HOLY FATHER'S STATE VISIT TO BRITAIN SEPTEMBER 2010

Thanks for the photos, benedetto.fan


Papa really seemed to enjoy his trip and George G. is looking pretty cheerful too.

Found this in the Birmingham Mail:
A SENIOR Birmingham councillor today hit back at critics who complained that the Pope’s visit left Cofton Park in a churned up mess.

The park has been left covered in muddy tyre tracks and football pitches are unplayable after more than 50,000 pilgrims attended the service by Pope Benedict XVI.

Coun Alan Rudge, who headed the event for Birmingham City Council, insisted that the park will be properly restored.

It comes after some residents and local football teams complained about the condition.
Click here to find out more!

Coun Rudge (Con, Sutton Vesey) said: “It is exactly as we expected. This was a once in a lifetime massive event. There was always going to be some damage.

“We wrote to everybody in the area, including football teams, telling them this would happen.”

He said that any event of this size was bound to cause damage to the park, but it is not permanent and will be repaired over the coming weeks. “We will deal with it. The park will be restored to its pristine condition, but it will take a few weeks depending on the weather.

“Two of the football pitches will be playable within a week, again depending on the weather.”

The company hired to organise the Papal service, WRG, are footing the bill for the park restoration.

The firm has only just finished dismantling their equipment and officially handed the park back to the city council yesterday.

Birmingham City Council came under fire as dog walkers and football teams returned to the park to find it a muddy and boggy. The recent wet spell of weather has not helped.

The venue was chosen as it is near to the home of Cardinal John Henry Newman who was beatified, taking another step on the road to sainthood, by the Pope during the service.


I was there. Wide metal non-slip walkways were put down, but it wasn't possible to avoid walking on the already muddy grass, as people had to find places to park their picnic chairs. I was able to walk around in order to find good vantage points from which to take photos, but I didn't move during the Mass. I did go for the Beatification Mass, not to stalk the Pope!!!!! However, our parish priest's favoured VIP ticket[ he was a concelebrant] and that of our newly ordained deacon allowed me to get photos from much closer than I had thought possible. After the Holy Father had left we were stuck in Cofton Park until it was time to walk back to the coach. Thus we walked around, as did everyone, and found food stalls and those selling official merchandise. When you have tens of thousands of people milling about on grass, what could the local people expect? I daresay Hyde Park itself looked pretty well trampled down after the Vigil.

Scottish Catholic churches report dramatic attendance increase after papal visit

(EWTN News)
Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Sep 27, 2010 / 03:54 pm

Catholic priests in Scotland are reporting a marked increase in church attendance, following Pope Benedict's visit to the country on September 16. Local priests told the Edinburgh Evening News that some Masses over the weekend, the first since the Pope concluded his state visit, had been standing-room-only, with some crowds even spilling out into the streets.

Fr. Michael Henesy, a priest at the large parish of St. Patrick's in the Old Town, said he believed the reinvigorating effect would continue beyond the immediate impact of the visit. “People were commenting on the increase of our congregation at the weekend,” he said. “The visit overall has been a tremendous boost for us and will have a lasting effect.”

The Evening News reported that “hundreds more” parishioners, and possibly new inquirers, were attending Masses at Catholic churches around Edinburgh.

Just under a third of Scots describe themselves as non-religious. Although around 40 percent identify themselves as members of the protestant Church of Scotland, less than 10 percent of Scots are actually considered full members by the denomination itself. Mass attendance among Scotland's 800,000 self-identified Catholics increased during the past decade, due to Eastern European immigration.

Bishops throughout the United Kingdom have described the visit as a major boost for the Church, and a sign that Christian faith remains an essential part of English, Scottish and Welsh society. A total of 200,000 people turned out to see Pope Benedict as he passed through Edinburgh and later celebrated an open-air Mass at Bellahouston Park.

In a letter last week to participants and organizers of the visit, Cardinal Archbishop Keith O'Brien and Glasgow's Archbishop Mario Conti said that the Pope's trip “reminded all those watching that the Catholic faith in Scotland lives and flourishes even in these often faithless times.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=khpIXKfM4WU

Here's a You Tube video which will warm your hearts. Sorry I don't know how to post the actual video.



[If anyone can tell me how to post a video, please write to me, as it seems to be more satisfactory than simply posting a link. Thank you! Mary]

Another heart-warming item:


Papal blessing makes cat famous

BIRMINGHAM, England, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Pushkin, the cat in residence at the Birmingham Oratory, has become a celebrity since Pope Benedict XVI blessed him on his trip to England.

The Rev. Anton Guziel, Pushkin's owner, told The Daily Telegraph the cat made himself hard to miss during the papal visit last month.

"As soon as the pope arrived the most terrible howling could be heard," Guziel said. "There was an awesome presence there and Pushkin wanted to acquaint himself with it."

After he prayed, the pope stopped for a chat with Pushkin, a black half-Persian, tickling his ears, telling him he is pretty and even shaking his paw, Guziel said. Several cardinals found the sight irresistible and took photographs.

Benedict visited the Oratory last month to honor Cardinal John Henry Newman, who lived at the Oratory Priests Home for almost 40 years before his death in 1890. The pope officially proclaimed Newman's beatification.

Guziel said Pushkin, who already exchanges Christmas cards with Princess Michael of Kent, has been getting a lot more mail in recent weeks.

"He had a letter from Canada from a priest who also had a cat called Pushkin who sadly died," he said. "Then he had a nice card with an embroidered cat on it from a lady, and mail from some cats who live in a Carmelite convent in Wolverhampton."

This is a heart-warming article.


The First Fruits: The UK One Month After Benedict

By Paul Burnell
Patheos
Oct. 12, 2010

Recently a coalition of UK evangelical Christians launched a project called Not Ashamed to be Christian, wherein adherents would promise to wear an outward sign of their faith on December 1 of this year.

It might seem strange to open a reflection on Pope Benedict XVI's recent missionary journey to Britain by flagging an initiative by people not normally admitted to the ecumenical tent, but in reality the pope's visit seems to have pre-empted this venture . . . or is it a move of the Holy Spirit?

Since the pope's mid-September visit here, there is a definite sense of English Catholics suddenly rediscovering their confidence (the Scots have never lacked this). This emboldened spirit even seems to be emerging from the normally reticent hierarchy. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster (London) in a pastoral letter following the pope's visit urged his flock to make their faith more visible in daily life, by offering to pray for people, by openly blessing themselves with the Sign of the Cross, or by making such remarks to people as "God bless you."

Now to some, especially in a country as in-your-face religious as the USA, this may seem pretty basic. But in one of Europe's most secular nations, where even an employee of British Airways was disciplined for wearing a cross, this is quite up-front and noteworthy.

Roman Catholics could be forgiven for feeling cowed by the aftermath of the abuse scandals, yet since the pope's humble acknowledgement of the hurt and anguish suffered through decades of inaction and mishandling, there is a tangible feeling that a boil has been lanced.

The Holy Father's visit began with media hostility and ended in tens of thousands of people -- not just Catholics -- lining the streets for him. Visiting several churches across different cities since his visit, one notes a sense of the foot soldiers in the pews feeling less inhibited about their faith. Hearing a newly-consecrated bishop preach last week on the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Schoenstatt' movement's first shrine in the UK, I was struck by the sheer joy on this shepherd's face as he peppered his homily with references to the words the Holy Father uttered in the UK.

And people seemed so grateful for this.

Some bishops have referred to a "Benedict bounce" with more people coming to church and an increase in inquirers.

Personally I think this is far too robust a term to be associated with the holy, gentle, humbly intellectual genius that is Pope Benedict XVI. It is no coincidence that he chose Newman's motto Cor Ad Loquitur (heart speaks to heart) as the motto for the UK visit. The awesome, genuinely warm four-day exchange between shepherd and flock will grow a lasting fruit because Pope Benedict spoke to our hearts -- and indeed our souls -- but the season of growth may be extensive. His kind of witness sometimes takes longer to bear fruit as we try to overcome our concupiscence.

A friend told me an enlightening story last week. She was attending 40 hours devotion at an inner city church, where she heard the priest confess of his lukewarm initial response to the pope's scheduled evening vigil for youth at London's Hyde Park. But Fr. X explained that as he encountered the incredible silence of a Pontiff and his outdoor flock of 80,000, praying in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament something moved him, profoundly. In fact, he based the last hour of the 40-hour devotion on the pope's programme for that night.

Everyone who attended that vigil has spoken of the silence at that event, which seemed to many to recall the half-hour silence mentioned in Revelation 8:1. One man, I know, a fully paid up member of "the church liberal," has repeatedly spoken with awe about how that silence, that vigil, affected him.

Of course the Lord's parable of the sower and the seed is a reality check; some who embraced the pope's visit may be like the seed that did not bear fruit. However you can't help thinking that Peter came among us obeying the Lord's admonition to strengthen the brethren (Luke 22:32), and that his obedience was efficacious.

We feel truly strengthened by those truly amazing four days in September.


Manchester's Paul Burnell is a UK-based journalist who writes for BBC Online and other publications.

News
Pope Benedict gives thanks for ‘fruitful’ visit to UK
12/10/2010 4:00 pm

Pope Benedict XVI has sent a personal letter of thanks to Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference England and Wales, in which he describes his visit to the United Kingdom last month as "fruitful" and "such a success" saying that the visit afforded "unprecedented opportunities…to build new relationships and to strengthen existing ones, including with representatives of other religions."
Full text
To the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols
President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
I am writing to thank you most sincerely for all that you and your brother bishops in England and Wales did to make my first official visit in the United Kingdom such a success. Please extend my thanks to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities who worked so diligently to render my Visit to England so fruitful. I would ask in particular that you convey my affectionate greeting to the people of London who welcomed me so warmly.
I am very conscious of the significance of the events of those days and the unprecedented opportunities afforded me, both by Her Majesty’s Government and by the Church of England, to build new relationships and to strengthen existing ones, including with representatives of other religions. It was particularly moving for me personally to preside at the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Finally, I am grateful for Your Grace’s hospitality at Westminster and for the welcome afforded me by the faithful of London, especially the young people and the elderly.
Invoking the intercession of Saint George and Saint David, patrons of England and Wales, I willingly impart to you and to the bishops, clergy, religious and lay faithful in England and Wales my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of grace and peace.
From the Vatican, 1 October 2010

[Anna Doyle]

Happiness shared is happiness doubled!!!!!!

What the Pope's visit changed

Sacred Mysteries: A month on from Pope Benedict's welcome to Britain, Christopher Howse weighs the effect

Christopher Howse
Telegraph.co.uk
Published: 7:00AM BST 23 Oct 2010

When the Pope visited Britain last month some said that everything had changed for good. That is not true in the sense of the nation being converted to the paths of righteousness. And there was also something which changed for the time being. That was the easy ride enjoyed by a small number of atheist zealots, the usual suspects, who had mocked him in the much the way that alternative comedians once mocked Mrs Thatcher.

What changed permanently is surely the reputation (more than just image) of Pope Benedict. However long he continues as Bishop of Rome, he will be known in Britain not as an isolated authoritarian hankering for lost glory, but as a thoughtful man, a little shy, never happier (except perhaps when listening to music, as at Westminster Abbey or when saying his prayers) than in discussing how the Church and state might work for the common good.

A turning-point was the address to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall. It wasn't just that his audience applauded him after his speech as he walked through the historic building. This was remarkable enough, given the historic roots of a part of parliamentarianism in the rejection of popery. But the friendly gesture was not the distinguishing note of the occasion – after all, the Queen herself, welcoming him to Scotland had spoken of being "united in conviction" with him about the freedom to worship being "at the core of our tolerant and democratic society".

No, the decisive moment at Westminster Hall was when the Pope denied for the Church the role of supplying "the objective norms governing right action", let alone proposing "concrete political solutions". The latter point should have been clear, since Catholics sit with conviction on both sides of the House of Commons. But it might have been thought that the Church ought to supply the moral underpinning.

Not so, the Pope insisted. The answer to the question "Where is the ethical foundation for political choices to be found?" was that it was to be supplied by reason, without the privilege of divine revelation.

Certainly, reason could be distorted, as the "totalitarian ideologies of the 20th century" showed. And that was why "the world of secular rationality and the world of religious belief need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilisation". This was a thousand miles from the exploded caricature of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope, as a dogmatic rottweiler.

There were, naturally, moments of entirely spiritual witness – not least when 80,000 people at Hyde Park fell silent as the Pope led them in unspoken prayer to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.

Another striking scene came when this old man invited a crowd of schoolchildren – and all the young people in the land – to set their ambitions upon becoming saints. "Once you enter into friendship with God," he told them, "everything in your life begins to change."

Pope Benedict did not just preach to the converted. After their meeting (by coincidence at the beginning of the Day of Atonement), the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, moved by the Pope's commitment to Catholic-Jewish relations, said: "It was an epiphany. Soul touched soul across the boundaries of faith."

Those words echoed the motto – Cor ad cor loquitur – of the man the Pope had come to beatify, John Henry Newman. Now, after the beatification, previous objections to it seem petty.

Luckily, the Pope's speeches were not couched in the jargon-ridden half-Latin that once characterised English translations of encyclicals. They are online at thepapalvisit.org and, with colour pictures and reflections by figures who met him, in Benedict XVI and Blessed John Henry Newman, edited by Peter Jennings (CTS, £14.95).

We must keep memories of the Papal Visit alive. Julia is writing an account for our parish magazine, but I've written nothing, although I posted a few photos. I have more and I'd like to write something. So far I haven't because it's a bit boring writing about my brown Hotter shoes being covered in Cofton Park mud and not being cleaned for over a week afterwards, which is true! I put them in my porch and just looked at them. I do hope that Clare and Nan may write something, but there's no sign of it yet. I hope to be going to Walsingham with some of the people who were on our deanery coach, so I'm sure we'll keep talking about Cofton Park and the day they saw the Pope for the first time. I've been lucky: I've seen him many times in Rome, though very rarely close up. That's strictly for the birds! But Julia couldn't believe she was actually seeing him. We both bought scarves at an exhorbitant price, from a vendor on the pavement on the way up from the coach....anyway, more of that when I get round to writing a little story.

No sign of the DVD yet and, remember, that one that purports to be it, is not!



I KK