NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

Posted earlier today in the preceding page:
- Breakaway Catholics challenge papal ultimatum - Reuters reports a statement by Lefebvrian spokesman
claiming their superior Mons. Fellay has answered the Vatican letter 'without responding to its ultimatum'...
Fr. Zuhlsdorf on his blog posts an update citing statements made by Mons. Fellay in a radio interview today
in which he explicitly says 'it is wrong to say [the SPSPX} has rejected the Vatican conditions', rather
that they want to continue with the dialog... Rorate caeli provides a translation of Fellay's relevant statements.

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Did Cardinal George really say some of the things attributed to him here? If he did, he is being very impolitic, to say the least - and flat out wrong! But then, this is a report from a TV commentator - and we all know how unreliable and loose that can be!



Cardinal George reflects
on Pope's visit to U.S.
by Jay Levine



MIDLOTHIAN, Ill., June 27 (CBS) ― Francis Cardinal George invited Chicago area Catholics to join him Thursday in an evening of reflection on Pope Benedict XVI's visit to America.

Cardinal George was at the Pope's side every step of the way. So was CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine, who was also at Thursday's speech by the cardinal.

CBS 2's camera was the only one at the cardinal's speech in Midlothian, where he offered a candid take on an extraordinary week.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the U.S. as a stranger, welcomed to a country curious about him and his background. But in less than a week, all agreed, the Pope made quite an impression.

The cardinal said, "As he was leaving, I said 'Holy Father, you should be a very happy man as you're returning to Rome.' He said, 'I am.'"

Cardinal George had been at his side the entire trip; his perspective, shared with parishioners Thursday night, was of a kind of transformation as the week went on.

"Each day he seemed more relaxed and more enthusiastic. And finally on Saturday, when he spoke with the young people, there was a dimension to his personality I'd never seen before," the cardinal said. [Can it be the cardinal never watched video covarage of Pope Benedict's public events before he came to the United States?]


From his first comments to reporters, and throughout the week, the dominant theme was the protection of children -- something Cardinal George said American Bishops had recommended he stress.

"We had to tell him 'Holy Father, you have to speak to this. This is the event that has most wounded the church," the cardinal said. ['We had to tell him'? He started to address the matter on the plane from Rome!]

When the trip ended and Pope Benedict returned to Rome, Cardinal George said he received a message from officials at the Vatican.

"I came to understand that they were surprised at what happened. 'What did you do to him over there in the United States? He's a very different man.' I don't know how long that will last but it made an impact on him as he made an impact on us.'" [But how absurd! Would anyone close to Benedict say that? The trip to the US did not change who the person is - it merely revealed him to those who did not or could not see him for what he is!]

It was almost as if he'd been transformed from the "stern professor" he has often been portrayed as to a compassionate pastor, something which might have an impact not only on his image in America, but on his entire papacy. [Is this Levine's conclusion or Cardinal George's?]