BAPTISMS AT SISTINE CHAPEL
This is the first news report I could find for today's baptism ceremony. It is from ANSA, the Italian news agency. Here is a translation -
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On the day that the Church celebrates the feast of the Baptism of Jesus, Papa Ratzinger today followed a practice by John Paul II who during his Papacy, baptized a group of children
(sometimes including adults) every year.
John Paul baptized a total of 1,370 babies and adults not only on January 8, but also on Easter Vigil and other occasions, up to when his health permitted it.
The babies baptized by the Pope today, after Mass, are named Giorgio, Maria Luce, Emanuele, Vittoria, Martina, Caterina, Massimo, Gioele, Marika and Lorenzo. One of them has Karol for a second name, after John Paul, while two of them have Benedetto or Benedetta for a second name.
Sylvie's first montage of the event
photos : www.catholicpressphoto.com/servizi/2006-01-08-battesimi/def...
”We wish these babies a good life, the true life, and happiness even in a future as yet unknown,” the Pope said in a homily that he gave extemporaneously, disposing of a prepared text. He spoke of the significance of the sacrament of Baptism, during the Mass celebrated in the Sistine Chapel for the first 10 babies to be baptized in his Pontificate.
“We are not in a position to transmit this grace for the entire arch of an unknown future,” he said, during a true catechetical lesson which lasted half an hour under the splendid vault painted by Michelangelo, “and so, we trust the Lord to grant this grace.”
“In Baptism, the child joins a company of friends who will never abandon him, in life or in death. This company is the family of God which carries with it the promise of eternity. A company which will always be with you, even in days of suffering, in the dark valleys of life as well as the days of solace, comfort and light.
“This family will give the child eternal life, will show him the right way, offer him the solace, comfort and love of God, even in the dark valley or at the threshold of death, will give him friendship, will give him life. This absolutely trustworthy company will never disappear. None of uis know what will happen on our planet and in our Europe in the next decades. But we are sure that whoever belongs to the family of God is never alone, and will always have the friendship of him who is life itself.
“This family of God, this company of friends, is eternal because it is a communion with him who triumphed over death, who has in his hands the keys of life. To be in the company of the family of God means to be in communion with Christ who is life and eternal love beyond death. Love and truth are the springs of life. Life without love is not life at all.”
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/01/2006 18.12]