NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

Pope Points to Saints who Conquered 'Hell on Earth' of Nazi Camps

(09 Aug 09 - Radio Vatican

They are a sign of the “true face of God and the true face of man” said Pope Benedict XVI Sunday, as for a second week in a row he drew from upcoming feast days of saints for his Angelus reflection, delivered in the tiny enclosed courtyard of the Papal Summer Palace in Castel Gandolfo.

This week the Pope wanted to concentrate on the stark difference between "Christian humanism" and "atheistic humanism".

Pope Benedict said saints are witnesses of “this antithesis which spans history, but that with the contemporary nihilism, has come to a crucial point".

And so he cited in particular the World War II martyrs Maximilian Kolbe and Edith Stein.
Edith Stein was “born in the Jewish faith and was won over by Christ in adulthood, she became a Carmelite nun and sealed her life with martyrdom”. St. Maximilian Kolbe, is a “son of Poland and St. Francis of Assisi”. Both are martyrs killed in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

"The Nazi concentration camp – noted Pope Benedict - as every death camp, can be considered an extreme symbol of evil, of the hell that comes to earth when man forgets God, and when He is replaced, usurping from Him the right to decide what is good and what is evil, to give life or to take life. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not confined to the death camp. It is rather the culmination of an extensive and widespread reality of often nebulous boundaries. "

This reality is precisely the antithesis that became clear at the end of the second millennium, "the opposition between atheistic humanism and Christian humanism, between holiness and nihilism”.

"On the one hand - continued the pope - there are philosophies and ideologies, but also on an increasing scale ways of thinking and acting, which extol the freedom of man as the only principle, as an alternative to God, and thus transform man into a god, whose system behaviour is of an arbitrary nature. On the other hand, we note the saints, who, practicing the gospel of love, make reason of their hope, they show the true face of God who is Love, and at the same time, the true face of man, created in image and likeness of God. "

From them we can learn, concluded Pope Benedict “especially our priests, evangelical heroism that inspires us, without fear, to give our life for the salvation of souls. Love conquers death!”.

The Tablet
8 August 2009



Editorial
The old rite put in its place

One of Pope Benedict XVI’s most controversial initiatives has been his promotion of the Tridentine Rite of Mass as an alternative to the revised rite that reflects the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Archbishop Vincent Nichols, newly installed at Westminster, has lost little time in defusing some of the reasons for the controversy in a forthright message to priests taking part in a training conference on the Tridentine Rite later this month.

His message is unambiguous, and may not please some of those hoping to attend the conference. First, he has insisted that the training conference is officially sponsored by the Diocese of Westminster, “in conjunction with the Latin Mass Society”, thereby keeping it under his control. In church teaching and canon law, he states, bishops are responsible for the oversight of the liturgy. Many feel a bishop’s role in these matters has been undermined by Pope Benedict’s motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum”, which appears to allow priests to opt for the Tridentine Rite regardless of the attitude of local bishops.

Archbishop Nichol gives no shred of encouragement to those who want the Tridentine Rite to replace the newer version. Conference participants “will wholeheartedly celebrate the Mass in each of these forms”, he instructs them bluntly, adding: “The view that the ordinary form of the Mass, in itself, is in some way deficient finds no place here.” People who hold that view are “inexorably distancing themselves from the Church”, he says. There is no scope, in other words, for “Tridentine Rite” parishes that set themselves up in the spirit of being “more Catholic than thou”. Recognising the threat of such moves, Archbishop Nichols is seeking to nip a potential schism in the bud. His firm leadership in Westminster is one that other bishops in England and Wales – and elsewhere – will welcome. The Catholic Church does not need its own version of “culture wars”, and in his message the archbishop in effect declares a priest’s personal tastes or preferences to be irrelevant.

Furthermore the distinctive feature of the Tridentine Rite, and the single most pressing reason why the bishops at Vatican II wanted it reformed, was the absence of any role for the laity. They were little more than spectators of what the celebrant was doing at the altar; in practice this meant many of them concentrated on their own private devotions. Archbishop Nichols insists it is an “established principle of good liturgy” to encourage the active participation of all those taking part in the Mass, a principle needing “careful consideration and application by every celebrant”. Implicit in this directive is the rejection of any discrimination against girls and women among those who assist at Mass, such as altar servers, readers and extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. That some Tridentinist priests have banished females from the sanctuary or lectern in the name of authenticity has more than a whiff of misogyny.

Thus has Archbishop Nichols neatly answered virtually every objection to the motu proprio, and the Tridentine Rite can henceforth take its proper – and necessarily marginal – place in the life of the Catholic Church. Indeed, he has made it accessible to those who are fully committed to Vatican II. This timely display of clear leadership from the new president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales bodes well.

I've pasted the above to show our friends who don't live in the UK just what we have to put up with from The Tablet. What annoys me is that so many of my fellow parishioners buy it every week [while ignoring the much more balanced Catholic Herald] and they honestly believe all they read in it]

God awaits people willing to bring Christ into the world, pope says

By Catholic News Service
August 12, 2009

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Respecting human freedom, God waits for Christians, especially priests, to say "yes" to his desire to bring Christ to the world, Pope Benedict XVI said.

During his weekly general audience Aug. 12, the pope continued his new series of talks about the Year for Priests and connected the topic to the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Aug. 15.

Some 4,000 people gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo and in the square outside the villa to participate in the audience.

Pope Benedict said there is a special connection between priests and Mary that comes from the mystery of the Incarnation.

"When God decided to become man in his Son, he needed the freely given 'yes' of one of his creatures. God never acts against our freedom. Something truly extraordinary occurred: God made himself dependent on the freedom, on the 'yes' of one of his creatures," he said.

The pope said, "The 'yes' of Mary was the door through which God could enter the world and become human. So Mary was truly, deeply involved in the mystery of the Incarnation and our salvation."

Pope Benedict also said that before dying Jesus saw his mother and his "beloved disciple" at the foot of the cross. The disciple obviously was someone special, but he also was a symbol of all those who follow Jesus and, particularly, of priests, he said.

When the Gospel says that the disciple, presumably St. John, took Mary into his home, it means that he took her into his life and she became part of his very existence, the pope said. In the same way, priests are called to make Mary a part of their lives, he added.

Mary's special relationship with priests is based on the fact that they are similar to Jesus in giving their lives for the salvation of others and because, like Mary, "they are committed to the mission of proclaiming, witnessing to and giving Christ to the world," Pope Benedict said.

Entrusting his mother to his disciples, Jesus gave all of them -- but especially priests -- the person who was most precious to him, the pope said.

"Ratzinger School Circle" To Discuss Church’s Mission

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Aug 12, 2009 (CNA).- In keeping with a custom he created when he was a university professor, Pope Benedict XVI is gathering some of his former students for his annual "Ratzinger School Circle." The group will meet at Castel Gandolfo between August 27 and 30 to discuss issues of theological and cultural interest.

Before being elected Pontiff, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger held annual summer meetings with some of his former students from the theology departments of Tubingen and Ratisbona. Among the students convened by then Cardinal Ratzinger were important theologians, such as Cardinal Cristoph Schonborn of Vienna, who was also one of the editors of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Since 2005, the Pope has kept the tradition of meeting with the “Ratzinger Schulerkreis,” with discussions in previous years focusing on issues such as evolution and Islam.

This year the group will focus on the “Mission of the Church,” a topic that is central in the reflections of Ratzinger the theologian.

The only former student of Joseph Ratzinger in the United States who regularly attends the meetings is Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, the editor of Ignatius Press. "I am planning to attend," Fr. Fessio told CNA.

Pope to receive sacramental dishes, attend concert in Bohemia

Prague Daily Monitor
13 AUGUST 2009

Prague, Aug 12 (CTK) - Pope Benedict XVI will receive sacramental dishes made of Czech crystal as a gift during his visit to Stara Boleslav in autumn, Jiri Rueckl, director of the Rueckl Crystal glassworks, has told CTK.

At a separate press conference today, the Czech Philharmonic (CF) orchestra director Vladimir Darjanin said the CF is to play for Benedict XVI. It will be for the first time the CF will give a concert for a Pope.

Rueckl said Czech church dignitaries, headed by Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, will probably present the gift to the Pope during the mass at the National St Wenceslas pilgrimage in Stara Boleslav on Monday, September 28.

"It will be small jars for water and wine along with a decorated tray, and a special liturgic basin with a jug...We will produce it, hand over to the cardinal and we would be glad to see the Holy Father take it to the Vatican," Rueckl said.

The Pope is supposed to use the litgurgic objects while serving a mass in Stara Boleslav.
The glassworks, based in Nizbor, central Bohemia, already produced sacramental dishes that the then Pope, John Paul II, received during his visit to Prague in 1997.

Rueckl said that Benedict XVI's emblems will decorate all pieces of the sacramental set, along with the picture of lion symbolising the Czech state and an emblem depicting St Wenceslav, a 10th century Premyslid prince and saint patron of Bohemia.

During his Czech visit, the Pope is also to stop over in Brno where he is to receive gilded liturgic dishes, a chalice and a paten, to be made by artist Jaromir Gargulac for this purpose.

The City of Prague, another of Pope's stop overs, is yet to decide on what to present to him.

The CF, the country's most prestigious orchestra, will give its concert for the Pope at Prague Castle probably on September 26. In the Pope's presence it will perform Te Deum by Czech composer Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904), said Darjanin.

Benedict XVI will pay a visit to the Czech Republic from September 26 to September 28, on the invitation of Czech bishops and President Vaclav Klaus.

Okay, which one of you installed the camera?


Webcam installed at Pope's residence

Agence France-Presse
August 06, 2009

A WEBCAM has been installed in Pope Benedict XVI's summer residence which allows internet users to watch the pontiff taking a stroll.

The camera has been fitted in the gardens of Castel Gandolfo, about 30 kilometres southeast of Rome.

It joins five other webcams dotted around the Vatican City, which have proved popular with web surfers, Vatican newspaper the Osservatore Romano said.

I bet it was Pooh bear!

www.vaticanstate.va/EN/Monuments/webcam/index?cam=webcam6&testo=Castel%20...

Hmm, I wonder if I can get my son to go to this. Of course, he will need his mother along to make sure he wears his Roman collar at all times and doesn't look wrinkled.


Pope to close Year for Priests in Rome with huge meeting

Vatican City, Aug 14, 2009 / 10:19 am (CNA).- The Congregation for the Clergy, headed by Cardinal Claudio Hummes, announced this week that the Pope Benedict XVI plans to close the Year for Priests by convoking a huge meeting of priests from around the world between June 9-11 in Rome.

Every Catholic priest in the world—there are around 407,000—is invited to the meeting, which will have the theme of “Faithfulness of Christ, Faithfulness of the Priest."

The program, announced by the Congregation for the Clergy today, indicates that the first day of the gathering will take place at the Basilica of Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls and will have as theme "Conversion and Mission." The activities will include prayer, a conference to discuss the subject, Eucharist adoration, an opportunity for Confession and a Mass.

On day two, June 10, the theme will be "Cenacle, invocation to the Holy Spirit with Mary, in fraternal communion." The venue for the morning reflections will be the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, while in the evening a “priestly vigil” will be held at Saint Peter's Basilica. The vigil will consist of priests offering their testimonies, singing and adoration of the Eucharist. Pope Benedict XVI will be present at the vigil and will greet the priests.

The Year for Priests will be brought to a close on Friday, June 11, which is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Benedict XVI will preside over a Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica to conclude the Year for Priests. The final day of the meeting will have "With Peter, in ecclesial communion" as its theme.

@simone55: Pooh Bear declares himself not guilty of setting up the webcam! I don't know why this has made the news now, seriously, because that webcam has been there for ages. I have had the one that shows Saint Peter's and the square set as my home page for a long time. The Castel Gandolfo one only shows one bit of the gardens and I bet it isn't one that our Papa walks in! Good to know that, when we look at it, it's so very, very close to where he is!

2009-08-14

Well, Mary, we can dream, can't we?  Imagine if Papa wants to try a different part of the
Garden and suddenly he turns and waves, knowing we're watching over him?!  That would
take a lot dedication on my part, since if he walks in the afternoon, say 4pm, I wold have to
be watching in Hawaii at 4:00am!  Can do!  

EWTN DID broadcast Holy Mass this morning!!!!!!! I'm still on Cloud Nine - it was almost like being there. I managed to put a disc in the recorder with shaking hands. I'd been watching here on my little monitor screen, popped out to see and, lo and behold, EWTN was showing the inside of the church. They didn't quite cover everything: on the computer I saw Bruder Georg leave the church with the lady who cares for him [always the same one, but she isn't one of The Four], then also saw Papa walk the whole length of the street, greeting the people.

Mass was beautiful. Can't wait to watch my recording quietly. Papa didn't administer Holy Communion; Cardinal Bertone took his place. That was rather sad for me and reminiscent of the times when Papa did this for John Paul. However, Papa has only broken his wrist. It is mending fast, please God. As for my heart........it will only be mended the next time I can see Papa.

Hmm, I can think of several of our forum members who could fit this description.


Woman shouts out in German during Pope's mass

Submitted by Sahil Nagpal
TopNews.in
Sat, 08/15/2009

Castel Gandolfo, Italy - Vatican security guards moved Saturday to restrain a woman who began shouting out in German during a mass presided by Pope Benedict XVI, news reports said.

The incident happened after the German-born Benedict had delivered his homily at a parish church in Castel Gandolfo, a town south of Rome which hosts the pontiff's summer residence.

The woman, described as a 35-year-old, was in a "trance-like" state and made no attempt to resist the guards when they escorted her out of the church, the ANSA newsagency said.

The 82-year-old Benedict, was celebrating the traditional August 15 mass for the feast of the Assumption, when the Roman Catholic Church marks the ascent to heaven of Jesus' mother, Mary. (dpa)

benefan, 16.08.2009 17:15:

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Hmm, I can think of several of our forum members who could fit this description.


Woman shouts out in German during Pope's mass

Submitted by Sahil Nagpal
TopNews.in
Sat, 08/15/2009

Castel Gandolfo, Italy - Vatican security guards moved Saturday to restrain a woman who began shouting out in German during a mass presided by Pope Benedict XVI, news reports said.

The incident happened after the German-born Benedict had delivered his homily at a parish church in Castel Gandolfo, a town south of Rome which hosts the pontiff's summer residence.

The woman, described as a 35-year-old, was in a "trance-like" state and made no attempt to resist the guards when they escorted her out of the church, the ANSA newsagency said.

The 82-year-old Benedict, was celebrating the traditional August 15 mass for the feast of the Assumption, when the Roman Catholic Church marks the ascent to heaven of Jesus' mother, Mary. (dpa)

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Hehehe benefan, I know who you're thinking of - shouting in German and being in a 'trance-like' state!!!
However, both benedetto.fan and I are well over 35 even though we don't look it , so we're definitely out!!!!

I was on the way to Munich to see my beloved FC Bayern in the Allianz Arena, and I have loooaaads of witnesses (about 70.000 ).



Trance? Noway!! I'd be more like totally focused and ready to pounce!

Okay, three of our German-speaking girls have excuses.

That leaves Simone, who is being very silent at the moment. By the way, not one of the four of you looks a day past 34 1/2.

benefan, 17.08.2009 06:39:

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Okay, three of our German-speaking girls have excuses.

That leaves Simone, who is being very silent at the moment. By the way, not one of the four of you looks a day past 34 1/2.

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Uh-oh, I am under suspicion!
Boooh-hooo-hoooo, it wasn't me.

But thank you for thinking of me looking like 34 1/2, that brightens my days!

The plaster is still on - poor Papino!

Yes, unfortunately the cast is still on. Here is a photo from today's General Audience, courtesy of Yahoo.



Although the cast is still on, it looks like the hair is off. The barber must have noticed those photos of Papa from Assumption, with his tousled locks.