NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

December 31
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD


As scheduled, the Pope presided at Vespers and other ceremonies today at St. Peter's Basilica that lasted one and a half hours, at which he also delivered a homily. However, the text is not likely to be posted by the Vatican online tonight.

Vespers was followed by a Te Deum to give thanks for the past year, the exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and the Pope's Eucharistic Benediction.

After the rites in the Basilica, the Pope paid a visit to the Nativity scene on St. Peter's Square.






POPE REPEATS WARNINGS
AGAINST CONSUMERISM,
GIVES THANKS FOR 2007

Rome, Dec. . 31 (DPA) - Pope Benedict XVI offered thanks for the year that has just passed at the evening service in St Peter's Basilica in Rome Monday, but he warned against excessive consumerism and the influence of secularism. "Many people, especially young people, feel drawn by a glorification - or it is better to say profanation - of the body and a banalization of sexuality," Benedict said.

"Also in Rome you can feel a lack of hope and trust in life. This is the 'dark' evil of modern Western society," he said.

The traditional Te Deum hymn, the first line of which translates as "We thank you God," was sung at the New Year's Eve service as a thank you for the year that is ending.

Benedict also says Mass at 10 o'clock on the first morning of the new year in St Peter's.

January 1 marks the Catholic World Day of Peace which has been celebrated for 40 years since Paul VI sent a message of peace to the world's governments in 1967.

Benedict published his message for World Peace Day in the middle of December under the title: The Human Person, The Heart of Peace.

In it he condemns war, nuclear weapons, terrorism and abortion and calls for peace in the war-torn countries of Africa and the Middle East.











Pope Benedict XVI Criticizes
Lack of Hope in Western Society
By VOA News
31 December 2007


Pope Benedict XVI has criticized Western society for what he called its lack of hope, which he said leads many people to seek sexual gratification instead of practicing faith and family values.

The pontiff also deplored poverty and other evils burdening families in Rome and elsewhere. He made his comments in St. Peter's Basilica during a homily at the final evening prayer offered there in 2007.

Pope Benedict then expressed hope that efforts by the faithful to deal with such problems will be successful and bear fruit.

The pope is to begin the New Year Tuesday with Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. The Roman Catholic Church celebrates January 1 as its World Day of Peace.



POPE VISITS NATIVITY SCENE












The Nativity Scenes
in St. Peter's Square

Translated from
the 12/30/07-1/1/08 issue of



To build a Nativity Scene (Christmas creche) is a simple and effective way of presenting and transmitting the faith, Pope Benedict XVI has said.

And it is with that objective that every year since 1982, a giant Nativity scene is set up in St. Peter's Square, where art and tradition combine to give life to a concrete Christian testimony of faith.

And every year, the tableau gets new pieces, ideas, messages, even interpretations. This year, alongside the greater than lifesize statues dating to 1842 from the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, there are new figures from the Trentino region of northeastern Italy and from Mexico.

All the annual Nativity Scenes to 2006 may now be seen in a book published by the Governatorate of Vatican City State entitled I presepi in piazza San Pietro. Venticinque anni di realizzazioni 1982-2006['The Creches at St. Peter's Square through 25 years, 1982-2006', 280 pp., 68.00 euros].

Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, Vatican Secretary of state, presented a copy to Pope Benedict XVI before Christmas, although it was originally intended by the Governatorate as an 80th birthday gift for the Pope.

The Foreword and the Closing Reflection were written by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo and Mons. Renato Boccardo, president and secretary of the Governatorate, respectively.

Edited by Carlo Cuscianna, director of technical services, the pages show the main features of the creches presented in the past quarter century, with historical notes and ample photographic documentation.

"With Benedict XVI," Cardinal Lajolo writes, "the Nativity scenes have surpassed the dimensions of preceding ones, reaching a figurative level which makes the presentation more attention-getting."

It is a fact that the creche, beside the giant Christmas tree, is the focal point of the Piazza during the Christmas season and becomes both an amplification and a background for the Christmas messages of the Holy Father: from his statements in support of the family to his Christmas Day message Urbi et Orbi.

Work on the creche generally starts in the summer when the designs are finalized. At the beginning of November, artisans and specialists under the direction of the Vatican's technical services department, begin to execute the work. Eventually, carpenters, masons, electricians and landscape gardeners are involved, as well as the Franciscan missionaries of Mary, whose special assignment is to sew the costumes for the figures.

All in all, about a hundred personnel are involved in preparing the creche and the Christmas tree, which must be decorated with at least 2000 Christmas bulbs. While the Nativity scene is being set up, a wall surrounds it, so that it is not seen until the lighting of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, when the creche is also blessed. Everything is dismantled on February 2, Candlemas Day.

Characteristic of all the creche designs for St. Peter's Square is the 'catholicity' of its components, which come from various Christian traditions.

Cardinal Lajolo writes: "Roman figuration has been fused with that of other peoples, according to that spirit of universality which characterizes 'Roman-ness', because Christianity does not have cultural confines."

Mons. Boccardo writes in his closing meditation: "Who among us has not stopped at length in front of the Nativity Scene in St. Pete''s Square to look at the face of the Baby Jesus? Beyond the tenderness we feel about any birth, what touches us is the the mystery of a much more profound beginning: it is God himself who is showing us his face".

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


Tomorrow's Papal event:

January 1, 2008
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD
WORLD DAY OF PEACE

Cappella Papale, Holy Mass
St. Peter's Basilica, 10:00
Concelebrating with the Holy Father will be Cardinals Bertone and Martino;
Mons. Fernando Filoni, deputy secretary of state; Mons. Dominique Mamberti,
secretary for external relations; and Mons. Giampaolo Crepaldi,
secretary-general of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.