BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

See earlier entries for today, 5/14/10, on the preceding page.



The Virgin, the people, the Pope



(14 May 10 –RV) As the image of our Lady of Fatima passed through the immense crowd gathered on the esplanade of Fatima, I watched the faces illuminated by the flickering flames of candles, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people, men and women, young, old, mothers with their children .... Expressive, intense, faces marked by pain of life’s trials; innocent, sincere , deeply emotional faces, tears and smiles.

The people, the People of God are here: throughout the long night, in vigil, and then throughout the day, in spite of rain, wind, sun. They came from every corner of Portugal and Europe, by any available means - by air, by car, on foot – carrying their secret prayer in their hearts, holding the candle in their hands, Our Lady’s beloved song on their lips".

Who called them? Who convoked them? Certainly not the media, neither the expert organisers, nor the bishops, not even the Pope.

We know that these people were called here by a "small lady of light" who appeared to three shepherd children in this remote and insignificant place.

Nearly a hundred years have passed and the call has not lost its strength. And over the last 40 years, five times a Pope from Rome has come here too on the fateful date of May 13th.

Not denying the power of this call, each Pope became a pilgrim with the People of God, that were entrusted to him. Each Pope came to say “I love”, to pray and do penance for the conversion and salvation of all peoples, and to commend to God their pain and anguish, joys and hopes.

As Pope Benedict said en route to Fatima, the Pope "stands for the Church" - where he is, there is the Church, and where the Church is, there he is, too.

At Fatima Mary said, right from the beginning, "Pray with the Pope and for the Pope for the life of the world".

In these past days, we felt and lived this prayer with constantly renewed surprise, with deep emotion and joy, with great hope.

Despite the evidence - internal and external - the Church is alive and on the move, accompanied by the Holy Spirit.



Pope's trip exceeded expectations,
says Fr. Lombardi


VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's apostolic visit to Portugal this week exceeded expectations, said a Vatican spokesman.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, affirmed this on Vatican Radio while reflecting on the Pope's trip, which ended today.

"It has been a truly joyful experience for the Pope so far, he has been welcomed to a rich and vibrant Church, in a moment of profound spirituality," the priest said.

He spoke about Benedict XVI's Marian devotion, noting that "he has visited many Marian sanctuaries," and that the Pontiff's visit to Fatima on Thursday was a "high point."

"These immense crowds that welcomed him, and that prayed with him, show us how central Marian devotion is in the life of the Church today," Father Lombardi affirmed.

He noted that "the organizers themselves weren't expecting such vast numbers."

Thus, the spokesman said, "this trip is a sort of surprise even if, you know, when you come to a traditionally majority Catholic country, and moreover to a place where every year May 13th is celebrated, that you may expect an 'intense' experience."

"Nonetheless," he added, "it has gone beyond our expectations."

When asked about Benedict XVI's comments that Fatima's prophetic mission is not yet complete, Father Lombardi explained, "The Pope is telling us that Fatima is a place in which Our Lady and the seers, their tradition, help us read the story of our times, the great difficulties of our times, in the light of faith."

Still today, the priest noted, "there is the action of God, there is his Providence, in the goodness of the Virgin Mother, but then there is also the responsibility of humanity, which often closes in on itself, and because of sin we then have wars, difficulties and suffering."

"In the midst of all this there is the key of prayer, penitence and conversion to open up the path to good," he said.

"This is the prophetic message of Fatima," Father Lombardi explained. "It helps us to read history, even the history of today and tomorrow, in the light of God."

From an earlier ZENIT report:

The Portuguese are discovering the true face of Benedict XVI, who is in no way a distant or cold person, Fr. Lombardi said when interviewed by Portuguese journalist Aura de Miguel about the first part of the Pope's visit.

"The Lisbon part of the trip was wonderful, accompanied by great crowds, not only in the esplanade for the Mass, but also on the streets, with great enthusiasm," Father Lombardi said of the Holy Father's first stop.

"The Portuguese generally thought that the Pope was remote, distant and cold, byt they have seen that it's the contrary," the spokesman asserted. "He is discreet, but very kind, full of love. This was evident when he is with young people and children. This is a first result of this trip."

Lisbon, widely presented as a "great secularized city," has discovered that "the Pope loves the Portuguese people and is by their side," Fr, Lombardi said, adding tnat the Pope himself has been "very happy" and "grateful" for his warm welcome in Portugal.

"He feels the love of the Portuguese and their desire to meet with the Pope, which is manifested in smiles, singing, joy; it is a very happy moment for him," the Jesuit said.

In Fatima, where the Pope arrived Wednesday, Father Lombardi said the atmosphere is "completely different."

He spoke of the "hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and the manifestation of a simple, popular faith. One feels the love, the joy of being with the Pope, of celebrating this great feast of faith: It's an exceptional experience."

Father Lombardi acknowledged that these four days of traveling are extremely intense, filled with public and private meetings. But, he said, the Pontiff has taken up the three priorities shared by the bishops of Portugal: "the culture, the priests, the social commitment -- crucial points for the life of the Church and society."

In this context, Father Lombardi said he is convinced that the trip "is going to help the renewal of the Church, not just in Portugal."

BENEDICT XVI ENDS
4-DAY APOSTOLIC VISIT
TO PORTUGAL


Pope Benedict XVI left Portugal at 2:16 p.m., 16 minutes beHind schedule, after a four-day trip that was an unqualified success.

The Holy Father was seen off by President Cavaco Silva who had made it a point to be present in all the three cities on teh Pope's itinerary.

The papal delegation took an Airbus A320 of the Portuguese national airlines, TAP, for the trip back to Rome, where he was expected to land at Ciampino airport at 6 p.m. Rome time.





here is the Vatican translation of his farewell address at Porto's Carneiro International Airport:

---

Mr President,
Distinguished Authorities,
Dear Brother Bishops,
Dear Friends,

At the conclusion of my visit, my heart is filled with vivid memories of a great many moments from my pilgrimage to Portugal. I shall long remember the heartfelt and affectionate welcome that you accorded me, the warmth and spontaneity with which bonds of communion were established with the groups that I was able to encounter, the hard work that went into the preparation and realization of the pastoral programme.

As I take my leave, I express sincere gratitude to all of you: to the President of the Republic, who has honoured me with his presence since my arrival here, to my brother bishops with whom I have renewed our profound union in the service of Christ’s Kingdom; to the Government and to all the civil and military authorities who have done their utmost with visible dedication throughout the entire journey. I offer you every good wish!

The communications media have enabled me to reach out to many people who were unable to see me in person. To them too I am most grateful.

To all the Portuguese, whether Catholic or not, to the men and women who live here, whether they were born here or elsewhere, I extend my greetings at this moment of leave-taking.

May you live in increasing harmony with one another, a pre-requisite for genuine cohesion and the only way to address the challenges before you with shared responsibility.

May this glorious nation continue to manifest greatness of spirit, a profound sense of God and an openness to solidarity, governed by principles and values imbued with Christian humanism.

In Fatima I prayed for the whole world, asking that the future may see an increase in fraternity and solidarity, greater mutual respect and renewed trust and confidence in God, our heavenly Father.

It has been a joy for me to witness the faith and devotion of the Portuguese ecclesial community. I was able to see the enthusiasm of the children and young people, the faithfulness of the priests, deacons and religious, the pastoral dedication of the bishops, the desire to search for truth and evident beauty in the world of culture, the resourcefulness of the social pastoral workers, the vibrancy of faith among the lay faithful in the dioceses that I visited.

I hope that my visit may become an incentive for renewed spiritual and apostolic ardour. May the Gospel be accepted in its entirety and witnessed with passion by every disciple of Christ, so that it may show itself to be a leaven of authentic renewal for the whole of society!

I impart my Apostolic Blessing to Portugal and to all its sons and daughters, bringing hope, peace and courage, which I implore from God through the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima, to whom you pray with such trust and firm love. Let us continue to walk in hope! ADEUS!

---

AND THE POPE IS BACK IN ROME -
DEO GRATIAS!
Translated from


Benedict XVI arrived in Rome at 5:43 p.m., Rome time.

At the end of the trip, before leaving the plane, the Pope met individually with the eight Portuguese journalists who were on the papal flight and exchanged a few words with each one.

To Octavio Carmo of Agencia Ecclesia (the Portuguese bishops' news agency) and Agencia Lusa, the Pope said the Portuguese bishops told him the news agency rendered 'important work' for the Church.

The Pope also received the crew of the TAP Portuguese national airline Airbus that flew him to Rome.


The Pope arrived in Ciampino airport in Rome and took a helicopter to return to the Vatican.

A bit of good news for Mons. Mixa, and also for the Pope... I am posting it here because it is unusual that a public accusation of sexual abuse against a bishop was so promptly investigated - and dropped. Last week, I posted the news that the supposed abuse victim had come out to say he was never sexually abused by Mixa, under whom he worked as a church acolyte when Mixas bishop of Eichstaett. This was obviously a case of malicious and unfounded accusation.


Prosecutor drops sex abuse charges
against Bishop Mixa of Augsburg



BERLIN, May 14 (AP) - Prosecutors on Friday dropped an investigation of sexual abuse allegations against a German bishop who recently resigned, citing a lack of evidence.

Bishop Walter Mixa's Augsburg diocese said last week it had referred the allegations to prosecutors but gave no details.

Ingolstadt prosecutor Helmut Walter said a preliminary investigation has been closed because "a crime could not be established." Mixa's lawyer had rejected the accusations.

Mixa offered his resignation last month following separate allegations of physical abuse of children and financial misconduct.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation last weekend.
Mixa initially denied ever using violence against youngsters but later said he may have slapped children.

Later on Friday, an independent special investigator looking into the case released a report detailing the physical abuse allegations against Mixa.

In his report, Sebastian Knott wrote that Mixa hit children while serving as a priest decades ago, the German news agency DAPD reported.
Knott published victims' statements saying they had been brutally
punched, hit with sticks and in one case even beaten with a belt.

Knott also confirmed financial irregularities at a children's home under Mixa's responsibility around the same time as the allegations of abuse.

British police learn from
the Pope's visit to Portugal
by Richard Owen in Lisbon

May 14, 2010

As Pope Benedict XVI ended his four-day trip to Portugal today, a senior British police officer said that during his visit to Britain in September the Pope would not be permitted to get as close to people as he had been during his Portuguese trip because of the greater danger of protests as well as terrorism.

In an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Noticias, Meredydd Hughes, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire, praised Portuguese security, which had been “professional, well organised and well equipped”.

However, Mr Hughes, who led a 12-man British police delegation to Portugal during the Pope’s trip to study security arrangements, said: “Your police have been much more relaxed and calm than we are about the distance the Pope is allowed to be from the people.”

He said that British police would use “many more physical barriers” to protect the pontiff than had been the case in Portugal, where the Pope was greeted by large and enthusiastic crowds in Lisbon, Fátima and Porto.

Mr Hughes said that this was not only because of the threat of terrorism but also because of “the anti-Papal protests which are expected in Britain”.

Asked about police protective clothing and equipment, Mr Hughes said that it was “much the same” in Britain as in Portugal, “though we will not copy your policemen's habit of wearing sunglasses. There is not much need for sunglasses in Britain in September”.

The Pope, 83, will make a three-day trip to Cyprus next month, and will spend much of July and August at Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence in the Alban Hills south of Rome, before travelling to Britain in September.

Vatican officials have said that he will not take his traditional summer holiday in the Italian Alps this year to spare him further “tiring journeys” and public appearances. [Did they say that at all? All they said then was that the Pope has decided to go straight to Castel Gandolfo for the entire summer. They don't have to give a reason, and they did not!]

At his last stop In Porto today, Pope Benedict called for Catholic “dialogue with different cultures and religions” as he held the last outdoor Mass of his Portuguese tour, during which huge crowds have turned out to show support for him as he confronts the clerical abuse scandal engulfing the Church. [The crowds would have been huge whether there was a 'scandal' or not! When will non-Catholics start appreciating what the Pope represents to the average normal Catholic (not to the fashionable dissidentS)?]

At the Mass in Porto, attended by 150,000 people waving Vatican flags and throwing rose petals, the Pontiff said that although “we impose nothing”, Christians must by definition be “missionaries”.

“In recent years the anthropological, cultural, social and religious framework of humanity has changed”, he said. “Today the Church is called to face new challenges and is ready to dialogue with different cultures and religions, in the search for ways of building, along with all people of goodwill, the peaceful coexistence of peoples.”

During his five-year pontificate Benedict has several times had to mend fences with Judaism and Islam after offending Jewish and Muslim sensitivities, and his overtures to disaffected Anglicans to defect to Rome en masse have threatened to overshadow his visit to Britain. [Yeah, yeah, yeah. Enough with teh sour grapes, already!]

It was announced this week that in an ecumenical gesture Benedict will pray alongside Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, at the tomb of St Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey.

The Pope’s emphasis at Porto on the Catholic Church’s continuing missionary vocation was seen as an attempt to move on from the paedophilia scandals by urging Catholics to continue spreading the faith and defending traditional Church values. ['An attempt to move on'? It's what the Pope has been preaching almost daily, 'scandal' or not!]

He said that the Church’s mission now covered not only “non-Christian people and distant lands, but also socio-cultural environments, and above all the heart, which is real recipient of missionary action”, seen as a reference to the growing secularisation of traditionally Catholic countries, including Portugal.

The Pope flew to Oporto by helicopter from the shrine at Fátima, where half a million people flocked to a Mass on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the claimed apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three shepherd children in 1917.

The Virgin Mary reportedly predicted world events, including the Second World War, Communist Russia’s return to Christianity and the attempt to kill John Paul II on May 13, 1981, the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima.

The Vatican suggested that the large turnout, which was larger than that for John Paul II when he visited the shrine ten years ago, was a show of public support for Benedict over his handling of the paedophile crisis in the Church. ['The Vatican' suggested nothing! A spokesman for the Portuguese bishops did, but his statement was elicited by a question from the reporter, so he said yes, the turnout could also be seen as a sign of support.]

On the plane from Rome to Lisbon this week the Pope appeared to disown claims by Vatican officials that the crisis is the result of a conspiracy by the Church’s enemies, saying it was due to “sins inside the Church”. [How this matter escalates into something else every time it is repeated! Which Vatican official ever suggested that 'the crisis is the result of a conspiracy by the Church's enemies'? The only accusation made by some, like Cardinal Levada, is that the media are using the sex abuse stories as a way to attck the Church in general. Can the media deny that? They have become exploitative by second nature, and they know it.]

Father Federico Lombardi, the Pope’s spokesman, said: “What has happened in the last few months, with the problems of the abuse scandal, could lead one to think that the attention and energy towards the Pope has been weakened, but that has not happened”.

At Fátima the Pope criticised gay marriage [He never once mentioned gays or homosexuals] and abortion as “insidious and dangerous threats to the common good”, saying the family was based “on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman”. [He has only said the same thing 9,679 times before!]

Portugal legalised abortion in 2007. Next week President Anibal Cavaco Silva, a Catholic, is due to sign into a law a bill sanctioning same-sex marriage.

Italian police said that two Moroccan students in their twenties had been expelled from Italy two weeks ago after interception of their phone and Internet traffic showed they had “extremist Islamic sympathies and had said they were “ready to murder the Pope”. No explosives or arms were found at their lodgings, however.

Police said that the pair had appeared to be “model students” at the University for Foreigners in Perugia, where the Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca studied before his attempt on the life of John Paul II in St Peter’s Square, Rome in 1981.

Portuguese authorities said that Agca, who was recently released from prison in Turkey, had wanted to meet Pope Benedict at Fátima, but this had been judged “inopportune”.



BTW, yesterday, ssveral hours after that mammoth Mass in Fatima, I was remarking that the New York Times had not reported a single line about the Pope's ivist at all, since the big to-do they made over their entirely mythical 'most complete admission of guilt to date' regarding sex abuses, on May 11, when he was on his way to Lisbon.

Is it a surprise that the same writer, Rachel Donadio, finally filed a report based on a meeting the Pope held yesterday with pastoral workers engaged in social service - surely far less important in news value than the two huge Masses celebrated up to that time by the Pope and totally ignored by the 'newspaper on record... of all the enws that's fit to print'. Except that he spoke on issues that always raise the hackles of the secular press. Suddenly, it was newsworthy, and the NYT article begins this way:
"Pope Benedict XVI used a famous Portuguese shrine to the Virgin Mary on Thursday as a stage to denounce abortion and gay marriage, just days before Portugal is expected to join five European countries that have legalized same-sex weddings."

...And on and on for thirteen paragraphs, before finally mentioning the Mass in one sentence:
Earlier on Thursday, Benedict celebrated Mass before an estimated half a million faithful on the anniversary of the day three peasant children are said to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary here in 1917.

What figure in the world can attract half a million people, let alone mobilize hundreds of thousands, on four consecutive days, other than the head of the Roman Catholic Church? And yet, a Mass attended by half a million only deserves one sentence in the New York Times report! 120,000 turn up in Berlin to listen to candidate Obama, and the MSM treat it as the Second Coming of Christ, but numbers four days in a row of 280,000 (Lisbon Mass); 500,000 (Rosary and candlelight procession in Fatima); 500,000 (Fatima Mass); and 150,000 (Porto Mass) are not considered newsworthy????

She ends with this:
Since arriving in Portugal on Tuesday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the beatification of two of the peasant children, Benedict has sought to broaden the significance of the message of Fátima to help the Church overcome its difficulties in the sexual-abuse scandal.

Excuse me while I run off to the drugstore. I'm all out of barf bags!....

The best answer to those who think
Pope Benedict XVI is isolated
by Paolo Bustaffa

May 14, 2010


The crowds that welcomed him in Portugal, particularly in Fatima, and the affection of the faithful everywhere he went constitute the most beautiful - and even most effective - response to those who think that there is a growing gap between Benedict XVI and his flock.

The images of the visit in Portugal say otherwise. These are images of a Church that, despite its wounds and difficulties, is united around Peter to share his sufferings, his prayers and his hopes.

"I feel your affection and devotion", he told the Portuguese people, expressing his joy and gratitude for their extraordinary manifestations towards him.

Faithful to his mission, after having recalled the present difficulties of the Church, he said: "I carry in me the concerns and the expectations of our time and the sufferings of a wounded mankind, the problems of the world".

Words to penetrate the heart and conscience. It is alaso an appeal not to leave the Pope alone in a task that is truly great. ['One that cannot be done by one man alone", as he said in his inaugural homily.]

Not to leave him alone means also to show closeness with him, as on May 16 in St. Peter's Square [rally of support called by the Italian council of Catholic lay movements], to express Christian witness in the private as well as the public spheres.

The Pope cakks on the faithful to follow him in a pilgrimage of truth with the steps of faith and reason.

This Pope has alarmed his detractors by opening wide hethe horizons of reason and showing that faith not only takes the path of reason but is joined to reason.

In Portugal, he said this encounter was decisive in order to confer full dignity on the human being, to restore holiness to life, to eo enjoy happiness and to dare to hope.

The Pope proposes a festive pilgrimage that is nonetheless thoughtful, questioning and expectant. Christians are witnesses as well as messengers, the Pope pointed out.

"Simply proclaiming the message does not penetrate to the depths of people’s hearts, it does not touch their freedom, it does not change their lives," he told the bishops of Portugal Thursday evening. "What attracts is, above all, the encounter with believing persons who, through their faith, draw others to the grace of Christ by bearing witness to him".

In such a perspective, even "at a moment of weariness in the Church",
we can all feel "the joy of being Christian, of living in the Church".

The Pope speaks to a people who are listening, to faithful made up of many young people, to an immense audience.


The reception in Portugal was icing on the cake, as it were, because the attendance at Angelus and the Wednesday audiences, at the Holy Week liturgies, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday and the Urbi et Orbi message, not to mention the trip to Malta - where, as in almost all the papal trips outside Rome, the available photo coverage completely omits the reception of the people who line the routes of the Popemobile - are a continuing emphatic affirmation that Catholics, for the most part, have a special, almost mystical, reverence and affection for the Pope that non-Catholics will never understand.

A reverence and an affection that even the almighty contemporary media cannot hope to eradicate, much less do so overnight as they delude themselves. The faithful learn with their earliest catechisms that Christ built his Church on the rock of Peter. The Church stands or falls by that rock.

And we thank God for providing the Church in the modern age with Successors of Peter who have been worthy of Christ's mandate.

On May 16, lay Catholics
in communion with Peter:
An interview with Cardinal Scola
Translated from

May 14, 2010


On Sunday, May 16, Feast of the Ascension [in countries which celebrate it on the Sunday following the traditional Ascension Thursday), the Catholic lay movements of Italy have mobilized to gather at St. Peter's Square to pray with the Pope and for the Pope at the noontime Regina caeli.

ilsussidiario.net spoke to Cardinal Angelo Scola, Patriarch of Venice, about the significance of such an action.

Eminence, how do you read the gesture from the Catholic laity on Sunday in support of the Pope?
For what it is. A shared moment of prayer and Christian brotherhood which takes on a very special meaning because the Regina caeli prayers will be led by the Pope himself.

Many newspapers are calling it a great gesture of solidarity with the Pope by the faithful. Is it the faithful who should support the Pope, or should they not be receiving it from the Pope instead? [What a silly question!]
In the life of the Church, the most effective word to express the value of prayer is the term 'communion'. Communion has to be visibly manifested, because if it remains purely an intention, then it can be easily wasted. In fact, communion only lives within the organic kinship of the Church.

In Italy, we shall be celebrating the Ascension on Sunday. The Risen Lord guides the Church whose leadership he has given irrenunciably to the Successor of Peter, and so, Sunday will be a feast of communion.

What is the value of the Pope for the Church, and how do we make Christ contemporary?
To make Christ always contemporary we must follow the Christian way of living that he described once and for all: "Whenever two or three among you shall meet in my name, I will be in your midst". And He will be with us to the end of the world.

The gift of faith at Baptism is expressed by a personal encounter with Christ and remaining in that encounter. One is Christian if one allows oneself to be 'involved' with Jesus every day.

Since man does not recognize reality if it is not communicated to him, the Christian must be able to communicate his communion with Jesus. A Christian must be a witness. The spirit of the Risen Lordin him must show through his very being, through what he does in favor of all his fellowmen. This is the definite way to make Christ contemporary.

The Pope's primary and singular mission as the Successor of Peter is what Jesus entrusted him with: to confirm his brothers in this attitude of witness.

In his homily in Lisbon, the Pope said: "Always seek out the Lord Jesus, grow in friendship with him, receive him in communion", and then later, "Be a witness for the joy of his strong but gentle presence, starting with your contemporaries. Tell them how beautiful it is to be a friend of Jesus and that is well worth following him". How can one live this friendship with Jesus?

Once again, by living with decisive humility the experience that he proposed to his disciples: the great condition is communion which is lived through strong belonging in a Christian community in ways that are visible and documentable.

Then one can repeat the invitation that Christ made to the apostles he recruited on the banks of the Jordan, "Come and see". Post-modern man who thirsts for happiness and freedom, even when he is also thought to be post-Christian, is really asking for a community of good living and practical virtues.

In any case, a similar need is at the heart of every authentic Christian, precisely because he understands that faith exalts beauty, goodness and truth in man.

What struck you most about Benedict XVI's visit to Portugal?
His call for penitence in its true significance - appealing to the utmost depths of ourselves. to man's hearts. Entrusting man to Mary as the Pope did in Fatima is the royal road for learning true penitence.



Tens of thousands to pack
St. Peter's Square in support of Pope



Rome, Italy, May 14, 2010 (CNA/EWTN News) - Answering the call from the Italian Bishops' Conference-promoted National Consultancy of Lay Aggregations (CNAL), thousands of people are planning on attending the Regina Coeli prayer in St. Peter's Square on May 16. The initiative aims to provide a visible sign of support, affection and gratitude for the Pope's ministry.

On April 14, CNAL, composed of 67 Italian ecclesial movements and associations, called upon its members and all people who wish to show their solidarity with the Pope to participate in the mid-day Marian prayer in St. Peter's Square this coming Sunday.

As of Friday, the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI), Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, CEI secretary general, Bishop Mariano Crociata, and Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno were all slated to attend.

In addition to these leaders, CNAL expects "several tens of thousands" to come from member associations, parishes, dioceses, schools and universities.

The Italian bishops' news agency, SIR, has reported a stream of declarations from associations across the nation announcing they will participate in support of the Holy Father.

Church-based organizations such as the Italian Movement for Life, the International Union of Guides and Scouts of Europe and the Renewal of the Holy Spirit, which has promised 10,000 participants, have pledged their presence.

Secretary General of CNAL, Paola Dal Toso, stated on Wednesday that those turning out in the square will not be limited to associations. "We expect groups, simple lay faithul or individual families to come from all of Italy," she said.

The original call for participation says that by coming together on Sunday, the faithful wish to bring themselves "visibly around Benedict XVI as sons with their father, desiring to sustain him in his challenging ministry, expressing affection and gratitude to him for his passion for Christ and for all of humankind."

Following the Regina Coeli prayer with the Pope, Cardinal Bagnasco will preside over Mass for participants in the Roman Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls.

Accompanying the call to St. Peter's Square this weekend is a text message initiative created by the television program “In His Image” from Italy’s RAI television. The program allows people to send a text message to Pope Benedict XVI.

Well. It was wonderful to see that this trip was practically ignored by the German media who have focused on the Oktoberfest of ecomenical soft washed festival in Munich, instead.
You may also call it the Catholic-bashing-festival, as our Bishops attend and shrink in fear of offending people by defending the Cathoic faith. If you have the chance, have a look at the promgram. It includes loads of itmes for homosexuals. Pro life activities? Forbidden - it could offend the poor protestants!

Hansi Küng has had his moment of fame. As well as superstar Kässmann, who hailed the pill as a gift from God during a 'sermon' inside of the 'Liebfrauendom' in Munich.
Can you be any more hostile and rude than that?! Is it necessary to insult the doctrine of your host?
No comment from Archbsp. Marx. Why?! Because he's petrified with fear.

Catholic theologians are harvesting cheers by demanding women ordination and married Priests during podium discussions.
And NOBODY stands up to oppose them!

I have no words....




Nor have I! I had no idea how so-called 'ecumenical' gatherings have deteriorated into an orgy of Catholic-bashing, really in-your-face defiance of Catholic orthodoxy. And I have no words for Archbishop Marx - who would allow a defense of the pill or any similar 'heresy' inside the Catehdral of Munich - and the other spineless German bishops... During the visit to Portugal, I came across an item about a message the Pope had sent to this gathering - I must look it up.

What on earth is wrong with the German-speaking bishops, including Schoenborn and his gutless Austrian conference? Decades of willingly trying to 'protestantize' their respective churches have not stopped liberal Catholics from formally leaving, and obviously have not brought in any new Catholics in any number that could possibly cacel out - much less male up for - the outflow! And yet, they persist in bending over backwards, almost like begging to be 'raped' symbolically. And all for the sake of what? A completely wrong understanding of ecumenism! It's all very depressing... Imagine how the Pope must feel....

And I should not be surprised that the German media have ignored the Portugal trip. It confirms my working hypothesis that the MSM will ignore any news that could positively cast the Pope ina positive light, preferring to report only what suits their storyline... As I think I proved with the New York Times selective 'coverage' of the trip - two stories in all, and both to deride him!


TERESA

It was particularly difficult to keep up with the coverage of the Portugal visit not only because of its wealth of events - the two days in Fatima were intense - but because the entire visit fell during the week, when one does not have the relative leisure of a weekend to try to be prompt and comprehensive in posting reports, let alone commentary on the events.

One of the immediately memorable commentaries I saw thanks to Beatrice on her site

benoit-et-moi.fr/2010-II/
was a blog entry by Jean Marie Guenois, religion editor of Le Figaro. A commentary that brings back all the emotion of watching the event - Benedict XVI praying to Our Lady of Fatima upon arriving at the Shrine on Wednesday, May 12... A most unexpected spiritual reflection from a secular journalist that I have been swirling around in my palate like a sip of a rare wine that must be shared... Fortunately, the moments he describes were rather well documented on photographs.





A rose for Our Lady:
The Pope becomes a child
Translated from the blog

by JEAN MARIE GUENOIS
Religion Editor

May 12, 2010





In the Marian shrine of Fatima, I had the chance on Wednesday afternoon to be a few meters away from Benedict XVI and to see him in contemplation before the venerated statue of the Virgin.

Surely there could be nothing more common than to see a Pope pray. He's merely doing his job, some would say.

It so happens I have already observed several similar situations but I have rarely noted such a 'recueillement' in anyone. [The one-word English translation is reverence or meditation, but the sense conveyed by the French word, and its cognates in the other Romance languages, is much more active, literally, a 'gathering in' of one's entire being.]

It is impressive and difficult to describe. Is this because of too much emotion or lack of objectivity [on the part of the observer]? I don't think so.

There are instances like this of 'extreme' human situations which may be signs of suffering, or of intense joy, a mythical exteriority - or a unique interiorness. Though intimate, they are nonetheless 'fact'.

What had happened? Benedict XVI went towards the image to offer it a gift - a rose in gold and silver - a symbol of thanksgiving. He had just read a prayer in which he evoked his predecessor, John Paul II, the assassination attempt on him, and the sufferings of the Church. He was the Pope and being so.

Then, he seemed to be transformed the moment his aide handed him the rose to lay at the foot of the image. Now, he was no longer a Pope but a child. He walked forward with the smile of a child on Mother's Day - at once very happy with the gift he was going to present, too moved by the knowledge of it, and rather timorous of the gesture he is making in a sort of role reversal since a child is used to receiving gifts rather than giving them.

Benedict XVI placed his present at the feet of the Virgin, then he began to pray with his whole being, it seemed - eyes closed, almost physically 'sucked in' by the image. Long minutes, paradoxical ones, made up of absence, a stunning presence, and silence.

Around him, on the esplanade, some 300,000 faithful seemed to vibrate in diapason. Now and then, the man in white regarded the image with a look of both tenderness and distress. A look that implored even as it gave thanks.

Then, his master of ceremonies came to take him by the arm gently. The child became the Pope again.

Some may scoff at this as mystical ecstasy, or mystical delirium, they would say. But I would pay my respects to a man's prayer - whoever he is. This secret dialog of the soul, in which each individual works his own alchemy. But in which one grasps, precisely from facial expressions, the 'truth' of such moments.

In the same way that, not long after, I was struck by the tears in the eyes of an old Portuguese peasant, his skin leathery from a life of work, after his eyes met the Pope's. The old man was overwhelmed. He clearly did not wish to weep but with tears in his eyes, he was an example of dignity.

This is pure emotion. In this respect, religion is very human, and shrines like Fatima are alive with high spiritual tensions.

It made me think how difficult it is to write of spiritual phenomena. As a journalist. But other professions, too, are similarly challenged. Without any doubt, there is an objectivity to religious expression. Just because it has been 'described' as subjective does not mean that it is not objective per se. And precisely as a 'factual fact', I would dare say.

I also reflected on what one calls 'spiritual sturggle' which seems palpable in a place like Fatima, when thousands of persons are praying with one heart.

I then thought back to what I had written in the past regarding Benedict XVI's supposed 'distance' from Marian questions - which is his reputation at the Vatican. [I have always found this strange, but I suppose such Vatican 'doubters' are probably judging him by the standards of his predecessor's open and total devotion to Mary - 'Totus tuus' was his motto - forgetting not just that Benedict XVI is Bavarian but that he grew up in a family and an environment that was specially and actively devoted to Our Lady of Altoetting, and as cardinal, he had written three books on Mary.]

I then realized that I had mixed up two things: his extremely rational approach to supernatural facts and his personal devotion. John Paul II was a Polish Pope who was a passionate lover of the Virgin Mary and never hid it. Benedict XVI has the same passion but this famously modest man does not 'display' it.

As for his rationalist approach to the phenomenon of apparitions from heaven, the Pope spoke of it on his inflight news conference en route to Lisbon.

He explained the importance for the Church of distinguishing the psychological, cultural and historic conditioning of persons who feel, see or hear supernatural manifestations, from the essence of the message for which they serve as the vehicle for communication.

Because then, faith which is stripped of its human conditionings (thus, time is needed for the right discernment) deploys its most profound sense which has universal importance and traverses history.





Guenois joined Le Figaro in 2008 after 10 years as religion editor for La Croix, a Catholic newspaper. As a correspondent, he lived in Rome from 1989-1998, during he founded I-Media, an international news agency that has distinguished itself for its reliable 'insider' reporting from the Vatican. In 2005, he wrote a book about Benedict XVI

(The sense of the title is roughly 'The Pope who was not supposed to be electable').

A rose from the Pope
Editorial
by Giovanni Maria Vian
Translated from
the 5/14-5/15 issue of


The papal visit to Portugal revealed the kind and strong heart of Benedict XVI, who is increasingly perceived more clearly in his apostolic visits as carrying out the mission of the Successor to Peter.

As he did in Lisbon, Fatima and Porto, where the simple and intense affection of the Portuguese - so numerous and so enthusiastic that they surprised the impeccable trip organizers themselves, and even the international media which have not always been benevolent - was manifested passionately and movingly.

Especially in the Shrine of Fatima which is truly the spiritual heart of the nation and evident proof of the modernity of Mary, who was greeted with waving white handkerchiefs and showers of rose petals reserved by tradition for the Blessed Mother and for pilgrims coming back in olden times from Rome.

Indeed, this apostolic visit was made in the name of Our Lady of Fatima, following those of Paul VI and John Paul II, and in sight of the centenary of the apparitions in 2017.

A visit to confirm the message entrusted by the Virgin to the three child visionaries - a message so rooted in the Bible, and a prophecy that is as permanent as it is far from imaginary speculations:

Notwithstanding the selfishness that always threatens human life and peace, notwithstanding the continued suffering of the Church for the sins of her children, the last word, Benedict XVI reiterated, will never be that of evil, which was conquered by the Risen Christ, and which, therefore, Christians can and must fight and defeat through prayer, penitence and witness.

Before the small image of the Virgin and in the presence of about 300,000 pilgrims, the Pope offered her a Golden Rose that he had brought from Rome "as a son who has come to visit his Mother and does so in the company of a multitude of his brothers and sisters".

In the bullet that his predecessor had asked to be embedded in the crown of the image - the bullet that misked killing him - Benedict XVI sees a symbol of the sufferings of the Church and the world.

Thus, as the Year for Priests is coming to a close, Benedict XVI consecrated himself and all priests to the Blessed Mother, with a gesture that is within the tradition of Fatima, but which took on an added significance because of his confident appeal for radical faithfulness which is so necessary in these times.

Once more, 'Peter today', as his Secretary of State has called him, is not alone. Surrounded and sustained by the communion of saints in the affection and growing sympathy of numberless Catholics and non-Catholics, the successor of the first among the apostles called on the Catholics of Porto - but spoke to all Christians - for just one thing:

"Dear brothers and sisters, it is necessary that you become witnesses with me to the resurrection of Jesus". In order to make God present in this world, where only the light of Christ - lumen Christi - can make the flame of faith burn brightly, a flame which can be extinguished if it is not continually fed.

A flame to illuminate the darkness, like the candles of Fatima which are reflected in the Pope's rose.







Images from the canldelight procession and rosary led by the Pope on the vigil of the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

Most newspaper reports on the Pope's first day in Fatima did not report it because of the earlier events - offering the Rose to the image, and the consecration of the clergy to Our Lady.

Yet is was an event as significant as the Mass, if only because virtually all 500,000 who were at the Mass the following morning were already in attendance. As in Lourdes, the candlelight procession and recitation of the Rosary is a signal event, especially when led by the Holy Father.

Saturday, May 15

SAN ISIDRO LABRADOR (Isidore the Farmer)(Spain, 1070-1130), Confessor, Patron of Farmers
Our saint was born poor and all his life, he worked on the estate of a wealthy Madrid landowner, along with his wife who would herself be canonized as Santa Maria de la Cabeza. He was well-known for his piety, going to Mass everyday before starting work, often coming late. But his colleagues said an angel did the work for him while he was away, and later, his master would claim seeing two angels alongside Isidro as he plowed the land. Despite his own poverty, he was known to help other poor, miraculously coming up with food to share. More than 400 miracles were presented for his canonization. Among them, that he saved his own son from drowning in a deep well and that he brought back his master's dead daughter to life. In 1212, almost a century after he died, his exhumed body was found to be incorrupt. He became the patron of Madrid from then on. He was canonized in 1622 along with four other great Spanish saints - Ignacio de Loyola, Francisco Javier (Francis Xavier), Teresa of Avila, and Felipe (Philip) Neri. In 1960, John XXIII proclaimed him patron of farmers and day laborers. He is one of the most popular saints in the Hispanic world. In the Philippines alone, countless farming communities venerate him as patron saint, and his feast day is observed as a very colorful harvest festival celebrating the fruits of the earth. A major agricultural fair named for him is held every year in Seville, Spain.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/051510.shtml


OR for 5/14-5/15:

Benedict XVI ends his visit to Portugal, reiterating that the Church is open to dialog with other religions and cultures
'Renewed by love to transform the world'
The relevance of the message of Fatima in the face of the selfishness of nations, races, ideologies, groups and individuals

Photos above: The Pope consecrates the clergy to Our lady of Fatima at the Basilica of the Santissima Trinidade; in bottom panel from left, taken respectively at his meeting with social workers and then with the bishops of Portugal in Fatima; and from the Mass in Porto. his meeting with bishops.

The double issue covers the second half of the Pope's apostolic visit, with all the events in Fatima and the Mass in Porto. The choice of pictures, at least those posted online, is disappointing and unimaginative, and includes none of the great moments in Fatima. International news on Page 1: security concerns over continued rioting in Bangkok after a top opposition general was shot, and the spreading oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico.


No events scheduled for the Holy Father today.


The Vatican released the text of a papal message which was sent to the Second Ecumenical 'Kirchentag' (Church Day) being held in Munich May 12-16 on its opening day.

A Church persecuted
by the sins of her children
This is the 'terrifying' relevance of the message of Fatima, according to Benedict XVI.
But the last word is always the goodness and mercy of God.
And Christians must earn it in prayer, penitence and witness.




ROME, May 14, 2010 – Curiously, Benedict XVI spoke the most striking words of his four-day trip to Portugal, centered on a pilgrimage to Fatima, before he landed in Lisbon, while he was still in flight, the morning of Tuesday, April 11.

He spoke them, apparently off the cuff, in response to a question posed by journalists on the airplane.

Actually, his words were carefully chosen. The questions had been presented to him ahead of time by the director of the Vatican press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi. And the Pope had chosen three of them, the third of which concerned the "secret" of Fatima and how it could relate to the scandal of priestly pedophilia.

Here is the question with the Pope's answer:

---

Now we come to Fatima, which will be the spiritual culmination of this trip. Holy Father, what meaning do the apparitions of Fatima have for us today? When you presented the text of Third Secret of Fatima at the Vatican Press Office in June 2000, many of us and other colleagues asked if the message of the secret could be extended, beyond the assassination attempt against John Paul II, to the sufferings of other Popes. Could the context of that vision also be extended to the suffering of the Church today, for the sins of sexual abuse of minors?

First of all, I want to express my joy at going to Fatima, to pray before Our Lady of Fatima, which is for us a sign of the presence of faith - that from little children, a new power of the faith was born, not limited to them, but with a message for the whole world that touches history in the present and illumines it.

In 2000, during the presentation, I said that an apparition, that is, a supernatural impulse does not come only from the imagination of the person [perceiving it] but in fact, from the Virgin Mary herself. Such ab impulse enters the [perceiving] subject and is expressed according to the possibilities of the subject, who is conditioned by his or her historical, personal and temperamental circumstances. Therefore the subject translates this great supernatural stimulus into his/her own possibilities to see, imagine and express it.

But in the expressions formulated by the subject, there is a hidden content that goes beyond, goes deeper. Only in the course of history will we be able to see all this depth which was, shall we say, 'clothed', in this vision that was made concrete to actual persons.

Therefore I would say, even in this case, beyond the great vision of the Pope's suffering, which we attributed in the first instance to John Paul II, other realities about the future of the Church are also indicated that will gradually develop and become clear.

And so it is true that beyond the moment indicated by the vision, it also speaks and sees the need for Passion (suffering) in the Church, which is naturally reflected in the person of the Pope. But the Pope represents the Church, and therefore, the sufferings indicated are those of the Church.

The Lord has told us that the Church would always suffer in various ways till the end of the world. The important thing is that the message, Fatima's answer [to such suffering], does not substantially refer to particular situations, but is the fundamental answer itself, namely, permanent [continuing] conversion, penitence, prayer, and the three theological virtues- faith, hope and charity.

Thus we see the true and fundamental response that the Church must give, that each of us must give, in this situation.

As to any new thing that we may find in this message today, there is also the fact that attacks on the Pope and the Church do not only come from outside, but that the sufferings of the Church also come from within the Church, from the sin that exists in the Church.

We have always seen this, but today we see it in a really rerrifying way: that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies but is born from sin within the Church, and therefore the Church has a profound need to re-learn penitence, to accept purification, to re-learn forgiveness, on the one hand, but also the need for justice. Forgiveness is not a substitute for justice.

So we must relearn the essentials: conversion, prayer, penitence and the theological virtues. But we must be realistic: evil always attacks - it attacks from within and from without - but also that the powers of goodness are present, and that ultimately, the Lord is stronger than evil, and for us, Our Lady is the guarantee. The goodness of God is always the last word in history.

---

These words of Benedict XVI were a twofold shock to some observers.

First of all, because the interpretation Papa Ratzinger gave to the 'third secret' was not limited to what has happened, as the standard Church interpretations have been, but is open to the present and the future.

"We would be wrong to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is done," he said again to the faithful gathered at the shrine.

And in the second place, because of the statement that "the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies but is born from sin within the Church." [COLORE=#1216FF[When the MSM reported this statement, reporters omitted the important words 'is born' which is unmistakable in the Pope's words in Italian!]

Here again, he contradicts the view expressed by many ecclesiastics, who claim that the Church suffers primarily from the attacks against it from the outside.

[But I must protest this dismissive misreading of what 'many ecclesiastics' say. Those who have spoken out against the anti-Pope media campaign do not claim that "the attacks are primarily from the outside". What is claimed - and factually so - is that attacks from the outside are a deliberate campaign to weaken, if not to bring down, the Church.

I don't think anyone like Cardinal Sodano, for instance, who has been falsely accused of dismissing media reports of sexual abuse as 'petty gossip' (and for whom I hold no particular brief but deserves fairness), ever thought that the problems of the Church are entirely caused by external forces, much less that the Church - the men who represent it - have not done anything wrong! That is a facile generalization that is fallacious, as most generalizations often are.]

But in both cases, Ratzinger did nothing but to confirm and enunciate views he had formulated on previous occasions.

Just recall, for example, this passage from the homily – also improvised – that he gave during the Mass he celebrated last April 15 with the members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission:

---

There is a tendency in exegesis to say that Jesus in Galilee announced unconditional grace, absolutely unconditional, therefore, a grace without repentance, grace as such, without human preconditions. But this is a false interpretation of grace.

Repentance is grace. It is a grace that we can recognize our sins, it is a grace that we acknowledge the need for renewal, for change, for a transformation of our being. Repentance - to be able to do penance - is a gift of grace.

I must say that we Christians have in recent times avoided the word repentance, which appears to us rather harsh. Now, under the attacks by a world that tells us of our sins, we can see that to do penance is a grace. We can see it is necessary to do penance - which is to acknowledge what is wrong in our life, to be open to forgiveness, to prepare for forgiveness, to allow ourselves to be transformed.

The pain of repentance, namely of purification, of transformation - such pain is grace, because it is renewal, the work of divine mercy.

---

And on March 19, in the letter to the Catholics of Ireland, he wrote similar things. For example, that the scandals of pedophilia among the clergy "have obscured the light of the Gospel to a degree that not even centuries of persecution succeeded in doing."

And that only a journey of penance, on the part of the entire Church of that country, could open the way to purification and conversion – in a word, to grace.

Also in the letter to the Catholics of Ireland, Benedict XVI wrote that the scandal of the sexual abuse of minors by priests "has contributed in no small measure to the weakening of faith."

For Pope Benedict, the weakening of faith is the greatest danger not only for today's world, but also for the Church. Therefore, he associates with this danger what he calls the "priority" of his mission as pontiff.

He wrote this with crystalline clarity in the memorable letter that he addressed to the bishops of the whole world on March 10, 2009:

"In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai; that God whose face we recognize in a love which persists 'to the end' (cf. Jn 13:1) – in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen."

And he said it again, in the exact same words, on the grounds of the shrine of Fatima, the evening of May 12 this year, in blessing the torches before the recitation of the rosary:

"In our time, when the faith in many places seems like a light in danger of being snuffed out for ever, the highest priority is to make God visible in the world and to open to humanity a way to God. And not to any god, but to the God who spoke on Sinai; the God whose face we recognize in the love borne to the very end (cf. Jn 13:1) in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen."

Speaking to the bishops of Portugal, on the afternoon of Thursday, May 13, Benedict XVI again proposed this priority for all Catholics of that country: "Keep the prophetic dimension alive, without muzzling it, on the stage of the present world, because 'the word of God is not chained!' (2 Timothy 2:9)."

But he also warned them that simple speeches or moral appeals are not enough to witness to the Christian faith. A holy life is necessasry.

The same holiness that this Pope has long been asking for, above all from priests. Especially in the Year for Priests, which is about to conclude next month, at the center of which he placed as a model a humble nineteenth-century country priest, the holy Curé of Ars.

Because "precisely from the little ones is born a new power of faith". From the little ones like the three little shepherds of Fatima.


Second from left, the handwritten text by Sor Lucia of the 'third secret'; next to it, a painting of the 'Third Secret', by Georgette Backs, 2005.


It took me some time to do this post, because in the rush to post items on the day the Pope arrived in Fatima, I posted the Vatican translation of his inflight interview without going through it, as I usually do. And now, going through Magister's post, I checked that English translation and discovered to my horror that it was 'doctored' in quite a few unnecessary ways.

Luckily, I remember that shortly after the Pope arrived in Lisbon, Andrea Tornielli had posted his transcription of the interview for his newspaper, Il Giornale. The translation in the above post is mine (from Tornielli's transcription), as is the translation of the Pope's homily to the members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission (from the original Italian transcript).

BTW, I hardly ever use the English translations provided for Magister's posts as is, because I find them too literal, and often awkward and unidiomatic. So I always refer to his original article as written in Italian.)

Conflicting reports on
impending curial changes

AGI and ANSA have conflicting reports, but I will translate AGI's first since it is from Salvatore Izzo, who is generally reliable, while ANSA for some reason never provides a byline for its stories.


Bishop of Basel to succeed
Cardinal Kasper at 'Christian Unity'
by Salvatore Izzo



VATICAN CITY, May 15 (Translated from AGI)- Benedict XVI has decided to name the Bishop of Basel (Switzerland), Mons. Kurt Koch, to succeed Cardinal Walter Kasper as president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. (Kasper, 77, is two years past canonical retirement age.]

One of the candidates was Mons. Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, and a theologian respected by the Pope, but his Italian nationality weighed against him, in the interests of a more international Curia.

The only Italian expected to be named to the Curia will be Mons. Rino Fisichella, current rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, who is expected to be named prefect of a new congregation for 'new evangelization'.

But this will not increase the number of Italians in the Curia because of the coming retirement of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re as prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. He is expected to be succeeded by Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, in whose 'hands' the nominating process for new bishops is expected to undergo a qualitative change.

Meanwhile, the Apostolic Nuncio in Italy, Mons. Giuseppe Bertello, who was said to be in the running to be the next Prefect for the Evangelization of Peoples, is not. For the simple reason that the current Prefect, Cardinal Ivan Dias, is not retiring yet [although it had been rumored he wished to retire because of poor health].

Sure to retire because of age is Cardinal Franc Rode of Slovenia, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life. A possible replacement would be the current secretary of the dicastery, Mons. Jean-Louis Brugues, a Dominican and emeritus Bishop of Angers (France).

Like Pell, Brugues is considered one of the most faithful 'Ratzingerians', who has been outspoken against any tolerance for pedophile priests or lesser but more widespread ecclesiastical sins like careerism and business dealings.

Still teh subject of speculation is the papal delegate who will temporarily take over administration of the Legion of Christ. It is unlikely to be any of the five bishops who conducted the apostolic visitation for teh Vatican because they are all diocesan bishops. In the Vatican, they say "it is not good to strip an altar for the use of another altar".


Mons. Forte to be named
to 'Christian Unity'


VATICAN CITY, May 15 (Adapted and translated from ANSA) - Nine Curial nominations are expected to be announced by the Vatican at the end of June.

Well-placed sources say that
- Mons. Giuseppe Bertello, Apostolic Nuncio to Italy, will replace Cardinal Ivan Dias of India as prefect for the Evangelization of Peoples;
- Mons. Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, will be named to succeed Cardinal Walter Kasper at the Council for Promoting Christian Unity;
- Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, will succeed Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re at the Congregation for Bishops;
- and that on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the Pope will announce the creation of a new Congregation for the Evangelization of the West to be headed by Mons. Rino Fisichella, currently rector of the Pontifical Lateran University.

He is expected to be succeeded as rector by Mons. Enrico Dal Covolo, Postulator-General of the Salesian Order.

Another Salesian, Italian-born Mons. Riccardo Ezzatti Andrello, Archbishop of Concepcion (Chile), is said to be the possible papal delegate to temporarily take over administration of the Legion of Christ. He was one of the five apostolic visitators to the Legion.

He is also said to be in line to be named Primate of Chile and Archbishop of Santiago, succeeding the current Archbishop, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, who is now 77. But there is said to be opposition from the local Chilean bishops who would prefer to have a Chilean-born superior.

So it is thought that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is supporting him to be named Prefect of the Institutes for Consecrated Life. But it now appears more likely that he will be named papal delegate to the Legion of Christ.

I apologize I did not pay immediate attention to this message when the Vatican Press Office released it yesterday. It is most unusual for the kind of message it is supposed to be - such messages are usually generic expressions of good wishes with specific references to the occasion and persons concerned. But this is a veritable homily expressed in almost colloquial terms, in a way that refers almost directly to the trials the Church has been undergoing. I found it quite amazing!


BENEDICT XVI'S MESSAGE
TO ECUMENICAL GATHERING IN MUNICH:
'The good seed is not stifled by evil,
and not everything is dark in the Church'
Translated from

---

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

From Rome I greet all those who have gathered on Theresienwiese [a meadow where the annual Oktoberfest is held] in Munich for the liturgical celebration to open the second ecumenical Kirchentag.

I happily recall the years I lived in the beautiful capital of Bavaria as Archbishop of Munich and Freising. And so I especially greet the Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Reinhold Marx, and the regional Lutheran Bishop Johannes Friedrich.

I greet all the bishops from Germany and other parts of teh world, and the representatives of other Churches adn ecclesiastical communities, and all Christians who are taking part in this ecumenical event.

I also greet the representatives of public life and all those who are taking part by radio and television. May the peace of the risen Lord be with you all!

"That all of you may have hope". With this motto , you have gathered together in Monaco. At a difficult time, you wish to send a sign of hope to teh Church and to society. For this, I thank you very much.

Indeed, our world needs hope, our time needs hope. But is the Church a place of hope?

In the past months, we have had to repeatedly deal with news which would rob the Church of joy, which would darken it as a place of hope. Like the servants of the master in the evangelical parable about the Kingdom of God, we too would ask the Lord: "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?" (Mt 13,27).

Yes, with his Word and with the sacrifice of his life, teh Lord truly sowed good seed on earth. It sprouted and and continues to sprout.

We need not think only of the great luminous figures of history whom the Church has recognized as saints, namely, people who were completely permeated by God, who weer resplendent because of him.

Each of us knows 'ordinary' persons never mentioned in any newspaper or reported in any news, who matured through faith to great humanity and goodness.

Abraham, in his passionate dispute with God to save the city of Sodom, had obtained from the Lord of teh Universe the assurance that if there were ten just men in Sodom, he would not destroy the city (cfr Gen 19,22-33).

Thank God that in our city there are many more than ten just men! If today we are a bit more attentive, if we do not perceive only the dark but even that which is clear and good in our time, then we can see that faith makes men pure adn generous and educates them to love.

Once again: there are weeds even in teh bosom of the Church, and among those that the Lord had received into his service in a special way. But the light of God has not set, and the good seed has not been stifled by the seed of evil.

"That you may have hope". This expression first of all invites us not to lose sight of goodness and good people. It asks us to be good ourselves and to become good always. It asks us to speak up to God for the world, like Abraham, as we ourselves seek with passion to live according to the justice of God.

Is the Church then a place of hope? Yes, because from her the Word of God comes always and again to us, which purifies us and shows us teh way of faith.

She is, because in her, the Lord continues to give us himself, in the grace of the sacraments, in the word of reconciliation, in the multiple gifts of his comfort. Nothing can obscure or destroy all this. We must be joyful about this in the midst of all tribulations.

But if we speak of the Church as the place of the hope that comes from God, then it means at the same time, an examination of conscience: What do I do with the hope that the Lord has given us? Shall I really let myself be modelled after his Word? Shall I let myself be changed and healed by him? How many weeds are really growing within me? Am I ready to eradicate them? Am I grateful for the gift of forgiveness and ready to forgive and heal, for my own part, instead of condemning?

And let us ask once again: What, really, is 'hope'? The things that we can do by ourselves are not objects of hope, but rather a task that we should carry out with the power of our reason, our will and our heart.

But if we reflect on everything that we can and must do, then we note that we cannot do the larger things, those that can only come to us as gifts: friendship, love, joy, happiness.

I wish to note one more thing: We all want to live, but we cannot give life by ourselves. But no one these days still speaks of eternal life, which in the past was the true object of hope. And since no one dares believe in it, one must hope to obtain everything in the present life.

To set aside hope in eternal life leads to an avidity for life here and now, which becomes almost inevitably selfish, and ultimately unrealizable. Because precisely when we wish to have life as if it were something we can possess, it can leave us.

But let us go back. We ourselves are unable to realize the great things in life - we can only hope for them. But the good news of the faith is precisely this: that He who can give them to us exists.

We have not been left alone. God exists. God loves us. In Jesus Christ, he became one of us. I can turn to him and he will listen to me. Therefore, like Peter, in the confusion of our times, which persuade us to believe in so many other ways, we say to him: "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God" (Jn 6,68f).

Dear friends, I wish that all of you, who are gathered at the Theresienwiese in Munich, may once again be overcome by the joy of being able to know God, to Christ, and that he knows us.

This is our hope and our joy amid the confusion of the present.

From the Vatican
May 10, 2010

---

Of course, what the Kirchentag really turned out to be, as Heike (Cowgirl2) has described it in her post above, cannot be happy news for the Holy Father. Unfortunately, the unholy mix of wrong-headed ecumenism and political correctness results in a blurring of the Catholic identity when Catholics should be reinforcing and brandishing it.

May 16, ASCENSION SUNDAY
Seventh Sunday of Easter

From left: Icon by Andrei Rublev, 1408; undated Orthodox icon; Chapel of the Ascension, Mt. of Olives; 'footprint' of Jesus; Raphael's Ascension-Transfiguration, 1520.

ST. MARGHERITA DA CORTONA (Italy, 1247-1297), Franciscan Tertiary
A medieval Magdalene, she was for 17 years the concubine of a nobleman, with whom she had a son, who would later
become a Franciscan friar. Her conversion came after her lover was murdered. At age 30, she joined the Franciscan
lay order and devoted herself to helping the sick. She established a hospital for the poor and started a congregation
of tertiaries to work as nurses. She lived the last years of her life as a contemplative in a hilltop cell where tradition
says she had mystical experiences. She was canonized in 1728.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/051610.shtml


OR today.

Illustration: The Ascension, from a 13th-century Syriac Evangelarium.
The main papal story in this issue is the letter sent by the Holy Father to the ecumenical Kirchentag meeting in Germany
which ends today, in which he says the Church remains the place of hope, where the evil seed has not stifled the good of
many, and that despite the chaff in the Christian community, God's light has not set; and a story on the Pope's departure
from Portugal and arrival in Rome on Friday evening. Also, a front-page essay on the feast of the Ascension in the Syro-
Occidental tradition. Page 1 international news: the head of Europe's central bank says the euro is not under attack but says
the European economy has yet to emerge from the global financial crisis that started in September 2008; and a report from
the UN commission for refugees on worsening attacks against civilians by an Ugandan militia operating in the Democratic
Congo, south Sudan and the Central African Republic.


THE POPE'S DAY

'Regina caeli' today - More than 200,000 Italians crowded St. Peter's Square for the Day of Solidarity
with the Pope, organized by the Italian national council of lay movements.

REGINA CAELI TODAY:
Day of Solidarity with the Pope






200,000 turn out for the Pope
Translated from


ROME - Some 200,000 persons flocked to St. Peter's Square Sunday morning for a Day of Solidarity with Pope Benedict XVI promoted by CNAL (Consulta Nazionale delle Aggregazioni Laicali) following the media tempest over pedophile priests.

Members of lay movements and Catholic associations came in from all over Italy to show their support for the Pope. Well represented were families, members of Roman parishes, and Italian diocesan delegations.

Along the left colonnade of the piazza, CNAL hung a giant streamer reading 'INSIEME CON IL PAPA' (Together with the Pope). On the other side, two giant streamers with quotations from the Pope himself: "It is in the communion of the Church that we meet Jesus" and "Do not be afraid: Jesus has conquered evil" [in English translation].

Addressing the crowd from his study window in the Apostolic Palace, the Pope tranked the people for this "beautiful and spontaneous manifestation of faith and solidarity".

"Dear friends," he said, "today you are showing the great affection and profound closeness of the Italian Church and people to the Pope and to your priests who take daily care of you, in order that in our commitment to spiritual and moral renewal, we can always better serve the Church, the People of God, and all those who look to us with confidence."

Before the Regina caeli (the prayer that replaces the Angelus in Eastertide), Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, presidnet of the Italian bishops' conference, led the crowd in an introductory prayer, which expressed the hope that the Church, "faithful to her mission" and "purified by penance, may be a place of justice and comfort for believers".

The prayer asked for "mercy and forgiveness for our sins, purification and strength for the entire Church", and for the Lord to give priests "perseverance in serving his will".

"Listen to the cries of those who are in pain so that the they may find justice and comfort, and taking part in the life of your Church, and purified in penance, they may rediscover the infinite love of Christ".

The prayer also invoked help "along the path of conversion in these times of apprehension and hope".

In Assisi, the Franciscan friars hung a giant streamer in the lower loggia of the Basilica of St. Francis which read "From Piazza San Francesco in Assisi to Piazza San Pietro in Rome, a united voice of support for the mission of the Pope. Holiness, count on us for your mission of goodness and peace! - The Friars of the Holy Convent".

Faithful participating in a March for Peace from Perugia ended their march at the Piazza in Assisi today.






Here is a translation of the Pope's words today:

---

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today, Italy and other countries celebrate the Ascension of Jesus to heaven, which took place on the 40th day after Easter Sunday.

This Sunday is also the World Day for Social Communications on the theme this year of "The priest and pastoral ministry in the digital world: The new media in teh service of the Word".

In the liturgy we are told of the episode when the Lord Jesus takes leave of his disciples (cfr Lk 24,50-51; Acts 1,2.9), but it was not an abandonment because He remains always with them - with us - in a new form.

St. Bernard Clairvauz explains that the ascension of Jesus takes place in three stages: "The first is the glory of the Resurrection, the second the power to judge, and the third, to sit at the right and of the Father" (Sermon on the Ascension of our Lord, 60,2; Sancti Bernardi Opera, t. VI, 1, 291, 20-21).

This event was preceded by a blessing of the disciples, preparing them to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit so that salvation could be proclaimed everywhere.

Jesus himself told them: "You are witnesses of these things. And (behold) I am sending the promise of my Father upon you" (cfr Lk 24,47-49).

The Lord draws the attention of the Apostles - and ours - to heaven to indicate how to follow the way of goodness during our earthly life. He nonetheless remains in the course of human history - he is near to each of us and guides our Christian journey.

He is the companion of those who are persecuted because of the faith. He is in the hearts of those who are marginalized. He is present in those to whom the right to life is denied.

We can hear, see and touch the Lord Jesus in the Church, especially through the Word and the sacraments.

To this end, I call on all children and young people who during this Eastertie will be receiving the sacrament of Confirmation, to remain faithful to the Word of God and to the doctrine that they learn, as well as to assiduously receive the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist, so that "their life and actions may be distinguished by strong evangelical witness" (Letter decreeing the Year for Priests) and that they may utilize wisely the communications media to make known the life of the Church and to help men today to discover the face of Christ" (cfr Message for the XLVI World of Social Communications, Jan. 24, 2010).

Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord, opening the way to heaven for us, gives us a foretaste on earth of the divine life. A 20th century Russian author wrote in his spiritual testament: "Look at the stars more often. When you have a weight on your spirit, look at the stars or the azure sky. When you feel sad, when they offend you... linger with the skies, and your soul will find peace" (N. Valentini - L. Žák [ed], Pavel A. Florenskij. Non dimenticatemi. Le lettere dal gulag del grande matematico, filosofo e sacerdote russo ('Do not forget me: Letters from the gulag of the great Russian mathematician, philosopher and priest, Milan 2000, p. 418).

I thank the Virgin Mary, whom in recent days I was able to venerate in the Shrine of Fatima, for her maternal protection during the intense pilgrimage I carried out in Portugal. To her who watches over the witnesses for her beloved Son, let us now trustfully address our prayer.

After the prayer, he said this:

Thank you for your presence and confidence. Thank you!

Today, my first greeting is for all the lay faithful who have come from all over Italy, and to Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco who is with them as president of the Italian bishops' conference.

I thank you from my heart, dear brothers and sisters, for your warm and enthusiastic presence. Responding to a call by the National Council of Lay Movements, you have joined with enthusiasm this beautiful and spontaneous manifestation of faith and solidarity, along with a consistent group of parliamentarians and local administrators. I wish to express my heartfelt appreciation to everyone.

I also wish to greet the thousands of immigrants who are linked to us from Piazza San Giovanni, with the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Agostino Vallini, on the occasion of the Feast of Peoples.

Dear friends, today you are showing the great affection and profound closeness of the Italian Church and people to the Pope and to your priests who take daily care of you, in order that in our commitment to spiritual and moral renewal, we can always better serve the Church, the People of God, and all those who look to us with confidence.

The true enemy to be feared and fought is sin, spiritual evil, which at times, unfortunately, afflicts even the members of the Church.

We live in the world, the Lord says, but we are not of the world (cfr Jn 17,14), and we must beware of its seductions.

But we must fear sin, and for this, we must be strongly rooted in God, stand together for goodness, in love, in service. It is what the Church and her ministers, together with the faithful, have done and continue to do with fervent commitment for the spiritual and material good of persons in every part of the world.

It is what you particularly seek to do habitually in parishes, associations and movements: to serve God and man in the name of Christ.

Let us follow this way together with confidence, and may the trials which the Lord allows urge us to greater radicality and consistency.

It is beautiful to see this multitude in St. Peter's Square today, just as it was very emotional for me to see the immense multitude in Fatima who, following Mary, came to pray for the conversion of hearts.
I renew that appeal today, comforted by your presence in such great numbers. Thank you!

In English, he said:

I greet with joy the English-speaking visitors who have come here today, and I pray that your pilgrimage to Rome will strengthen your faith and your love for the Risen Lord.

In the course of this week we will pray with the whole Church for the coming of the Holy Spirit, asking him to pour out his gifts upon our families, our parishes, and all whom we love. May God bless all of you!

---

Italian Catholics in massive
show of support for the Pope



VATICAN CITY, May 16 (AP) — Tens of thousands of people filled St. Peter's Square on Sunday in a massive show of solidarity with Pope Benedict XVI over the clerical sex abuse scandal.

Benedict said he was comforted by such a "beautiful and spontaneous show of faith and solidarity" and again denounced what he called the "sin" that has infected the Church and needs to be purified.

An association of 68 Italian lay groups organized the demonstration, which despite a drizzling rain overflowed out of the piazza with balloon- and banner-toting faithful from around Italy.

Banners hung up on Bernini's colonnade encircling the piazza read "Together with the Pope," and "Don't be afraid, Jesus won out over evil."

Such large crowds are usually reserved for major holiday Masses and canonizations, not for Benedict's brief weekly prayers from his studio window.

The crowd interrupted Benedict frequently with applause and shouts of "Benedetto!" and Benedict himself strayed from his prepared remarks to thank them again and again.

"Thank you for your presence and trust," he said. "All of Italy is here."

Benedict didn't refer explicitly to the scandal, but repeated his recently stated position that the scandal was born of sins within the Church, which must be purified.

"The true enemy to fear and to fight against is sin, the spiritual evil that unfortunately sometimes infects even members of the Church," he said.

The Vatican has been mired in scandal amid hundreds of reports in Europe, the United States and elsewhere of priests who raped and molested children while bishops and Vatican officials turned a blind eye. Benedict's own handling of cases has also come under fire.

Benedict's pilgrimage to Fatima:
A message of hope for all the faithful
Interview with the Rector of the Fatima Shrine
Translated from
the Italian service of

May 16, 2010


It was an apostolic visit under the emblem of the joy of being Christian. Thus does the rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Fr. Virgílio do Nascimento Antunes, summarize the significance of the the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI last week.

Eugenio Bonanata asks Fr. Antunez about what he thought to be the high points of the visit to Fatima:

FR ANTUNEZ: It was truly an excellent opportunity for contact with God, for the joy of being Christian, for the sense of communion with the whole Church, and to recognize the Holy Father as the Universal Pastor. I can say they were really days of feasting, of great joy for all the pilgrims to Fatima.

What memories and images will remain with you of the papal visit?
The arrival of the Holy Father at the Chapel of the Apparitions which is the heart of the Shrine. The Pope arrived and immediately knelt before the statue of Our Lady - exactly as every pilgrim does, especially among the Portuguese.

And right away, everyone felt that he was a pilgrim like anyone else in his simplicity and humility before the Virgin. His silent prayer was a most beautiful moment of an encounter with God.

Later that evening, the start of the candlelight procession, the blessing of the candles, praying the Rosary, with the Holy Father leading, reciting the first part of each Our Father and Hail Mary...
One could see the Church praying so trustfully with the Holy Father, with this trust and hope in Mary as Mother, that their prayers would reach God.

Then there was the Mass on the 13th. The Holy Father touched us all with his words, but above all, with his smile, the way he is, and how he communicates.

The crowd which was so huge, as we know, participated intensely and in their hearts, I think, arose a love and a devotion so great for the Holy Father, which in itself is part of the message of Fatima.

What do you say to Benedict XVI's statement that "t is wrong to think the prophetic message of Fatima has concluded"?
It is a very important and powerful statement. In the 20th century, it was thought that with the downfall of the regimes of Eastern Europe, with the assassination attempt on John Paul II, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the persecution of the Church, the entire message of Fatima had been fulfilled.

But the Pope has come to tell us, No. Because the message of Fatima concerns the history of the Church and the world with all its problems - of peace, justice, even of faith and charity - and this problems will continue.

And so, the message of Fatima is open-ended, one which helps us to interpret the history of our time, to affirm the existence of God, man's need of God, of spiritual values, adn of conversion.

What did Benedict XVI leave in Fatima?
The Pope left a great hope in all pilgrims, not only in Fatima, but in the whole nation. Portugal continues to be in a difficult position economically, there is widespread unemployment, and poverty is growing.

But the Pope's message touches everyone in some way because he spoke of hope, of joy, of God, of the future, of the possibilities of man is he continues to believe in God and accept him in his life, if he works for peace.

I think that the Pope with his message, and with his person, has touched the people, bringing hope to the Portuguese. Christians and non-Christians gained in depth and were spiritually enriched by this visit and by his words.

Was the warmth of the reception for the Pope expected?
I can say that it far exceeded my own expectations, especially in Fatima where the crowds were so huge. The Pope had been seen in Portugal as a theologian, a philosopher, who had not managed to reach the hearts of the faithful. But it was exactly the opposite!

The Pope touched the hearts of everyone. He came close to children, young people, older ones, the sick. He was seen to be so human that he felt like a member of one's own family, one we had known for a long time - and this totally changed the way in which he was received and perceived. I think he proved to be far beyond the expectations of the Portuguese.



Fr. Lombardi makes a more extensive
assessment of the trip to Portugal
Translated from
the Italian service of


Sergio Centofanti interviewed Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican Press office, for an evaluation of the Holy Fahter's apostolic visit to Portugal.

FR. LOMBARDI: The assessment is definitely positive, I would even say, beyond our expectation. We can say the trip went very well and that it was a marvelous visit. The welcome was huge, it was warm, it even exceeded the expectations of those who organized the trip.

The Pope was very impressed, very hapy and comforted. He experienced this trip under the best conditions and as a great spiritual experience, praying with the People of God during the high points of the visit, which were certainly the liturgical celebrations in Fatima.

The Pope was able to convey the messages that were, in a certain sense, requested of him, that were expected by the Church in Portugal. His meetings with the world of culture, the world of social engagement, and with the priests were of strategic importance for the presence of the Church in Portugal - and each meeting was widely anticipated by those concerned.

The Portuguese bishops have confirmed that the representation of the world of culture in Lisbon was truly 'total'. And therefore this was of the greatest importance, I woudl even say of historic importance, for the Church's desire for constructive dialog with all who search, who are engaged in thinking, research, art, creativity.

And in Fatima, the horizon broadened to include Europe and the world, since Fatima has truly acquired significance for the universal Church, as a point of encounter, and one might even say, of communication, between heaven and earth, between the presence of God in history, man's need for salvation and the Church's engagement in history on the basis of conversion, penitence, prayer and spiritual renewal. This is a matter that is valid for everyone, and which has been rightly received way beyond the boundaries of Portugal.

The Pope said in Portugal that the love of Jesus and love for Jesus are the most important things - from which everything beging; and that in it sidalog with the world, the Church announces and proposes - but does not impose - this love.
Of course, the Pope always goes back to the essentials, to the foundations of the mission of the Church and her message. This love for Jesus was expressed in a specially intense way in his homily in Fatima, and it was clearly felt in that great atmosphere of spirituality, of affection and love, in that immense assembly of persons from all parts of the world, which seemed somehow to have been convoked from on high rather than by men.

The Pope came as a pilgrim among this people responding to the call that comes to us through Mary, one that brings us to the center of our faith, love for the Son of God, acceptance of his revelation.

In our concrete existence, through events that are sad and happy, often dramatic in our time, we feel the continued presence of the grace of God towards us, and therefore, it is well worth to continue being committed, to hope, on the basis of the fundamental attitudes that faith inspires in us, of charity and love for others.

One of the most strikling statements made by the Pope was that it is a msitake to think the message of Fatima is over. What did he mean?
The Pope wanted to say something very simple, namely, that we should stop expecting anything more from what was said to the children in terms of prophecies about concrete events in the next few years or even in the next century. This is out of the question.

The message of Fatima, in the Pope's view, and this should be ours, is to learn to read the events of our history, the journey of the Church with its difficulties and its hopes, in the light of faith, and therefore, as seen by God, who follows the Church and mankind on their journey, and accompanies with his grace those who turn to him, who invites us to be engaged in history beginning with our own individual conversion so that we can act according to the criteria of the Gospel.

Prophecy understood as a reading of human reality, of human history, which is characteristic of the message of Fatima, teaches us not to consider only our own personal life but the life of the Church and all mankind in a historical context, in the light of God, his love, his desire to convert us and make us ever more faithful witnesses to his love in the world we inhabit. This is the prophetic message that if of great relevance and will continue to be in the future.

The Pope also said that the great persecution of the Church does not come only from external enemies but from sin within the Church...
He explained this very effectively on the plane going to Portugal. He made it clear that the sufferings, the difficulties encountered by the Church, evidently referring to the situation in recent months, that are a consequence of sins by some of its members, are inherent in the Church because unfortunately, that is the reality of sin.

That is precisely why the message of Fatima is extremely relevant and important, ebcause it urges us to conversion, to penitence, to renew ourselves so that our Christian testimony may be consistent.

So when reading the significance of Fatima, from the spiritual point of view, one must not think only of perscutions that come from outside, which certainly had a great deal to do with the sufferings and difficulties of the Church, for instacne in the past century, and which continue even today and will continue.

But the Pope wanted to point out that there are sufferings and difficulties that come from within, namely, from the fact that we are sinners, and that is why the message of conversion and penitence is particularly relevant.

I thought that it was very beautiful, and very important, that the Pope was able to situate the subject of sex abuses by priests, which has afflicted us these past few months, in a wider spiritual perspective - recognizing its gravity but placing it in the context of the Church in the world, the Church before God, and the path it must always take of purification and renewal.

With great naturalness, I would say, he placed the problem in the context of the pilgrim Church, thus everyone in Fatima was impelled even more to pray intensely, to cultivate a spirit of renewal, to commit himself to his own personal conversion in order to be a purer, more effective witness for Christ.

The Pope felt the affection of the people...
Yes, he felt it in a most exceptional way. But not for the first time. It was the same in Malta, even if on a much smaller scale because the country is so much smaller, and in teh pilgrimage to Turin. But particularly so on this trip which was much longer, more extensive, with great masses of people present.

We also know that many more who could not physically be present followed the Pope's activities and wish him well. In any case, great attendance is an effective sign of affection. It certainly pleases the Pope, as something that shows the vitality of the Church, of the simple but active faith of the Portuguese Catholics, which is therefore, a great sign of hope for the pilgrim Church.

AP is touting this is as yet another 'AP exclusive' because they spoke to the Vatican's US attorney about it, but none of it is new. The arguments are those that would be self-evident to any informed reader.


AP Exclusive: Vatican defense
against US suit seeking to make
it a defendant in sex abuse cases
By NICOLE WINFIELD



VATICAN CITY, May 16 (AP) — The Vatican on Monday will make its most detailed argument yet for why it is not liable for bishops who allowed priests to molest children in the U.S., in a motion that could affect other efforts to sue the Holy See in American courts, The Associated Press has learned.

In a motion to dismiss a lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds, the Holy See is expected to argue that a key Vatican document calling for secrecy in Church trials for sex abuse cases was not, as victims' lawyers say, proof of a Vatican-orchestrated cover up.

The Vatican's U.S. attorney, Jeffrey Lena, said Sunday there was no evidence the document was even known to the archdiocese in question — much less used. [The way this sentence is constructed, it makes it appear that the document does indeed order a cover-up, rather than that the secrecy referred to in Vatican documents (both the 1962 Crimen sollicitationis and the 2001 De gravioribus delicti have to do with canonical (Church) proceedings against priest offenders. So even if the diocese used the document, nothing in it orders the bishop to conceal any crime from civilian authorities, only to observe secrecy while investigating and/or trying the offender.]

In addition, the Holy See is expected to assert that bishops aren't Vatican employees because they aren't paid by Rome, don't act on Rome's behalf and aren't controlled day-to-day by the Pope — factors courts use to determine whether employers are liable for the actions of their workers, Lena told the AP.

He said he would suggest to the court that it should avoid using the religious nature of the relationship between bishops and the Pope altogether as a basis for civil liability, because it entangles the court in an analysis of complicated religious doctrine that dates back to the apostles.

The Holy See is trying to fend off the first U.S. case to reach the stage of determining whether victims actually have a claim against the Vatican itself for negligence for the failure of bishops to alert police or the public about Roman Catholic priests who molested children.

The case was filed in 2004 in district court in Louisville, Kentucky, by three men who claim they were abused by priests decades ago and claim negligence by the Vatican.

Their attorney, William McMurry, is seeking class-action status for the case, saying there are thousands of victims across the country.

The Vatican's motion is being closely watched as the clerical abuse scandal swirls around the Holy See, since the court's eventual decision could have implications for a new lawsuit naming top Vatican officials that was recently filed in Wisconsin and another one in Oregon is pending before the Supreme Court.

Yesterday, some Italian personalities who have not exactly been B16 fans made some surprising comments in support of Benedict XVI during a special RAI-TV program broadcast from St. Peter's Square in connection with the 'Papa Day' rally convoked by the Italian national council for lay associations.


At St. Peter's rally,
prominent Italians speak out
in support of the Pope
by Salvatore Izzo



VATICAN CITY, May 16 (Translated from AGI) - "Frankly, I find the media campaign against the Church and the Pope on the pedophile question surprising and indecent", said Bruno Vespa, host of teh popular 'Porta a Porta' interview program on RAI-1, underscoring that his "participation in today's demonstration goes beyond the fact that I am Catholic", Vespa said on the program 'A Sua Immagine', broadcast directly from St. Peter's Square today. "Mine is a civic participation,"

Vespa said Papa Ratzinger is not "a Pope who is covering up - he is a Pope who denounces - and as such, he should be respected, contrary to the treatment he has received from the so-called reputable international media and newspapers".

He concluded, "This same Pope, with great courage, even in Fatima last week, has not hidden the tragedy of pedophile priests and has said that in this, the Church is persecuted from within".

[NB: This is the same Vespa who, for some perverse reason, has generally ignored Benedict XVI in his popular weekly program, usually devoting it to documentaries and discussions about John Paul II even when the occasion for it is something that Benedict XVI is doing! He most notably ignored Benedict XVI's 80th birthday in 2007 while doing a full documentary on Queen Elizabeth II's birthday which came at around the same time.]

"One must give credit to Benedict XVI, to this Pontificate, for his extraordinary effort at transparency and even of penitence", said Ferruccio De Bortoli, editor of Corriere della Sera, who said he wanted to show his solidarity with the Pope after the attacks on him in recent weeks.

"The Church is undergoing a difficult time, tragic in many ways, and it is paying a high price, perhaps too much, for errors which were certainly committed by men of faith - priests and bishops - in recent years," De Bortoli said on 'A Sua Immagine'.

He added it was right that "the lay world should rally around the Pope and send a message of solidarity and closeness, because this battle in defense of the centrality of the Church and its universal message in the modern world is about the values that hold our society together".

[NB: Corriere della Sera, Italy's largest newspaper and center-left in orientation, is often hostile to the Church's positions on life and family issues.]

The president of the supervisory board of Italian news agencies, Sergio Zavoli, said on 'A Sua Imamgine': "Benedict XVI is a Pope that until recently, was considered mostly a great theologian, a scientist of God, one might say, but is now seen as a resolutely courageous man who has taken upon himself the pain that has wounded the Church and other parts of society".

"I believe that believers and non-believers alike should credit him for dealing directly with an unpleasant subject and making honest statements that have been disquieting to some. I think, he reminds us that all of us, believers and on-believers alike, must carry our own imperfections and bad examples every day before a tribunal that is not of this world but at the same time, knowing that we must be responsible for the consequences of our actions before the severe judgment of history".


It's all very nice and commendable that these people said all these things, but one wishes that they would do it regularly, whenever the situation calls for it - in ways that are apparent on the media outlets they control - rather than simply as a one-off statement appropriate for the occasion yesterday.


I am posting the following account because unlike most newspapers 'anthologized' in the daily online news roundups, the Irish Times did not depend on the AP report on the rally but filed its own!

Massive crowd gathers in Rome
to support Pope Benedict
by PADDY AGNEW

May 17, 2010

AN ESTIMATED 150,000 faithful packed into St Peter’s Square yesterday to express their solidarity with Pope Benedict on the occasion of a “Papa Day”, organised by the Italian Episcopal Conference.

Parishioners and members of a wide variety of Catholic lay groups from all over Italy answered the organiser’s call to rally round the beleaguered Pope.

“We have gathered here today because we want to be seen to stand in support of Pope Benedict XVI, just in the way that children would do with their father,” said the public address system at the beginning of the ceremony.

There were further signs of support among the crowd for Benedict, with pilgrims bearing banners that read “Together with the Pope” and “Your Holiness, you are not alone, the whole Church is with you”.

Yesterday’s rally came just two days after Pope Benedict returned from a successful, four-day pastoral visit to Portugal, highlighted by a visit to the Marian shrine of Fatima, a point the Pontiff underlined yesterday: “It is wonderful to see this great crowd in St Peter’s Square, just as it was very moving for me to see the huge crowds at Fatima, a crowd which, at the school of Mary, prayed for the conversion of hearts . . . Today you show the great affection and profound closeness of the Church and the Italian people to the Pope and your priests . . . because, in the commitment to spiritual and moral renewal, we can always do better.”

Undoubtedly, one of the most significant moments of the Pope’s visit to Portugal came on the papal aircraft on his way there when, in reference to the sex abuse scandal currently shaking the Catholic Church, he said “the suffering of the Church also comes from within the Church, because sin exists in the Church”. (Thank you, Mr. Agnew, for quoting this properly. The 'also' is omitted in most MSM reports which aim to show that the Pope is exonerating them completely from being responsible for any 'persecution' of the Church!]

In his homily, yesterday, the Pope repeated this theme when saying: “The real enemy to fear and to fight is sin, spiritual evil – which at times, unfortunately, also infects members of the Church.”




Change of topic: The following was briefly referred to in one of the items posted on this thread after the Pope returned from Portugal, but even if dated now, it deserves a full posting for the record:

Moroccans deported for plot
to assassinate the Pope


ROME, May 13 (AKI) - Two Moroccan terrorist suspects deported from Italy last month were allegedly plotting to kill Pope Benedict XVI, Italian weekly Panorama claims in its latest issue to be released on Friday. Mohammed Hlal and Errahmouni Ahmed were students at the University of Perugia until their repatriation to Morocco on 29 April.

"Hlal wanted to kill the Vatican's head of state (the Pope), saying he was ready to assassinate him and gain his place in paradise," Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni wrote in the expulsion order authorizing Hlal and Ahmed's deportations, cited by Panorama.

"Anti-terror police in Perugia intercepted Hlal discussing his plans to carry out attacks and readiness to obtain explosives for the attacks during a series of tapped telephone conversations, according to Panorama.

"Moroccan authorities on 6 May released Hlal and Ahmed, who had been receiving legal assistance from a local human rights association.

"The pair have denied any wrongdoing and said they intend to challenge their expulsions in the administrative tribunal in Italy's Lazio region surrounding Rome.

"In a media statement issued at the time of their expulsion, the Italian interior ministry described the men as "dangerous" and a "threat to national security".

"The interior ministry claimed they had links to an international network of Islamist miliists and were prepared to carry out "extremist acts".

"Hlal and Ahmed's deportation followed a probe begun by anti-terrorism police in October 2009 into a group of radical Muslim foreign students in Italy, most of whom came from the Moroccan city of Fez. Several were studying at Perugia.

"The interior ministry said Hlal and Ahmed belonged to this group."


Sorry, I have not been able to check out the original Panorama source.

Another of the many worthwhile articles I had no time to translate during the Pope's visit to Portugal.


What the Pope said recently
about the 'third secret'
and the pedophile scandal
by FABIANA CUSIMANO
Translated from

May 13, 2010

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As to any new thing that we may find in this message today, there is also the fact that attacks on the Pope and the Church do not only come from outside, but that the sufferings of the Church also come from within the Church, from the sin that exists in the Church.

We have always seen this, but today we see it in a really terrifying way: that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies but is born from sin within the Church, and therefore the Church has a profound need to re-learn penitence, to accept purification, to re-learn forgiveness, on the one hand, but also the need for justice. Forgiveness is not a substitute for justice.

- BENEDICT XVI
May 11, 2010

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"The scandal over pedophile priests must be seen from two perspectives, which do not exclude the other," says religion sociologist Massimo Introvigne, commenting on media interpretations of the Holy Father's remarks on May 11 regarding the third secret of Fatima.

"The first perspective is that, in effect. there is an attack against the Church, a persecution that strongly exaggerates the problem. The second is that this persecution is the result of very serious offenses by some priests. If we fail to see one or the other, then we are giving a false interpretation of what the Pope said."

Professor,does that mean the words of the Pope should have a double reading? [Not a double reading, but a correct reading!]
Usually I refer to the concept of 'moral panic' - which is when something that originates with simple fact becomes magnified many times over. it is clear that without that original fact, there would not have been the ensuring 'moral panic'.

Some interpreted the Pope's words as a turnaround [about the 'third secret'] and therefore a criticism of both Cardinals Bertone and Sodano, who has also been criticized by the Archbishop of Vienna... [Bertone wrote a book about The Last Secret of Fatima, with an introduction by Benedict XVI; and Sodano formally announced the text of the 'Third Secret' for John Paul II in Fatima in May 2000. The 'turnaround' was claimed by newsmen and commentators who claim the Pope's words on May 11 were a repudiation of what he himself, as Cardinal Ratzinger, said and wrote about the 'third secret' when it was disclosed in 2000.]
There is no turnaround in his words - that is merely a journalistic interpretation. And the cardinal from Vienna has ideas very different from the Pope on several subjects. I think it is not by chance that he has not been given the Curial assignments he was expecting. It is one thing to share the Magisterium of the Pope; quite another to follow the opinions of individual prelates who also obviously have diverse views.

But there is a part of the Church that sought to cover up the pedophile scandal.
Of course. Benedict XVI himself in his letter to the Catholics of Ireland points out that some bishops violated canon law by not obeying the provisions which are intended to avoid any such cover-ups.

Can we say that the Pope has begun a strategy of transparency? [Where has this reporter been since 2001????]
Actually, Papa Ratzinger is merely reiterating forcefully that this has always been intended in canon law. It is nothing new. Of course, it became reinforced when he came to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 30 years ago. [In effect, only since 2001, when he got John Paul II to entrust the CDF with the canonical investigation and adjudication of sex abuse cases rather than by diocesan bishops. Before that, the CDF had no competence over these cases.]

But the fact is that these provisions were generally not followed...
That is true - and (that is also one reason) the Pope has associated the pedophile scandal with the third secret of Fatima.

Don't you think this is a contradiction of what he has said about the third secret in the past?
All prophecies have more than one meaning. So there is no contradiction. The Pope pierced by bullets and arrows could be John Paul II in the assassination attempt, Paul VI with the protests in 1968 [against Humanae Vitae] and Benedict XVI with the affliction he has borne as a consequence of the priest scandal and the campaign of media persecution that followed.


[I think one problem is that John Paul II's personal conviction that the Blessed Virgin saved his life came to be conflated with interpreting the vision in the third secret as exclusively referring to the assassination attempt on him rather than as a general symbol for attacks against the Pope, any Pope.

It has always puzzled me that even intellectuals like Antonio Socci, whose views I find brilliant on most other subjects, could be so obsessed about an almost literal reading of the vision described by Sor Lucia, when the normal rational reaction is to consider it highly and densely symbolic.

In any case, I think a full article on this subject is ovedue from Mr. Introvigne, if he has not already written it.]

May 17, Monday of the 7th Week in Easter

SAN PASCUAL BAILON (Spain, 1540-1592)
Franciscan brother, Mystic, 'Seraph of the Eucharist'
One of the constellation of saints that Spain produced during the Counter-Reformation, St. Pascual, who was given his
name because he was born on Pentecost, considered as the 'Pasch of the Holy Spirit', was a shepherd until he was 24 when
he became a Franciscan friar. Before that, he was known to be a passionate devotee of the Blessed Sacrament, living a life
of penance, attending as many Masses as he could and kneeling in the fields whenever he heard the church bells ring out to
signal the Consecration of the host at Mass. As a child, he had a vision of Jesus actually present in the host. As a friar,
he took on the multiple roles of porter, cook, gardener and official beggar familiar from the lives of so many Franciscan
saints down to Padre Pio - during which he became known not only for his attentions to the poor but for his spiritual advice
and a reputation as a mystic. As a friar, he spent all his free hours in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, to whom he wrote
prayers and poems. The appellative 'bailon' (dancer) comes from a story that a fellow friar once saw him dancing before
the image of Mary, saying "I don't have any qualities to offer you but I can dance for you like we peasants do". Although
uneducated, his discourses on the Eucharist were so powerful that his superiors sent him to France to preach about the
Eucharist against the Calvinists. Soon after he died, his tomb at the royal chapel in Villareal near Valencia soon became
the object of pilgrimage, and many miracles were attributed to him. He was canonized in 1690. In 1897, Leo XIII, calling
him the 'Seraph of the Eucharist' also proclaimed him patron of eucharistic congresses and societies. His tomb was
desecrated and his relics burned by anti-clerical leftists during the Spanish Civil War.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/051710.shtml


No OR today.


THE POPE'S DAY

The Holy Father met today with

- H.E. Evo Morales Ayma, President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, and his delegation.

- Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa, and President of the Italian bishops' conference (CEI)

- Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, and President of the Council of European
Episcopal Conferences, with the council vice presidents
Cardinal Josip Bozanić, Archbishop of Zagreb (Croatia) and
Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux (France).


The Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialog has released the Vatican's annual message to
the Buddhists of the world on the occasion of the Feast of Vesakh this month commemorating
the principal events in the life of the Buddha.

POPE MEETS WITH
THE PRESIDENT OF BOLIVIA

May 17, 2010



The Vatican Press Office released this communique today (translated from the Italian):

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This morning Evo Morales Ayma, president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, was received in audience by the Holy Father Benedict XVI.

The president subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. who was accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

The cordial discussions provided an opportunity for a fruitful exchange of opinions on questions concerning the current international and regional situation, and on the need to develop greater social awareness for the protection of the environment.

Attention then turned to various aspects of the situation in Bolivia itself, in particular collaboration between Church and State in the areas of education, healthcare, and social policies in defence of the weakest.

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Bolivian President meets
Pope Benedict XVI

May 17, 2010


Bolivian President Evo Morales has met Pope Benedict XVI for talks at the Vatican on Monday as part of his European tour.

Mr Morales has been critical of the Catholic hierarchy, even listing the church among his political opponents.

Under a new constitution backed by Mr Morales, Bolivia has declared itself a secular state.

Ahead of the visit, Mr Morales said he was a Catholic but that he also held indigenous beliefs.

He said that all beliefs were recognised under the new constitution, which scrapped Catholicism as the country's official religion.

Mr Morales has been critical of Catholic bishops in Bolivia, whose behaviour he said demoralised him. He has in the past accused them of lying to the Bolivian people.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Morales said he would talk to the Pope about climate change and the conclusions reached on the subject at a conference held in Bolivia last month.

He also said that Monday's meeting had been requested by the Pope after Mr Morales was denied an audience with him in 2007.

As part of his trip, the Bolivian leader will also visit Norway and Finland and attend the summit of Latin American and European nations in Madrid on Tuesday.




Mr. Morales is a flamboyant socialist leader who has become the chief ally and supporter of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in Latin America.