NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

Yesterday, Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops conference CEI, opened the second session of its Permanent Council under his leadership. Next to the Pope, Mons. Bagnasco is the Catholic prelate whose words I look forward to reading, like his predecessor at CEI, Cardinal Ruini, before him.

Cardinal Ruini's 'prolusioni' - Italian term for an opening discourse - always made news, and Mons. Bagnasco's do, too, if only because the Church of Italy is singular in that its titular head is the Bishop of Rome, the Pope himself.

Mons. Bagnasco's address covered the whole range of social and ecclesial issues that concern the Church in Italy, but I have chosen to translate first the part where he talks about the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.




...In the past several months, several important ecclesiological and pastoral interventions have come from the Holy See which express very much the pastoral concerns of Benedict XVI, and which have been welcomed by the Italian bishops.

We wish to express our closeness the Holy Father, and that we are ever ready with our unconditional collaboration and loyalty, particularly when critical and discordant voices emerge in public.

From every viewpoint, they have not spared the Holy Father at any time. Particularly remarkable is the recurrent presumption - coming from most questionable pulpits [he uses the word 'cattedre', plural for the Italian form of the word 'cathedra' in the sense of 'seat of authority'] - of measuring the faith of others, including that of the Pope himself, against their own opinions.

The initiative they have focused on in the past few months, even within the Church, has been the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum on the use of the Roman liturgy anterior to the 1970 reform, which went into effect on September 14.

The objective of the Pope's decree is clearly spiritual and pastoral.

In fact, as the Holy Father points out in the extraordinary letter accompanying the Motu Proprio, that, on the one hand, "it is good that we should all preserve the riches that have grown in the faith and prayers of the Church," and on the other hand, it is necessary that "every effort is taken to accommodate all those who truly ant unity in the Church or hope to recover it."

In this context, the Pope asks us to include as an 'extraordinary' expression within the lex orandi of the Church the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and updated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962, given that the 'ordinary' expression remains the Missal launched by Paul VI in 1970.

He makes it quite clear that there are not two rites, but 'two forms of the same rite' which we all hope will ever more be at the center of ecclesial dynamic and an occasion for full 'reconciliation' and unity within the Church.

The Pope urges us to adopt - beyond inherent cultural values - an inclusive attitude, rather than adversarial. The history of liturgy and the life of the Church, he said in his address to the Roman Curia in December 2005, has been marked by "growth and progress, but

On that occasion, marking the 40th anniversary of the end of Vatican-II, he said that the 'hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture' was not the valid interpretation of Vatican-II which was all about "reform and renewal within continuity of the one Church."

In other words, Benedict XVI is motivated by concern for the unity of the Church 'in space and time', a fundamental responsibility that devolves directly on the Successor of Peter.

This passion for unity should also inspire every Christian and every priest before the prospects that are opened up by the Motu Proprio, which is not a matter of indulging one's esthetic preferences, unrelated to the community, much less opposed to anyone.

Rather, it is a desire to involve every believer even deeper in the Mystery of the Church that prays and celebrates, without excluding anyone nor preventing valid forms of liturgy or the correct execution of the intentions of Vatican-II.

This way, we can avoid that a decree intended to unite and inspire the Christian community is used instead to hurt the Church and divide it.

I wish to add that I am reasonably optimistic that the Motu Proprio will be appreciated properly in the life of our parishes. And I am confident that the pessimistic concerns which preceded and follows the Motu Proprio will soon prove to be unfounded.

The sense of equilibrium that has always characterized our clergy - and therefore, our pastoral ministry - with the moderating action of the bishops - will find the right ways to cultivate the new offshoot of the living liturgy of the Church and ultimately, to relaunch it full-grown in its totality.

=====================================================================

I wish some journalist would ask Bagnasco what the CEI plans to do about the 4-5 Italian bishops who have declared open defiance and disobedience of the Pope.

For his part, as early as November 2006, Bagnasco placed online on the website of the Archdiocese of Genoa a number of simple informative facts about the traditional Mass in anticipation of the Motu Proprio. [I posted a translation in REFLECTIONS ON OUR FAITH....]


Since I may never get to translating the articles on Bagnasco's speech, here is a brief item from Catholic World News about it:


Italy in 'moral crisis',
bishops' leader says

Rome, Sep. 18, 2007 (CWNews.com) - The president of the Italian bishops' conference has described Italy as "a country in a state of moral crisis."

Speaking on September 17 to the executive committee of the episcopal conference, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco defended the right of the Church to speak out on public issues involving the dignity of human life, and said that Church leaders have an obligation to provide moral guidance in a society that has drifted away from fundamental principles.

The archbishop responded directly to a new flurry of public discussion about euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, saying that the Church would continue to insist on the preservation of human life until natural death.

Archbishop Bagnasco decried the decision by Amnesty International to support legal abortion. Echoing the words of Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news), in his address to the diplomatic corps in Vienna, the Italian prelate said that "abortion cannot be a human right."

Addressing one internal Catholic issue, the archbishop said that he is "reasonably optimistic" about the prospects for a successful implementation of Summorum Pontificum, the papal moto proprio authorizing wider use of the 1962 Roman Missal.

The aim of that initiative, he told his brother bishops, is to "preserve the riches developed through the faith and prayer of the Church." Proper implementation of the motu proprio, he added, will require "an inclusive rather than confrontational" approach.

Here is a translation of an Apcom item just posted by Lella on her blog:

The Prof-Pope's homily
to his ex-students

Rome, Sept. 18 (Apcom) - Even those who study Sacred Scriptures, analyze them and teach them can be remote from God - because of sheer arrogance and conceit, Pope Benedict XVI noted in his homily yesterday at the Mass that closed this year's reunion-seminar of the Ratzinger Schuelerkreise.

[Just out of curiosity, I wish someone would do an initiative story on how widespread - if at all - an annual study reunion between a professor and his ex-students is, and if so, how do they compare with the amazing 20-plus years record of the Ratzinger Schuelerkreise. Does Hans Kueng, for instance, have something similar?]

The Pope pointed out the risk of too much 'presumptuousness' on the part of theologians. Taking off from the example of St. Paul, he said: "It is surprising that for someone who had studied theology, who went to rabbinical school, who knew the Scriptures chapter and verse in an effort to read God's will in them, who had mastered all the fine points of methodology, exegesis and interpretation, would then look back and say, 'With all this knowledge of revelation, I did not get to know God, I was really ignorant and did not understand the Scriptures'".

"I think," the Pope continued, "that these words of St. Paul about his 'ignorance' should make us reflect. Because it can happen all the time, even to us theologians, who know a lot - or some might say, almost all there is to know - on the origin of texts, their structures, the way in which they are put together, their historical context, their historical form, and we know all the philosophical and theological theories that could impose a clarificatory order on everything. Notwithstanding which we end up speaking about ourselves instead of God. We are unable to go beyond human limitations, beyond simply reacting, beyond ourselves, and God is unable to reach us and speak to us through all this 'knowledge' that surrounds us. So we don't hear him - and we don't know him."

But he said that St. Paul, the original 'lost lamb' and once 'the first among sinners', has shown the world how God 'took him up on his shoulders' and saved him as well as all humanity. Including theologians, he seemed to imply.

City says it can't confirm plans for a papal visit

By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | September 18, 2007

Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday that he would view a visit to Boston by Pope Benedict XVI as a "great honor," but that the city has received no confirmation that the pontiff intends to visit.

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston has repeatedly invited Benedict to visit, and over the weekend a well-read Catholic blog, Whispers in the Loggia, reported, without any named sources, that the pope would visit Boston April 20, the day before the Boston Marathon.

But spokesmen for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as the archdioceses of Baltimore, Boston, New York, and Washington, said the Vatican has not indicated its plans to the bishops.

"We have received no confirmation at all," said Mar Munoz, a spokeswoman for the bishops conference.

In Boston, a spokeswoman for the city Parks & Recreation Department said no one has inquired about the use of Boston Common for a papal Mass, and the Red Sox said there had been no discussion of the possible use of Fenway Park for that purpose.

Menino, recalling the 1979 visit to Boston of Pope John Paul II, said: "I haven't heard anything - nobody's called me - and it's going to take a while to prepare for. But it would be an honor to have the pope to our city once again, and it would be an honor to be host to him."

O'Malley's spokesman, Terrence C. Donilon, issued a statement saying, "Any talk about a potential visit to Boston by the Holy Father is just speculation. The Vatican has not informed the Archdiocese whether Pope Benedict XVI will visit Boston. While we would be honored and blessed to host a visit by the pope, as would dioceses around the country and the world, we simply do not know at this time."

O'Malley is now leading, along with Metropolitan Methodios of the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Boston, a joint Catholic-Orthodox trip to Istanbul, Rome, and St. Petersburg; the delegation is expected to have an audience with Benedict during the trip.

The Vatican has confirmed that Benedict plans to visit the United States next year to speak at the United Nations, but has not offered details. The Archdiocese of New York has said that it expects the trip to take place in the spring.

Pope sends wishes to Greek Orthodox leader awaiting liver transplant

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a message encouraging Catholic-Orthodox dialogue, Pope Benedict XVI sent his personal wishes for the speedy recovery of Greek Orthodox Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, who was awaiting a liver transplant in Miami.

The pope said Sept. 17 that he wanted to send a "truly special" fraternal greeting to Archbishop Christodoulos, "wishing him the full recovery of health, so that he can resume as soon as possible his pastoral service."

"I assure my prayers for this intention," he added.

Archbishop Christodoulos, 68, has been an important Orthodox dialogue partner for the Vatican. In June, he had surgery for intestinal cancer, and doctors discovered he also suffered from cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. He flew to Miami in mid-August to await a liver transplant at a hospital there.

An official of the Greek Orthodox Church in Athens said Sept. 18 that Archbishop Christodoulos was still on a waiting list for a compatible liver for transplant, but was expected to have the operation by the end of September.

In 2001 it was Archbishop Christodoulos who, despite opposition from some Orthodox priests and bishops, hosted Pope John Paul II during the late pontiff's groundbreaking trip to Athens.

Last year, visiting the Vatican, Archbishop Christodoulos signed a joint declaration with Pope Benedict, pledging "fruitful collaboration" and a "dialogue in truth."

The pope's message was sent to Catholic and Orthodox participants in a Sept. 16-19 dialogue on the Greek island of Tinos. The topic for discussion was St. John Chrysostom, a leading figure of the Eastern church and an early patriarch of Constantinople, who died in September 407, 16 centuries ago.

Pope Benedict noted that in 2004 Pope John Paul returned a portion of the saint's relics from the Vatican to the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople -- a gesture appreciated by Orthodox Christians.

The pope said he hoped the scholars meeting on Tinos would help bring the day of full communion between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.

"That blessed day is the one we all look forward to with hope," he said.

A full translation of the Pope's catechesis today has been posted in AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS TEXTS. Today, he began recounting the life of St. John Chrysostom ('the golden-mouth') and his years in Antioch, before he became Bishop of Constantinople.

I can't resist noting - as I wanted to when we marked the feast of the Chrysostom last week - that the young Professor Ratzinger was called GOLDMUND, German for 'golden mouth', almost from the very start of his academic career.

And not to forget - 29 months ago today, Joseph Ratzinger became Benedict XVI.











Here's a story adapted from the AsiaNews report on the GA:



Pope says 'Well-prepared married couples
close the door to divorce"


Vatican City, Sept. 19 (AsiaNews) – “Well prepared married couples close the door to divorce”, Pope Benedict XVI said today at his regular Wednesday general audience, saying that “the authentic presence of Christian lay faithful in families and in society” is a very topical lesson from St John Chrysostom, subject of his catechesis to 20,000 people at St. Peter's Square today.

The Chrysostom was the great 4th century bishop, St John of Antioch, who earned the appelative Chrysostom, mouth of gold, as the 'greatest orator of late Greek antiquity'.

Born in 349 in Antioch, now Antakya in modern day Southern Turkey, St John Chrysostom became the Bishop of Constantinople after a period spent as a hermit and ten years in 'quite pastoral ministry' as Bishop of Antioch. The Pope limited himself today to the Chrysostom's Antioch years.

Recalling St. John's role in the Antioch Sedition of 387, “when the people tore down the imperial statues to protest rising taxes”, the Pope ad-libbed, to the crowd's amusement, “We can see that some things never change over the course of time”.

John Chrysostom was among the most prolific fathers of the Church, and left us over 700 homilies, 241 letters and many other writings - so “we can say he is still alive today through his many works”.

His theology was pastoral rather than speculative, and his preaching aimed “to develop the intellect of the faithful to understand and live the faith”, since “the value of a man lies in his consciousness of the truth and rectitude of life” and “knowledge must be translated into life”.

The Chrysostom taught consistently that to translate the moral and spiritual demands of the faith into the integral development of the human being, Christian education was critical from early childhood, when “God’s laws must be impressed as if on a wax tablet”.

He follows Christian formation through youth, adolescence, marriage and family life. It was St John Chrysostom who defined the family as “the small domestic Church”, and he noted that “well-prepared married couples close the door to divorce”.

He told the catechumens he was preparing for Baptism that the sacrament makes of every Christian "king, priest and prophet" - and the duty of mission arises from this: through Baptism, "each of us is in some way responsible for the salvation of others", since the principle of social life is 'not to be interested only in ourselves.'



The Pope congratulates Vittorio Orio, who rowed a gondola
from Venice down the Adriatic coastline to get to Rome,
in order to dramatize the need for scientific research on
rare diseases like spinal atrophy and many neurological
syndromes that afflict babies and children. Orio stopped
at every Italian port along his route to distribute written
material about the diseases and publicize his cause. Orio
was accompanied to the audience by the Patriarch of Venice,
Cardinal Angelo Scola, and Italian scientists involved in
research on these diseases.

This APCOM item, posted by Lella on her blog, appears to be the first Italian news story acknowledging news across the Atlantic about the Pope's trip the USA next year.

Rome, Sept. 19 (Apcom) - Pope Benedict XVI's first trip abroad in 2008 will be to the United States, Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican press director, confirmed today.

But he said that apart from an address to the United Nations in New York, nothing else has been decided.

"We are working so that the trip may take place in April for the spring session of the UN General Assembly," Lombardi said. "But we have no program yet. Not until we know which cities the Pope will be visiting."

He indicated that the Pope's foreign trip coordinator will be travelling to the United States in October for site determinations

He said the only other 2008 trips programmed for the Pope so far are the trip to Sydney in July for World Youth Day, and the visit to Lourdes to mark the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions will possibly be in October."

[The rest of the item is a rehash of stories that have appeared in the Anglophone media.]


The AP picked up the story later:


Pope to speak at U.N. in spring 2008

VATICAN CITY, Sept. 19 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI plans to travel to the United States in the spring to address the United Nations, but other possible U.S. stops haven't yet been confirmed, the Vatican said Wednesday.

Benedict accepted an invitation from the U.N. secretary-general.

U.S. bishops and the Vatican have also been discussing other possible stops, including Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington. However, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that only the spring visit to New York to address the U.N. General Assembly had been confirmed.

A stop in Boston would send a particularly poignant message of papal concern over the clerical sex abuse scandal, which erupted there in 2002 and forced its archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Law, to resign in disgrace.

The planning for the trip is delicate because it would come amid a presidential election campaign.

The trip is Benedict's first international visit planned for 2008. In July, Benedict is due to attend World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia. Later in the year, he is due to visit the shrine in Lourdes, France, which in 2008 marks the 150th anniversary of the apparition of the Madonna.

Pope John Paul II visited the United States seven times during his nearly 27-year pontificate, the last time in 1999.

The 80-year-old Benedict completed his seventh foreign trip as pope earlier this month with a three-day visit to Austria.


I chose to ignore the ff story when I read it in a rambling Corriere della Sera article yesterday, because it seems a highly unlikely scenario, but now that the Anglophone media have picked it up, here's a convenient wrap-up in USA Today:


Pope refused to meet with Condi Rice

Pope Benedict XVI refused to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while she was on her way to the Middle East last month, according to an Italian newspaper.

Corriere della Sera says the Vatican rebuffed Rice, who "made it known to the Vatican that she absolutely had to meet the pope," because the Catholic leader was on vacation at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. [1)He's not 'on vacation' in Castel Gandolfo, where 2) he has kept up his regular schedule since returning from his vacation in Lorenzago. 3) Does anyone imagine the Pope would be such a boor as to refuse to meet Rice?]]

BBC News, picking up the Italian paper's story, says: "Instead of meeting the Pope, Ms Rice had to make do with a telephone conversation with the Vatican's number two, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was visiting the U.S. during August on other business."
[Bertone spoke about his 'long' conversation with Rice with the media before he went to the US in August.]

AFP says the reply "illustrated the divergence of view' between the Vatican and the White House about the 'initiatives of the Bush administration in the Middle East."

Catholic World News reports that church officials wouldn't confirm the Italian paper's report, which was based on unidentified sources.

Here's a little more about the gondolier at Papa's general audience today.


Gondolier brings gondola to St. Peter's, meets with the pope at general audience

The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 19, 2007

VATICAN CITY: After a 17-day journey, gondolier Vittorio Orio parked his gondola in St. Peter's Square. With traditional straw hat in hand, he walked up the steps of St. Peter's Basilica on Wednesday to meet Pope Benedict XVI and invite him to Venice for a ride down the Grand Canal.

"We'll see, we'll see," said the pope.

Three popes of the past century were patriarchs of Venice before being elected to the pontificate, including John Paul I, who died after only 33 days in office in 1978.

The 143-mile pilgrimage by water, sponsored by the Patriarchate of Venice and the M. Baschirotto foundation, was undertaken to raise awareness and support for research on rare diseases, with the specific aim of helping children in Togo.

A small group of patients and their relatives accompanied the gondolier to the public audience Wednesday and received the pope's blessing.

Orio, who is 66, rowed from Venice along the Adriatic coast to Ancona, where the gondola continued its voyage by truck. It was put back in the water near Rome, where it traveled down the Tiber. Too big to be brought into the Vatican, the huge black row boat with its trademark gilded decorations, was left on the outskirts of St. Peter's Square for the audience.

Orio is not new to such feats. Now retired, he devotes his time to using his skills for charitable causes. Several years ago, he rowed across the English Channel.

But the mustachioed gondolier, who was accompanied to the Vatican by Venice Patriarch Cardinal Angelo Scola, lost some of his brio when he met face to face with Benedict.

"I was overwhelmed with emotion," Orio said, admitting that in the excitement he kissed both the pope's hands instead of just kissing the pope's ring, as Vatican protocol suggests.

On September 15 last year, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone officially took his position as Secretary of State, although his appointment was announced the preceding June. Avvenire today published a lengthy interview with him by Gianni Cardinale to mark the occasion. Here is a translation.


A year of working with the Pope:
Rejuvenating the faith
By Gianni Cardinale


The Secretary of State draws up an accounting of his first 12 months as the #2 man at the Vatican. His work alongside the Pope, his trips, relations with Islam after the Regensburg lecture, the internationalization of the Roman Curia, and the Motu Proprio on the traditional Mass. On Friday, a second launching of his book on the third secret of Fatima.

The Salesian prelate did not celebrate this anniversary in any particular way, unless one counts the reopening of a restored chapel on the first floor of the Apostolic Palace on September 12, Feast of the Holy Name of Mary. The chapel is for the particular use of the Secretary of State.

On September 15 itself, Bertone was in Poland as the Pope's representative at the beatification ceremony for Fr. Stanislaw Paczynski. Coming back to Rome, he agreed to this interview.


Your Eminence, it's been a year...

Indeed. An onerous year from the commitments inherent in the office itself, but exalting at the same time, because to have the privilege of carrying out one's mission alongside a great Pope like Benedict XVI is truly exalting. I would say it has been rejuvenating for one's faith.


Papa Ratzinger took a revolutionary move by choosing you, since there was an almost uninterrupted tradition of having someone with long experience in Pontifical diplomacy as Secretary of State. Has this caused you any particular problems?

It's true the Pope did not feel bound to this tradition (with a small 't'). For my part, I have found maximum cooperation from the personnel of the Secretariat of State. Moreover, my two closest collaborators there, Archbishops Fernando Filoni and Dominique Mamberti, are both vastly experienced in Vatican diplomacy.


How do you remember September 15 last year - it came just a few days after the lecture at Regensburg...

Indeed those were rather turbulent days. There is no doubt that the consequences of a specious interpretation of what the Pope said gave rise to serious misunderstandings and concerns. But the subsequent trip to Turkey successfully placed the dialog with Islam back on track. Thanks be to God, the relationship has since been resumed with the esteem and reciprocal respect that it deserves.


Last April, the Pope also named you Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church. This [the Secretary of State also named to this position] has happened only three times before: with Cardinals Pietro Gasparri in 1916-1930; Eugenio Pacelli (later Pius XII) in 1935-1939; and Jean Villot in 1970-1979.

It was a gesture of extreme kindness and trust from the Holy Father, and I pray daily that I may be worthy of it.


Some news reports have been critical of your frequent travelling and your prominent media interventions. What do you say to them?

I have made numerous trips at the invitation of various bishops conferences, of Italian bishops and of civilian authorities, which have given me the opportunity for useful and interesting discussions. These trips correspond to the pastoral nature of Vatican diplomacy and the duty of the Secretary of State towards the faithful.

For instance, my trip to the Czech Republic for the national feast of Saints Cyril and Metodius allowed me to have a most fruitful encounter with all the Czech bishops as well as the political authorities.

My trip to Peru had been planned for some time happened to fall right after the earthquake, and this allowed me to visit the stricken cities and directly bring concrete aid from the Pope and the Church to the victims.

I've made two trips to Poland which, besides visiting different dioceses, gave me the opportunity to explain in two different international conferences the thinking of the Holy See on the current problems in the 'European project' which concerns us all.

In all this, I have seen not only the persistence but also the liveliness of the local Churches, especially their commitment to catechesis and social charity.

Also, I would like to remind my critics that from the very beginning, even in an academic career, I never confined myself within, simply reading books and looking at maps.

I am and remain a Salesian priest, a follower of Don Bosco. I believe that even in the highest and most important positions, it is important that the ministers of the Church should never keep themselves in an ivory tower, that they should go out and meet the people, and as John paul II said, to meet them in the new Areopagi of modern society.


On your last trip to Poland, you delivered a homily referring to non-negotiable values. But some commentators think that some of your actions and statements can be seen as a softer approach to these social problems...

I would ask them to read the text of the address I gave in Cracow in the September 16 issue of Osservatore Romano. To take a pastoral approach to social and political realities does not mean compromising on the issues that our Pope, adhering to authentic tradition, has defined as non-negotiable.

I said in Poland, "In politics, one often has to choose what is possible rather than what is best. But that does not mean that we should try every path just because it is theoretically and technically possible."


In the international media, there is increasing intolerance for what is perceived as an increasingly dominant role by Italians in key positions of the Roman Curia. Is the so-called 'internationalization' of the Curia over?

As everyone knows, the Pope is not Italian. At the moment, there are 16 foreign heads of Vatican dicasteries, and nine Italians. Recently, two Italians were succeeded by non-Italians: the Pope's new alms-keeper, who is in charge of the Papal charities, is a Spaniard; and the new Vatican Chief of Protocol is Nigerian.

The internationalization of the Vatican has been and is a correct choice that is, in many ways, obligatory. However, geographical origin cannot be, in a negative or positive way, the dominant or only criterion in the Pope's choice of his closest co-workers.


There has been frequent talk in the past of a global restructuring of the Roman Curia. Is there a real project in progress for an organic reform that will streamline the Curia?

It is a hypothesis that is still at the stage of study and verification of the experience resulting from the application of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus promulgated by John Paul II, so I cannot say much more.


Someone has written that "The Pope writes books and gives the impression that he has decided not to govern. Even if Bertone appears to be tempted to do so..." What do you think of this assessment?

I totally disagree. The Pope is very conscious of role as the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church with all the obligations and duties that this means. I am simply his Secretary of State, with the responsibility for the functioning of that structure which is at the service of the Pope's mission, and I try to carry out that responsibility in perfect communion with Pope Benedict XVI.


The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum went into effect on September 14. In this newspaper, you expressed the wish that this document would be welcomed with calm. Has it?

Substantially, yes. I believe that if common sense prevails rather than ideologies of various natures, there should be no problems in applying its provisions. However, in my visits to many local churches, I am realizing that knowledge of Latin continues to decline, so this is probably a good occasion to recover it and hold on to it, if only for the patrimony it has brought us.


On Friday, your book-length interview about Fatima will be presented in Rome. Why did you decide to take time out from your work for this?

This book was really finished while I was still Archbishop of Genoa even if it was not published until much later. Inasmuch as Providence, through the will of the venerated John Paul II, chose me to meet with Suor Lucia in Portugal before the publication of the 'third secret', I thought it was opportune to accept the proposal of Giuseppe de Carli (chief of RAI-TV's Vatican bureau) to do a book-length interview about it.

The main objective of the book was clearly stated by Pope Benedict XVI in the foreword he wrote: "In the pages of the book L'ultima veggente di Fatima (The last seer of Fatima), he [Bertone] has confided so many memories so that they do not just remain a private treasure of personal emotions, but having to do with events which marked the Church in the last half of the 20th century, they may be consigned to the collective memory as not insignificant evidence of of that history."

I am aware of the doubts that followed the publication of the entire message of Fatima, and I am particularly happy that on Friday, it will be possible to hear Pope John XXIII's private secretary, Mons. Loris Capovilla directly confirm the truth of what the Vatican has said about the Fatima message. [A few days ago, Capovilla - one of the few people who read the entire Fatima message when John XXIII opened it for the first time in 1962 - told a newspaper that what the CDF published a few years ago was exactly what he saw and read. It was an answer to persons like journalist Antonio Socci who wrote a book recently insisting that the Vatican is keeping a 'fourth secret' unrevealed.]]

The mystery of Fatima is an event that has permeated contemporary history unlike any other Marian apparition, and the density of Mary's message - not only the 'third secret' - touches the hearts of men because it invites them to conversion and co-responsibility for the salvation of the world.

Avvenire, 19 settembre 2007

Major newspapers in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and Washington are now saying "maybe" the pope will visit their city. Every day it is a new city. I'm waiting for New Orleans to make the list. After all, if he wants to see Ground Zero, maybe he will want to see what's left of New Orleans, or, as they say here, "the sliver on the river".


Sources: Pope planning Washington visit

Published: Sept. 19, 2007 at 6:12 PM

VATICAN CITY, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI is planning to visit Washington as part of an apostolic journey to the United States, Vatican sources say.

While Vatican officials have confirmed the Roman Catholic pontiff anticipates making a speech to the United Nations in April, they have not confirmed Benedict will stop in Washington during his U.S. visit, The Washington Times said Wednesday.

A report from the Catholic News Agency had Benedict stopping in Washington at the beginning of his U.S. visit, which is thought to be set for next April.

Other reported locations the pope may visit during his trip include Boston, New York and Baltimore. One Vatican source said a large number of U.S. dioceses have asked the head of the Catholic Church to visit during his stay.

"There have been so many cities mentioned as possible stops on the trip that he cannot possibly visit them all," the unidentified source told the Times.

Vatican: Pope's refusal to meet Rice should not be seen as snub

By John Thavis
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI declined to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during his August vacation, but Vatican officials said it should not be interpreted as a diplomatic snub.

"The only reason she wasn't received was that she came during a period when the pope doesn't receive anyone. It was a purely technical question of protocol," an informed Vatican source told Catholic News Service Sept. 20.

The source said it was "absolutely not" the Vatican's intention to rebuff Rice or signal disagreement with U.S. policy on the Middle East.

Rice was about to travel to the Middle East for diplomatic talks in early August when the request for a papal meeting was made. The pope was vacationing at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome.

Even as it declined the request, the source said, the Vatican made it clear that top officials of the Vatican's Secretariat of State would be happy to meet with Rice at any time.

"So clearly there was no intent to send a negative signal," the source said.

Rice instead ended up speaking by telephone with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, while he was visiting the United States in August.

Cardinal Bertone later praised Rice's mediating attempts, saying, "I recognize the untiring efforts of the secretary of state in reconciliation among the governments of the Middle East."

The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera first reported on the Vatican's rejection of the U.S. request. It said Rice had let the Vatican know that she "absolutely needed to meet with Pope Benedict" before her Middle East tour. The newspaper said Rice hoped a papal audience would bolster her influence in the talks with Middle East parties.

The article went on to say the Vatican's refusal underlined a fundamental foreign policy divide between the Vatican and the United States. The article was written by Massimo Franco, author of a respected book on U.S.-Vatican relations, "Parallel Empires."

The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, had no comment on the Corriere della Sera report.

U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Francis Rooney released a brief statement emphasizing overall U.S.-Vatican cooperation.

"Since the beginning of formal diplomatic relations in 1984, the U.S. and the Holy See have enjoyed a high level of cooperation on a wide array of issues, ranging from protection of religious freedom and human rights around the globe to eradicating trafficking in persons and HIV/AIDS," Rooney said.

"Our relationship remains strong today. Our working relationship is dynamic and productive at all levels," he said.

In an effort to cut down on the number of papal audiences, early in his pontificate Pope Benedict made it a practice not to meet with government ministers below the level of prime minister.

There have been exceptions, however, and Vatican sources said an exception would no doubt be made for Rice if another request were made when the pope was at the Vatican.

Over the years, Rice's comments have sometimes drawn private criticism from Vatican diplomats. One such occasion was in mid-2006, when she said the devastating fighting in Lebanon represented "the birth pangs of a new Middle East."

In 2003, as the U.S. geared up for the invasion of Iraq, Rice publicly questioned the Vatican's moral arguments against preventive war.

PASTORAL VISIT TO VELLETRI, 9/23/07


Here is a composite story on the coming visit from various sources, including Apcom, Petrus and the diocesan website:




VATICAN CITY - Benedict XVI returns to the second of his former titular seats as cardinal with his pastoral visit to Velletri on Sunday.

[His first titular church was Santa Maria Consolatrice in Rome, which later became the first of the Roman churches he has visited as Bishop of Rome. When he became Dean of the College of Cardinals in 2002, he was assigned the titular seat of Ostia, Rome's port city. Cardinal Francis Arinze succeeded him in Velletri-Segni, and Cardinal Angelo Sodano in Ostia.]

Velletri, a historic town that was almost completely damaged by heavy bombing in the second world war but has since rebuilt itself, is not far from Castel Gandolfo and is one of the towns, along with Castel Gandolfo itself, collectively known as Castelli Romani, in the Alban hills southeast of Rome.



It will be an occasion to unveil the bronze column with scenes from the Pope's life in relief which the municipalities of Bavaria commissioned as an 80th birthday present for him. It matches the sculptured column showing religious scenes, which the Pope unveiled in Marktl last year in the square in front of the house where he was born. The birthday column, standing 4 meters and 20 cms. high, was commissioned from the same sculptor who executed the Marktl column.

The Pope decided last April that he would like the birthday column to be placed in the plaza of what was his titular Cathedral from 1993 t0 2002, the Cathedral consecrated to Pope St. Clement (87-94 AD), the first of many Popes historically associated with Velletri. In fact, a special exhibit on the Popes and Lazio (see second poster above) will open at the Diocesan Museum on Sunday.

The Pope will celebrate Mass in the plaza, but apparently will return to Castel Gandolfo in time for the noonday Angelus.

EWTN is broadcasting the Velletri Mass live:

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POPE BENEDICT XVI IN VELLETRI LIVE (90:00)
Pope Benedict celebrates Holy Mass on his Pastoral visit to Velletri. Live from the Cathedral Square.
Sept. 23 3:30 AM LIVE
Sept. 23 12:00 PM Encore

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P.S. Here's ZENIT's report posted later:

Pontiff to Present Town With Bronze Column,
Plans to Visit Velletri on Sunday



VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will visit Velletri, Italy, to present to the town a bronze column celebrating his pontificate.

The 4-meter bronze column was a gift from a group of Bavarian cities on the occasion of his 80th birthday last April. The Pope wanted to donate the gift to the suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni, the titular see to which he was appointed as cardinal from 1993 through his election as Pope.

The Holy Father will travel Sunday morning, and spend a few hours in Velletri, 25 miles southeast of Rome.

The column, with scenes of his life engraved on it, will be placed in the plaza of the Cathedral of San Clement. A similar column, sculpted by Bavarian Joseph Michael Neustifter, is placed in the main square of Marktl am Inn, the Pontiff's native city.

The Bishop of Rome will return to Castel Gandolfo to pray the Angelus at midday.

The suburbicarian Diocese of Velletri-Segni is one of seven dioceses located in the suburbs that surround Rome. The highest order of cardinals are named as titular bishops of these sees.

Speaking to the diocesan paper, Bishop Vincenzo Apicella of Velletri-Segni said that the Pope "comes to remind us that we are one flock with one pastor, Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected, whom he represents in full."

Here is a translation of an item from Apcom today:

Osservatore Roman publishes note
indicating Papal approval
for last two Chinese ordinations


VATICAN CITY, Sept. 21 (Apcom) - Signs of detente between the Vatican and China. After the publication of Benedict XVI's Letter to the Catholics of China, good news: the two Chinese bishops who were recently ordained - in Guiyang on September 8 and in Beijing today - "were both recommended to the Holy See by their respective local communities as worthy and qualified candidates."

This means that the two ordinations took place with Pope Benedict's approval, as indicated in a statement published today by L'Osservatore Romano. [NB: But not on Page 1, where there is not even a teaser line about it. Makes one wonder yet again about the OR's editorial judgment.]


Here is the statement:

---

On September 8, feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Fr. Paul Xiao Zejiang was ordained Archbishop Coadjutor of Guiyang in the province of Guizhou. On September 21, feast of St. Matthew Apostle and Evangelist, Fr. Joseph Li Shan was ordained Archbishop of Beijing. Both prelates were recommended to the Holy See by their respective local communities as worthy and qualified candidates.

The Catholic communities of Guiyang and Beijing, having learned of the communion granted by the Pope to Mons. Xiao and to Mons. Li, have joined in celebration with their new pastors, but regrettably, some bishops not in communion with the Holy See took part in the sacramental rites*.

In entrusting the difficult mission of these two young prelates and their diocesan communities to the protection of the Virgin Mary, it is also hoped that all the dioceses (of China) may have worthy and qualified pastors, able to live in full communion with the Catholic Church and the Successor of Peter, and to announce the Gospel of Christ to the Chinese people.

Let all Catholics in China as in the rest of the world pray for the realization of "the hope that, in the course of a respectful and open dialog between the Holy See and the Chinese bishops, on the one hand, and with the government authorities, on the other, difficulties may be overcome and a fruitful agreement may be reached for the good of the Catholic community and social coexistence" (Letter of Benedict XVI to the Church in China].

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*I find the underlined words rather un-Christian, as though the legitimacy of the bishops concerned were more important than their taking part in a sacramental rite. They are still Catholics and priests entitled to participate in a Church service. Besides, the bishops who performed the ordination were all in 'full communion' with Rome.

Also,the OR ignores another basic journalism rule in not attributing this entire statement to a specific source. The Congregation for Bishops and the Secretariat of State are the two Curial organs directly involved here.


P.S. If you refer to the AsiaNews accounts posted in NEWS ABOUT THE CHURCH about Archbishop Li Shan's ordination, some Catholics are said to have been unhappy before the ordination that the Vatican failed to issue a declaration making its stand clear about the new bishop.

This goes to the question of which Vatican office was responsible for issuing the declaration. The timing of it - 12 hours after the ordination took place (Beijing is 12 hours ahead of Rome) - makes it look like the statement was issued under duress - that the Vatican had no choice but to make it, given that the ordinations have taken place. Why could it not have been made earlier? The Guiyang ordination took place two weeks ago. It makes the Vatican look inept, and in the public perception, this reflects inevitably on the Holy Father.

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9/22/07
CORRECTION: The Vatican report about the ordinations in China did not appear in the 9/21/07 issue as APCOM reported, but in the issue today, 9/22/07 - about which APCOM must have received advance information at the time they reported yesterday afternoon (Rome time). However, their item clearly said 'in a statement published today' in a story that was datelined Sept. 21.


The item appears on Page 2, according to a teaser box at the bottom right-hand corner of Page 1 entitled 'Ordinationi episcopali nella Cina continentale' (Episcopal ordinations in mainland China), more clearly seen if one sees it in PDF:
www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_quo/216q01.pdf

This, of course, makes the lag in the Vatican's public acknowledgment of Papal approval for the two ordinations even greater, as it comes the day after the second ordination.

POPE TO CATHOLIC PARLIAMENTARIANS:
PREVENT DISSEMINATION OF IDEOLOGIES
WHICH OBSCURE TRUTH

Unusually, the Vatican released an English translation of the Holy Father's address delivered in Italian. I have posted the full text in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES AND MESSAGES.



VATICAN CITY, SEP 21, 2007 (VIS) - Today in the Apostolic Palace at Castelgandolfo, Benedict XVI received 200 participants in an ongoing conference of the Executive Committee of the Centrist Democratic International (IDC), which is presided by the Italian politician Pierferdinando Casini.

The Pope told his audience that "your visit gives me an opportunity to bring to your attention some of the values and ideals that have been molded and deepened in a decisive way by the Christian tradition in Europe and throughout the world, ... such as the centrality of the human person, a respect for human rights, a commitment to peace and the promotion of justice for all."

These "fundamental principles," the Pope went on, "are closely interconnected. In effect, when human rights are violated, the dignity of the human person suffers; when justice is compromised, peace itself is jeopardized."

The Holy Father encouraged his listeners "to persevere in your efforts to serve the common good, taking it upon yourselves to prevent the dissemination and entrenchment of ideologies which obscure and confuse consciences by promoting an illusory vision of truth and goodness. In the economic sphere, for example, there is a tendency to view financial gain as the only good, thus eroding the internal ethos of commerce."

He continued: "There are those who maintain that human reason is incapable of grasping the truth, and therefore of pursuing the good that corresponds to personal dignity," while others "believe that it is legitimate to destroy human life in its earliest or final stages." Another cause of concern, he said, lies in "the growing crisis of the family, which is the fundamental nucleus of society based on the indissoluble bond of marriage between a man and a woman."

The Holy Father then turned to consider "the defense of religious liberty, which is a fundamental, irrepressible, inalienable and inviolable right. ... The exercise of this freedom also includes the right to change religion, which should be guaranteed not only legally, but also in daily practice."

"Within every human heart there are needs and desires which find their fulfillment in God alone. For this reason, God can never be excluded from the horizon of man and world history. That is why all authentically religious traditions must be allowed to manifest their own identity publicly, free from any pressure to hide or disguise it.

"Moreover," he added, "due respect for religion helps to counter the charge that society has forgotten God: an accusation shamelessly exploited by some terrorist networks in an attempt to justify their threats against global security. Terrorism is a serious problem whose perpetrators often claim to act in God's name and harbor an inexcusable contempt for human life.

"Society naturally has a right to defend itself, but this right must be exercised with complete respect for moral and legal norms, including the choice of ends and means. In democratic systems, the use of force in a manner contrary to the principles of a constitutional State can never be justified."

"In this regard, the social teaching of the Catholic Church offers some points for reflection on how to promote security and justice both at the national and international levels. This teaching is based on reason, natural law and the Gospel."

"The Church knows that it is not her specific task to oversee the political implementation of this teaching: her objective is to help form consciences in political life, to raise awareness of the authentic requirements of justice, and to foster a greater readiness to act accordingly, even when this might involve conflict with situations of personal interest."

"For those of you who share a faith in Christ," Benedict XVI concluded, "the Church asks you to bear witness to that faith today with even greater courage and generosity. The integrity of Christians in political life is indeed more necessary than ever so that the 'salt' of apostolic zeal does not lose its 'flavor'."


Here's how AP reported it:

Pope: War on terror must respect rights
By ARIEL DAVID


VATICAN CITY, Sept. 21 (AP) - Democratic societies have the right to defend themselves against terrorism but must also respect laws and human rights — or they risk endangering the very freedoms they want to protect, Pope Benedict XVI said Friday.

"In democratic systems, the use of force in a manner contrary to the principles of a constitutional state can never be justified," the pope said at an audience with members of the Centrist Democrat International, an association of center-right parties from around the world.

"Terrorism is a serious problem whose perpetrators often claim to act in God's name and harbor an inexcusable contempt for human life," Benedict said.

The pope said that some terrorist networks justify their actions by "shamelessly" exploiting the charge that society has forgotten God, and he said that a greater respect for religion could help counter that accusation.

"Society naturally has a right to defend itself," but the struggle against terrorism must respect moral and legal norms, the pope said.

"How can we claim to protect democracy if we threaten its very foundations?" Benedict said. "It is necessary both to keep careful watch over the security of civil society and its citizens while at the same time safeguarding the inalienable rights of all."

The pope did not mention specific countries or people.

Benedict urged the politicians to spread values he said are being endangered by changes in their communities. He urged them to oppose abortion, divorce and ideologies that view financial gain as the only good.

The pope also spoke out in defense of religious freedom, which he said includes the right to choose one's faith.

"The exercise of this freedom also includes the right to change religion, which should be guaranteed not only legally, but also in daily practice," he said. "All authentically religious traditions must be allowed to manifest their own identity publicly, free from any pressure to hide or disguise it."

Sensitivity to Christian proselytizing is widespread among Muslims, Hindu nationalists and some other religious groups that fear losing adherents.

Under a widespread interpretation of Islamic law, converting from Islam is punishable by death, while Hindu nationalists accuse Christian missionaries of luring poor people away from Hinduism, India's largest faith, through offers of money or coercion — a charge churches have denied.


ON THE NEW ARCHI-EPISCOPAL
NOMINATIONS FOR MOSCOW AND MINSK

VIS also provides additional information on the Archdioceses of Minsk and Moscow which have new Arcbishops as of today:

- Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of the archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, Russian Federation, has been named metropolitan archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev (area 69,800, population 4,800,000, Catholics 210,000, priests 74, religious 111), Belarus (formerly known as Byelorussia).

- Fr. Paolo Pezzi F.S.C.B., rector of the major seminary of Mary Queen of the Apostles in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, as metropolitan archbishop of the archdiocese of Mother of God in Moscow (area 2,629.000, population 58,820,000, Catholics 200,000, priests 128, permanent deacons 1, religious 267), Russian Federation. The archbishop-elect was born in Russi (near Ravenna), Italy, in 1960 and ordained a priest in 1990.

I would like to share this positive article first, before working on a translation of an Italian newspaper article today that tells us which Italian bishops spoke against the Pope's Mass MP at the current fall session of the Permanent Council of the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI). Their objections had one thing in common - they feel it is a repudiation of Vatican II!

They also wanted the CEI to issue an explanatory note of the MP for Italian Catholics, but this was voted down. As Mons. Tomasso Stenico commented in PETRUS later, what other explanatory note do they need besides the Holy Father's own explanatory letter that accompanied the Motu Proprio?

There is nothing unclear or unequivocal - much less arcane - about the Pope's words. The problem is that some bishops who think too much of themselves and the ideology they profess, and therefore allow their ego and ideology to blind them to simple reason and logic. How can a man of God allow ego and ideology to win over faith and his professed obedience to the Pope?

The list of dissidents includes Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo, formerly Apostolic Nuncio to Italy and widely expected to be named a cardinal in trhe next consistory; and Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, who is supposed to be one of the Pope's most loyal folloewers and a renowned theologian in his own right. In his case, I am hoping it is all just a dreadful reporting mistake, because shortly after the MP came out in July, he gave an interview to Vatican Radio defending it as a proper interpretation of the liturgical intentions of Vatican-II [translation was posted in this thread].


Prayer and Politics
By Edward T. Oakes, S.J.
On the Square
First Things, 9/19/07


Last Friday, on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross (September 14), Pope Benedict’s motu proprio (a genre of decree indicating the pope is acting “on his own initiative”) titled Summorum Pontificum took legal effect.

I cannot predict at this early date how much of a demand there will be for the Mass of Blessed John XXIII (otherwise, and somewhat inaccurately, known as the Tridentine Latin Mass), or what beneficial effects this new legislation will have on the way the ordinary form is celebrated, officially known as the Mass of John Paul II (which is a modest revision of the much more significant changes to the Mass enacted after Vatican II by Paul VI).

But, however murky the future, this motu proprio can certainly tell us a few telling facts about the past.

First (and on this I think both supporters and detractors of the document can agree), the drumbeat of requests that kept coming into the Vatican from Catholics (especially those with no other particular sympathy for the Lefebvrists) tells us that the implementation of the (1970) liturgical reforms has not been an unmitigated or universal success.

Especially in countries where the vernacular translations have been clumsy or even inaccurate, dissatisfaction was bound to increase by the year, at least among those sensitive to the beauties of their native tongue.

Further, moments and junctures in the rubrics that allow for more spontaneity by the celebrant have often been abused. Such abuse harms the Church, because unauthorized alterations in the rite only draw attention to the presiding priest and thus away from the Lord, who should be the focus of the worshiping gaze of the assembled community.

All these problems, and more, reminded me of a title of a book I had read long ago, Prayer as a Political Problem, by the French Jesuit Jean Cardinal Daniélou, especially these lines: “There can be no radical division between civilization and what belongs to the interior being of man; there must be a dialogue between prayer and the pursuit and realization of public policy. . . . In other words, there can be no civilization where prayer is not its representative expression. Correlatively, prayer depends on civilization.”

That connection between cult and culture binds all civilizations, Christian or otherwise (Cicero is explicit on this point). The contemporary problem, though, is that we live in a time characterized by what Nietzsche called Great Politics. Just about everything is “bleared, smeared” with political markers. By that I mean, for the most part, politics comes as a “package deal.”

Liberals are liberals across a range of issues, just as conservatives stay conservative on most matters (the war in Iraq being the major exception). This holds true especially nowadays in this era of the so-called culture wars, which are now raging just as much inside the Catholic Church as outside. So my question, in this unique setting, is: Will Catholics of different political persuasions now cluster toward one rite over another?

In a fascinating, if at times snarky, op-ed column on the motu proprio in the July 29, 2007, issue of the New York Times, Lawrence Downes makes this observation:

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It’s easy enough to see where this is going: same God, same church, but separate camps, each with an affinity for vernacular or Latin, John XXIII or Benedict XVI. Smart, devout, ambitious Catholics—ecclesial young Republicans, home-schoolers, seminarians and other shock troops of the faith—will have their Mass. The rest of us—a lumpy assortment of cafeteria Catholics, guilty parents, peace-’n'-justice lefties, stubborn Vatican II die-hards—will have ours. We’ll have to prod our snoozing pewmates when to sit and stand; they’ll have to rein in their zealots. And we probably won’t see one another on Sunday mornings, if ever.

---

Well, that might be a bit too pessimistic, although Downes is fair enough to admit (even if he disapproves of the motu proprio) that the Mass of Paul VI has not exactly been a ringing success:

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[The new] Mass can be listless, with little solemnity and multiple sources of irritation: parents sedating children with Cheerios; priests preaching refrigerator-magnet truisms; amateur guitar strumming that was lame in 1973; teenagers slumping back after communion, hands in pockets, as if wishing they had been given gum instead.

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All very discouraging, no doubt. But let us not forget that, as the saying goes, “We’ve all been here before.”

I am thinking in particular of the famous book by Antonio Rosmini (1797–1855), The Five Wounds of the Church. Although often too schematic in method and too lushly romantic in style, this tract is amazingly relevant to today’s controversies, as a mere reproduction of the Table of Contents shows.

For listed there are the five wounds Rosmini saw were then afflicting the Church: (1) the division between people and clergy at public worship; (2) the insufficient education of the clergy; (3) disunion among the bishops; (4) the nomination of bishops left in the hands of civil government; (5) restrictions on the Church’s free use of her own temporalities.

Of this list, only the fourth wound does not apply today, except in China and Vietnam, and maybe a few other countries whose governments don’t cotton to outspoken bishops. But the other wounds in the Church we are all familiar with from the headlines. To be sure, there are differences in the way these wounds are now afflicting the Church, compared to nineteenth-century Italy.

This is especially true of the first wound (my real concern here). For part of the problem with the implementation of liturgical reforms after Vatican II has been that, at least for critics of that reform, there is now too little distinction between people and clergy at worship.

Also, the operative theology animating today’s reform differs significantly from the one that motivated Rosmini, who had been influenced by the late-Jansenist calls for reform both of the liturgy and in the election of bishops.

Not many Catholics, I have discovered, are sufficiently aware that one of the earliest calls for liturgical reform came from the Jansenist-influenced (and later condemned) Synod of Pistoia (1786). This synod notoriously affirmed such key Jansenist doctrines as these: that unbaptized infants go to hell (not limbo) and that the grace of redemption cannot be found outside the confines of the Catholic Church.

But that same synod also decreed that there should be only one altar in each church, Latin should be replaced (at least in part) by Italian, and the cult of the Sacred Heart (an explicitly anti-Jansenist devotion) should be suppressed. It also adopted other “liberal” positions such as: the authority of the hierarchy derives from the consent of the governed, and the jurisdiction of the bishop is independent of the pope’s.

“Irony is history’s tastiest dish,” says one shrewd observer, and never has that been more true than when we are speaking of liturgical reform. For nowadays those most comfortable with post–Vatican II reforms show not the slightest trace of Jansenism, while the Lefebvrists not only object to those reforms but do so precisely because they fear that the identity of the Church as the sole ark of salvation has been undermined by Vatican II’s openness to ecumenism and the modern world.

These ironies make me wonder what Rosmini would think of today’s reforms. Although, as I noted above, he had a bit of the Jansenist virus in his soul, Rosmini’s real longing was that the Church’s worship not become a catalyst for disharmony but instead be the culminating expression of the Church’s unity in Christ. Clearly, Pope Benedict shares the same vision, and I trust all Catholics can join him in hoping his vision will come true.

But will it? That depends, at least in part, on what role a lingering Jansenism might still play as its own “theological marker.”

For example, at present, when the wine is consecrated into the blood of Christ, the priest says (here quoting Christ’s own words) that this blood will be “poured out for you and for all.” But soon the priest will, according to reliable reports, have to use the more accurate translation and say that it will be “poured out for you and for many.” Does this new and apparently more restrictive translation mean that the Church is now giving official sanction to the Augustinian/Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement, one that the Jansenists made the first principle and foundation of their heresy?

That certainly is not Pope Benedict’s view of the matter. In a book specifically addressed to this question, God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life, Benedict has this to say of the real meaning of the pro multis (the Latin phrase that means, literally, “for the many”):

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We cannot start to set limits on God’s behalf; the very heart of the faith has been lost to anyone who supposes that it is only worthwhile, if it is, so to say, made worthwhile by the damnation of others. Such a way of thinking, which finds the punishment of other people necessary, springs from not having inwardly accepted the faith; from loving only oneself and not God the Creator, to whom his creatures belong. That way of thinking would be like the attitude of those people who could not bear the workers who came last being paid a denarius like the rest; like the attitude of people who feel properly rewarded only if others have received less. This would be the attitude of the son who stayed at home, who could not bear the reconciling kindness of his father. It would be a hardening of our hearts, in which it would become clear that we were only looking out for ourselves and not looking for God; in which it would be clear that we did not love our faith, but merely bore it like a burden. . . . It is a basic element of the biblical message that the Lord died for all—being jealous of salvation is not Christian.

---

I look forward to discovering how many Catholics will follow the pope’s lead here, in obedience both to Summorum Pontificum and to the theology that animates it.

In other words, will Catholics come out of Mass as truly converted Christians, eager to engage the world already loved by God (John 3:16) and redeemed by the cross (1 John 2:1-3) and whose cult transforms the culture?

Or will they think of salvation as a zero-sum game, to be hoarded as a precariously won personal possession, made valuable only if others are damned? The answer to that question will not just determine the reception history of the motu proprio but will largely set the course for the future of the Church as well.

Edward T. Oakes, S.J. teaches theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, the seminary for the archdiocese of Chicago.

Here is a translation of Mons. Stenico's commentary in PETRUS today on the report about some leading Italian bishops objecting to the Pope's Motu Proprio on the traditional Mass:


About the dissent in CEI
towards the Pope's Mass MP
By Monsignor Tommaso Stenico




VATICAN CITY - The media have reported that at the start of this week's meeting of the Permanent Council of the Italian Bishops conference (CEI), there was a discussion on the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and the execution of its provisions.

That in fact, some bishops expressed their objections to the Motu Proprio and requested that the CEI issue an interpretative Note about the papal directives specifically for the Church in Italy. But that proposal was voted down. [NB: The Pope - trustful that all bishops would understand the spirit and intention of the MP, as he asks them to do in the explanatory letter he issued along with it - had left it to the bishops individually to transmit the papal directives, as well as his explanation, to their respective flocks, because that is part of a bishop's duties, and in fact, as many bishops all over the world have done, each according to their personal take on the MP.]

Those who are said to have expressed their objections to the MP were Carlo Ghidelli, Bishop of Lanciano-Ortona; Bruno Forte, archbishop of Chieti-Vasto; Benvenuto Italo Castellani, Archbishop of Lucca; the new Archbishop of Palermo, Paolo Romeo; Felice Di Molfetta, bishop of Cerignola and president of the episcpal commission for liturgy.

According to these prelates, Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio risks creating difficulties because the ecclesiology of the traditional Missal is 'incompatible' with that of Vatican II. [What a strange statement for the bishops to make, especially in view of the CDF statement last July explicitly pointing out that Vatican II had not changed the ecclesiology of the Church in any way! Also, they forget that the traditional Missal continued to be used by the Council throughout its three years, although they promulgated Sacrosanctum Concilium - the Vatican-II Constitution on the liturgy - in 1963, at the end of the first year's session!]

Therefore, they asked the CEI to issue a Note 'to interpret the Papal text'.

I respect the observations and opinions of such brilliant bishops, but I agree with the majority of the Council that believes a note from the CEI is unnecessary and superfluous, and I am happy that it was voted down.

I don't know if it is from an excess of zeal or from sheer forgetfulness that these enlightened bishops don't remember or ignore that the Note they are requesting already exists, and that it was written by Benedict XVI himself!

In fact, I remember one of these bishops commenting that the Pope's explanatory letter was much longer than the Motu Proprio itself.

Personally, I saw in the Explanatory Letter's length all the trepidation, the concern and the solicitous care of the Pope that his gesture of openness and dialog and communion within the Church should be correctly understood.

He starts out by writing, "With great trust and hope, I place in your hands as Bishops the text of a new Apostolic Letter motu proprio given on the use of the Roman liturgy anterior to the reform of 1970. The document is the fruit of long reflection, multiple consultations and prayer."

The Pope was well aware that there would be "widely divergent reactions ranging from a joyous acceptance to hardline opposition."

Indeed, the Bishop of Rome goes directly to the obvious fulcrum of any possible doubts: "There is fear that this will erode the authority of Vatican-II and cast doubt on one of its essential decisions - liturgical reform. Such fear is unfounded."

With great sensitivity, the Pope proceeds to describe the reformed liturgy decreed by Vatican-II as the ordinary [in the sense of normal] form of the Roman Missal, and the traditional Mass as the extraordinary form. Therefore, the Pope says, "It is not right to speak of these two forms of the Roman Missal as if they were 'two rites.'" Rather, there would be "two valid forms for one and the same rite."

The Pope goes even further to state that "these norms are also intended to free the bishops from having to decide anew every time how to respond to different situations."

But it is the desire to "reach an internal reconciliation within the church itself" that the Pope ultimately addresses with his Motu Proprio. It is for this noble end that he invites everyone "to make every effort so that it is possible for those who truly desire unity to remain in unity or to find it again."

The Pope assures the bishops that "these new norms do not diminish in any way your authority and responsibility either on liturgy or in the pastoral care of the faithful. Every bishop, in fact, is the moderator of liturgy in his own diocese (cfr SC 22). Therefore, nothing is taken away from the Bishop's authority whose role remains, nevertheless, that of being attentive that everything takes place in peace and serenity."

In all honesty, I must ask the bishops who requested it - what could any Note from the CEI possibly add to what the Pope has already said?

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For all those who disagree with the Motu Proprio using the seemingly high-minded and principled pretext that it 'violates' the intentions of Vatican-II, why don't they simply look up Sacrosanctum Concilium and read what it actually says?

Yes, it prescribes reforms - including use of the vernacular where it is convenient but without banning the use of Latin or declaring it inadmissible - but it also declared at the very beginning, in Paragraph 4:

---

4. Lastly, in faithful obedience to tradition, the sacred Council declares that holy Mother Church holds all lawfully acknowledged rites to be of equal right and dignity; that she wishes to preserve them in the future and to foster them in every way. The Council also desires that, where necessary, the rites be revised carefully in the light of sound tradition, and that they be given new vigor to meet the circumstances and needs of modern times.

---

Note that the statement about tradition and 'equal right and dignity' comes before the statement on revising the rites 'carefully in the light of sound tradition.'

One has to conclude that anyone - bishop or otherwise - who ignores what is so clearly stated in the Vatican-II Constitution on the Liturgy is simply being perversely blind to anything that does not fit his own personal interpretation of Vatican-II. In other words, they are acting out of sheer bad faith, in more sense than one.

Paragraph 4 needs no interpretation - it is as unequivocal as it could be, especially for a Church document.

It is in the apparently 'specific' provisions that follow where interpretations have varied, yet many experts on Vatican-II have conceded that such provisions were the result of compromise wording agreed upon to gloss over substantive differences but to allow eventual disputes on interpreting deliberate ambiguities.

I feel so strongly about this that I will once again post the link to the English version of Sacrosanctum Concilium
www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium...

It is only 26 pages long, and appropriately subtitled, so anyone can just zero in on any specific aspect of the liturgy about which they wish to check out what it actually says. And it will be clear how much of the liturgical license that spread in the past 40 years was neither decreed nor even implied in Sacrosanctum Concilium.

Mons. Stenico's commentary has stated what Il Giornale and Il Foglio reported about the rebellion in the CEI Permanent Council, so I will just add a few more details that he left out:

- Archbishop Ghidelli and Forte were both pupils of Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini.

- Archbishop Di Molfetta was also bitterly opposed to Redemptionis Sacramentum , the instructions against liturgical abuses issued in 2004 by the Congregation for Divine Worship, in agreement with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

- Those who spoke up firmly in support of the Pope during the discussion were Archbishop Bagnasco, CEI president; his predecessor Cardinal Ruini; the Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola; and the archbishop of Bologna, Cardinal Carlo Caffarra.

- The dissent within the Church of Italy over the Motu Proprio was expressed during the observance of 58th National Liturgical Week in Spoleto at the end of August. At that time, dissenting 'liturgists' asked Mons. Molfetta to send the Pope, in the name of the CEI, a letter expressing their 'concerns'. However, Mons. Giuseppe Betori, CEI secretary-general, would not sign such a letter because it did not represent the sentiments of the entire bishops' conference. [But why didn't the dissidents simply send off their letter to the Pope in their own names? If they feel so strongly about it, as it appears they do, what would have stopped them from writing the Pope directly, individually or as a group?]

- There are 30 members of the Permanent Council. It is not known what the actual vote was on the motion that was rejected for the CEI to issue a separate explanatory note on the MP.

The Italian used by the Pope in the Explanatory Letter is so straightforward and simple that the individual bishops did not really need to make their own explanatory letters to the faithful. All they had to do was publish the Pope's letter, post it online, stick it on to all parish bulletin boards, and - why not? it's only three printed pages - provide copies to those who want one!


====================================================================

Obviously, I am such a stickler for fact that I must re-post here my translation of the interview that Mons. Forte gave Vatican Radio last July 14.

7/15/2007 1:13 PM
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 8340


Pope Benedict's XVI most recent documents
refresh the values of Vatican-II,
says Mons. Forte of Chieti-Vasto


Speaking to Alessandro Gisotti of Radio Vatican's Italian service, Mons. Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, emphasized the strong references to Vatican-II in the Pope's recent Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum and in the subsequent CDF statement about Catholic doctrine on the Church. Here is a translation:


First, he comments on the CDF statement:

The document says exactly what Vatican-II said, distinguishing between the non-Catholic Christian 'churches' and ecclesiastical communities. The usage of the term 'Church' in the Catholic sense is meant to distinguish those communities that have kept the catholic nature of the church and have kept their priesthood within the apostolic succession and the Eucharist, and those who have not. The distinction helps the cause of ecumenism in which the various Christian elements have different ideas about themselves.

The Protestant 'churches' born of the Reformation underline these same differences in their own documents. The CDF document simply restates this self-appraisal by the Protestants in the language of the Church.


From the very beginning of his Pontificate, Benedict XVI has called for an ecumenical dialog that should run along truth and charity. How does the CDF statement fit in that context?

It goes directly into the truth, because it makes clear the fundamental difference about the concept of the Church, which cannot be ignored, unless one is only interested in facile irenism, which doesn't help anyone.

It involves charity in dialog, pointing to the provision of Lumen gentium, Paragraph 8 - that says "the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church subsists in the Catholic Church, under the guidance of the Successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him" - emphasizing the meaning of the verb 'subsists', recalling the reasons why Vatican-II used verb 'subsistit in' rather than the simple 'est".

If the statement had simply been 'is', that would have affirmed an identity that excludes, outside of the Catholic Church, any other degree of communion or presence of the means for grace.


Excellency, many criticisms however, both of Summorum Pontificum and the CDF statement, claim the Holy Father is turning the Church backwards from Vatican-II. And yet, even in the letter to China, for instance, Pope Benedict XVI never cites any documents other than those of Vatican-II. Are the criticisms then simply superficial?

I am convinced that all that Pope Benedict has said since he became Pope, addressed to other 'churches' and to the world, has been oriented to Vatican-II. In the Motu Proprio on the Mass, he underscores with great clarity the irrenunciable value of Vatican-II in pointing out that the resulting liturgical reform is now the ordinary, normal form of the Roman rite.

I don't see anything in it that betrays the Council. Whoever interprets Summorum Pontificum as a contradiction or break with the Council commits exactly the same error that Mons. Lefebvre and his followers did in disputing the doctrinal authenticity of Vatican-II.

====================================================================

I was hoping that by now, a denial might have come from Mons. Forte of his participation in the CEI 'mini-rebellion' but i's been over 24 hours since Andrea Tornielli reported it in Il Giornale, and not a peep has been heard.

His last statement in the interview encapsulates the very arguments against the objection of the dissident bishops that Summorum Pontificum violates the ecclesiology of Vatican II - especially since Mons. Forte includes the CDF statement on Vatican-II ecclesiology in the statement!

Finally, I think it is also helpful to re-post this statement on the MP from the Primate of France, Cardinal Barbarin.
===================================================================



7/14/2007 7:50 AM
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 8328

EXPLAINING 'SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM'
TO HOSTILE PRIESTS

Was not Cardinal Barbarin among the French bishops most prominently mentioned as being particularly against the Motu Proprio? If he was, his pastoral letter to explain Summorum Pontificum is a model for the bishops of the world. The resistance, hostility and even indications of defiant disobedience shown by some Italian bishops after the Motu Proprio have been very distressing, and I have simply not translated them out of distaste. Cardinal Barbarin's letter makes up for all that - and more.


Cardinal Barbarin:
Document Invites Reconciliation


ROME, JULY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has made a clear gesture to traditionalists so that division does not become irreparable schism, says a French cardinal.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon and the primate of France, wrote this in "An Invitation for Reconciliation," a reflection on Benedict XVI's liturgical document, Summorum Pontificum.

"To understand the Pope's decision" to write this letter, explained Cardinal Barbarin, "we remember what he shared with the cardinals just after his election."

"While the doors of the Sistine Chapel were still closed," the cardinal said, "Benedict XVI explained the choice of his name. Referring to Benedict XV, the great craftsman of peace, he said, 'I would like to live, above all, a pontificate of reconciliation and peace.'

"Today, the Pope thinks that if we don't make a gesture now, the division with the traditionalists will become an irreparable schism."

"He confirms, therefore, John Paul II's preparations in this regard: If they want to stay faithful to Rome, they know the doors are open to them and that their attachment to the older liturgy is not an obstacle."

Cardinal Barbarin says the only new element in Summorum Pontificum "is the decision to comply with the wishes of the faithful, depending henceforth on the priests' authority."

He explained: "As John Paul II had done for the bishops in 1988, Benedict XVI invites priests to welcome 'voluntarily the requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal edited in 1962.'

"Additionally, the Pope invites traditionalists to recognize the value and the sanctity of the Roman Missal instituted by Paul VI.

"The priests attached to the liturgy from before Vatican II, such as those of the Institute of the Good Shepard, the Fraternity of St. Peter, or in the Society of St. Pius X, will certainly be touched by this strong demand of Benedict XVI."

"Bishop Felley, himself, responsible for the Society of St. Pius X, said it was impossible to be Catholic and continue to be separated from Rome," added the 56-year-old prelate.

Cardinal Barbarin continued: "This will be, therefore, true progress for the unity [of the Church] if they agree to recognize 'the value and the holiness' of Paul VI's Missal, that with which I have celebrated Mass every day since my ordination.

"Benedict XVI asks everyone to penetrate the divine and sacred dimension of the Eucharist. For my part, I hope that all will reread attentively the constitution of Vatican II on the liturgy. This will be the best way to bring unity, always fragile in the Church."

"In effect," the cardinal explained, "the liturgy is an essential expression of the faith of the Church according to the well known principle, 'lex orandi, lex credendi.'

"The celebration of the Eucharist gathers together all of the paschal mystery.

"We always pass it, but it is the time of joy of Holy Thursday - communion; the drama of Holy Friday - sacrifice; and the mystery of the Resurrection on Easter morning - presence. In sum, it is essential for our faith."

"My hope," he remarked, "is that this clear gesture of the Holy Father will lead the reticent to rediscover the texts of the Council."

Cardinal Barbarin concluded, "We always need to go deeper into these teachings. I regard them as the source for renewal and unity in the Church."

=====================================================================

As I remarked in the original post about Cardinal Barbarin, I was immeasurably moved by his evocation of Joseph Ratzinger accepting his new calling to be the Successor of Peter, and his immediate expression that he wished to work for reconciliation and peace.

Let us keep up our prayers for the Holy Father, for the Church and for all its bishops and priests and faithful - UT UNUM SINT!

...someone whom the German Academy for Language and Literature has praised for "combining stylistic splendour with original storytelling that demonstrates a humorous awareness of history."

I find it an absolute novelty that a major contemporary author, German at that, can be such an unflinching champion of the faith, as this translation of an article in this week's issue of the Italian magazine TEMPI informs us:

Popular German author dares
to be politically incorrect -
supports the Pope's liturgical battle
by Punzi Vito

He's not a Lefebvrian but he welcomed as 'good news' the return of the Latin Mass. In his latest book of essays published in Germany [I am translating the Italian translation of the title given in this item: 'The heresy of the absence of form: The Roman liturgy and its enemy', published by Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2007, 251 pp.], he defends 'the beauty' of the traditional Roman Catholic liturgy.

He is Martin Mosebach and he is one of the most important contemporary writers in German. A lawyer by training, he has written dozens of novels, screenplays, opera libretti, and essays on art. He contributes to Frankfuerter Allgemeine Zeitung, and next month, he will receive the most prestigious literary prize in Germany, the Buechner Prize. One must note, though that not one of his works has been translated to Italian.

In support of the battle that Pope Benedict XVI has launched to file away the post-conciliar iconoclasm, Mosebach says in his essay "Liturgy is art" that it is time for tradition to become the avant-garde.

He is very severe about the post-conciliar era. Enough to compare it to the iconoclastic war in Byzantium during the first centuries of Christianity: "For the Roman iconoclasm asserted after the Second Vatican Council, Dom Prosper Gueranger had already anticipated a label in the previous century - he called it the anti-liturgical heresy."

[Guéranger (1803-1875) was the abbot of the famed Benedictine abbey of Solesmes, France, credited for reviving the Bendictine Order in France and revitalizing the Tridentine Mass. He wrote the 15-volume The Liturgical Year, which covers every day of the Catholic Church's Liturgical Cycle.]

"What we have gathered - thanks to the recent epoch that was emptied of sacred images, deprived of sacred spaces, and lacking any sacred music - is that one finds the greatest artistic configuration in traditional liturgy, and if any change is to be made towards recovering religious art of significance, it can only come from the traditional liturgy," Mosebach writes in an essay called 'Liturgy and art'.

Mosebach credits the Benedictines at the Abbey of Fontgombault in France for his liturgical 'discoveries'. it is where he says he redicovered the heart of the Christian experience. He says of Fontgombault: "Whoever decides to become a monk by joining the monastery at Fontgombault has committed himself to the education of one single person: himself."

Tempi, no. 38, 20/09/2007

===================================================================


Call it synchronicity, but it so happens Gerald Augustinus has been commenting on Mosebach's latest book, the English edition of which has been released by Ignatius Press. So I looked up Ignatius Insight, and sure enough, they have an excerpt from the book.

In the interest of keeping related material together, I am posting it here, even if it is not NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT. Particularly because this excerpt is very much in the spirit of the Pope's JESUS OF NAZARETH and of the now-famous line in Deus caritas est:

---

Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.

---

From The Heresy of Formlessness: The Roman Liturgy and Its Enemy




Some Catholics, who enjoy being provocative, say that the Christian religion could manage without the Bible sooner than without the liturgy. What do they mean by saying this?

In the centuries following the Secularization, Jesus attracted much admiration and sympathy from philosophical and philanthropic writers and those in the Enlightenment tradition. Even avowed atheists saw Jesus as a great teacher of humanity, a new Socrates, a new Buddha.

"I bow before him as the divine revelation of morality's highest principle", Goethe said to Eckermann. (This dictum should not be used to pigeonhole Goethe as a representative of Enlightenment thought: I quote it only as a particularly clear example of an attitude that has persisted to our time.)

Accordingly we read in Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre: "Thus, for the noble part of mankind, the way he (Jesus) lived is even more instructive and fruitful than his death."

Jesus Christ the Teacher: this is one of the Redeemer's most exalted titles, for Christians too. It was in teaching that he spent the major part of his public ministry. But what was his teaching? Did he proclaim something new?

It is obvious, of course, that in religion it is not a case of proclaiming novelties: the subject of religion is not "the new", but "the true". What is true may be ancient, in which case it always remains true; sometimes, if it has been forgotten, it can reappear unexpectedly and so seem to be new.

Jesus' truth was an ancient truth; with all his authority he reminded people of what had been revealed in many different ways. The prophets had already taught, and taught impressively, that a man deceives himself if he tries to use sophistry to avoid the divine commands. The commandment of love comes from the Old Testament. The individual petitions in the Our Father come from an ancient tradition of prayer; this only confirms their profound value.

Seen as the founder of a religion, Jesus Christ characteristically taught nothing new and certainly no new morality. Nor is this contradicted by the oft-quoted Sermon on the Mount, for it does not deal with moral laws.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit...Blessed are you who hunger... Blessed are you who weep now... Blessed are you when men hate you"--these are not moral laws. They are a portrayal and the invocation of a new creation.

He who weeps now will laugh - in a new world, and once he has "put on Christ", as Paul says. It does not say, "Blessed are the righteous," but "Blessed are those who hunger for righteousness", that is, those who have a sense of the world's fallen-ness and their own failings and who yearn for healing.

The restless yearning of which Jesus speaks is not a moral category. It is not something to be achieved by willpower. We cannot desire to be poor in spirit and then hope it will happen. The need to become a new man is not a moral demand. Essentially, morality and holiness are concepts that have hardly anything in common.

Of course, this does not mean that one can imagine an immoral saint-although Russian literature, for example, has journeyed far into this territory. No. The only new thing in Christianity, and what distinguishes it from all other religions - what makes it, so to speak, the capstone of all religions - is not the doctrine, but the Person of the God-man, his birth from a Virgin, his sacrificial death for the sins of mankind, his Resurrection from the dead.

It is a historical person, not a mythical one, and the historical events of his life can be fairly precisely dated from the reports of the officials of an obscure Roman province.

The situation is in fact the very opposite of what Goethe expressed: the teachings of Jesus are less fruitful than his birth, his death, and his Resurrection for mankind - and not merely for the "noble part" of mankind. Only in this context do the teachings of Jesus acquire their authoritative status; otherwise they would be insights of the most sublime wisdom, yet still open to debate.

At the center of Christianity, however, stands the miracle of the Incarnation. Only against the background of the Incarnation do all the words and deeds of Jesus exercise their binding claim upon us.

It is this physically embodied God-man who is at the heart of the Christian message. Through the eyes of the Evangelistsb - in spite of their classically laconic style - we see him not only teaching, but also eating and drinking, feeling hunger, shuddering at the bitter gall offered to him, enjoying the perfume of the jar of ointment, receptive to the beauty of flowers, showing terrible anger, and, most of all, saying nothing.

At key points in the Gospel the God-man is silent, or else he does other, strange things that continue to puzzle us: he spits into the dust and makes a dough with it; with his finger he writes words in the sand that no one can decipher; he roasts a fish for his disciples; he sheds tears on learning of the death of Lazarus. We have no idea of his stature and facial features, yet in the Evangelists' accounts we continually see the effect he made on people.

The great conversions in the Gospels never come as the result of intellectual battles or instruction, Socratic dialogues, refutation, or persuasion: they happen without a word. Jesus looks at someone eye to eye and binds him to himself forever. He walks down the street, past the beggars and the sick, who find healing through their confession: "I believe".

What did the blind and lame "believe" when they saw Jesus walking by? Not the Creed of Constantinople, by any means. Perhaps they could not even have expressed with any clarity what they meant when they said, "1 believe". After all, they did not know Jesus at all, nor could they have had any idea of his life story.

It was the bodily presence of the God-man, and the certainty that he was there precisely for them, that created in these sick people a union with Jesus. It was this union, far transcending anything they could have known about him, that made them whole.

The early Christians knew that the Christian message was Jesus himself. The essence of the Gospels' new, more profound, and more compelling picture of God was that God had become flesh, present among us, in the God-man.

The apostles were clearly aware that they could not hold on to their faith without the physical presence of Jesus, and so, as he left them, Jesus promised that they would never have to do without this presence. "I am with you to the end of days."

The promise of the Paraclete is the assurance that the soul's connection with its Creator will not be broken, that God's Spirit is present in his Church; but above all it shows the way in which the physical presence of the Son of God will be continued - in a changed mode - even after he disappears from the visible world; namely, through the action of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy.

=====================================================================

And here's Gerald's initial commentary:

Love among the ruins, Part I
By Gerald Augustinus
closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/


Reading Martin Mosebach's phenomenal book, Heresy of Formlessness, is no easy task. His language (I am reading the German original) is of the utmost quality, his imagery beautiful, his sentiment convincing. He makes the point I've been trying to make, only a thousand times more aptly.

His arguments for the classic Roman rite are inaccessible to the bureaucratic of spirit. Whoever approaches liturgy with the logic of a laundry detergent ad ("Now with 30% more Scripture!") or the mindset of a Club Med animateur will never be open to the beauty of the rite that was used before we all became Protestants, so to speak. (It is eerie to see how Protestant 'reform' demands were fulfilled one by one in the 20th century, from Hus to Luther.)

No true poet would ever choose Bugnini's product (the 1970 Mass), just as no true musician would choose Haugen over Palestrina. Martin Mosebach is a poet, a novelist of the highest rank, the winner of the Georg Buechner Prize, the most important one for a novelist. His style is viewed as the non plus ultra by all the grand newspapers in the German tongue, be it the NZZ or Die Zeit.

The book Heresy of Formlessness is an unusual book for a novelist, of course. But what better than beautiful language to defend a beautiful rite.

I've never read anything like it. The title may sound a bit stern, but it's actually a labor of love. Of love and sadness.

Together with Mosebach, one mourns what was lost when the Church decided to do what before only Protestants had done - storm and smash the altars, smash the icons. Death by committee. Liturgy by accountant. Like letting a USCCB sub-committee compose a love letter to one's wife.

Arrogance beyond imagination, to, like Mao, forsake what had been nurtured over the centuries and replace it with a potted plant. As Christopher Hitchens wrote, "the Roman Catholic Church has never recovered from abandoning the mystifying Latin Rite". Don't get me wrong, the 'ordinary' mass is valid, but it's like expressing one's love with a Hallmark card, rather than a Shakespeare sonnet.

Since this is a series, you'll have to be patient. Not the entire point will be made in one or two installments. In any case, do buy the book.

Here's a passage I've translated myself, on sacrifice. Here Mosebach quotes Fr. Pawel Florenski, whom Stalin had executed.

---

Our liturgy is older than us and our parents, older than even the world itself. The worship of God (Gottesdienst) is not invented but rather discovered and won, gained: what always has been, that is more or less the nature of prudential prayer. The orthodox faith has absorbed the inheritance of the world, and we have infront of us the pure grain, freed from all chaff, the very nature of humanity. Therefore it is beyond doubt that our liturgy comes not from man, but from angels.

---

Mosebach then writes:

---

Requirement to experience the Christian cultus in such a manner is submission under a form that erases every trace of subjectivity. In the earliest days of Christianity, the Church Father Basil taught that liturgy was revelation, like Scripture and was not to be touched. This was the custom until the pontificate of Paul VI.

Of course, this approach did not prevent the liturgy from modification, but these changes happened organically, not arbitrarly, unintended, not for an agenda, they grew from cultic practice, like a landscape changes over the millennia through the influence of wind and water.

In antiquity, the interruption of tradition was referred to as Tyrannis. In this sense, the modernizer and progress-believer Paul VI. was a tyrant of the Church...

I ignore this attack on the Divine liturgy. People of the stone age have an undeveloped relationship with time. They cannot relate to the concept of future, of the past they assume it was quite like the present.

---

(NB: Earlier, he'd referred to himself as belonging to the 'stone age'.)

What follows is one of the most important points I've come across and of which I'd been entirely unaware. I'm curious to see whether you think it's as important as I do.

---

Goethe (the grand German poet) encountered the young Empress Maria Ludovica in Karlsbad in the year 1812; when the Empress heard what deep impression she'd made on Goethe, she let him know the 'high and definitive opinion' that she did not want to be 'recognized or assumed, under no pretense' in any of his works because, quoth the Empress, 'women are like religion; the less one speaks about them, the more they gain.'

That is a beautiful maxim that we'd do well to observe, and I am not happy to go against it by speaking about religion in its practical aspects, namely liturgy.

Possibly the worst damage, the worst spiritual loss caused by the reform of the Mass of Pope Paul VI, and the developments started by it, is this: that we now have to talk about liturgy. The people who want to conserve it, who want to pray it true to its spirit, who have remained faithful to it under the greatest of sacrifices, have lost something inestimable: the innocence to accept it as something God-given, as something given to man from the Heavens.

As defenders of the great, the holy liturgy, the classical Roman liturgy, we all have become big and small liturgical scholars. The scientific, archeological and historical veneer of the reform has forced us to counter its argumentations, and led us to a treatment of rite and liturgy that has to deeply go against the grain of a religious person.

We have been seduced into a scholastic-lawyerly mindset when addressing liturgy: What is absolutely necessary in order for something to still be a liturgy ? What degree of arbitrariness is still tolerable, and what is not? We have gotten used to accepting minimum requirements as categories for judging liturgies, when only the maximum is of importance. And that we have begun to judge liturgy at all is an unthinkable process. We have been sitting in the pews, asking ourselves: Was this Holy Mass or was this not Holy Mass?

I enter church to encounter God, and I leave it a theater critic.

---

And one last quote - after all, I have to save something for future post, even though I could go on forever:

---

It has been said that monarchy is dead if it needs a capable monarch for survival, because a monarch in the original sense is not legitimized by his talent but rather by his birth.

This saying applies even better to the liturgy: It is dead when its execution needs a pious and good priest. It should never be possible for the faithful to view liturgy as the achievement of the priest. It is not the result of a fortunate coincidence, of personal charisma, nobody can claim credit for it.

In it, time is suspended - the time within liturgy is different from that elapsing outside the church walls. It is the time of Golgotha, the time of the one, the unique sacrifice - 'hapax' - and this time contains all times and none.

How can you make it comprehensible, visible to a person that he leaves the present, when the space he enters consists of nothing but highly individual present ? How wise was the old liturgy when it decided to withdraw from the congregation the face of the priest - his distraction, his coldness, and, more importantly, his piety and emotion?

---

Cardinal Pell speaks up
for the Pope and the Mass MP -
even if Australians don't seem
to show much interest in old Mass

SYDNEY, Australia, SEPT. 21, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's move to make the older form of the Mass more available "is not a step backward," according to Cardinal George Pell.

The archbishop of Sydney said this during a press conference earlier in the week on the preparations for World Youth Day 2008.

"I agree with Benedict XVI on this subject," he said. "The Holy Father insists on the continuity between the old Church and the Church of today: He often says that there was not a break with the past, present, future and the time of the council, and I fully agree with him."

The cardinal added, however, that there is not a lot of interest in Australia for the Mass said according to the 1962 missal: "It is not a highly important topic. Even in my meetings with priests in the last three to four days, I wasn't even asked one question on the importance of the Latin Mass."

Regarding World Youth Day in Sydney, July 15-20, Cardinal Pell said that at least some liturgical celebrations said according to the older form will be available: "At World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005 I myself celebrated Vespers according to the Latin rite. We will do something similar in Sydney."

My antennae always perk up when the Holy Father addresses his fellow priests and bishops, so I immediately translated the address he made today to his 'dearest brothers in the episcopate' - participants in this week's meeting of recently nominated bishops, whom he met at the Sala degli Svizzeri of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo.

I find the address particularly relevant, in view of the assault he has been taking from bishops who disagree with his Motu Proprio on the Mass, and in some cases, have openly disobeyed it.

I have posted the full translation in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES but I thought I would pick out certain passages that the dissident bishops should consider and listen to.

But if they have completely ignored the appeal for love, understanding, reconciliation and unity that the Pope so trustingly went out of his way to make to his brother bishops along with the Motu Proprio, what would it take to make them listen to this?

Ego has made the dissident bishops forget not only all thought of fraternity with, much less obedience to, the Pope, but worse, the very concept of love with which they should encompass their whole flock. Ultimately, it is really the absence of the Holy Spirit, and if the Spirit can be so absent, then one must suspect these bishops have forgotten how to pray as Jesus taught us to pray.



The Pope with the CDI politicians.

---

...On the day of episcopal ordination, before the imposition of hands, the Church asks the candidate to take on certain commitments, among which - besides announcing the Gospel faithfully and protecting the faith - is to "persevere in prayer to omnipotent God for the good of his holy people."

I would like to dwell, with you, on the apostolic and pastoral character of the bishop's prayer.

The evangelist Luke writes that Jesus Christ chose the twelve Apostles after spending the whole night on the mountain, praying (Lk 6,12); and the evangelist Mark specifies that the Twelve were chosen so that "they could stay with him and he could command them" (Mk 3,14).

Like the Apostles, we too, dearest brothers, as their successors, are called above all to be with Christ, to know him more profoundly, and to be participants in his mystery of love and his relationship of full confidence with the Father.

In the intimate personal prayer of the bishop, more than that of the faithful, he is called on to grow in filial spirit toward God, learning from Jesus himself the confidence, trust and loyalty which marked his relations with the Father.

The Apostles themselves understood well that listening in prayer and announcing the things they heard this way should have primacy over many other things to do, and so they decided: "We will dedicate ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word" (Acts 6,4). This apostolic program is even more relevant in our time.

Today, in a bishop's ministry, the organizational aspects are demanding, the commitments are multiple, the needs always so many, but the first place in the life of a successor to the Apostles should be reserved for God. We help our faithful best that way.

St. Gregory the Great in his "Pastoral rule" noted that the pastor "should, in a singular manner, be capable of raising himself above all others by prayer and by meditation (II,5). Tradition eventually formulated this in the well-known expression "Comtemplata aliis tradere" ['Hand down the fruits of contemplation'](cfr St. Thomas, Summa Theologiae, IIa-IIae, q. 188, art. 6).
....
Prayer educates us in love and opens the heart to pastoral charity, in order to welcome all those who seek the help of the bishop. He, formed interiorly by the Holy Spirit, comforts others with the balm of divine grace, enlightens with the light of the Word, reconciles and strengthens his flock in brotherly communion.
....
The munus santificandi (sanctifying function) that you have received commits you as well to inspire prayer in society. In the cities where you live and work, often feverish and noisy, where people are running around and losing their way, where they live as if God does not exist, you must learn how to create places and occasions for prayer, where - in silence, in listening to God through lectio divina, in personal and community prayer - man can encounter God and have a living experience of Jesus Christ who shows us the authentic face of God.

Never tire in working so that parishes and sanctuaries, places for education and for the care of the suffering, and even families, become places of communion with the Lord.

Most specially, I ask you to make of your Cathedral an exemplary house of prayer, especially liturgical prayer, where the diocesan community gathers together with its bishop to praise and thank God for the work of salvation and to intercede for all men.
....
In brief, dearest bishops, be men of prayer! "The spiritual fruitfulness of the bishop's ministry depends on the intensity of his union with the Lord. It is from prayer that the bishop draws light, strength and comfort in his pastoral activity," it is written in the Instructions for the pastoral ministry of bishops (Apostolorum successores, n. 36).

In turning to God for yourselves and your faithful, have the trustfulness of children, the audacity of a friend, and the perseverance of Abraham, who was tireless in his intercessions.

Like Moses, raise your hands to heaven, while your faithful soldier on for the faith. Like Mary, learn to praise God every day for the salvation which he brings to the Church and the world, with the conviction that nothing is impossible to God (Lk 1,37).

---

In one of the most absurd examples of anti-MP animus, Italy's leading propagandist for the progressivist 'Spirit of Vatican II', Alberto Melloni, wrote a brief article in Corriere della Sera today in which he claims that the non-publication so far of Summorum Pontificum in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis [Acts of the Apostolic See]means that the Vatican has taken "the wise decision to keep on hold [a bagnomaria- 'bagnomaria' means a doubleboiler, so he means 'simmering in a double boiler'] a text which is creating more problems than it resolves: even at the cost of putting into effect a document which only exists - how to say it? - only on the Web."

Melloni writes:

---

Beyond the objections which the Pope himself showed he was aware of in his letter to the bishops, there are the Latin errors pointed out by Carlo Ossola [I must admit this is the first time I read about this, and I have no idea who Ossola is].

Then Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini explained why he would never use the permission granted by the Motu Proprio.

Some liturgists have underlined that the conditions placed for the use of the Tridentine rite are rather severe [What severe conditions?], not corresponding to the traditionalist enthusiasm [for the rite].

A great scholar of Latin liturgical books, Manlio Sodi, has documented that if there is a Missal of tradition and Scriptures, it is that of Paul VI and not that born in the chaotic period that folloed the Council of Trent. [What an absurd argument! As if the 40 years following Vatican-II had not been equally chaotic, if not more! And as if the Tridentine Missal had remained completely petrified in its immediate post-Conciliar form ,and had never undergone all the changes worked by the various Popes, as Benedict XVI points out in Summorum Pontificum - and the reason why he starts out the Motu Proprio with those words! Even worse, Sodi's argumentation frames the issue in terms of a competition between two Missals, when the point is a legitimate coexistence.]

Finally, the distinction between an ordinary and extraordinary form of the Mass (which Cardinal Ratzinger first suggested in 1982-1983) requires arduous pastoral adjustment. [Pray tell what is arduous about having two valid forms in which nothing is imposed, but it is left to the Massgoer to decide which form he prefers to attend! The only thing arduous here is the pitifully specious argumentation that Melloni feels he is called on to make as a persistent rearguard action by a diehard against a fait accompli.]

---

And that is the kind of petty and pitiful reasoning that the opponents of the Mass MP have been reduced to bandying about.

A document that has been sent to every Catholic bishop in the world exists only on the Internet? And what about - as Lella has been good enough to share - the Vatican's publication of the Motu Proprio in book form?



I am almost sure if someone researched it that there is always a lag in the publication of Vatican documents in the AAS the same way there is generally a lag in the publication of government documents in analogous 'official records'.

As I understand it, the primary function of the AAS is to provide the authoritative Latin version of any Vatican document. The validity of a Vatican document does not depend on when it gets published in AAS, which would be absurd, if Melloni took off his ideological blinders long enough to use a little common sense.

And I do not know why Italy's leading newspaper would publish anything so polemical without even asking for an opposite view to run at the same time. Will they even run an opposite view later?


===================================================================

9/23/07
P.S. Rorate caeli gives us the right information about AAS, in a commentary about Melloni's 'articoletto' that was perhaps even more indignant than my reaction. Here is the part about AAS:

---

The fact that the official publication of Summorum Pontificum in the AAS has not appeared is absolutely irrelevant to its application, as Melloni knows well (then again, distortion is the favorite sport of the "Rupturists-discontinuists" of the school of Bologna, the heirs to what Pope Benedict calls "the hermeneutic of rupture and discontinuity" - now in definitive exile from the Vatican halls).

For the sake of our readers, the appropriate texts of the Code of Canon Law:

Can. 7 A law comes into being when it is promulgated.

Can. 8 §1 Universal ecclesiastical laws are promulgated by publication in the 'Acta Apostolicae Sedis', unless in particular cases another manner of promulgation has been prescribed. They come into force only on the expiry of three months from the date appearing on the particular issue of the 'Acta', unless because of the nature of the case they bind at once, or unless a shorter or a longer interval has been specifically and expressly prescribed in the law itself.
[Translation: Canon Law Society of America]

---

And that's the sort of thing you would have thought a scholar and decades-long Church historian like Melloni ought to know - but either he pretends he does not know it to make his point dishonestly, or worse, tells an outright lie, confident that - as has been the case with the progressivists' many false statements about Vatican-II - the ordinary reader is not likely to check out the facts!

PASTORAL VISIT TO VELLETRI, 9/23/07


Here is a translation of an item today in the Italian service of Vatican Radio:


Benedict XVI makes a brief pastoral visit tomorrow morning to the suburban diocese of Velletri-Segni.

At 9:30, the Pope will preside at a Eucharistic Celebration in Piazza San Clemente, in front of the diocesan cathedral of Velletri.

Afterwards, he will bless a commemorative column of his Pontificate which he has donated to the diocese, as well as a statue of John Paul II.

The Pope will then return to Castel Gandolfo in time to preside at the noonday Angelus prayer from the Apostolic Residence.

Vatican Radio's Giovanni Peduto spoke to Mons Vincenzo Apicella, Bishop of Velletri-Segni, about the Pope's visit.


Mons. Apicella with the Pope during
ad-limina visit in December 2006.

Mons. Apicella: This visit was a natural consequence of the fact that the Holy Father was titular bishop of Velletri-Segni when he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, starting in 1993. [Before that, his titular church as Cardinal, from 1977-1992, was Santa Maria Consolatrice in Rome.]


Right, commemorative column, with list of 100 Bavarian cities that contributed to it as an 80th birthday present;
left, Cardinal Ratzinger celebrates his 70th birthday in Velletri.

So, there is a link between Velletri and Papa Ratzinger, who has decided - as a sign of his paternity and extreme kindness towards out Church - that the commemorative column, given to him by Bavarian cities for his birthday, be erected permanently in the Piazza of the cathedral. It matches a bronze column erected in the square of Marktl am Inn, his birthplace. So it will remain as a visible sign of the link between Velletri and the Pope.


What are the main challenges for the Church in Velletri? What is the pastoral plan being followed?

From the internal viewpoint, Velletri is trying to recover and re-establish a series of fundamental realities that constitute the Church. Last yer, we started a diocesan project to examine our relationship to the Word of God, which is the founding reality of ecclesiastical life. This year, we are concentrating on reawakening lay participation in Church affairs and promoting a sense of co-responsibility for the Church.

In this, the Pope's visit is a moment of grace, which reminds us of the universal unity of the Church, of the real sense of the Church, which we wish to make alive in our parishes.


In a secularized society, how do you propose to announce the Gospel effectively?

In this respect, Benedict XVI has given many indications which are very precise, effective and appropriate, whether for the Church in Italy or elsewhere.

Above all, the way of caritas, love, is very important, and that is what his first encyclical reminds us. We should be the signs of God's love, because God is love, so if we want the faithful to see us as disciples of Christ, it can only be through the way that Christ himself taught: "By this you will be known as my disciples, that you love one another."

Then, even dialog arises, a dialog between cultures in all its forms, gradually emerging in today's society, with an attempt to construct something new out of all the changes and transformations in society that are taking place at a dizzying pace. The dialog must be about the sense of why we are in this world and what we wish to realize in our society.


Excellency, let us turn to the relations that the Popes have had with Velletri.

Velletri is a very old diocese which traces its origin back to Pope Clement III. According to tradition, Clement was the first who preached the Gospel here, the first pastor of the Church in Velletri before he became Bishop of Rome.

Thirteen bishops of Velletri eventually became Pope, and Benedict XVI is the fourteenth.

Beyond that, Velletri has always had close relations with the Church of Rome. There have been 22 Papal visits to our city. Perhaps the most significant was Velletri's relation with Pius IX, who came to Velletri 3 or 4 times.

It is significant that this year is the 150th anniversary of the second railway line in Italy. After Naples to Portici, came the line connecting Rome to Velletri, which Pius IX decided to lay down and which he inaugurated in 1857, completing the Rome-Naples rail connection. To make the Rome-Velletri line possible, he had ordered the construction of an enormous iron bridge. So, the Pope that many have called anti-modern was really one of the promoters of progress with that simple decision.

In 1980, John Paul II made a memorable visit here, when the bishop was Mons. Bernini, who pointed out that Velletri is a Marian city, dedicated to Mary, because the center of religious life was the Shrine of the Madonna delle Grazie which is attached to our Cathedral.


In August 1806, Velletri was struck by a violent earthquake.
The people, in fear, had called on the Most Blessed Virgin Mary
to spare them a major catastrophe. Having received the divine
intervention they asked for, they vowed to honor Mary as the
dispenser of celestial graces, Mother of Graces, as the city's
principal Patron and Protectress. At the same time, the citizens
vowed, in perpetuity, to observe fasting and abstinence on the
eve of her annual feast day, August 26. Velletri becomes the
third Marian shrine visited by Pope Benedict XVI in September 2007,
after Loreto and Mariazell.

---

Do not forget - EWTN is broadcasting the Velletri Mass live:

POPE BENEDICT XVI IN VELLETRI LIVE (90:00)
Pope Benedict celebrates Holy Mass on his Pastoral visit to Velletri. Live from the Cathedral Square.
Sept. 23 3:30 AM LIVE
Sept. 23 12:00 PM Encore

---

NB: In the thread PASTORAL VISITS IN ITALY, I have added a brief backgrounder about Velletri, with photos; and a translated article about Cardinal Ratzinger's association with Velletri, also with photos.

TIRANA, ALBANIA, Sept. 21, 2007 (BIRN) - Pope Benedict XVI has accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Sali Berisha to visit Albania in the near future, a press release from the Albanian Council of Ministers said on Friday.

Berisha extended the invitation when he had an audience with the pope, as part of a delegation of centre-right parties [IDC} at the Holy Father’s summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

The pontiff expressed the hope that his visit would take place in the near future.

Berisha is on a two-day visit to Rome where he is attending a conference of conservative and right-of-centre parties, as the head of the Albanian Democratic Party.

Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II, was the first pope to visit Albania in 1993, only two years after the collapse of half-a-century of communist rule, during which Albania became the world’s first self-proclaimed atheist state.

A symbol of the struggle against the Iron Curtain, the Polish pope was acclaimed by hundreds of thousands of Albanians during his visit, though the country has a Muslim majority.

Addressing a mass audience in Tirana’s central Scanderbeg square with Pope John Paul II at his side, Berisha – at the time Albania’s president - described the then pontiff as a major force in the collapse of communism.

According to estimates, around 10 per cent of Albanians are Catholics.

PASTORAL VISIT TO VELLETRI, 9/23/07












From the Vatican bulletin, translated:

At 8:45 this morning, the Holy Father Benedict XVI left the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo by car for his Pastoral Visit to Velletri.

Upon his arrival in Corso della Repubblica, at the entrance to the Cathedral complex of San Clemente, the Pope was welcomed by Cardinal Francis Arinze, titular bishop of Velletri-Segni and Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship; and Mons. Vincenzo Apicella, Bishop of Velletri-Segni.

In the cloister of the Cathedral, the Pope received the greetings of civilian authorities: Piero Maqrazzo, president of Lazio region; Carlo Mosca, Prefect of Rome; Stefano Trotta, prefectural commissar of the municipality of Velletri; Enrico Gasbarra, president of Rome province; the mayors of the municipalities of the diocese, and some members of Parliament who are natives of the diocese.

On entering the Cathedral, the Pope venerated the Crux Veliterna reliquary, and then proceeded to the Chapel of the Madonna delle Grazie for a brief Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and veneration of the icon.

After vesting up for the Mass, the Pope processed towards the Piazza outside the Cathedral for the 9:30 Mass.

Concelebrating with the Pope were Cardinal Arinze; Bishop Apicella; the emeritus bishop of Velletri-Segni, Mons. Andrea Maria Erba; Mons. Josef Clemens, honorary Canon of the Cathedral; Mons. Lorenzo Loppa, bishop of Anagni-Alatri; and 5o diocesan priests.

Mons. Apicella delivered a tribute to the Pope before the Holy Fahter's homily.

After the Mass, the Holy Father blessed the bronze commemorative column that was an 80th brithday present to him by 100 Bavarian municipalities. At the time, the Pope decided that he wanted the column to be erected outside the Cathedral of Velletri.

The column matches the commemorative column erected in the square fronting the house where the Pope was born in Marktl am Inn, and inaugurated by him during his visit to Bavaria last year.

Present for the ceremony were a delegation of mayors from Bavaria and the sculptor of the commemorative columns, Joseph Michael Neustifter.

The Pope also blessed a statue of John Paul II which will be erected in front of the railway station named in his honor.

The Holy Father left Velletri at 11:30 to be in Castel Gandolfo in time for the noonday Angelus.








The following is translated from Apcom:

'I feel truly at home
in Velletri'

VELLETRI, Sept. 21 (Apcom) - "I feel at home among you, and I thank you with all my heart for this warm welcome and for these beautiful gifts. It is truly a family atmosphere."

Returning to the city where he was titular cardinal until he was elected Pope, Benedict XVI responded to the greeting of Mons. Vincenzo Apicella, Bishop of Velletri-Segni, who presented him, in the name of the diocese, with a reproduction of the Cross of Velletri, a 13th century reliquary that is the local Church's most precious treasure.

The bishop said:

"I don't merely say welcome, but welcome back to 'your Velletri', which is truly yours for so many reasons from out shared past, from the present and the future of this city and this church. The people of Velletri have not forgotten the solicitude and paternal concern that you showed us thorugh 12 years as titular bishop of this diocese.

"The invaluable Magisterium you gave us which inspired pastoral activity, sharing so many moments of celebration and joy, your generous contributions to help restore our Cathedral, and your personal attention to so many realities affecting the citizens remain impressed in our minds and hearts."





From korazym. org, an account of the Holy Father's homily, translated here:

...

In his homily, the Pope first offered his reflections on the passage in the first Letter of John, "We have known and believed in the love that God has for us" , the motto for this visit.

"God's love is the essence of Christianity," explained Benedict XVI, "which makes the believer and the Christian community a ferment for hope and peace in every sphere, particularly attentive to the the poor and the needy. Love makes the Church live."

A statement that serves as a program for living, and which the Pope summarized in his comments on the day's liturgical readings. Taking off from the image of the dishonest steward in the Gospel, he said that "life is always a choice: between honesty and dishonesty, between fidelity and infidelity, between altruism and selfishness, between good and bad."

Likewise, he said, the statement, "You cannot serve both God and mammon," presupposes a choice "between the logic of profit as the ultimate criterion for our actions, and the logic of sharing and solidarity."

Moreover, the Pope pointed out, "if the logic of profit prevails, then the gap between rich and poor will simply widen," whereas with sharing and solidarity, "it is possible to correct our course and orient it towards equitable development, for the common good of all."

Further: "If to love Christ and our brothers is not to be considered simply accessory or superficial in nature, but rather the true and ultimate purpose of all our existence, we should know how to make these fundamental choices, to be willing to make radical renunciations, up to martyrdrom if need be. Today, as in the past, the life of a Christian demands the courage to go against the current, to love like Jesus who sacrificed himself on the Cross."

In short, he said, earthly riches should be an instrument to "obtain true and eternal riches". And if indeed "there are those who are ready to undertake any kind of dishonesty simply to assure themselves of material wellbeing, which is always uncertain," the Pope said, citing St. Augustine, "then we Christians should be all the more concerned to provide for our eternal happiness with the resources of the earth."

The only way to follow is sharing, he said, in a generosity that "expresses itself in sincere love for everyone and shows itself in prayer, to begin with," in the knowledge that "praying for others is a great gesture of love."

In this light, the Pope entrusted the diocese of Velletri to the protection of Our Lady: "May the Blessed Virgin watch over the sick, the aged, the children, whoever feels alone and abandoned, or is in particular need. May Mary liberate us from greed for material wealth and allow us instead to lift up our free and pure hands to heaven, in order to render glory to God with all our life."







Pope Benedict views his 80th birthday commemorative column,
a bronze relief work 4 meters high, a gift from 100 towns
and cities of Bavaria, which will now stand permanently
right outside the Church door of the Cathedral of Velletri.




Historical Note:

Benedict XVI is the 14th Bishop of Velletri to become Pope.
Two other Pope Benedicts were among those who preceded him!
From the diocesan magazine of Velletri-Segni,
here is the sequence and the year they became Pope:
St. Clement I (87)
Benedict X (1058)
Urban II (1088)
Honorius II (1124)
Lucius III (1181)
Gregory IX (1227)
Alexander IV (1254)
Innocent V (1276)
Benedict XI (1300)
Innocent VI (1352)
Julius II (1503)
Paul III (1534)
Paul IV (1555)
Benedict XVI (2005)

'Convert the logic of profit
to favor equitable distribution of wealth'


Castel Gandolfo, Sept. 23 (AsiaNews) – Benedict XVI, in his address prior to the Angelus today, warned against “the logic of profit” prevailing in a way that “increases the gap between rich and poor and causes a disastrous exploitation of the planet”.

Speaking from the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo, the pope highlighted current world emergencies of hunger and ecological crises, saying that only "a logic of sharing and solidarity could correct the course and orient it towards equitable and sustainable development”.

The pope’s reflections were inspired by Christ’s words in today's Gospel: "Make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings" (Luke 16, 9).

....

The full text of the Pope's Angelus messages has been posted in AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS TEXTS.



P.S. Very unusual that Yahoo has not posted any pictures of the Angelus (as of 13 hours since it took place).

Regensburg, one year later:
the positive effects are budding
By Patrice de Plunkett


This is a translation of De Plunkett's 9/19/07 blog
plunkett.hautetfort.com/



Benedict XVI's lecture at Regensburg University one year ago, having reopened the door to reflextion, Muslim-Christian relationships are starting to clarify.

1. A better mutual knowledge


From La Croix, 9/11/07: "The violence of the reactions in the Muslin countries, following the Regensburg lecture a year ago, have highlighted the need to help these peoples to better understand how the Catholic Church is run."

For example: Last May, a three-week seminar was held in Rome, under the auspices of the Gregorian Foundation, during which 20 diplomats from North Africa and the Middle East were able to have an overview of the cultural, religious, and isntitutional aspects of the Holy See's presence in the world.

The La Croix reporter has this account: A diplomat from one of the Gulf states found himself before a Crucifixion scene in the private gallery of Prince Colonna in Rome. He then tugged at the arm of Fr. Franco Imoda, a Jesuit who happened to be nearby, and asked him suddenly, "In fact, why was it that Jesus was crucified?"

A Turkish diplomat declared he was "very impressed with the high intellectual level of the Catholic clergy" [presumably those he met
at the seminar]. And one from the Maghreb said he was "struck by the degree of knowledge that the Holy See has about the diffrerent regions of the world."

This seminar will be held again next year.

For its part, the movement Comunione e Liberazione has undertaken to translate books by Catholic theologians and thinkers into Arabic and distribute these in the Muslim world.

2. ...without masking the fundamental problems


...especially on the theological plane (which is primordial for religions, whatever journalists think about it!)

- Cerf just published a remarkable work about which we will discuss this more in detail later: L'action psychologique dans le Coran, by two scholars from the Unviersity of Toulouse: Marie-Thérèse Urvoy (professor of Islamology, medieval Arab history, and classical Arabic) and Dominique Urvoy (professor of Arab thought and civilization).

This book radically renews the approach to Koranic text, seeking to bring to light the mental mechanisms that underlie the text, and through literary processes aimed at provoking in the believer - sometimes subliminally - a monolithic 'effect of certainty'.

In this light, the contrast between the texts of the Old and New Testaments leaps to the eye. And one can say this about the definitive text of the Koran, in which the political authority had a decisive role - a phenomenon absent during the establishment of the Christian scriptural canon (no matter what Dan Brown and Jacques Duquesne may think).

Likewise, politics dominates what the Muslim world does. This attitude has no Catholic equivalent except in the ultra-minoritarian fringes, on the left or on the right, who oppose Church teaching.

- Let us remember that in the book Pourquoi évangéliser? (Editions Emmanuel), the very interesting chapter, "Where does Islam come from?", by Fr. Edouard-Marie Gallez, which has been demolishing the commonplaces dear to French Catholic circles.

According to Fr. Gallez, certain structural features of Islam (including dividing the world in two - us, versus the rest of the world - and the promise of temporal power) arose from an early post-
Christian deviation.

"The dialog with the Muslims has something unique and fundamental: they are the heirs of a tradition that appeared after evangelization, and which is an integral but internal sham to this evangelization."

That does not change the duty of Christians today to be open and welcoming, but it should immunize them against naivete.

- The buzz in Paris anticipates at the start of 2008 a book by a leading Church figure in France on the subject of relations with Islam - on the basic problem that separates the Christian and Muslim faiths.

Here is a translation of a PETRUS item from yesterday:

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, after celebrating a Mass on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the consecration of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Kingdom in Ardara, Sardinia, said yesterday that he would not rule out a visit to Sardinia by Benedict XVI in the next few months.

Bertone was the first Vatican Secretary of State to come to Sardinia, although Paul VI and John Paul II both made apostolic visits to the island.

Sardinian bishops earlier extended a formal invitation to Benedict XVI to visit the island for the centenary anniversary of the Basilica of the Madonna of Bonaria, Patroness of Sardinia and Protectress of Sailors. The Basilica is in Cagliari, capital of Sardinia. The year-long anniversary celebration started on September 16.

"Let us nourish the hope," Bertone said when asked about a possible Papal visit, and pointed out that the Pope has actually been making pilgrimages to Marian sanctuaries In Italy and abroad. (Czestochowa in Poland, Altoetting in Bavaria, Ephesus in Turkey, Aparecida in Brazil, Mariazell in Austria, and lately, Loreto and Velletri in Italy)

Translated from an item in PETRUS today:




VATICAN CITY - The changing of the guard at L'Osservatore Romano is coming soon. Mario Agnes will leave after 23 years as editor of the Vatican's official newspaper to be replaced - as speculated several weeks ago - by scholar-commentator Giovanni Maria Gian, who will also have a new deputy editor in Carlo di Cicco, currently editor-in-chief of the Italian news agency ASCA and a veteran Vatican observer.

The formal announcements are expected by month's end, but the turnover reportedly will not take place until after the Pope's visit to Naples on Oct. 21.

The new appointments are intended to reanimate the newspaper which should play a key role in the Vatican's communications strategy, but which has 'stagnated' for years.

Founded in 1862, OR comes out daily except Sundays and religious holidays. The print version now comes out in the afternoon, dated for the following day. [But online, the front page and some pictures and stories on Page 1 are posted only by noontime of the issue date, with ooccasional exceptions, when they post the day before.]

It has weekly editions in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German and Portuguese, as well as a monthly edition in Polish.

Vian is 55, professor of Patristic philology at the Sapienza University of Rome, an editorial writer for Avvenire since 1976, and a scholar who knows mass media well.

De Cicco, 63, has always been considered one of the best-qualified media observers of Vatican affairs, and worte a book about the first year of Benedict XVI's Pontificate.

FACING THE CHALLENGES OF A GLOBALIZED WORLD

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 2007 (VIS) - Jose Cuadra Chamorro, the new ambassador of Nicaragua to the Holy See, today presented his Letters of Credence to the Holy Father who, in his address to the diplomat, expressed his best wishes to the nation "so sorely tried by the recent hurricane, Felix."

Benedict XVI renewed assurances of his prayers for the victims and reaffirmed his spiritual closeness to the all those affected, voicing the hope that, "apart from internal aid, they also receive generous contributions for the international community."

In order to resolve Nicaragua's various "economic, social and political problems" said the Holy Father, it is important for the country "to be able to rely, not only on the willingness and participation of citizens, but above all on that of the heads of various political and business groups. What is vital, then, is a union of effort and will to make it possible for political leaders to act decisively in the face of the challenges of a globalized world."

In order to achieve the goals the Nicarguan government has set - such as "the so-called 'Zero Hunger' campaign, combating the drugs problem, increasing literacy, eliminating poverty," and "thus reducing the inequality between people who have a superabundance of wealth and those who lack the basic necessities" - what is vital "is transparency and honesty in public affairs which, in the face of any form of corruption, favor the authorities' credibility in the eyes of citizens."

In trying to reach these objectives, said the Pope, "the heads of civil institutions will find in the Church of Nicaragua - notwithstanding her lack of resources and with a firmness in principles inspired by the Gospel - a sincere collaborator in seeking just solutions. They should also recognize the Church's efforts to increase the awareness and responsibility of citizens, encouraging their participation and commitment in serving the needs of people who are often immersed in poverty."

"The bishops of your country," the Pope told the newly-accredited diplomat, "faithful to their strictly pastoral mission, are ready to maintain a dialogue - a constant and sincere communication - with the government, contributing to the creation of the essential conditions that favor true reconciliation, establishing a climate of peace and authentic social justice. Nonetheless 'the direct duty to work for a just ordering of society ... is proper to the lay faithful' who must undertake their political activity as 'social charity'."

The Holy Father then expressed the Holy See's appreciation of Nicaragua "for the position she takes on social questions in the international arena, especially as regards the theme of life, and in the face of no small amount of internal and international pressure." He also considered "it very positive that last year the national assembly approved the revocation of therapeutic abortion," and affirmed the "need to increase the aid that Sate and society provide to women who have serious problems during pregnancy."

Finally Benedict XVI dwelt on "the urgent necessity to retrieve and promote human and moral values in the face of so many forms of violence, even in the home and often as a result of the disintegration of families. ... The Church in Nicaragua is well aware of this sad state of affairs and seeks to face it with her teaching and her pastoral programs. However the intervention of public institutions is also necessary, with appropriate educational programs on matters concerning the organization of social life."




UKRAINE: INTENSIFY COOPERATION AMONG ALL BISHOPS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 2007 (VIS) - Late this morning, the Holy Father met with prelates of the Ukrainian Episcopal Conference who have just completed their "ad limina" visit. Apart from the bishops of Latin rite, also present at the audience were the bishops of Greek-Catholic rite.

In his talk to them, the Pope highlighted the prelates' efforts "to proclaim and bear witness to the Gospel in the dear land of Ukraine, sometimes encountering no small number of difficulties but always supported by the awareness that Christ guides His flock with a sure hand, the flock that He Himself entrusted to your hands as His ministers."

"In the variety of her rites and her historical traditions, the One Catholic Church in every corner of the earth announces and bears witness to the One Jesus Christ, the Word of salvation for all men and for all of man. It is for this reason that the effectiveness of all our pastoral and apostolic projects depends, above all, on faithfulness to Christ.

"We pastors," the Pope added, "just like all the faithful, are called to experience an intimate and constant familiarity with Him in prayer and in meekly listening to His Word. This is the only road to follow in order to become signs of His love and instruments of His peace and harmony, in all fields of life."

"Animated by this spirit," the Holy Father told the prelates, "it is not difficult for you ... to intensify cordial cooperation between Latin bishops and Greek-Catholic bishops, for the good of the entire Christian people. Thus you have the opportunity to coordinate your pastoral plans and your apostolic activities, always offering testimony of that ecclesial communion which is also an indispensable condition for ecumenical dialogue with our brethren in the Orthodox and other Churches."

The Holy Father suggested to the Latin and Greek-Catholic bishops that they meet at least once a year, reaching "agreement between yourselves in order to make pastoral activity ever more harmonious and effective. I am convinced that fraternal cooperation between pastors will be an encouragement and a stimulus for all the faithful to grow in unity and apostolic enthusiasm, and that it will also favor fruitful ecumenical dialogue."

Supposedly, Papa also just accepted an invitation to visit Albania. Either he has suddenly been overcome by a desire to travel or a lot of people are being overly optimistic.


Sanader invites pope to Croatia

24 September 2007 | 10:40 | Source: Tanjug
ZAGREB -- Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has invited Pope Benedict XVI to visit Croatia.

According to Zagreb-based Večernji List newspaper, Sanader, who is also the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), attended the Demo-Christian International Assembly in Rome where he was elected the organization’s vice-president.

The pope received the Demo-Christian International delegation in his villa near Rome, where Sanader extended his invitation on behalf of Cardinal Josip Bozanić, president of the Croatian Bishops Conference.

According to Sanader, Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Croatia is highly likely to coincide with the canonization ceremony of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac.

The pope accepted the invitation, but a date has yet to be set, the newspaper reported on Monday.

I wish to thank the Pope,
says new Beijing bishop


Mgr Li Shan meets Beijing faithful in his first public mass.
All doubts about his legitimacy are cleared.
Diocese faces problems left over from the previous administration
of 'patriotic' Bishop Fu Tieshan.


Bishop Li at the Sunday Mass (AsiaNews photo)


Beijing, Sept. 24 (AsiaNews) – “I wish to thank the Pope,” Mons. Joseph Li Shan said in his first public statement after his ordination as the new archbishop of Beijing in the ancient Holy Saviour (Bei Tang) Church.

Monsignor Li began this way his ministry, promising to visit each and every parish, to meet the faithful in the diocese of 50,000.

The bishop, who was ordained last Friday in a ceremony attended by government and Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCAP) officials, received Vatican approval ahead of time. Another confirmation was published in an article in the Osservatore Romano a few hours after the function.

The prelate’s few words of thanks to the Pontiff cleared the air of any doubts that might have lingered about the ordination’s legitimacy.

The Vatican had kept silence until the end, while CCPA Deputy Chairman Liu Bainian claimed the appointment for his organisation and the Chinese Bishops’ Council.

Many members of the official and underground Church were disappointed by the Vatican’s public silence till after the ordination, and its decision to publish an article instead of an official statement.

Unlike the letter the Pope wrote to Chinese Catholics in late June, many believe that this attitude runs the risk of creating confusion among the faithful.

In his letter Benedict XVI had called upon bishops recognised by the Holy See to bring their recognition “into the public domain” and had urged “legitimized Bishops [to] provide unequivocal and increasing signs of full communion with the Successor of Peter.”

For some of the faithful who took part in yesterday’s celebration in Bei Tang, the atmosphere was without a doubt much better, “more religious” compared to that of the ordination, which some said was more like a “party celebration” with tight security details, ban on photos and on getting too close to the newly-ordained bishop.

In his homily Mons. Li commented the Gospel, stressing the fact that one “cannot serve God and Mammon, God and money, the life of faith and that of society.”

He also called attention to the urgency for all Beijing Catholics to carry out the Christian mission within Chinese society, which is seeking spiritual values. The bishop called on everyone, priest and laity, to join together in this task.

After 30 years under CCPA bishop Fu Tieshan, the faithful and clergy are still divided in the diocese since many priests are too closely associated with the CCPA.

At the same time the CCPA has left the diocese in dire straights, seizing its buildings and land to sell for its own profit.