, you can have anything – books, clothes…' But I said, why don’t I give you a watch?" And so he's bringing him a watch.


Family picture: Doesn't Papa look like Georg here?

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/12/2005 7.12]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/12/2005 7.51]

aww,what a sweet story!!!im so happy that Georg can spend holidays with his dear brother Pope..haha,so much for gift surprise there,a watch for Papa or maybe he has another gift for Papa

Thanks for the warm Christmas story, Teresa Benedetta!
And for that photo of Papa - hadn't seen that one!
This story is a great Christmas present!
Love to you all - Mary x

From kreuz.net (German online Catholic news agency) today :

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in an Italian TV interview that Pope Benedict watches news programs and selected music broadcasts on TV. He watches German newscasts at noon, and in the evenings, the Italian newscasts.

In the same interview, Navarro-Valls said the Pope's first encyclical would be dated December 25, 2005, but will not be released until next month. It will be available in 8 languages, including Russian and Arabic.

Andreas Englisch of the German newspaper BILD filed a Christmas-Day article on the first Christmas at the Vatican by the first German Pope in 5 centuries:
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“Fraelicke Wainachden” (Froehliche Weinachten=Merry Christmas) is what the four Italian lay sisters wished their boss today, after which they had to laugh – the German words always trip them up.

But the Holy Father understood them and knows that Carmela, Emanuela, Loredana and Cristina wish him only well.

The lay nuns from Memores Domini did everything to prepare an unforgettable feast for his first Christmas as Pope – the first Christmas celebration in 5 centuries by a German Pope.

But this year, unusual things have happened at the Vatican:
For example, every year, the Apostolic Palace gets 20 Christmas trees for its various rooms except in the Papal apartment itself. But this time, even the Pope’s living quarters have a Christmas tree.

However, there will be no exchange of presents. Pope Benedict XVI’s simple tastes may not allow that. But he and his two secretaries, Georg Gaenswein and Miecyslaw Mietek, with whom he will spend Christmas Eve, will surely share Christmas cheer in front of the Papal Christmas tree.

Many are wondering these days: How does a German Pope celebrate Christmas? What would he want for a Christmas meal?

With John Paul II, it was simple. He ordered a roast goose, stewed apples , as well as smoked trout from Poland. The nuns who kept house for him called the papal farm in Castel Gandolfo, and a truck with the requested food stuff would travel the 23 kms between the summer residence and the Vatican. This year, however, the farm got no call…

“Pope Benedict has not ordered anything, so we did not know what to send him – a goose, a hen, a duck?“ said Giuseppe Bellapadrone, who is in charge of the farm.

He decided to send a capon. Roasted in olive oil and garnished with rosemary, it is served with roasted potatoes, compote and yogurt.

The truck also brought a huge shipment of poinsettias from Castel Gandolfo. Bellapadrone is absolutely sure of this because he has been told that Germans love poinsettias (called Weihnachtssterne = “Christmas stars” in German). He has been raising hundreds of them.

Most of the plants were used to decorate the Basilica, but the Pope is giving some to his housekeepers.

The sisters don’t need any more gifts from the Pope because they already got the best gift earlier – a new kitchen and household appliances. A dishwashing machine, a coffee maker, vacuum cleaners, a washer-dryer….

The Papal apartments had none of these appliances before. The electrical fittings were 30 years old and would not have supported any appliances without blowing the fuses.

Part of the renovation ordered by the Pope when he moved in was an updating of all electrical, water and heating systems.

He also had a small room built for his brother, Georg, who is expected to arrive in Rome on December 28. He is bringing a package of desserts baked for the Pope by Georg’s housekeeper Agnes Heindl, who knows the Pope loves to snack on sweets.

But in the early morning of Christmas Day, the Papal apartments were kept quiet. Telephones were disconnected, and any noise was avoided so the Pope, who had gone to bed after 2 a.m., could sleep a little longer.

However, he was scheduled to pray in his private chapel by 8 a.m. followed by Christmas Day Mass at 10 a.m., then the noontime Urbi et Orbi message and blessing.

A worldwide TV audience of a billion was expected to have watched the Urbi et Orbi message.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 26/12/2005 4.30]

Lovely christmas stories, thanks alot Teresa ! the part about young Joseph and the teddy bear just made me go awww... Hope Papa wasn't too sleepy but if anything the screaming girls at the Urbi et Orbi message were there to help...

RAdio Vatican's German service today cites an item dated 12/29/05 from KNA,
a German Catholic news agency:

Pope Benedict XVI continues to play the piano as he used to, according to his brother,
Monsignor Georg Ratzinger.

"He knows that his playing is not necessarily an 'artistic' Interpretation,
but it gives him pleasure," he comments. He adds that the Pope "still finds
the most beautiful possibilities in playing Mozart."

He says that Steinway donated a grand piano for the Pope's use at Castel Gandolfo,
but the Pope refused a similar offer for the Papal apartments at the Vatican.

Monsignor's comment: "To play what he wants to, his old piano is fine for him."
He implies that a new one would not serve any purpose: "First, he does not have
all that time, and second, he is realistic about his playing abilities."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/05/2007 4.06]

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Scritto da: TERESA BENEDETTA 30/12/2005 13.51
RAdio Vatican's German service today cites an item dated 12/29/05 from KNA, a German Catholic news agency:

Pope Benedict XVI continues to play the piano as he used to, according to his brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger.

"He knows that his playing is not necessarily an 'artistic'
interpretation, but it gives him pleasure," he comments.
He adds that the Pope "still finds the most beautiful possibilities in playing Mozart."

He says that Steinway donated a grand piano for the Pope's use at Castel Gandolfo, but the Pope refused a similar offer for the Papal apartments at the Vatican.

Monsignor's comment: "To play what he wants to, his old piano is fine for him." He implies that a new one would not serve any purpose: "First, he does not have all that time, and second, he is realistic about his playing abilities."

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How typical for him! I don't play the piano but I can imagine what a pleasure it must be for a musician to play on a decent Steinway piano, even if he is not an 'artist'.

How many people have a grand piano in their house just to impress others - without being able to play it properly. And the Pope keeps his old piano because 'he is realistic about his playing abilities'.

At least it's nice to see that he hasn't given up his music.

I don't know whether it fits here so if it doesn't please Teresa move it somewhere else.
At CRF Unicorn posted a beautiful latin prayer Pro Pontefice Nostro p072.ezboard.com/ftheratzingerforumfrm34.showMessage?topicID=...
I found on Russian forum the actual prayer being read or rather sung in Latin. The file is for download so now I am learing it by heart
benediktxvi.ru/pontifik/3-molitva.

I think that Papa will enjoy the Steinway in Castelgandolfo more than he expects (or is letting on). My husband is a keen amateur at the piano, possibly at a similar standard to Papa, and his brother recently bought a new Steinway baby grand. This brother has no kids, no dependents, and is able to treat himself - another person might want a 'good' sports car instead. Anyway, Laurence (husband) says that the Steinway is out of this world to play - it almost plays for you, like Sparky's magic piano. For a pianist this machine is a total 'fix' and the sound is amazing of course. Even I can tell the difference!

I'm told each Steinway sounds unique, and added to that, they are made either in America or Germany, and that makes a difference too. Gavin played several before deciding on the one he liked best. I imagine Papa's piano was made in Germany though he would not have had the chance to test it individually.

From the Italian newspaper Il Tempo today -
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Mozzetta and camauro
are not (fashion) accessories

Since Joseph Ratzinger became Pope, much attention has been paid to what he wears.
Most especially, public opinion has commented repeatedly in diverse ways -
including sarcastic or scandalized – first on his shoes (too red, and too expensive),
then his mozzetta (capelet) – also a showy red and sometimes lined in ermine;
finally the camauro, a winter cap, also red and also lined with the fur of that
“poor” little predator, the ermine.

And yet, because of misinformed opinions, some considerations must be made clear here:

1. The Pope does not decide how he should dress. His garments are for all purposes
a uniform of office, and as such, he can only use the articles of clothing that different
public circumstances require him to wear.

2. Red is the distinctive color of the Popes; it is the characteristic color
of their uniform. Everything that is not white should be red.[this does not apply
obviously to liturgical colors] John Paul II preferred darker shades of red,
but properly speaking, the right color is what Ratzinger has been wearing: flame red.

3. It is true that there is a visible difference between the way John Paul II dressed
and how Benedict XVI now dresses. But the difference only applies to the later years
of Papa Wojtyla. In his last years, John Paul II allowed himself a certain liberty
with the way he dressed not because he was less strict about following protocol
(think of how often he asked even seminarians to dress properly)- but because
his illness did not allow him to put on garments that would further hamper
his already-limited and difficult body movement. For example, in the last years,
he could no longer wear an alb to say Mass. However, it is also true that,
even in the early years of his Papacy, John Paul II hardly ever wore the mozzetta
and the camauro never, but he didn’t do so because he could not tolerate
warm temperatures. Instead of the ermine-lined velvet mozzetta, he wore the lighter
satin mozzetta, and in place of the camauro, he wore a flame-red wide-brimmed hat.

4. Pope John XXIII was the last Pope who used the camauro, which he did
when it was too cold. In his time, the Vatican palaces had no central heating
as they do now, and so he used the camauro even inside the Vatican. But even if protocol
did not require it, Benedict first wore the camauro at the December 21 general audience
because of the wintry cold that prevailed in Rome that day (3 degrees below zero Centigrade).

5. Benedict XVI is particularly attentive to what he wears, because he wants
to set an example for all priests and bishops so that they may be equally careful
of what they wear. John XXIII once said that “human psychology requires seeing (examples)”,
by which he explained – If we look at a bishop in civilian clothes [Italians use the term
“clergyman” to describe a civilian suit worn with or without Roman collar],
we think we’re looking at just some ordinary person, but if you see him in cassock,
you think of him as an apostle or as a prince of the Church.

But even the code of canon law, as well as the manual for the ministry and life
of a priest say this: The cassock is the priestly habit (to put it on does not mean
being a traditionalist or Lefebvrian); it can only be replaced by civilian clothes
if the priest is not inside a Church. The priest is never detached from his function,
and therefore should always be dressed as a priest; if he wears “clergyman”
instead of the cassock, it should be black or dark gray with a Roman collar.

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[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 31/12/2005 19.52]

Luigi Accatoli, Vatican correspondent for Corriere della Sera, wrote his little sidebar in the 12/27/05 issue:
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Paul VI- 12, John Paul II- 62, Benedict XVI- 33. That’s the number of languages used by the three Popes to extend Christmas greetings in 1976, 2004 and earlier this week.

The figures perhaps give us an indication: the German Pope is looking for his own “measure” that can place him midway between the natural reserve of the Pope from Brescia and the tendency of the Polishh Pope to overdo things .

Pope Paul VI used between 6-12 languages for Christmas greetings during his Papacy from 1963-1978. That was too limited for the polyglot Pope from Cracow who started off with 24 languages in Christmas of 1979, went to 33 the following year, then to 53 in 1989 and finally to 62 in the last three yars of his Papacy.

There was curiosity over what Benedict would do – compete with his predecessor, go back to Montini’s moderacy, or come up with his own figure. He did the last. He said Merry Christmas in 33 languages, the same number used by John Paul in his second Crhistmas.

But one can almost bet that he will move beyond this number in succeeding years, in order to use the languages of all the principal Catholic communities around the world and languages that stand for the world’s great cultures. John Paul also included languages of peoples who were undergoing particular tragedies or had just done so.

Comparing the list of 33 languages that Papa Ratzinger used last Christmas to the 33 used by John Paul in 1979, the most obvious difference is the number of Slavic and eastern European languages used by the Polish Pope which the German Pope did not: Slovenian, Servian, Czech, Slovakian, Byelorussian, Lithuanian, Ukraiian and Amrenian. Over the years, Wojtyla extended his repertory to African languages like Kirundi, Kinya-rwanda, Malgache; and Indian languages like Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam; even Esperanto.

One variant by the present Pope over his predecessor, who used to end his messages with the greeting in Polish, in order to give more time to greet his compatriots. Papa Ratzinger left his native German in its usual place as the fourth language of the Catholic world, after English but before Spanish.
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What Accatoli does not mention is that Pope Benedict ended his Christmas greetings in Latin, using the words of St. Augustine that he used as the text for his first Christmas Card:
"Expergiscere, homo: quia pro te Deus factus est homo" -- [Awaken, o man, because God has become man for you. ]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/01/2006 0.41]

My late father was a gifted piano technician and restorer and was also a commissioned pianoforte tuner for local concerts and recitals. In his humble opinion, the best pianos were Steinway grands [I imagine the one given to Papa was a full size Steinway, not a baby grand, as there must be room at Castel Gandolfo]. Dad used to say that each Steinway had a personality of its own; he loved nothing better than to get such a piano in tip top condition for some of the famous pianists who used to come to even a small place like Taunton. I just wish Dad was still alive to know about our Papa - he would be so pleased and interested. Plus, if Papa had known him he would have wanted my Dad to be his personal "keeper of the pianoforte" - which could have given me access to the Papal apartment..........Mmmmmmmmm
Only imagine, girls!
Thanks for all these news items!
Love and HAPPY NEW YEAR, Mary x

Don't cry about a bear ever again, Papa! You can have mine, if you've lost that first one that Mutti gave you.......
Bussi! Deine, Mary x

ZENIT's Italian service today re-caps an earlier story about the record crowds drawn by Benedict XVI, out-numbering the crowds recorded for John Paul II:
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VATICAN CITY, JAN. 1, 2006 (ZENIT.org)- Since the start of Benedict XVI’s Pontificate, nearly three million pilgrims have come to Rome to take part in an encounter with the Pope.

As released by the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household on Dec. 28, some 2,855,000 pilgrims took part in audiences, liturgical celebrations and the Angelus with Benedict XVI during the past 8 months.

The numbers do not include the million youth who took part in the concluding Mass of World Youth Day in Cologne last August, nor the 200,000 pilgrims who attended the Pope’s Mass in Bari on May 29, at the conclusion of the National Eucharistic Congress.

Speaking to Radio Vatican on December 29, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said, “One needs to reflect on this enormous numbers.”

“In previous years, the general audiences at this time of year were held in the Aula Paolo VI,” he said. “But now, it is not possible to do that because of the huge numbers who come for the Wednesday audiences. And if we look at the numbers who come for the Angelus, ithe numbers are truly very surprising.”

“Is it because religious sensibility has increased?” Navarro-Valls asks. “This is a question that's out there.”

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What about a genuine interest by the faithful in seeing and listening to the new Pope?!?!?!

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Don't cry about a bear ever again, Papa! You can have mine, if you've lost that first one that Mutti gave you......

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....and I'm sure you don't mind to hand it to him, do you, Maryjos?

The homily by Cardinal Dionigio Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Milan, at yesterday’s Te Deum
in Milan Cathedral, was a tribute to two Popes.

Referring to John Paul II, Tettamanzi recalled “the endless crowds, who in prayerful silence
and tears, Visited him when he lay in state, took part in his funeral rites, and who have
been coming to pray at his tomb – gestures which tell us how much grace in conversions and
saintliness God has given us through this great successor of Peter.”

Tettamanzi then invoked “praise to God for our new Pope, whom the Spirit chose in timely manner,
and who now guides and supports us through his clear and courageous ministry,
faithful to the living tradition of the Church, and fully engaged in the fundamental problem
of the modern age – the relationship between faith and reason. (A Pope who is) loved and
followed by a growing number of participants in his liturgical celebrations and catechesis.”

Finally, Tettamanzi also recalled that 2005 was the 50th anniversary of
Archbishop Giovanni Batista Montini’s nomination as Archbishop of Milan, “who became Pope Paul VI
after eight years of his intense and significant presence among us,” as well as the 25th
anniversary of the episcopal ordination of Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, Tettamanzi’s predecessor
as Archbishop of Milan.