NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

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That right wrist still looks swollen to me. How long does it take to get back to normal size? Nan? Somebody?

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That, my fellow Benaddicts, is the trillion dollar question. First of all, I do believe that Papa's health is good. That said, it's gonna take time for that arm to get back to normal. When a cast comes off a leg, usually walking will strengthen the muscles in that leg; however, it isn't that easy for an arm. Papa is right handed... which means that his left arm is stronger. How many pictures have we all looked at of Cardinal Ratzinger carrying a brief case with his left hand??? Also, when humans walk our arms are at our sides. An arm that already has weak muscles, that remains at someone's side is gonna get swollen. Papa is right, this will be a lesson in patience for him... but my dear ones he will be alright.

Knowing our Papa, he will take his exercises very seriously. I see what you mean, Nan. I am left-handed and always carry my bag with my right hand or over my right shoulder. I assume this is so that my left hand is free. But, if I've been grocery shopping I have heavy bags in both hands! Luckily, Papa doesn't have to do that.

I think he's doing very well, really. Another pic I found from Sunday shows only a small scar and it looks very healthy.

Thanks, Mary, for the photo

That scar and swollen arm look so sad. But Papa is such a dignified, disciplined, and admirable man, especially in comparison to others...


Pope backs Italy church in Berlusconi row

By ARIEL DAVID (AP)
Sept. 1, 2009

ROME — Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday gave his full support to the Italian Catholic Church after it was dragged into a media row linked to Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal.

The Italian Bishops Conference said Benedict had spoken by telephone with its president, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, to discuss the "current situation."

Benedict expressed to Bagnasco "his esteem, gratitude and appreciation," the Bishops Conference said in a statement. Vatican officials confirmed the phone call but would not elaborate.

Bagnasco and other top church officials have been defending a Catholic editor who was attacked by a Berlusconi family newspaper after demanding that the premier answer allegations over his purported relationships with young women.

Il Giornale, which is owned by the premier's brother Paolo, on Friday alleged that the chief editor of the Avvenire daily had a homosexual scandal in his past.

The paper alleged that Dino Boffo had been fined several years ago for harassing the wife of a man in whom he was purportedly interested. Boffo has denied the allegations.

The Bishops Conference, which owns Avvenire, staunchly defended Boffo, and Bagnasco called the allegations "disgusting."

Berlusconi quickly distanced himself from Il Giornale's claim, but the incident damaged the premier's church ties, already frayed by the scandal.

Following Il Giornale's article, a meeting between Berlusconi and the pope's top aide, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was scrapped. The meeting had been widely seen as a chance for Berlusconi to clear the air with the Vatican.

Support from Catholic voters is considered crucial for any Italian government to come to power, and good ties with the Vatican are courted by many politicians.

Berlusconi has been on the defensive since his wife announced in spring she wanted to divorce the premier, citing his alleged relationships with young women. Allegations have included that women were paid to attend Berlusconi's parties, while a high-class prostitute said she spent a night with him at his Rome residence.

Berlusconi has denied having any improper relationships or paying women for sex, and dismisses the scandal as a plot by left-leaning media. But many, including Avvenire, have demanded more answers from the 72-year-old conservative billionaire media mogul.


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Anonymous anti-Pope pamphlet distributed

CathNews
Published: September 02, 2009

An anonymously written Italian pamphlet called Anti-Ratzinger is set to be translated, published and released in the Czech Republic just ahead of Pope Benedict's visit to the country scheduled for later this month.

It allegedly examines Pope Benedict's views on social issues such as abortion, contraception and sexual abuse, and his link and experience with Hitler's Youth, the Prague Daily Monitor quoted a Czeh News Agency report saying.

Czech churchgoers have reserved over 100,000 tickets to a September Mass that Pope Benedict will celebrate.

"We have not seen the book and know nothing about it. We cannot thus express any position," the chairman of the Czech Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Jan Graubner, told the news agency.


Publisher Roman Schmidt was quoted as saying the author remained anonymous "out of respect to the tradition of pamphlets" and apparently out of fear of the consequences of his book, "bearing in mind the fate of Salman Rushdie and others." [And bearing in mind that he is a dishonest and cowardly idiot.]

Anti-Ratzinger has been translated into several languages, the report added.

People must become more humble, less materialistic, pope says

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
Sept. 2, 2009

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a world full of vice and sin, people need to radically change their lives, becoming more humble and less materialistic, Pope Benedict XVI said.

"May we be able to find the source of joy that comes from God's goodness" and say "no" to the vices of the world, he said at his weekly general audience Sept. 2.

The pope, resuming a series of audience talks about influential Christian writers from the Middle Ages, focused his catechesis on St. Odo, a 10th-century Benedictine monk and abbot of Cluny, France.

St. Odo urged his monks and the faithful to face "the enormity of vices widespread throughout society" by undergoing "a radical change in life based on humility, austerity and detachment from ephemeral things and participation with the eternal," said the pope.

The saint refused to become pessimistic or sink into despair even when there was so much sin and evil in the world, the pope said, because he knew "divine mercy is always available" for those who yearn for conversion.

The merciful God "persecutes sins and yet he protects the sinner," the pope quoted St. Odo as saying.

He said the saint was also extremely devoted to the Eucharist and emphasized the real and substantial presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine. St. Odo deplored the "widespread neglect" of this sacred mystery, which was poorly observed at the time and lacking in the celebration of Mass, said the pope.

St. Odo worked to reform the clergy on this matter and stressed the need for being worthy when receiving the Eucharist, the pope said. He warned priests against coming to the altar in a state of sin lest they "stain the bread, that is, the body of Christ," the pope said, citing the saint's words.

St. Odo insisted that "only he who is spiritually united to Christ can worthily participate" in the eucharistic celebration, said the pope.

If those who have distanced themselves from Christ "eat his body and drink his blood, it would not be beneficial, but condemnable," he said.

The saint taught that the salvation of the world depends on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

The pope underlined the importance of embracing this truth "with renewed strength" because the presence of God, the creator, among humanity "transforms us, and just as he transformed bread and wine, he transforms the world."

The pope flew to the Vatican by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, to lead the general audience in the Paul VI hall before about 8,000 pilgrims from around the world.

Pope Benedict looked relaxed and well-rested, though his right hand and wrist were notably swollen. He continued to greet visitors and well-wishers with his left hand, and had a friendly laugh greeting a priest whose left arm and hand were immobilized by a cast and sling.

The pope fell and broke his wrist July 17. Doctors performed minor surgery to stabilize and join the ends of the dislocated broken bones with wires later that day. The cast and wires from the pope's wrist were removed Aug. 21; doctors said the healing process went perfectly and that the 82-year-old pope would recover the use of his hand after completing a program of rehabilitation.

At the end of the general audience, the pope flew back to the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, where he was spending the final weeks of his vacation.

POPE TO PREVIEW MINISERIES ON ST. AUGUSTINE

New Version of "Ben Hur" in the Works

CASTEL GANDOLFO, SEPT. 1, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will preview a condensed version of a television mini-series on the life of St. Augustine directed by Canadian Christian Duguay, who is also working on a remake of "Ben Hur."

The series, titled "Augustine: The Decline of the Roman Empire," will be shown Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Swiss Hall of the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, L'Osservatore Romano reported today.

The program was produced by Lux Vide, Rai Trade and Rai Fiction (Italy), Bayerischer Rundfunk/Tellux Film and Eos Entertainment (Germany), and Grupa Filmova Baltmedia (Poland).

Duguay, is known for films such as "Joan of Arc" (1999, with Leelee Sobieski), "The Art of War" (2000), "Screamers" (1995) and "Hitler, the Rise of Evil" (2003).

Franco Nero ("Die Hard 2," "Camelot"), will impersonate the saint in old age, whereas Shakespearean actor Alessandro Preziosi, will have the role of Augustine during his stormy youth.

The series begins in the year 430 with the aging Augustine recalling his life shortly before death, under siege in Hippo by Vandal armies.

The life of the saint is narrated, including his excesses and transgressions, and his existential crisis that led to his conversion, all within the framework of the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Monica Guerritore will play St. Monica and the role highlights the saint's efforts to guide her son toward a life of holiness.

The television program is the fifth production of the Imperium project of the Lux Vide, which chronicles the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through the eyes of historical figures.

Lux Vide is also known for the Bible project that consisted of producing 13 miniseries on the books and major figures of sacred Scripture.

The newspaper reported that along with this project, the company is joining other producers to make a new version of "Ben Hur," which will also be directed by Christian Duguay.

Pope praises film on St. Augustine as an authentic slice of life

By Catholic News Service
Sept. 3, 2009

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI praised a made-for-television movie dedicated to St. Augustine, saying the two-part miniseries "represents every aspect of the human life experience with all of its problems, sorrows and failures."

Furthermore, the movie shows how "in the end truth is stronger than any obstacle," he said Sept. 2 after viewing a shortened version of the more than three-hour-long film.

"This is the great hope that it ends up with: We cannot find truth by ourselves, but the truth, which is a person (Christ), finds us," he said.

The movie, called "St. Augustine," was directed by the award-winning Canadian director Christian Duguay, and was co-produced by Italian, German and Polish television companies.

Promotional materials said the miniseries was one of a number of made-for-television movies being produced, which were also to focus on Roman Emperor Nero, St. Peter and Ben Hur.

The pope said St. Augustine's life seemed to end tragically because the city of Hippo, "the world for which and in which he lived, ends and is destroyed."

"But as it has been shown here, his message has remained and, even as the world changes, that message lives on because it is based on truth and guides charity, which is our common destiny," he said.

The pope has often said his own thinking has been greatly inspired by the fourth-century theologian. When he was a young priest in 1953, the pope wrote his doctoral thesis on St. Augustine's teachings, and his encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est" ("God Is Love"), owes much to the thought of this saint.

Benedict XVI to visit faithful in Lazio region this weekend

Vatican City, Sep 3, 2009 / 10:22 am (CNA).- This coming Sunday Pope Benedict XVI will make a pastoral visit to the towns of Viterbo and Bagnoregio, which are under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome. The day-long trip will involve a Mass, the Angelus prayer and a visit with locals.

The Pope will begin his visit to the Italian region of Lazio with a welcome ceremony on the steps of the Palazzo dei Papi in Piazza San Lorenzo. After the ceremony, the Holy Father will make a brief private visit to the Hall of the Conclave.

At 10:15 a.m. he will preside at a Mass in Viterbo's Valle Faul. At midday he will pray the Angelus.

In the afternoon, the Holy Father will visit the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of the Oak. On his way there he will pause briefly at the Shrine of Santa Rosa.

The Holy Father will leave Viterbo via helicopter for Bagnoregio around 5 p.m. He will spend his time there visiting the Cathedral of St. Nicholas—where he will venerate relics of St. Bonaventure—and meet with local citizens in the Piazza Sant'Agostino before returning to Castel Gandolfo by helicopter.

St. Augustine trailer

Here is the trailer (in English) of the series about St. Augustine that Papa just watched. After looking at the trailer, I am a bit embarrassed that our innocent little Papa had to sit through something that raunchy.

www.luxvide.it/en/augustine-49.html

Pope meets Berlusconi aide amid scandal fallout

By NICOLE WINFIELD (AP)
Sept. 6, 2009

ROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi's top aide met with Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday amid continuing fallout over scandals that have strained ties between Italy's government and the Catholic Church.

Berlusconi adviser Gianni Letta pronounced relations were "solid" after meeting briefly with the pontiff during a visit by the pope to Viterbo, north of Rome.

"My smile says it all. I'm happy and serene," Letti said, according to the ANSA and Apcom news agencies, although he added that there was always work to be done to "further strengthen" relations.

Ties between the government and church, which are politically important in the largely Roman Catholic country, have been in a tailspin recently. Catholic publications have openly criticized Berlusconi for his dalliances with young women and Vatican officials have criticized the conservative government for its tough anti-immigration policy.

In what was largely seen as a tit-for-tat retribution, a Berlusconi family newspaper last week accused the editor of the country's pre-eminent Catholic newspaper of being involved in a scandal.

The editor, Dino Boffo, professed his innocence. But he resigned Thursday as head of Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishop's Conference, saying he was doing so for his family and the church.

Last week, Il Giornale, which is owned by Berlusconi's brother, claimed that Boffo had been fined in a plea-bargain several years ago for making harassing calls to the wife of a man in whom he was purportedly interested. It accused him of hypocrisy for scrutinizing Berlusconi's private life.

Boffo acknowledged being fined in the case but said someone else had used his cell phone to make the calls. Prosecutors maintain Boffo made the calls, but have denied there was a gay angle to the case. But Boffo has insisted that the full court file remain sealed.

Il Giornale published the article after Boffo's Avvenire called on Berlusconi to answer questions about revelations that women had been paid to attend parties at the premier's residences and that a high-class prostitute had once spent the night with him.

The revelations were sparked by the announcement in the spring by Berlusconi's wife that she was divorcing him, citing his presence at the 18th birthday party of a Naples model.

Berlusconi, 72, has denounced what he says is a media smear campaign against him and has sued two left-wing dailies and several other European publications for libel. He has denied ever paying anyone for sex and says there was nothing "spicy" in his relations with the model, Noemi Letizia.

In an interview published Sunday in Britain's Daily Mail, Letizia said Berlusconi's wife should know better than to think she played any role in the end of their marriage.

"Everyone can see I am not the reason for the divorce," Noemi was quoted as saying in the interview, which was also being aired Sunday night on Sky TG24. "How can an 18-year-old's birthday party ruin a marriage? If this is the case, what kind of marriage could it be?"

Despite the monthslong scandal, Berlusconi's coalition appears solid, although his support among Catholics had slipped slightly, according to an Ipsos survey published Sunday in Corriere della Sera. The poll of 800 people said Berlusconi remained popular among 50 percent of practicing Catholics, compared to 55 percent in April before the scandal broke. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Italian newspapers have focused on how the scandal has laid bare the divisions between the Italian bishops and the Vatican over who was responsible for cultivating relations with the Italian political establishment.

During Pope John Paul II's pontificate, the head of Italy's bishop's conference was in charge. Under Benedict, though, the Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has asserted his authority, the newspapers said.

Vittorio Messori, longtime Vatican watcher and commentator, wrote in Corriere that Bertone was merely enforcing Benedict's long-sought ideal of "clerical federalism" — the centralized authority of the Vatican over bishops worldwide.

This time, this right hand looks much better...



And I am not talking of the hair

@benefan: yes, I also thought the hand was less swollen on Sunday at Viterbo. I thought it was so sweet the way the local bishop [I think that's who it was], held Papa's right hand very gently to help him down those steps after the welcoming ceremony. And I noticed that young Georg was being very solicitous later in the afternoon, when Papa was walking amongst the people in Bagno-regio. He stopped some of them grabbing Papa's right hand. We do still have to be so careful of that dear hand [especially as it will soon itch to start writing again!]

Um - what hair? I didn't notice!!!!! *cough*

Papa can't wait to get hold of a pen! He was signing a visitor's book at the Shrine of Santa Rosa in Viterbo, so was only writing his name, but you see what he's like!!!!! We really must insist that he does no more than merely sign things for a while yet.

Great photo, Flo.

Welcome back. We missed you. My gosh, that hair!


Mary,

Thanks for the photo of Papa with pen. It is SO great to see him looking normal again.

Take time out daily for silent prayer to hear God's voice, says pope

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
Sept. 9, 2009

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- People need to carve time out of their busy day to dedicate to silent prayer or meditation in order to hear what God has to say, said Pope Benedict XVI.

The faithful also have to remember not to become completely caught up in their daily activities and concerns, forgetting that Jesus should be the focus of their lives, he said at his weekly general audience Sept. 9.

Continuing a series of audience talks about influential Christian writers from the Middle Ages, the pope focused his catechesis on the life of St. Peter Damian, an 11th-century monk, cardinal and doctor of the church.

Living an austere, secluded life in a cloister, St. Peter Damian determined that "the hermetic life was the apex of Christian life" because it allowed one to be free from the ego and from worldly concerns, said the pope.

Monastic life offers an important lesson to all Christians -- that it is important to learn how to achieve an inner silence in order to listen to God's voice, he said.

The faithful must take time out of their day to seek out a quiet place, "a sort of sitting parlor, where God can speak to us," he said.

One can learn God's word and the right path to take in life through quiet prayer and meditation, he said.

St. Peter Damian taught that Christ must be at the center of monastic life; Christ must be heard in one's voice, be served in one's life and felt in one's heart, said the pope.

All Christians, not just contemplative religious, must cultivate this intimate union with Christ, Pope Benedict said.

"We shouldn't let ourselves be completely absorbed by our daily activities, problems and worries, forgetting that Jesus must truly be at the center of our lives," he said.

The pope flew to the Vatican by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, to lead the general audience in the Paul VI hall before about 8,000 pilgrims from around the world.

The pope greeted visiting bishops and well-wishers with his right hand, showing he was recovering greater use of his wrist, which he had broken in a fall July 17. The cast and wires used to stabilize the break had been removed Aug. 21.

At the end of the general audience, the pope flew back to the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, where he was spending the final weeks of his vacation.

Hmm, I wonder if I wore a beret and smock and carried a paint brush whether I could sneak in with this group.


Artists from around the world to meet with Pope Benedict

Vatican City, Sep 10, 2009 / 10:34 am (CNA).- In an effort to continue its promotion of the arts, the Pontifical Council for Culture is organizing a meeting of artists from around the world with Pope Benedict XVI on November 21.

The meeting will take place in the Sistine Chapel on the 10th anniversary of John Paul II's famous "Letter to Artists" and the 45th anniversary of Paul VI's meeting with artists.

At a press conference this morning at the Holy See's Press Office, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums, spoke about the purpose of the upcoming meeting.

"The aim of the meeting," Archbishop Ravasi explained, "is to renew friendship and dialogue between the Church and artists, and to encourage new opportunities for collaboration."

Paolucci added that although the number of artists invited to the meeting is limited by the size of the Sistine Chapel, they hail from all continents. "They are," he said, "men and women of different cultures and languages ... painters, sculptors, architects, writers and poets, musicians and singers, directors and actors from cinema and theatre, dancers."

On the evening of November 20, before their meeting with the Holy Father on November 21, the artists will visit the Vatican Museums' collection of modern and contemporary art, which was created at the request of Pope Paul VI.

Faith and reason, irrationality and terror

George Weigel
The Boston Pilot
Posted: 9/11/2009

The media’s obsession with salvation-through-latex in the matter of AIDS prevention in Africa so dominated the coverage of Pope Benedict XVI’s March pilgrimage to Cameroon and Angola that one of the most impressive addresses of the pontificate was virtually ignored. Delivered to the Muslim leaders of Cameroon at the apostolic nunciature in Yaounde on March 19, Benedict’s concise remarks represented perhaps the most refined statement of the point the Pope has been making since his September 2006 Regensburg Lecture sent the world press into another tailspin.

Here are the key passages:

“My friends, I believe a particularly urgent task of religion today is to unveil the vast potential of human reason, which is itself God’s gift and which is elevated by revelation and faith. Belief in the one God, far from stunting our capacity to understand ourselves and the world, broadens it. Far from setting us against the world, it commits us to it. We are called to help others see the subtle traces and mysterious presence of God in the world which he has marvelously created and continually sustains with his ineffable and all-embracing love. Although his infinite glory can never be directly grasped by our finite minds in this life, we nonetheless catch glimpses of it in the beauty that surrounds us. When men and women allow the magnificent order of the world and the splendor of human dignity to illumine their hearts, they discover that what is ‘reasonable’ extends far beyond what mathematics can calculate, logic can deduce, and scientific experimentation can demonstrate; it includes the goodness and innate attractiveness of upright and ethical living made known to us in the very language of creation.

“This insight prompts us to seek all that is right and just, to step outside the restricted sphere of our own self-interest and act for the good of others. Genuine religion thus widens the horizon of human understanding and stands at the base of any authentically human culture. It rejects all forms of violence and totalitarianism: not only on principles of faith, but also of right reason. Indeed, religion and reason mutually reinforce one another since religion is purified and structured by reason, and reason’s full potential is unleashed by revelation and faith.”

For three years now, the Holy Father has been quietly insisting that the problem of jihadist terrorism and the lethal threat it poses, both to the West and to Muslims of moderate temperament, is rooted in the detachment of faith from reason. Cut that cord theologically, and you end up with a God of sheer willfulness who can command anything, including the murder of innocents. Tighten the cord that binds faith and reason in a mutually supportive synthesis and the religious case for jihadist terrorism collapses of its own irrationality.

No one knows why Islam, which in the early Middle Ages created cultures open to philosophical inquiry and respectful of the canons of reason, underwent what seems to have been a kind of intellectual shut-down, so that by the 14th century the wellsprings of intellectual imagination had largely dried up throughout the Islamic world, leaving only the endless exegesis of Islamic law by Muslim lawyers. Whatever its causes, however, this desiccation was a crucial factor in creating the irrationalism of contemporary jihadism, embodied in the Taliban slogan, ‘‘Throw reason to the dogs--it stinks of corruption.”

It would be helpful if western governments took this history seriously--and took the Pope’s analysis of the problem of faith and reason seriously. It is not government’s task to foster the kind of interreligious dialogue implied by Benedict’s speech in Yaounde: an interreligious dialogue that aims to understand revelation through reason, thus opening up the prospects of a joint exploration of the “splendor of human dignity” and the implications of that dignity for religious freedom and the governance of just societies. On the other hand, governments that don’t recognize that the detachment of faith from reason defines the fault-line between the jihadists and the rest of us are likely to misread what remains a mortal threat, eight years after 9/11.

George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

I watched this this morning [of course!!!!]. It was beautiful and Papa seemed to be back on form in the liturgy. I did notice that he didn't adminster Holy Communion to any of the faithful. I think it was one of the new bishops who did that.
Being the worrier I am, I thought perhaps his right hand is still not strong enough for him to be confident about holding the Host and giving it to so many people.He may fear dropping it.

Comments please!

maryjos, 12/09/2009 15:45:

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I watched this this morning [of course!!!!]. It was beautiful and Papa seemed to be back on form in the liturgy. I did notice that he didn't adminster Holy Communion to any of the faithful. I think it was one of the new bishops who did that.
Being the worrier I am, I thought perhaps his right hand is still not strong enough for him to be confident about holding the Host and giving it to so many people.He may fear dropping it.

Comments please!

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Yes, it has been that way at all the Masses he celebrated so far (another bishop giving the communion). His hand is not steady enough...

Your conjectures are right. In one of the OR articles on the Viterbo visit, published in the 9/7-9/8 issue, translated in
benedettoxviforum.freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=8527...
a full explanationw as given, as ff:

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In place of the Pope, Cardinal Vallini distributed Communion. because, the Pope's personal physicain, Dr. Patrizio Polisca explained, the Pope wrist is still healing, and it was not advisable for him at this point to perform the repeated motion of drawing the host from the ciborium and placing it on the tongue of the communicant.

Polisca added that rehabilitation therapy to recocver full functionality of the wrist has begun but will take a few weeks.

"The act of taking the consecrated host from the ciborium and offering it to the communicant is a gesture that requires full functionality to make sure the Host does not fall," he also explained.

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From the Mass today:

BENEDICTUS QUI VENIT IN NOMINE DOMINI!


You may want to read the translation of the Holy Father's homily today.
benedettoxviforum.freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=8527207&p=29&#idm...

As usual, when he speaks to priests about priests, one hears someone speaking out of profound personal experience of an intimate fuilfilled relationship with Jesus Christ, and so I always find these homilies (or discourses) very moving, because it is perhaps the closest we can get to Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI inmost core.