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NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

Ultimo Aggiornamento: 05/01/2014 14:16
28/07/2009 07:08
 
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BARACK AND BENEDICT XVI

The Vatican's Approach to a Problem Like Obama


By Robert Moynihan

ROME, JULY 27, 2009 (Zenit.org).- I first walked through Bernini's colonnade in May 1984. I was going to the Vatican Library to do research for a dissertation in medieval history.

By chance, my topic was very similar to the topic Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, chose for his post-doctoral dissertation, "The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure," and this gave me material for conversation when I met with Ratzinger on several occasions in the 1980s and 1990s.

On my very first visit to the Vatican library, I met a young scholar named Paolo Vian, son of the renowned Italian Catholic scholar, Nello Vian. Paolo graciously "showed me the ropes" during that summer at the library, helping me enormously.

I soon met Paolo's older brother, Gian Maria Vian, then a young professor of patristics at the University of Rome, and also a "Vaticanista," reporting for the daily paper of the Italian bishops' conference, Avvenire -- the same Gian Maria Vian who today is the controversial editor of L'Osservatore Romano, known as the "Pope's newspaper."

In the years that followed, I had many occasions to talk with Gian Maria, a man of wide culture and ready wit, and I occasionally dined at his home with him and his wife (she suffered a long, debilitating disease, and sadly passed away several years ago).

So I have known Gian Maria Vian for 25 years, and can call him my friend. Indeed, I saw him several times during July in Rome, and we were able to speak at length.

Controversy

The editor's recent positive attitude toward Obama has put Vian at the center of several critical debates in Catholicism today, and has led many to question even the "Catholicity" of L'Osservatore Romano.

In a series of articles this year, Vian and writers he chose have argued that Obama does not seem as much of a pro-abortion president as had been feared.

This has raised eyebrows among those active in the pro-life cause -- and sparked anger.

At the time of the emotionally charged debate over Obama's commencement address May 17 at Notre Dame, which was protested by over 80 U.S. bishops and boycotted by former U.S. Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon because of Obama's extreme pro-abortion record, Vian justified his more lenient position on the president: "We have noticed that his (Obama's) entire program prior to his election was more radical than it is revealing itself to be now that he is president. So this is what I meant when I said he didn't sound like a pro-abortion president."

U.S. Catholic theologian Michael Novak described Vian's pro-Obama position as "star struck" and "teenage," and said that Vian's political perspective seems "like a blind observer of faraway events -- completely ignorant."

Vian defends himself by saying that the paper is adopting a "waiting and seeing" policy. He said, "We hope that Obama does not follow pro-choice politics; not because we want him to follow Catholic politics, but because we hope and want Obama to guide politics at the service of the weakest, and the weakest are the unborn, the embryos."

Have Vian, and the Vatican, been downplaying Obama's vehemently pro-abortion voting record and the pro-abortion record of his administration for "tactical" reasons? And, is such a position morally defensible?

More color!

Benedict XVI chose Vian to take over the editorship of L'Osservatore Romano in 2007.

Until two years ago, the paper's relationship to the Vatican was like that of Pravda to the Kremlin in the old U.S.S.R.

I remember how I and the other Vatican journalists would always look eagerly for articles signed only by three asterisks -- that was the not-so-secret "code" that those articles were "authoritative," approved at the very highest level of the Vatican.

But the rest of the paper was -- sorry to say -- boring.

"When I took over the paper," Vian says, "the Pope wrote me a letter in which he said that L'Osservatore had to be present in the cultural debate. The Pope asked me for more international coverage, more attention to the Christian East, and more space for women."

So, Vian hired L'Osservatore's first-ever female staffer.

And he adds: "When the deputy editor and I were invited to see the Pope to talk a bit about the paper three weeks after we were appointed, he gave us to understand that he'd like to see a few more pictures in it."

Vian decided to use color photographs every day on the front and back. But the new editor's impact has been most significant in the paper's content.

The big picture

A month before President Obama's scheduled visit to see the Pope on July 10, Vian published an editorial that took a positive view of Obama's first 100 days.

Conservative Catholics in the United States and elsewhere were appalled that, despite Obama's moves to provide greater access to abortion and stem-cell research, the paper was not denouncing Obama. There were calls for Vian to resign.

When I spoke with Vian a few days ago, I asked him about this controversy. He told me that he still has the "full support" of the Vatican's Secretariat of State. (In fact, Vian is a personal friend of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's secretary of state.)

What can explain Vian's position -- and, by implication, the position of the Secretariat of State, and, perhaps, of the Pope himself?

Vian told me that the "big picture" needs to be kept in mind, that the Holy See's agenda, while always and unswervingly pro-life, nevertheless includes many other issues, such as social justice, disarmament, the Middle East and Cuba.

Vian's position illustrates the considerable differences between the European and American viewpoints on many critical issues of our time. The Europeans (like Vian) focus on points of agreement, and the Americans (like Vian's critics) focus on points of disagreement.

I do think Vian -- and even the Secretariat of State -- may be "naïve" about Obama and his intentions.

But I also believe that Americans can become so intent on one grave moral injustice (abortion and the manipulation of human embryos, both of which are always profoundly wrong) that they can ignore other areas of possible agreement.

Is it possible to find a balanced solution, giving proper weight to both points of agreement and disagreement?

The Papal way

The best approach may be the one chosen by Benedict XVI himself in his meeting with Obama on July 10.

I was in the Vatican on that occasion. I saw Obama as he stepped out of his car, and I attended the press conference after the meeting was over.

And two points were clear: the Pope was receiving Obama with warm friendship, and yet, he was not compromising the truth of the Church's teaching about life. In fact, he made it a special point to hand the president a Vatican document which explains in detail the reasoning behind the Church's teaching that abortion is always wrong, and experimentation on human embryos is always a violation of the dignity of human life.

The booklet, "Dignitas Personae" (dignity of a person), condemns artificial fertilization and other techniques used by many couples, and also says human cloning, "designer babies" and embryonic stem-cell research are immoral.

The document defends life from conception to natural death, and a Vatican statement issued after the meeting said the topics discussed included "the defense and promotion of life and the right to abide by one's conscience."

The Pope's private secretary told reporters after the meeting: "This reading can help the president better understand the Church's position on these issues."

We do not know if Obama has read that booklet. (That is something I would like to know, because the arguments in that booklet are compelling.)

The point is, the possibility of reaching Obama with a reasoned argument in defense of life was increased by the way Vian presented Obama's position during the spring. Obama was entering the Vatican on July 10, not as an enemy, but as a human being, to whom the Pope could appeal as one man to another.

Naïve? Perhaps. Time will tell. And the Church will be ready to defend her beliefs if Obama makes clear that he will persist on a course that is directly opposed to those teachings.

Interestingly, on July 23, it was reported that Obama's health care legislation may be held up due to the opposition of a group of conservative Democrats in the U.S. House who have vowed not to vote for any bill that doesn't include explicit language banning the use of federal funds for abortion.

They, as well as most Republicans, charge that abortions will otherwise increase if more women have insurance coverage that pays for the procedure.

Obama, when asked if he would favor federally subsidized insurance plans that covered abortion, said, "As you know, I'm pro-choice. But I think we also have the tradition of, in this town, historically, of not financing abortions as part of government-funded health care."

Hearing this, pro-choice activists are concerned. "We're certainly worried," says Marilyn Keefe, director of reproductive health programs at the National Partnership for Women and Families. "Abortion is basic healthcare for women. We're worried about the possibility that existing coverage will be rolled back."

Perhaps the Pope's meeting with Obama had some good effect.

* * *

Robert Moynihan is founder and editor of the monthly magazine Inside the Vatican. He is the author of the book "Let God's Light Shine Forth: the Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI" (2005, Doubleday). Moynihan's blog can be found at insidethevatican.com.

[Modificato da benefan 28/07/2009 07:09]
29/07/2009 00:15
 
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POPE TO END VACATION, BID FAREWELL TO YOUTH

Benedict XVI to Become Honorary Citizen of Introd

INTROD, Italy, JULY 28, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will bid farewell to the Italian Alps on Wednesday, ending his annual vacation with a meeting with Salesian youth.

The Pope will receive these young people as a sign of his appreciation for the welcome offered him in the Salesian residence of Les Combes of Introd. He has been staying there since arriving July 13 to northern Italy.

According to Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, the Holy Father will also express his gratitude to the authorities of the region and the people of Introd, the police force, military personnel, civil security, firefighters and all those who collaborated in ensuring a restful stay.

He will also "bid farewell to the children and residents of Les Combes," Father Lombardi added in declarations today.

In addition, the spokesman reported that Introd's city council has "decided to offer the Holy Father honorary citizenship." This is to be followed by an official response detailing the Holy Father's acceptance of the honor. And in upcoming months, a "delegation will go to Rome for the official conveying."


*********************

Today's video from TG24:

tg24.sky.it/tg24/cronaca/2009/07/28/ultime_ore_di_vacanza_per_papa_ratzin...


*********************


Pope’s piano tuned, even if he can’t play for now


by Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
Posted on July 28, 2009

VATICAN CITY — The director of the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo told the Vatican newspaper that preparations are almost complete for the pope’s expected arrival tomorrow evening: bushes have been re-potted, trees have been trimmed, flowers have been planted, walls have been painted and — he said — a piano tuner has come and gone.

Severio Petrillo, director of the villa — which includes the papal residence as well as gardens and a working farm — said he knows the pope has to wear a cast for another 20 days or so. But the pope’s brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, is arriving, too, and he’s a musician. For years, he was the director of the famous Regensburg Boys’ Choir. And, besides, Petrillo said, piano playing could be part of the physical therapy the pope will do once the cast is off.

Petrillo also said that at Castel Gandolfo Saturday the pope would meet swimmers, divers, water polo players and other athletes participating in the July 17-Aug. 2 FINA World Championship in Rome. The pope’s weekly general audience Aug. 5 also will be held at the papal villa, rather than at the Vatican, he said.


[Modificato da benefan 29/07/2009 00:23]
29/07/2009 15:24
 
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Early reports on the pope's last day at Les Combes...


POPE, GUARDIAN ANGEL 'LET HIM FALL'

God wanted to make him humbler, pontiff says

(ANSA) - Les Combes, July 29 - Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday his guardian angel failed to stop him falling and breaking his wrist recently because God wanted to make him humbler.

Taking his leave of this northern Italian mountain village where he has spent a summer break, the pope quipped to well-wishers: ''My guardian angel didn't prevent my mishap, certainly on orders from on high''.

''Perhaps the Lord wanted to teach me more patience and humility to give me more time for prayer and meditation,'' said the 82-year-old pope, who is expected to make a full recovery from his injury.

The pope posed with local authorities and police and thanked them for acting as ''guardian angels'' during his two-week stay.

Benedict leaves Les Combes Wednesday afternoon for his summer residence at Castelgandolfo south of Rome where he'll spend the rest of his holidays.


******************


Pope lightheartedly wonders what his guardian angel was doing

By Catholic News Service
July 29, 2009

LES COMBES, Italy (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI said the Vatican and Italian police who watched over him while he was on vacation in the Italian Alps were like "guardian angels, discreet and efficient."

But he was not quite so sure what his own guardian angel was up to.

"Unfortunately, my guardian angel -- certainly following orders from above -- did not prevent my accident," he said, referring to the fact that he tripped in the dark July 17 and broke his wrist.

Before leaving Les Combes to fly to the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo south of Rome July 29, the pope met with the police, firefighters and other officials who were involved in maintaining public order and security while he vacationed in northern Italy.

Still referring to his broken right wrist, the right-handed pope told them, "Perhaps the Lord wanted to teach me greater patience and humility, and give me more time for prayer and meditation."

The pope said he had spent the past 16 days immersed in a "heavenly peace," with the silence interrupted only by the songs of birds, rain falling on the grass and the wind blowing through the trees.

He told the dozens of security officers, "Angels are invisible, but efficient at the same time. And you were the same -- invisible, but efficient."

"I enjoyed a heavenly peace here. No disturbance could enter. But many good things -- both material and immaterial -- got in. Many cakes, cheeses, wines," he said.

Pope Benedict posed for a separate group photograph with each of the public security agencies responsible for patrolling the Salesian-owned chalet where he was staying and with the journalists who followed him to the Alps.


[Modificato da benefan 29/07/2009 19:44]
29/07/2009 23:29
 
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Departure from Les Combes

Here is a video wrap-up of Papa's last day in Les Combes, thanking the security personnel who watched over him, the newsmen, the local politicians, the bishops, and various kids and townspeople. Finally, Papa took off by helicopter to a larger town nearby to catch a plane back to Castel Gondolfo.

Benevolens was going to try to get a handshake (or more) at Papa's departure. I wonder if she was in the crowd at the chalet or if she went to the airport. I didn't see her in the video.


tg24.sky.it/tg24/cronaca/2009/07/29/les_combes_il_papa_saluta_e_ringrazia_lo_st...


*****************


And safe at Castel Gondolfo


Papa at the window waving to the crowds in Castel Gondolfo.







[Modificato da benefan 29/07/2009 23:46]
30/07/2009 05:39
 
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SWIMMING CHAMPIONS AND PEACHES ON PAPAL AGENDA


Benedict XVI Heads to Summer Residence Today

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, JULY 29, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI arrives to Castel Gandolfo this afternoon, where he will spend the rest of his summer, with activities including a visit from swimmers competing in a world championship, afternoons with his brother, and being honored by a local peach festival.

The Pope left the northern Italian Alps this morning for the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, some 18 miles (30 kilometers) south of Rome. He will work from Castel Gandolfo until the beginning of October, resuming his traditional Wednesday audiences a week from today.

L'Osservatore Romano reported on some of the events on his schedule: On Saturday, he will be visited by athletes who are participating during these days in Rome in the FINA world championship of swimming. Sunday, he will attend a concert traditionally held in the patio of the residence.

He has only two trips so-far planned for these weeks: one to the Italian city of Viterbo and another to the Czech Republic.

According to the director of the pontifical residence, Saverio Petrillo, the rest of the Holy Father's summer will be divided into two phases: first a time focused on rest, punctuated by prayer and walks; and then a time to take up again his customary working schedule, with official visits and audiences.

"Actually," Petrillo said, "the Pope never spends long periods resting; we have seen this again during these days in the Aosta Valley and we know it from personal experience."

Monsignor Georg Ratzinger will accompany his brother again this year at the summer residence.

"[Monsignor Ratzinger] is an exquisite personality, attentive to detail and always with special kindness for everyone," Petrillo said. "It is not for nothing that last year he was given the honorary citizenship of Castel Gandolfo."

The brothers will spend large portions of the days together, the director added, undoubtedly remembering childhood experiences.

Getting ready

The papal residence has been prepared to welcome Benedict XVI and his guests: The trees and bushes are recently trimmed, and the paths adorned with fresh flowers.

"Everything has been done with great joy and readiness because the workers are aware that they are called to carry out a direct service for the Pontiff," Petrillo said.

The piano has also been tuned, though "for a time, the Pope should not play because of his little misfortune," the director affirmed.

The Holy Father fell while in Les Combes, breaking his right wrist. In about 20 days, the residence director noted, the cast will be taken off and after some physical therapy, he will be able to return to his habitual activities, especially writing.

"The municipality of Castel Gandolfo enthusiastically joins our work and the arrival of the Pope also becomes, for the whole municipality, an opportunity for whatever maintenance task, ordinary or extraordinary," he said.

And this enthusiasm extends to the Catholic community of Lacio: "There is no doubt that everything of significance done in this period has the Pope as a reference point," Petrillo said. He offered the example of the local peach festival, well known in the region and very popular in Castel Gandolfo. The farmers try to prepare the most beautiful basket of peaches for the Holy Father.

The Catholic community will also celebrate the feast of the Assumption with the Pope this Aug. 15, in the parish church of St. Thomas of Villanueva.

30/07/2009 17:27
 
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Pope's home in Bavaria becomes a solar-power generator

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
July 30, 2009

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's home in Bavaria near Regensburg, Germany, will become a solar-power generator.

Workmen from the area donated some 580 square feet of photovoltaic solar panels to install on the house's rooftop, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, reported July 30.

The panels should generate about 5,800 kilowatt hours of energy a year, which corresponds to saving 11 barrels of petroleum.

The project will produce income, which may amount to $3,500 a year, by providing the German electricity grid with energy. The money will go to an association that offers skills and job training to disadvantaged youths, the newspaper said, citing the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

According to the German news agency, the pope approved the project as long as no church funds were used. Local workers donated the panels and students at the trade school were to install the panels the week of July 27-31, the agency said.

The pope had the house built in 1970 in the Regensburg suburb of Pentling. He registered as a resident of the town in 1969 when he moved there to teach at the University of Regensburg.

The Vatican newspaper also announced the pope was expected to meet with race-car drivers participating in an "eco-rally" in mid-September.

The 248-mile race will begin Sept. 19 and end Sept. 20 in two of the world's smallest states; the route is from the independent Republic of Marino to the Vatican, it said.

The drivers will be racing 20 cars that run on so-called clean energy, such as methane or liquefied petroleum gas. Some of the cars will be flexible-fuel vehicles in which engines can run on a number of alternative fuels and some will be electric-powered vehicles. Cars utilizing only electricity will race over a shorter distance, the Vatican paper said.

The drivers were expected to finish outside the Vatican property of the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, and then meet the pope as well as participate in the noontime Sunday Angelus prayer in the courtyard of the papal residence.

30/07/2009 17:34
 
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Pope will visit Viterbo, where papal conclaves were born

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
July 30, 2009

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI will interrupt his stay at the papal summer villa to make a one-day trip to the Italian city where the papal conclave was born.

In fact, he will visit the conclave room in the Palace of the Popes in Viterbo Sept. 6 before celebrating an outdoor Mass. The town is about 65 miles north of Rome.

Between 1261 and 1281, five of the eight popes who reigned were elected in Viterbo: Pope Urban IV, elected in 1261; Pope Gregory X in 1271; Pope John XXI in 1276; Pope Nicolas III in 1277; and Pope Martin IV in 1281.

Until 1271, the gathering of cardinals for the election was not called a conclave -- the word means under lock and key.

After Pope Clement IV died in 1268, the cardinals meeting in Viterbo could not elect his successor. The election dragged on, ultimately lasting 33 months. It was not until city officials locked all of the cardinals in the meeting room, reduced their diet to bread and water and took the roof off the meeting hall that the cardinals elected Pope Gregory.

It was Pope Gregory who made it church law that papal elections would take place in a conclave.

Pope Benedict will travel to Viterbo by helicopter from the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

Before returning to Castel Gandolfo, the pope will transfer by helicopter from Viterbo to Bagnoregio, where St. Bonaventure was born in 1217.

Pope Benedict wrote his postdoctoral thesis on the doctrine of revelation in the works of St. Bonaventure, a doctor of the church. The pope is scheduled to venerate the "holy arm" of the saint, which is kept in Bagnoregio's cathedral. The rest of the saint's body is buried in France.


31/07/2009 04:19
 
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POPE CALLING WORLD'S PRIESTS TO ROME

VATICAN CITY, JULY 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is inviting priests from around the world to Rome next June to close the Year for Priests.

The International Conference for Priests will be held June 9-11, 2010, culminating with a Mass presided over by the Pope.

The theme for the conference, like that of the priestly year, is "Faithfulness of Christ, Faithfulness of Priests." The program includes moments of prayer, reflection, the chance to go to confession, and the papal Mass.

The organization of the event has been entrusted to Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, the Vatican institution whose mission is to evangelize through pastoral tourism and the ministry of pilgrimage.

More information on the program and registration (for now, only in Italian) can be found at their Web site.

--- --- ---

On the Net:

Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi: www.orpnet.org
31/07/2009 18:11
 
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My theory is that Phelps will be out partying during his so-called rest. If there is anybody who needs to meet the pope and see a real example of true humility, it is Phelps. I think the main reason he swims so fast is that his head is so big that it keeps him afloat and makes swimming easier. Sorry, but his attitude annoys me. [SM=g27812]


Phelps Passes on Pope

POSTED BY TIM DRAKE
Friday, July 31, 2009 9:00 AM

Earlier reports that Olympic medalist Michael Phelps would be meeting with Pope Benedict XVI were premature.

According to The Associated Press, Phelps is skipping the meeting in order to rest before his final individual race of the world championships.

Pope Benedict is scheduled to host about 100 swimmers Saturday at Castel Gandolfo. Phelps was among those invited, but his coach, Bob Bowman, said he’ll be resting after three races Friday and the final of the 100-meter butterfly on Saturday night.

31/07/2009 23:58
 
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Agree wholeheartedly!
I agree with you, benefan! Who is this Phelps bloke? Is he English or American. He's probably English, because as soon as someone from here does well at sport it goes to their head. I'd never heard of him and wouldn't know a swimmer from a Formula One driver, to be honest. I find the whole subject boring. Hush, never let it be whispered, I'm sure our Holy Father is no better versed in names of sports people than I am, yet he still gives up his holiday time to meet them.

Oh, I have one exception. I'm trying to get interested in football, because I know Cardinal Bertone is a fan and I do like our smiling Bertone! Oh and, nearly forgot, of course I love TENNIS...Wimbledon is a must and I certainly know the name Roger Federer [don't I, benevolens!]

Can't wait for benevolens to get home and give us her report on Les Combes! [SM=g27816] [SM=g27816]

01/08/2009 01:48
 
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Who is this Phelps bloke?
Unfortunately Mary, he is American. Last summer in the Beijing Olympics he won 9 (was it 9... or 8??? [SM=g27825] )... anyway he won a lot of gold medals in swimming. Since then he has been in the news for... let's just say some rather bad behavior. So he was invited to see Papa and declined the invitation??? Ok... it needs to be said... if he's not using the invitation can someone else go in his place??? If so, does it have to be an athlete??? If not, I volunteer!!!
[Modificato da NanMN 01/08/2009 01:50]

01/08/2009 12:54
 
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Me too, Nan!
Exactly! It frees his place for someone who WOULD appreciate the chance to meet the Holy Father, even if only for a few moments. I really thought this bloke Phelps must be English, because today's Englishmen are not always the gentlemen they used to be, especially the sports personalities.

When I was at the General Audience last month I did get a ticket for the sagrato, because Archbishop Harvey knows about my arthritis and I also wrote to him about Valerie's poor eyesight. Lo and behold, there were two tickets for the " Reparto Speciale". But as for the "Prima Fila" - I have yet to crack that one!

Oh dear, I'm itching with anticipation regarding benevolens. She's probably still holidaying somewhere in the Alps, which of course must be lovely. Looking forward to her report on Les Combes!

Nan, good to have a post from you! I think we should all come back and support benefan. We can still read Teresa's posts on Gloria's forum as well. We are well blessed!
[Modificato da maryjos 01/08/2009 14:17]

01/08/2009 23:53
 
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Hi everybody, we're back!
Only physically though, heart and soul still in Les Combes! I'm hoping to get my photos sorted till tomorrow...

It's really beyond me how anyone can skip an audience with the Pope. So ok Phelps won another gold tonight, but surely he'd have done so too if he'd taken part in the special audience. I'd gladly 'sacrifice' all gold medals and world records for an audience with our Papa for sure!
Oh yes and speaking of Roger Federer (you brought him up Mary!): Him and his wife were blessed with twin girls a few days ago!

(I know all this belongs in the chatter thread - sorry)



02/08/2009 17:05
 
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Hey, benevolens. Welcome back.

We've all been waiting eagerly for your return so we could see your photos of Papa's vacation. Did you notice that Simone caught you in a screen cap of Papa's angelus? Mary saw you there too. Can't escape the sharp-eyed girls of the forum. [SM=g27811]





02/08/2009 18:17
 
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Hey hey hey, benevolens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First of all, I didn't know that Roger and Mirka had had twins!!!! They kept that quiet, because they must have known it was going to be twins. Crumbs, and she sat through that agonising Final!!!!! I was nearly having twins myself by the end of it!

Another thing: do you remember that Roger was in the prima fila and met our Papa a couple of years ago at a GA in the square? I'm sure I kept the photo somewhere. So, Roger didn't turn down the invitation. He's a real gentleman!

We are going bananas here waiting to hear your blow by blow account and to see your photos...... [SM=g27820] [SM=g27820] [SM=g27820]

05/08/2009 18:29
 
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I wonder why the GA was so short today. Does anybody know? Apparently, Papa didn't even read his entire speech. That must have been kind of disappointing for the people who attended.


Priests must help people find truth in God, pope says at audience

By Catholic News Service
Aug. 5, 2009

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- In a very brief general audience, Pope Benedict XVI said the church needs holy priests who can help the faithful understand that truth exists and, ultimately, is found in God.

The audience, with an estimated 4,000 people packed into the courtyard at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo, lasted a mere 15 minutes. The pope's main talk lasted only five minutes, although the Vatican published the much longer text the pope had prepared for the audience.

Pope Benedict's remarks focused on St. John Vianney, the patron of parish priests, who died Aug. 4, 1859. The pope invoked a special Year for Priests to mark the 150th anniversary of the French priest's death.

At first glance, "the pastoral methods of St. John Vianney could appear little suited to current social and cultural conditions. In fact, how could a priest today, in a world that has changed so much, imitate him?" the pope asked.

But just like many societies today, French society in the 1800s seriously challenged people of faith, he said.

"Post-revolutionary France experienced a sort of 'dictatorship of rationalism' aimed at canceling the very presence of priests and of the church in society" and at convincing people that by using just their reason they could arrive at all the truths they needed to give meaning and order to their lives, the pope said.

"If back then there was a 'dictatorship of rationalism,' in many areas today there is a kind of 'dictatorship of relativism,'" he said.

Thinking that reason alone can bring people to truth or thinking that there is no such thing as a definitive truth valid for all people and all times ignores the fact that human beings were created by God and will find the fullness of life in him, Pope Benedict said.

Just as in St. John Vianney's time, he said, the human search for meaning and fulfillment today can be satisfied only through a relationship with God.

The saint's example is a reminder that "the priest must have an intimate personal union with Christ to cultivate and deepen day after day. Only in this way can he touch the hearts of the people and open them to the merciful love of the Lord," he said.


05/08/2009 22:34
 
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GA
I watched the GA live at 10:30 this morning (I'm on holiday for three weeks - happy, happy, joy, joy!!)
In terms of the Holy Father's condition - he was perfectly fine. Good voice, good spirit. No problem.
No idea! Even though I do remember that the GA from Gandolfo is normally not to be compared to the 'regular' one from St. Peter's Square. It's always been a lot shorter.
06/08/2009 14:21
 
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General Audience yesterday
@cowgirl: yes, I think I remember from last summer that the audiences were shorter than they are in the square and I thought it was just Vatican policy for August. I can't remember how many GAs were from Castel Gandolfo last summer. Is this on the internet anywhere?

I watched the encore last night and the whole thing was finished in twenty minutes. Of course, the tour round the square at the beginning lengthens things and I expect Papa was advised not to do this, considering his arm. Although, knowing what we do about him, he would probably have happily waved his left arm. Still, that cast on his right arm must be heavy, awkward and must still cause pain and aching. My old friend in Dorset fell, on a stony path, and broke her wrist some time last year. I'll ask her for more details. I wasn't so interested at the time [I don't live near enough to be of help; she has loads of friends in her parish], but now I'm deeply interested all of a sudden - can't think why! [SM=g27816]



06/08/2009 19:07
 
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Benevolens, I hope you don't live downhill from this glacier. By the way, can you post your photos from Val d'Aosta soon so I don't have to keep posting items like this on the News thread?


Swiss now pray that glacier will stop shrinking

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
Associated Press
August 6, 2009

GENEVA — Villagers from deeply Roman Catholic south Switzerland have for centuries offered a sacred vow to God to protect them from the advancing ice mass of the Great Aletsch glacier.

Global warming is making them want to reverse their prayers, and the Alpine faithful are seeking the permission of the pope.

Since the vow was established in 1678, the deal was simple: the citizens of the isolated mountain hamlets of Fiesch and Fieschertal would pledge to lead virtuous lives. In exchange, God would spare their homes and livelihoods from being swallowed by Europe's largest glacier as it expanded toward the valley with heavy winter snows.

Times have changed, and the once-fearsome Aletsch is melting amid temperatures that are 0.7 degrees Celsius (1.3 Fahrenheit) warmer than in the 19th century. The pastor at the Ernerwald Chapel has warned his flock that a new danger threatens.

"We all know — and the Holy Father reminded us in his Easter message — that an unprecedented change in the climate is taking place," Rev. Pascal Venetz said in his sermon to 100 people at the chapel, where until modern times pious women were prohibited from wearing colored underwear for fear of provoking the glacier.

"Glacier is ice, ice is water and water is life," Venetz said to the villagers from the Valais region, which has sent its sons to protect the Vatican as Swiss Guards since the 16th century. "Without the glacier the springs run dry and the brooks evaporate. Men and women face great danger. Alps and pastures vanish and towns die out."

The Aletsch was once seen as a threat because it could encroach on inhabited areas.

These days, the glacier is more of a threat because of its melting ice, which risks worsening floods in the valley and, eventually, a loss of water supply. Experts say the glacier will continue to shrink — even if temperatures stay at current levels — because the warming of the last few decades has yet to take full effect.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Venetz said many townsfolk have begun questioning the ancient vow that has been commemorated every year since 1862 in a procession to the chapel on July 31, St. Ignatius' feast day.

The idea to alter the vow came from Fiesch Mayor Herbert Volken, but the concern was not driven by worldly or secular impulses. Instead, the villages "were seeing nature change all around them," and realized the glacier might soon need saving, Venetz said.

Conservation body Pro Natura says the glacier base is receding up the mountain by about 100 feet (30 meters) a year. University of Zurich geographer Hanspeter Holzhauser estimates the river of ice has retreated 2.1 miles (3.4 kilometers) since peaking in 1860 at a length of 14 miles (23 kilometers). Nearly half of the shrinkage has happened since 1950.

Venetz said there were "countless, horrible natural catastrophes" in his parish from the 17th to the 19th centuries as the glacier expanded. "These led to the big volumes of water with floods that brought great damage and calamity in our villages," he said.

Villagers should continue with the vow, but the request for divine assistance should be adjusted to conform with the changing reality of nature, the pastor said.

"Praying should of course continue, because our villages should be spared from natural catastrophes," Venetz said in his sermon. "We should at the same time pray that our glacier does not melt any further, but instead grows, and that the most important thing in life — water — remains well preserved."

He said he would ask the local bishop to seek Pope Benedict XVI's permission to change the vow, and a statement from the cantonal (state) government of Valais said a papal audience was planned for September or October.

"At our next procession, we might just be able to pray against climate change, global warming and the receding of the glacier," Venetz said.

07/08/2009 15:26
 
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Time for Rome to rescue Christians trapped in the Anglo-Catholic wreckage

By Damian Thompson
Telegraph.co.uk
August 6th, 2009

Here is an article I’ve written in the new issue of The Catholic Herald, inspired by reports that Forward in Faith is – finally – in serious talks with the Vatican. Thanks to Luke Coppen for letting me reproduce it here.

A few months ago I witnessed a little miracle: an Anglican friend of mine was received into the Church. It was a miracle because this particular friend had been adamant that he would not become a “Roman”, despite his love of traditional Catholic liturgy. There were many factors in his change of heart, but two words explain why he suddenly took the plunge: Pope Benedict.

At the centre of my friend’s Christianity is public worship, and (so far as I can judge from many conversations with him) the main reason he did not leave the Church of England is that he could not accept the claims of a Church which did not get its worship right. His objection was not to Vatican II, but to a casual approach to the celebration of Mass that made it harder to believe in the unique universal status of the Roman Church.

And then along came Benedict XVI. I don’t want to imply that Pope John Paul II did not care about worship - he regularly denounced liturgical abuses - but it did seem to observers inside and outside the Church that nothing much ever happened. In contrast, the present Holy Father has made clear that bishops and priests must restore solemnity to the liturgy as a matter of urgency. And, although the fine print of Summorum Pontificum is still ignored by bishops all over the world, there is no doubt that Pope Benedict has liberated the older form of the Roman Rite.

Is it a coincidence that the Benedictine reform of the liturgy is occurring just as the Anglican Communion falls into irrevocable schism? It wouldn’t surprise me if Joseph Ratzinger, an old friend of conservative Anglicans, saw both processes as providential. His liturgical renewal could perhaps be seen as a spring-cleaning before visitors arrive. For, make no mistake about it, Pope Benedict XVI wants Anglicans to “come over” in large numbers. Such conversions represent the fruit, rather than the failure, of the ecumenical project (though one should add that the Pope also wishes to deepen solidarity with non-Catholics who have no plans to convert).

But what form should the reception of former Anglicans take? There is no easy answer to this question, just as there was no easy way to incorporate Eastern Orthodox dissidents into the Roman communion at various points in the Church’s history (though it happened).

Whenever Catholic-minded members of other Churches or denominations break away from the mainstream, the Vatican finds itself tangled up in arguments: about Holy Orders, corporate versus individual reception, married priests and Rites of worship. It can take many decades, if not centuries, for things to settle down. But the long-term benefits can be remarkable, as the recent foundation of arguably the world’s most exciting Catholic university by the Eastern-Rite Church in Ukraine demonstrates.

The main thing is not to miss a heaven-sent opportunity. It’s widely believed, among conservative Catholics and Anglicans, that the Church in England and Wales did not do enough to welcome refugees from the Church of England after the vote for women priests in 1992. On reflection, though, perhaps the time was not right. The Bishops of England and Wales were not well disposed to “misogynist” traditionalists, as they were unfairly characterised; the standard of English Catholic liturgy was at an all-time low; and Anglo-Catholicism, though divided and unhappy, still had the stomach for a fight.

Now Anglo-Catholicism has fallen apart. Liberal High Churchmen have quietly abandoned their opposition to women priests, ditching their principles but keeping their chasubles; they include most of the practising gay clergy who were such a stumbling block in the 1990s. Conservative Anglo-Catholics, meanwhile, no longer identify with a C of E that treats them like batty aunts to be locked in the attic when the first woman bishop arrives, as she will soon. The question is how best to escape.

As for our Catholic bishops, there is now more sympathy for the Anglo-Catholic dilemma. The appointment of Archbishop Vincent Nichols to Westminster is significant; for, although he has never been a “traditionalist”, nor has he ever been at the heart of the dialogue between liberal Catholics and liberal Anglicans that has wasted so much time since the ordination of women priests made reunion impossible. As a young Westminster bishop, he unobtrusively cleared the path to Rome of at least one Anglican priest; there is no reason to think that he will not do the same again.

But the crucial change is that the present Pope, unlike his predecessor, is an admirer of the conservative Anglo-Catholic tradition - and open to the idea that doctrinally orthodox Anglicans should convert together, bringing with them spiritual gifts. He is aware that the practical obstacles to such a move (or series of moves) are immense. But he will not be dissuaded by a Catholic ecumenical lobby that, even now, pays court to liberal Anglicans.

Hence the emergence of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as the main negotiating body with Anglo-Catholics. The CDF isn’t impressed by ecumenical flattery and it’s hard-headed enough to realise that groups seeking union with Rome may have a messy ecclesial history. The Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), for example, is an independent sect headed by Archbishop John Hepworth, a twice-married ex-Catholic priest, and you can’t get much messier than that.

There’s not the slightest prospect of Hepworth exercising episcopal ministry in the Church - but he and all his bishops have solemnly signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a prelude to possible corporate reunion. And that’s what really matters to the CDF: the knowledge that the TAC is now unequivocally orthodox in all its doctrines. Vatican ecumenists may be impressed by the cultural Catholicism of the Archbishop of Canterbury; but the Congregation closest to the Holy Father knows that Dr Williams would not sign the Catechism in a million years, because he rejects many of its teachings.

No one knows what will happen next. We’re in the very early stages of a historic but drawn-out realignment. Much depends on whether Forward in Faith, the forlorn pressure group of traditional Anglo-Catholics, follows its gut instincts and accepts the Magisterium in full. Catholics should surely hope that it does; for how can we echo Jesus’s prayer in St John’s Gospel, “that they may be one”, if we turn away Christians on whom the truth has dawned?

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