BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

When Ignatius Insight promptly came out with a book review of JON-2 by Fr. Schall,

it did not occur to me to check out if he had written anything else about the book. But it turns out he did - promptly on March 10 when the book came out - at his fairly regular slot on the site THE CATHOLIC THING, which I must remind myself to check regularly rather than erratically as I have been doing. So here is Fr. Schall's shorter review, which has a different emphasis from the longer one (posted on Page 193 of this thread).

In the midst of history:
Benedict's second volume on Jesus
By James V. Schall, S.J.

March 10, 2011

The English translation of Benedict XVI’s second volume of Jesus of Nazareth is being published officially by Ignatius Press today. This volume covers the events of Christ’s life from Palm Sunday to the Ascension. Following the first volume about Jesus’s public ministry, we continue with a careful presentation of the central events of Christ’s life.

We are constantly aware of the enormous scholarship that has gone into efforts to prove or disprove the veracity of those events. The present Pope is thoroughly familiar with the body of literature in all its complexity that revolves around “who Christ is.”

Benedict is also familiar with the patristic and medieval authors, as well as the Greek and Roman backgrounds to these events. The Pope likewise knows the various strands of philosophy – ancient, medieval, and modern – that often lie behind the efforts to prove or disprove the veracity of the events of Christ’s life.

Thus, one reads this second volume of Benedict’s quiet, non-dogmatic effort to present the basic facts and evidence with the assurance that nobody out there knows more about this life than the present Pope.

Catholics, as I have often said, have no idea of the intellectual strength of their own position. Many have grown up with the suspicion that somehow, out there, the foundations of the faith have in various ways been undermined by science or historical research. It turns out that, if anything is happening, both science and historical research are underpinning the truth that the Scriptures present to us, namely, that Jesus of Nazareth is what He says of Himself.

This book, Benedict tells us, is neither a “life of Christ” nor a thesis in Christology. The book has many similarities with the tractate of Aquinas (ST III, 27-59) on Christ, but it is best described as presenting “the figure and message of Jesus.”

Actually, Benedict writes, “I set out to discover the real Jesus, on the basis of whom something like a ‘Christology from below’ would then become possible.”

A Christology “from below,” as opposed to a Christology “from above” would mean, I take it, that if we look carefully at the events in the life of Christ, they only can be properly explained if He was indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Many scholars, Benedict notes, have looked for “the historical Jesus.” But they begin with presuppositions that lack “sufficient content to exert any significant historical impact.” The historical Jesus, in such studies, somehow ends up being merely a nice guy, a revolutionary, a confused Jew, or a dreamer.

What we need is a reading of the evidence that includes the reality of Christ’s life as it exists even among us today. The testimony of the Church throughout the ages has preserved the witness of the apostles. It is in their light that we see and read the facts of Christ’s life.

“I have attempted,” Benedict writes, “to develop a way of observing and listening to the Jesus of the Gospels that can indeed lead to personal encounter and that, through collective listening with Jesus’ disciples across the ages, can indeed attain sure knowledge of the real historical figure of Jesus” (xvii). We need to ponder such words.

Early in the twenty-first century, Anno Domini, the Pope of Rome writes a two-volume, scholarly, straight-forward book in which he reaffirms that what the Church taught in the beginning was then true and this same understanding of Jesus is still true.

None of the massive efforts that have sought to disprove these truths about Jesus have succeeded. They can be understood in their logic and in their scholarship. It is part of Catholicism to know its enemies and deal with them honorably.

But it is also of the essence of Catholicism to insist that the facts are there. In the passion, crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, we have a unified narration that is consistent both with the fact that Christ was true man, who suffered, died and was buried, and with the fact that He rose again and ascended into heaven. The Pope even explains what Christ’s “sitting at the right hand of His Father might sensibly mean.”

Benedict often says that the problem with our time is its lack of truth. I was especially struck by this passage:

---

‘Redemption’ in the fullest sense can only come in the truth becoming recognizable. And it becomes recognizable when God becomes recognizable. He becomes recognizable in Jesus Christ. In Christ, God entered the world and set up the criterion of truth in the midst of history. (194)

---

It would be difficult to be more counter-cultural than this, or, it must be said, more true.

This is a great book by a great Pope.


The 'Catholic mind' - in the sense of its best and brightest - is very much on the mind of Fr. Schall who has written a book called The Mind of the Catholic. He wrote two recent columns about it for The Catholic Thing which make for great mind food.

Confident Catholicism
By James V. Schall, S.J.

Oct. 18, 2010

A student told me that her father just read a list of the ten “intellectual” universities in the country. “Why was no Catholic school listed among them?” The daughter replied: “If a Catholic school were listed by this criterion, it would no longer be Catholic.” I just laughed. Some Catholic universities, those with the most fame, are now being referred to as “post-Catholic.”

In the interview during the Holy Father’s flight to England, one reporter wanted to know what could be done to make the Church more “attractive.” The bemused Pope replied:

---

“A church which seeks above all to be attractive would already be on the wrong path, because the Church does not work for itself, does not work to increase its numbers so as to have more power. The Church is at the service of Another.”

---

That is well said.

The great French medievalist, Rémi Brague, was asked in an interview about the scientists who claim that “supernaturalism is based on ignorance.”

Brague replied: “Such statements are hopelessly muddled. At the bottom of all that, you find Auguste Comte’s idea that religion can’t explain the world as well as science does. This is very true. But whoever said that explaining the world is what religion is about? The fact that we know more and more things about nature does not prove that there is nothing else than nature.” The real issue is: Why is it that we have a power to know anything at all, including nature?

My old classmate, Father Michael Saso, told me that several Jesuits have been able to teach courses in Christology or Church history in Chinese Universities that they would not be allowed to teach at UCLA or Michigan.

The late Father Richard Neuhaus used to speak of the “Catholic moment,” or at least the missing of it. Somehow, in the back of our minds, we think that finally the scholarly world will come to see the enormous sense and intelligence in Catholicism, “the range of reason,” as Maritain called it.

It probably won’t happen, not because this intelligence and good sense are not there, but because of the humility it would take to think modernity through in terms of Catholic orthodoxy, the delicate compatibility of reason and revelation. If we have a model here of how this might be done, it has to be Chesterton.

These comments are entitled “Confident Catholicism.” We used to hear of a Catholic vice called “triumphalism,” actually a pretty good word, as H. W. Crocker, in Triumph, showed.

In recent years, I have been struck by the remarkably high quality of study in all fields that can be traced to the Catholic mind. Much of this, more immediately, has to do with the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America. But ultimately, I suspect we owe it to the enormous scope of the minds of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

George Weigel, in his wonderful new book on John Paul II, remarks, as others have, that ironically, today, the leading defender of reason in the modern world is nothing other than the papacy.

Thus, Brague: “We should endeavor to get a clearer picture of the reasons why Christians – and not only the Pope – have to speak up from time to time. They don’t preach their own stuff, pro domo. They warn of dangers that menace mankind at large, and they have to do so when they think that some behavior, be it individual or collective, is lethal for mankind. The supreme rule in those matters is some sort of duty to rescue.”

The duty to “rescue” the mind of man is indeed a great mission of Catholicism. In saving souls, minds too are saved.

I have been long of the opinion that the great aberrations of the world first begin in the turmoil in the minds of the intellectual and clerical dons. They have little to do initially with the condition of the world such aberrations seek to change in the name of a higher humanist good.

In 1 Timothy 4, we read: “The Spirit distinctly says that in latter times some will turn away from the faith and will heed deceitful spirits and things taught by demons through plausible liars – men with seared consciences….” Our world often seems full of “plausible liars.” “Seared consciences” are in the daily news.

The fact is, though, Catholicism is confident. It knows about sin and its effects, so it is not overly surprised to meet them, especially among its own. That is the whole point of redemption. But there is an order in things; they do fit together. Almost every day this becomes clearer. The suspicion that it might just be true is the real root of hatred for Catholicism in the modern world.


Confident Catholicism revisited
By James V. Schall, S.J.

Dec. 28, 2010

A column of mine, “Confident Catholicism,” appeared several weeks ago (TCT, 19 October). Here, to ground this confidence, I propose five books to be read by the reasonably curious of whatever philosophical persuasion. The background is the quaint but common opinion that Catholics are fanatics, jaded, or relatively backward. I write in the spirit of Walker Percy. Asked why he was a Catholic, he replied succinctly, “What else is there?”

Brad Miner’s comment on his conversion (TCT, 22 November) is pertinent. “The few other Catholics in our class are long-since lapsed (although fun-loving), and everybody was curious why as smart guy as I am is still a Catholic in this day and age…”

Belloc, I think, quipped that “He who has the faith (not the ‘long-since lapsed’) has the fun.” In “our day and age,” while most of us looked the other way, it is the Catholics who enjoy using their brains. The more interesting problem is: Why, in philosophic terms, are the “smart guys” not Catholics?

The main defender of reason in the modern world is probably the papacy. Moreover, the case for Catholicism has never been stronger. Most just do not know what it is. Culture encourages us not to find out. This short list is proposed in a bemused spirit. If someone doubts what I say, let him carefully read these books. It will take probably six months if diligently pursued, maybe more. All are clearly written. Each demands thinking and honesty.

Much “dialogue” goes on in the world. The Church initiates most of it. But it is almost never about Catholicism itself. We want to find out what truth, if any, can be found in Islam, communism, Hinduism, liberalism, science, or in Lord knows what. Few want to know what truth is found in Catholicism.

The main reason Catholicism is hated in the modern world, and it is hated, is the suspicion that Catholicism might well be true. To mock or misrepresent Catholicism seems permissible if, as it is supposed, it is composed of dunderheads who cannot argue coherently about anything, not even what they believe and the grounds for it.

Someone’s knowledge of Catholicism, we suppose, comes from a steady diet of reading “dissenting” Catholics. He reads atheists who claim that the world can be explained without God. He studied in a Catholic or secular university in which he never had a basic philosophy class. Theology is a complete mystery as to its grounding and content. He may be a Protestant who thinks that Catholics have no clue about the Bible, or a rationalist who thinks they never heard of Descartes.

Or our critic may have spent his whole life on “social justice.” He never wondered why this virtue’s advocates, supporting lawyers and politicians, end up promoting some ideology designed to make this world a paradise on earth, but usually make things worse.

The five books are mainly addressed to reason, even the one of the pope. Catholicism is aware of the Logos behind all things. The long effort of modernity to maintain that no order can be found in the cosmos, the human city, or the human soul has become less and less tenable. The Catholic mind is not opposed to reason, only to using it stupidly or illogically, of which numerous examples can be found in any era.

The five books are these: 1) Robert Spitzer, New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy; 2) Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, 3) Robert Sokolowski, The Phenomenology of the Human Person; 4) George Weigel, John Paul II: The End and the Beginning, and 5) Aidan Nichols, G. K. Chesterton, Theologian.

At first sight, this list may strike the inattentive reader as motley. Each of these books, however, teaches us, in its own way, how to think, indeed, what thinking is. They are, I think, cumulative. Each complements what was found in the others. Other books could be mentioned –Remi Brague’s Law of God or Hadley Arkes’s ]G]First Things. But these suffice.

The purpose of this list is precise: To dispel any idea that Catholicism has no solid grounds for its mind. Revelation is not addressed to itself, but to this mind itself engaged in thinking as best it can of God, man, and the universe. Such is the scope of these five books.

On finishing them, I think, it will be apparent why someone might just be both a Catholic and a man of reason “in this day and age.” Walker Percy’s remark was cogent: “What else, indeed, is there?”

Or as Benedict recently said: “My whole life has always been bound by a common thread: Christianity brings joy. It widens horizons.” That it brings this joy and widens our horizons is what these five books are about.

Survey shows Germans still
trust Benedict XVI more
than the Church itself, but
the figures are dismal
Translated from



HAMBURG, March 15 (kath.net/KAP) - Pope Benedict XVI is regarded with more esteem by Germans than the Catholic Church as an institution and much more than economic managers and political parties, according to a new survey published Tuesday by the newspaper Die Welt in a supplement entitled 'Christians and the World'.

The poll, taken in February by the opinion research institute Forsa from a sample of 2000 representing current German demographics, showed that 29 percent of those polled had 'great trust' in the Pope compared to 21 percent in the Church.

Among German Catholics alone, the Pope's approval rating was 52% versus 45% for the Church. 50% of them believe the Pope is 'highly credible' versus only 21% for the Church.

However, both figures are lower than in 2010, when 38% of Germans approved of the Pope versus 29% for the Church, and among Catholics, 62% approved of the Pope, versus 56% for the Church.

[One can understand the fairly low ratings for both the Pope and the Church among Germans in general, since Catholics make up less than a quarter of the population, and Germany has become highly secularized, but the figures among German Catholics are disgraceful!]

This year, Germans gave their economic managers and party leaders an approval rating of only 12 and 18 percent, respectively.

Only Federal President Christian Wulff emerged with a high individual approval rating of 62%.

Forsa president Joachim Koschnicke said the revelations last year of widespread sexual abuses of minors committed by German priests and religious in recent decades contributed to a 'dramatic loss of confidence' in the Church.

But he also pointed out that the stature of Pope Benedict among the Germans in general helped rein in an even worse outcome, as well as how the German Church has dealt with the problem.





After spring assembly, German bishops say:
'Reform yes, but no revolution -
we remain the Catholic Church'
Translated from



PADERBORN, March 17 (KNA) - The Catholic bishops of Germany say they are ready to discuss reforms in the Church and have proposed to undertake a process of dialog within the Church.


Abp. Robert Zollitsch, president of the German bishops conference (DBK), at a news conference in Paderborn yesterday.

In a letter signed by all the bishops at the conclusion of their spring general assembly this week in Paderborn, they said they would be turning to their respective communities in the coming weeks to listen to their suggestions for a revival of the faith and the Church in Germany.

But they also warned of the danger that "we can find ourselves so much against each other that bridges will be broken and the unity that already exists will dissipate. One cannot talk to each other across barricades".

The bishops denounced the way the 'debate' has gone on so far, and said, that "first of all, all the various 'visions for the Church' that have been disseminated must be stripped of emotional content".

They said that answers to contemporary issues in the Church must be sought "on the basis of Revelation and the teaching of the Church" and must safeguard the unity of the universal Church.

Additionally, they warned against 'unrealistic' recommendations as the purpose for the coming dialog....

[The KNA story is much longer, summarizing the Paderborn meeting, but I have only translated the first part about the concluding letter.]

The bishops began their spring meeting earlier in the week with a rite of penance offered for all the sexual offenses committed by priests against minors.


Mons. Zollitsch led the rite. Outside the Paderborn Cathedral, some protestors, with a sign that says "Penance is not enough".



On the DBK site, an announcement that an official site for the Pope's visit in September will be launched on April 11, with the participation of all three dioceses that the Pope will visit (Berlin, Erfurt and Freiburg).

Friday, March 18, First Week of Lent

Extreme right: 15th century painting of St. Jerome appearing to St. Cyril.
ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM (315-386), Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church
St. Cyril was born in Caesarea and is among the remarkable group of great 4th century Church Fathers and eventual Doctors of the Church
who were his contemporaries (Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Athanasiua, Basil, Gregory Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Ephraem of Syria,
Hilary of Poitiers). He was ordained deacon by Macarius, and consecrated as a bishop by Maximus, both of whom would become saints. Cyril
lived during the high tide of the Arian heresy, and his determined stand against this heresy earned him exile three times, so that half his life
as bishop was spent in exile. With St. Gregory of Nyssa, he attended the second Council of Constantinople, which adopted a modified version
of the Nicene Creed. Although his orthodoxy was apparently doubted by Jerome and Athanasius, the Council at Constantinople hailed him as
a champion of the faith against Arianism. [In fact, his specific Church title is 'Doctor of Faith and against Heresy'.] Before he became a
bishop in 350, he was assigned to prepare catechumens for Baptism. The Catecheses that he wrote for them survive to this day, and was for
a long time, a primary reference on the liturgy and doctrine of the 4th century. Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis of June 7, 2007
to St. Cyril.
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20070627...
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/031810.shtml


OR today.
Page 1 continues to be dominated by the Japan emergency - the futile fight so far to cool down damaged nuclear reactors in Fukushima, and the humanitarian plight of some half-million displaced earthquake victims now in unheated emergency shelters in sub-freezing cold. A story on the UN Security Council finally taking up an international plan to deal with the Libyan uprising [the vote to enforce a non-fly zone came Thursday night even as Qaddafi's forces were poised to take back Benghazi, the only rebel post left; and this morning, Qaddafi announced a ceasefire in response to the UN resolution).

The Holy Father is on the sixth day of his Lenten retreat which ends tomorrow.

The Vatican released the full program of the two-day international launch of Benedict XVI's contemporary 'Courtyard of the Gentiles' which takes place in Paris on March 24-25. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, held a news conference on the event this morning.

March 18, 2011

Eight days since the book was launched, Ignatius Press has this report, and as Ignatius is the US publisher of the book, the report is a sales pitch as well, while providing basic information for the reader who may not be familiar with the background of the Pope's JON project.

Pope Benedict XVI's new book, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, released worldwide on March 10th, has broken the Top Ten on The New York Times best-sellers list.

The book, which has received very positive reviews from Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders and scholars, will be #10 on the March 27th nonfiction best-sellers list.

1.2 million copies of the book have been published in eight languages, including German, Italian, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Polish.

Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, founder and editor of the publishing house, says that 300,000 copies [400,000, according to the Vatican publishing house) were published in Italy, 200,000 in Germany, and 120,000 in France.

The book has been published in English by Ignatius Press, The Catholic Truth Society (United Kingdom/Ireland), Paulines Publication (Africa), Freedom Publishing (Australia), and Asia Trading Corporation (Asia). Ignatius Press has now printed 140,000 copies of the book and sold or distributed some 90,000 copies in a week.

Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration was the first book written by Pope Benedict XVI after his election in April 2005. It focuses on Jesus' Baptism, temptation, and teachings, especially the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, the parables, and Jesus' declarations about his identity.

The second volume, as its title indicates, examines and reflects upon the final days of Jesus' earthly life: his arrival in Jerusalem, his cleansing of the Temple, his eschatological discourse, the washing of the disciples' feet, the Last Supper, his prayer and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial, the crucifixion and burial, and the Resurrection. The book's epilogue considers the nature and meaning of Jesus' Ascension into heaven.

Along the way, Benedict ponders deeply the meaning of Jesus's life and death, and responds to a number of challenging questions...

"It's clear that what interests the Holy Father is helping people to know and love someone whom he knows and loves," says Father Fessio. "But he does this as a scholar. This book is a bright star in the constellation of books about Jesus."

And many scholars have responded with praise for the book, noting its unique combination of complexity, clarity, breadth of learning, and depth of theological insight.

Noted Evangelical Scripture scholar Dr. Craig Evans, professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College of Acadia University, Nova Scotia, and editor of The Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus, calls it "a remarkable achievement", adding, "It's the best book I've read on Jesus in years."

He says, "I was impressed by the exegetical insight, the historical critical insight, and yet at the same time the attempt to always keep in line the big picture, what Christian faith is all about, the history of the church and how some of Jesus' teachings and things that He did, and things that happened to Him contributed to major Christian teachings and some of the great creeds."

Another Evangelical scholar, Dr. Ben Witherington III, author of several works on Jesus and the New Testament, expressed admiration for the "knowledge and vital piety in this book". Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week is "a book I would very happily assign to my students to read as a book about both the Jesus history and the Christ of faith", he said, "I was impressed with his scholarly acumen..."

Dr. Jacob Neusner, prolific Jewish scholar and author of countless books on Jewish history and belief, A Rabbi Talks with Jesus, notes that Benedict has "accomplished something that no one else has achieved in the modern study of Scripture", which is to provide an answer to the question, "How are we to transcend the outcome of critical history with its paralyzing obstacles, theological affirmation?"

Dr. Brant Pitre, who teaches at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, agrees, saying that Benedict, in the book, "really is combining history, historical reason as he puts it, and hermeneutical faith in approaching the gospel from the light of the canon of Scripture, especially Old Testament background..."

The Pope's book, Pitre believes, is a successful implementation of "the renewal of biblical studies that the Second Vatican council called for more than forty years ago, but which in his opinion has not yet taken root."

Another Catholic Scripture scholar, Dr. Mary Healy, who teaches at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, states, "It seems to me that Benedict's deepest goal is to provide a model of what biblical theology can look like when the tools of modern scholarship are integrated with faith in Scripture as a living word from God. The pope is seeking to reunite what has long been split apart—Scripture and theology, biblical exegesis and Christian faith."

Mark Brumley, President of Ignatius Press, believes that Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week will be instrumental in further shaping an authentic, vibrant ecumenism rooted in a love for Christ and Scripture.

"As a former Evangelical," he remarks, "I can say that I would have been deeply moved as a Protestant to read a book like this from the Pope. And as a Catholic, I can say I'm thrilled so many Protestants are being moved by it. Pope Benedict reveals the Christ-centeredness of the Catholic Church, a reality that is sometimes missed by Protestants and even a few Catholics!"

Although the book reflects the Pope's scholarly background and skills, it is ultimately intended to bring readers into "a personal encounter with Jesus", as Benedict states in the Foreword.

His approach, he adds, comes from his attempt "to develop a way of observing and listening to the Jesus of the Gospels that can indeed lead to personal encounter and that, through collective listening with Jesus' disciples across the ages, can indeed attain sure knowledge of the real historical figure of Jesus."

A study guide for Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week will be available from Ignatius Press on March 30th. The foreword is written by Tim Gray, Ph.D., the chapter summarizes and outlines are by Mark Brumley and Curtis Mitch, and study questions are by Brumley and Laura Dittus. It also includes a list of key terms, a glossary, and a section for readers to write down their personal reflections as they read the book.

Another unexpected treat from Fr. Schall, and a new one, too....

Our pencil-using Pope
looks at the new media
by James V. Schall, S.J.

March 18, 2011

With online availability of education, business, government, and church communications, we wonder what we have begotten. Unprecedented information is available to us at all times, day and night. Every possible cultural, philosophical, religious, or economic source is there.

We live in a neighborhood, but we buy our clothing and tickets on the internet. We read newspapers online. We talk to our friends in Australia as easily as we do those in the next county. Are existing institutions, like many of our journals, going to be online rather than in print or in buildings?

The Holy Father gave an address in January titled, "Truth, Proclamation, and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age." The Holy See Press Office release reads: "The Pope does not surf the web, he does not use a computer and he writes with a pen or indeed preferably with a pencil."

Surely that is reassuring! When we look at the some 75 books, the hundreds and hundreds of essays, lectures, and talks that this pope has written, we can be assured that he possesses a well-used pencil.

The Pope compares changes from the digital transformation with the Industrial Revolution of two centuries ago. "The new technologies are not only changing the way we communicate, but communication itself." Some "serious reflection" is required.

These new instruments are still tools, products of human intelligence and craft. They are subject to reason and moral judgment.

"As with every other fruit of human ingenuity, the new communications technologies must be placed at the service of the integral good of the individual and of the whole of humanity." They can be used for the pursuit of "truth and unity." These are "the most profound aspirations of each human being."

Positive things are found in these instruments in terms of knowledge, friendship, and beauty. The downside? We find a "one-sidedness of the interaction, the tendency to communicate only some parts of one's interior world, the risk of constructing a false image of oneself, which can become a form of self-indulgence."

Likewise, a danger exists of enclosing oneself in a sort of "parallel existence, of excessive exposure to the virtual world." We become almost angelic, as if we lacked bodies.

In this new world of easy and far-flung contact, Benedict asks the obvious question: Who is my neighbor? "Does the danger exist that we may be less present to those whom we encounter in our everyday life?"

This question is a real one. Being "present" much of the time to someone on a distant cell phone makes the present world, where immediate conversation is ignored, seem almost eerie. We escape from the real presence of someone to the virtual presence of almost any one.

The Pope is aware of the potential advantages of the digital world, but we need to keep several principles in mind.

The first is that "the truth which we long to share does not derive its worth from its 'popularity' or from the amount of attention it receives."

Secondly, "the truth of the Gospel is not something to be consumed or used superficially; rather it is a gift that calls for a free response." This truth is to become "incarnated in the real world."

This digital world of interconnecting relations is here to stay. The Faith needs to be present here in its own way. In it, we maintain what we hold: "Christ is God, the Savior of humanity and of history, the one in whom all things find their fulfillment."

We need to be both specific in what we present and considerate of those who listen to us.

"The truth of Christ is the full and authentic response to that human desire for relationship, communion and meaning which is reflected in the immense popularity of social networks."

But the limits of friendship and finiteness remain. "He who is a friend of everyone is a friend of no one," as Aristotle said. And I suppose that he who communicates with everyone knows no one in any meaningful sense.

"Believers encourage everyone to keep alive the eternal human questions which testify to our desire for transcendence and our longing for authentic forms of life, truly worthy of being lived."

The keeping alive of "the eternal human questions" must take place in a world of social communication. There, almost any and every theory, temptation, heresy, or bias ever conceived is readily available.

It is said that Socrates lived 70 years in Athens because the locals could not distinguish between a wise man and a fool. I suspect that social communications networks labor under a similar burden.

Often times, in the virtual world, the truth as Christians ground it looks like the oddest thing available to the channel surfer. This is probably why it is worth considering.

An item from earlier this week tipped today by the Catholic Herald...


UK Foreign Office Document hints
at papal visit to Northern Ireland:
Ulster officials oppose it

Published 14 March 2011


THE Pope’s expected visit to the Republic of Ireland next year could see him cross the border for the first time and visit Northern Ireland, a Foreign Office memo has suggested.

The memo, released under the Freedom of Information Act, is an overview of how last year’s papal visit to Britain was received and looks ahead to how any future visit would be handled.

In the document – which has been redacted to remove the name of the author – it is suggested that it was “inevitable” that there would now be focus on the potential for Pope Benedict XVI to visit Northern Ireland.

It says: “It is perhaps inevitable that focus will now shift to a possible visit by the Pope to Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland has not been included in previous papal itineraries (1979 visit to Ireland and 1982 to UK).

“The deputy first minister of Northern Ireland has recently mentioned the prospect of a visit. A papal visit to Northern Ireland would take place in the context of a visit to Ireland as it is treated by all the main Christian churches as a single ecclesiastical unit.

“There is a possible peg for a papal visit to Ireland in 2012 when Dublin will host a major international Catholic event – the Eucharist Congress.”

However, the document, which is signed ‘Campbell’ and appears to have been written in the immediate aftermath of the September papal visit, adds: “There is still no indication from here that a visit to Ireland is under serious consideration.”

In response to a freedom of information request, the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister said that it held no documentation about the possibility of a future papal visit.

Last week Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin insisted that there are no plans “at the moment” for a visit by the Pope to Dublin next year.

However, Dr Martin did confirm that Pope Benedict XVI had been invited to visit Ireland by Cardinal Sean Brady on behalf of the Irish Bishops’ Conference.

He said that Pope Benedict’s attendance would depend on factors such as the state of his health.

The Orange Order and Free Presbyterian Church protested against last year’s papal visit to Britain, while Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness declined an invitation to meet both the Pope and the Queen in Edinburgh.

Samuel Morrison, who uncovered the information, called on First Minister Peter Robinson to publicly say that he would block a papal visit.

Mr Morrison, who is a TUV press officer but said he was speaking in a personal capacity, said: “There will be many in Northern Ireland who share my belief that we can ill afford a visit by the Pope to Northern Ireland.

“His visit to the UK mainland last year cost taxpayers almost £7 million. Will Northern Ireland be forced to cough up a similar figure? It is worth remembering that the public were largely indifferent when the Bishop of Rome came to Great Britain.

“Additionally, while I as a convinced Protestant would not welcome a visit by the Pope at any time, one has to ask why the Pope did not visit Northern Ireland as part of his trip to the UK rather than including it as part of a visit to the Irish Republic.

“Does the Vatican recognise the constitutional status of Northern Ireland as part of the UK?”

This column by George Weigel is an excellent supplement to the history lesson and perspective that Benedict XVI provided in his letter to the President of Italy to greet him and the Italian people on the 150th anniversary of Italy's statehood, which also marked an end to the Papal States all over Italy in 1860 and the effective end of the temporal powers that had been exercised by the Popes for centuries.


Italy and the Papacy
The victory of the Risorgimento seemed a defeat for the papacy.
In fact, it led to a rebirth of papal power and, ultimately,
the defeat of Communism.

March 17, 2011

Rome — Italy celebrates the sesquicentennial of its birth as a unified nation today. On March 17, 1861, while Americans were preoccupied with some serious business of their own, the first Italian Parliament met in Turin and declared Rome the capital of unified Italy.

That legislative act was given effect nine years later, when Italian troops took advantage of the Franco-Prussian War to enter the rump of the old Papal States.

As the Italians closed in on the city of Peter and Paul, the student body of the Pontifical North American College, the U.S. seminary in Rome, volunteered to a man to take up arms in defense of the Pope. Pius IX gently thanked them and wrote back, in his own hand, that he hoped they would be victorious in fighting, not for his territory, but for the truth of Christian faith.

Pio Nono [Pius IX, in Italian] ordered his own troops to fire one volley, “for honor’s sake” — to emphasize that Italy was acquiring Rome by force and not consent. And so, after a brief exchange of mis-aimed shots that prefigured Italy’s martial success in the decades to come, the papal forces retired and the Risorgimento, a secularist as well as nationalist affair, had what it wanted: the Eternal City, and the chance to try to reclaim the glory that was Rome in the days of empire.

Fifty-nine years later, in the 1929 Lateran Treaty, the papacy regained a smidgeon of sovereign territory: today’s Vatican City and some extraterritorial properties like the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo.

For a long time, Catholics of a certain cast of mind bitterly resented all this. Their attitude was neatly captured by Guy Crouchback, the protagonist of Evelyn Waugh’s World War II trilogy, Sword of Honor. At the beginning of the third volume, Unconditional Surrender, Guy chats with his wise and aged father during the Allied campaign in Italy:

---

News of the King’s flight came on the day the brigade landed at Salerno. It brought Guy some momentary exhilaration.

“That looks like the end of the Piedmontese usurpation,” he said to his father. “What a mistake the Lateran Treaty was. It seemed masterly at the time — how long? Fifteen years ago? What are 15 years in the history of Rome? How much better it would have been if the Popes had sat it out and then emerged, saying, ‘What was all that? Risorgimento? Garibaldi? Cavour? The House of Savoy? Mussolini? Just some hooligans from out of town causing a disturbance. Come to think of it, wasn’t there a poor boy whom they called King of Rome?’ That’s what the Pope ought to be saying today.”

Mr. Crouchback regarded his son sadly. “My dear boy,” he said, “you’re really talking the most terrible nonsense, you know. That isn’t what the Church is like. It isn’t what she’s for.”

---

The fictional Gervase Crouchback was a man ahead of his time in 1943, when he set Guy straight about the “Piedmontese usurpation,” the Lateran Treaty, and the rest of it.

But his view has been thoroughly vindicated in the decades since World War II, and on this sesquicentennial in Rome it would take a particular kind of obtuseness, combined with over-the-top romanticism, to think that the loss of the Papal States was anything other than a tremendous blessing for the Catholic Church.

Garibaldi, Cavour, and the House of Savoy turned out to be unwitting midwives of a new papacy, one that deployed moral authority to great political effect in world affairs — far more effect, in fact, than either the Kingdom of Italy or the Repubblica Italiana has managed since 1861.

The key figure in this, it seems ever more clear, was the immediate successor to Pius IX, Pope Leo XIII. Rather than behaving like a petulant dispossessed minor Italian noble, Leo set about engaging modernity in his own distinctive way, thereby laying the groundwork for the exercise of new forms of papal power.

He thought through the challenges of political modernity and the modern, secular state in a series of encyclicals; their literary style tends toward the higher baroque, but the trenchancy of Leo’s thought makes them worth plowing through today.

Leo fostered a Catholic intellectual renaissance by encouraging study of the original texts of Thomas Aquinas, whose political theory he himself used to launch modern Catholic social doctrine, one of the three mega-proposals for ordering the human future on offer in the world today (the others being jihadist Islam and the pragmatic-utilitarian ethos embodied in American consumerism and popular culture).

None of this would have been possible if Leo had been stuck managing a minor European state in the middle of the Italian peninsula and trying to reconcile his evangelical functions as Successor of Peter with the requirements of daily statecraft.

Nor would we have seen the historic accomplishments of the man who brought the Leonine papacy to its apogee, John Paul II, the pivotal figure in the collapse of European Communism. John Paul deployed the moral weapons that Leo began to develop, and showed them to be singularly effective in bringing to an end the greatest tyranny in human history.

The victory of freedom over Communism had many authors, to be sure. But in the judgment of serious Cold War historians, the pivotal moment in the drama that became the Revolution of 1989 was John Paul II’s first pilgrimage to his Polish homeland in June 1979: a moment made possible, in no small part, by the victory of Italian secularists over Pius IX in 1861 and 1870.

There are many ironies in the fire, indeed.

As for 21st-century Italy, it will try its best to celebrate today, but the fact is that it is beset by the same problems that bedevil much of the rest of Western Europe: demographic meltdown, a fiscally impossible welfare state, the loss of any work ethic, inane politics, dysfunctional public services, irresponsible unions, and unresponsive bureaucratic government.

Many of those problems reflect the crisis of cultural morale that hangs over contemporary Europe like a dense fog. And that crisis of cultural morale, in its Italian form, is rooted in the arid secularism that helped shape the modern Italy born 150 years ago today.

Some wise Italians, like Marcello Pera — philosopher and former president of the Italian Senate — understand this and are trying to do something about it. But theirs is a difficult task.

Pope Benedict XVI sent a congratulatory letter to Italian president Giorgio Napolitano (a former luminary of the Italian Communist party) yesterday. Being a close student of modern history, Benedict might well have been tempted (though he is too much a gentleman to do any such thing) to send a brief salute to Italian unification from the
Vatican to the Quirinale: "Thanks for the favor".


[In fact, the Holy Father's letter was a courteous and factful reminder of how much Christianity and the Catholic Church had contributed to the national identity of Italians that was well-established long before the political unification of the peninsula that took place with the Risorgimento... And it is very welcome that Weigel brought up the enlightened policies of Leo XIII whom much of the Catholic world probably failed to remember adequately during his bicentennial last year.]

'Courtyard of the Gentiles'
to promote dialogue with non-believers


VATICAN CITY, March 18 (VIS) - The formal launch of Benedict XVI's 'courtyard of the Gentiles' initiative carried out under the Pontifical Council for Culture was formally presented today at a Vatican news conference. It will involve two days of meeting and dialogue between believers and non-believers in Paris, France, on March 24-25.

Participating in today's press conference were Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Fr. Jean-Marie Laurent Mazas F.S.J., executive director of the "Courtyard of the Gentiles", and Stanislas de Laboulaye, French ambassador to the Holy See.

Cardinal Ravasi explained that "at the request of Benedict XVI the Church has decided to embark on a new stage of dialogue, exchange and joint activity among believers and non-believers. This has been entrusted to the Pontifical Council for Culture".

The name "Courtyard of the Gentiles" evokes "the image of the vast area near the Temple of Jerusalem reserved for debates between Jews and non-Jews", the cardinal said. "It complements inter-religious dialogue which has been going on for some decades and represents a long-term commitment of the Church which will interest many people in the world, believers and non-believers alike".

"The aim", Cardinal Ravasi continued, "is to help to ensure that the great questions about human existence, especially the spiritual questions, are borne in mind and discussed in our societies, using our common reason".

"That symbol of apartheid and sacral separation which was the wall of the 'Courtyard of the Gentiles' was cancelled by Christ. He wished to eliminate barriers so as to ensure a harmonious meeting between the two peoples. ... Believers and non-believers stand on different ground, but they must not close themselves in a sacral or secular isolationism, ignoring one another or, worse still, launching taunts or accusations as do fundamentalists on one side and the other. Of course, differences must not be skimmed over, contradictory ideas must not be dismissed, or discordances ignored, ... but thoughts and words, deeds and decisions can be confronted, and even come together", he said.

Relations between Christians and Gentiles "can follow the paradigm of a duel", the cardinal concluded, "but what the 'Courtyard of the Gentiles' wishes to propose is, by contrast, a duet. A duet in which the sound of the voices may be at antipodes - such as a bass and a soprano - yet manage to create a harmony without renouncing their own identity; in other words, ... without fading away into a vague ideological syncretism".

The inaugural session of the "Courtyard of the Gentiles" will take place on the afternoon of 24 March at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO, presided by Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO, and attended by diplomats and representatives of the world of culture.

A number of initiatives are scheduled to be held on Friday 25 March: in the morning at the Sorbonne University and in the afternoon at the Institut de France (home of the Academie Francaise) and the College des Bernardins (a renovated medieval Benedictine abbey inaugurated by the Archdiocese of Paris as a cultural venue when Benedict XVI visited France in Sept. 2008).

The day will conclude with a celebration on the forecourt of the cathedral of Notre Dame with the theme: "Into the Courtyard of the Unknown". The event is open to everyone, especially young people.

The Pope will address those present from giant screens set up for the occasion, explaining the significance and objectives of the Pontifical Council for Culture's initiative.


Vatican reaches out to atheists:
Paris initiative aimed at
dialogue with nonbelievers
By Nicole Winfield


VATICAN CITY, March 18 (AP) -- The Vatican is reaching out to atheists with a series of series of encounters and debates aimed at fostering intellectual dialogue and introducing nonbelievers to God, officials said Friday.

The initiative of the Pontifical Council for Culture kicks off in Paris next week with panel discussions by academics, diplomats, intellectuals and clergy at UNESCO's headquarters, the Sorbonne and the French Institute.

The 'Courtyard of the Gentiles' was the area in the ancient Temple of Jerusalem was reserved for nonbelievers who wanted to learn about Judaism. Pope Benedict XVI said in 2009 that he thought the Catholic Church should open a new "Courtyard of the Gentiles" so nonbelievers could get to know God.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who heads the Vatican's culture office, told a news conference Friday that the aim was not to convert nonbelievers. Rather, he said, it was to open a two-way dialogue, remove confusion and tackle existential questions like life and death, truth, love, good and evil.

He said he wasn't hoping to engage what he called the more "aggressive, polemical, ironic and sarcastic" atheists who show no interest in getting to know the unknown. Noticeably absent on the list of panelists are the Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens of the world, with whom Ravasi sees little opening for dialogue.

Instead, the panelists include French intellectuals such as Axel Kahn and Julia Kristeva, as well as Pavel Fischer, former Czech ambassador to France.

Benedict called for the creation of the new initiative after visiting highly atheist Czech Republic in 2009, saying a new "Courtyard of the Gentiles" could be a place "where men can in some way latch onto God, without knowing him and before they have gained access to his mystery, which is the inner life of the Church."

"To the dialogue with other religions we must add dialogue with those for whom religion is something unknown, for whom God is unknown and who nevertheless don't want to remain without God but want to get closer to him at least as an unknown," he said then.

While the initiative is not evangelical per se, Benedict has made re-evangelizing Europe a priority of his pontificate. He has frequently lamented that in an increasingly secular world, many people feel as if they can live without God.

The March 24-25 initiative will end with an evening youth festival outside Paris' Notre Dame cathedral and a prayer service open also to nonbelievers inside.


The most prolix, and also most informative, account comes from John Allen, even if he indulges in a couple of his more regrettable tendencies:

'Courtyard of the Gentiles'
promises to boost Catholic pride

March 18, 2011

Somewhere deep in their souls, most Catholics long to feel proud of their Church and its leaders. At times, however, that sense of pride can seem all but buried under an avlanche of heartache and bad news.

[Allen is taking the perspective of the Western liberal Catholic that he is. As a cradle Catholic from a country that is still predominantly Catholic, I have never just 'longed' to feel proud of the Church and everything good that it stands for - I have always been militantly proud of it, and that is probably how many cradle Catholics as well as converts feel. Of course, I am ashamed for the misdeeds committed in her name or by her own priests, nuns and bishops, but sin and error are common to all human institutions. It is important to keep a reasonable perspective about this inevitable incidence of sin.]

Recent developments in Philadelphia, for example, have ripped open the wounds of the sexual abuse crisis, prompting a large swath of observers in the outside world to conclude that Catholicism is fatally corrupt, and even many rank-and-file Catholics to wonder why the Church seems so unable to get its act together. [Such people are inherently anti-Catholic, anyway, so they will seize on any pretext to reinforce their prejudices. That should not make me or any other Catholic cringe, much less waver about my faith or the Church! Besides, the Philadelphia cases are not new occurences - they just happen to have finally gone through the civilian courts - i.e., they are part of the immense criminal baggage first revealed to the world in all its sordidness in 2000-2002.]

For Catholics eager for signs of positive energy, next week should offer a badly needed boost.

In Paris, March 24-25, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, under the leadership of its genial and erudite president, Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, will stage something called “The Courtyard of the Gentiles” -- a high-profile new forum for dialogue, rather than polemics, between believers and non-believers.

Ravasi spoke this morning at a Vatican news conference to present the event, which involves the Vatican in partnership with three prestigious institutions: the Sorbonne, UNESCO, and the Institut de France.

In effect, the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” amounts to a way for Catholicism to present the best of itself to a jaded secular world -- the intelligence of Catholic tradition, its curiosity and openness, and its drive to become what Pope Paul VI called the “sacrament of the unity of the human family.”

Inspiration came from Benedict XVI’s speech to Roman Curia in December 2009, when the Pontiff looked back on his trip that year to the Czech Republic -- statistically, at least, the most secularized society in Europe, with the highest percentage of avowed atheists and agnostics.

Reflecting on the experience, Benedict said: “I think the Church today should open a sort of ‘Courtyard of the Gentiles,’” referring to the space in the ancient Jerusalem temple where non-Israelites could enter.

Ravasi and the Council for Culture took that notion and ran with it. [That is to say, the Holy Father entrusted them with the task of executing the concept!]In February, during a trial run for the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” in Bologna, Ravasi explained its spirit.

“Encounter between believers and non-believers occurs when they abandon ferocious apologetics and devastating desecrations,” he said, “revealing the deep motives for both the hope of the believer and the hesitation of the agnostic.”

Ravasi clearly identified the personality type of someone unsuited for such an exchange, whether a believer or not: “Someone convinced of already possessing all the answers, with the duty simply to impose them.”

The March 24-25 showcase in Paris amounts to the prime-time debut of the “Courtyard of the Gentiles,” meaning a major public showcase designed to draw national and international notice.

The UNESCO portion of the program will put Catholic personalities, both clerical and lay, in conversation with political movers-and-shakers such as former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato and Czech leader Pavel Fischer.

At the Sorbonne, Ravasi and other Catholic leaders will enter into conversation with top-tier secular French thinkers such as Julia Kristeva, a feminist psychoanalyst and expert in semiotics; scientist and geneticist Axel Kahn; and philosopher Bernard Bourgeois.

The event will conclude with a youth gathering in front of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, with music and dramatic performances by top-notch French artists, pitched at both believers and non-believers alike.

Afterwards, the doors of the cathedral will be flung open, and for those interested, an experience of Catholic prayer will be offered by the ecumenical community of Taizé.

Little of this activity may penetrate the English-speaking world, since the program is almost entirely in French. (That’s a logical choice, given that France is more or less the mother ship of post-modern secularism.) Across Europe, however, the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” promises to be a big deal, generating a rare spate of positive vibes about the Church.

The event also throws a spotlight on Ravasi, who more often than not is himself a source of Catholic pride. [Oh dear! Here comes Allen's now obligatory drumroll and trumpet voluntary for someone he has been touting as his pick for the next Pope! With apologies to Ravasi, I do find Allen's gratuitous hype offensively inappropriate.]

A Biblical scholar by training, Ravasi possesses intellectual chops which are the stuff of legend. He can’t clear his throat without coughing up a gaggle of literary references; consider that in a ten-minute presentation of the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” back in February, he managed to cite Swedish writer Stig Dagerman, Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel, the “Spoon River Anthology” by Edgar Lee Masters, and even the Marquis de Sade, not to mention Dostoyevsky and Nietzsche. (Ravasi is able to master all that material because he usually sleeps just three hours a night, devoting the rest of his twilight hours to reading great works, often in their original language.) [Such out-of-turn adolescent adulation makes me barf!]

Despite his cerebral firepower, Ravasi generally comes off as affable and unpretentious. As I’ve said before, at his best Ravasi blends the mind of Ratzinger with the heart of Roncalli -- meaning the intellectual acumen of Benedict XVI and the pastoral, world-embracing optimism of Pope John XXIII.

One American advisor to the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” is Max Bonilla of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, who serves as President of the Camartis Institute, a partner with the Pontifical Council for Culture on a project designed to foster dialogue between faith and reason in North America, called “From Sea to Shining Sea.”

“The Courtyard for the Gentiles is a wonderful and exciting opportunity for sincere and open dialogue,” Bonilla said. “It is a concrete demonstration by the Holy See of the deep respect the church has for non-believers.”

Tentative plans call for a similar “Courtyard of the Gentiles” event in Chicago in 2013, so Americans might think of the Paris gig as a preview of coming attractions.

Julia Kristeva, by the way, may be the answer to a question that’s long clouded efforts by the Catholic church to engage non-believers: Who exactly should we be talking to?

Such dialogues can’t really be focused on the popular high priests of atheism, such as Richard Dawkins or Bill Maher. Those guys are better suited to a slugfest on cable TV, since they’re often just as dogmatic as the angry religious types they lampoon. ['Often just as dogmatic'? Not just often and not just dogmatic, but always and ever bigoted in the worst possible ways, in thought, word and deed!]

In Italy, Catholics pride themselves on close ties to a cluster of high-profile atheists, including journalist Giuliano Ferrara, the late writer Oriana Fallaci, and political scientist and essayist Ernesto Galli della Loggia.

Collectively, such figures are known as “theo-cons,” meaning cultural conservatives with close ties to the church. Because of their politics, however, these theo-cons are often more celebrated in ecclesiastical circles than in the spheres that a dialogue with non-believers is supposed to penetrate: the academy, secular art and literature, and so on. [What a strange and untrue observation to make about figures like Ferrara, Fallacci and Galli della Loggia - Allen should have mentioned Marcello Pera - who enjoy great standing in the secular world in all the fields he mentions!]

Kristeva, by way of contrast, is the real deal in terms of liberal, post-modern secular thought.

She’s an avowed non-believer, an apostle of Freudian analysis, and a leading feminist thinker. As is often the case in France, her intellectual firepower has made her a cultural celebrity. She’s so well known across Europe, in fact, that the Norwegian rock band “Kulta Beats” actually recorded a punk song called “Julia Kristeva,” celebrating her reputation as a world-class shrink: “I have my shoulders, honey, and I have my head/Don't know what’s stuck inside it, don't know till you have said.”

Yet Kristeva is not hostile to religious belief or to the Catholic church. Bulgarian by birth, she was educated by Dominican nuns. After publishing a trilogy on her feminist heroes -- Hannah Arendt, Melanie Klein and Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette -- Kristeva recently penned a 600-page book about St. Teresa of Avila, titled Teresa, My Love.

To be sure, the book is not standard hagiography. Among other things, Kristeva argues that Teresa exemplified a distinguishing feature of feminine reasoning -- to wit, that for women, “Thought is inseparable from carnal sensuality.”

Even so, Ravasi praised Kristeva’s book as “an absolutely splendid text” in an interview with NCR last fall.

“We can communicate with each other because we share an intellectual language, even if we have content and approaches which are completely different,” Ravasi said.

In that sense, the odd-couple friendship between Ravasi and Kristeva may offer a model for positive exchange between believers and non-believers, even when they inhabit wildly different political, moral, and cultural planets.

* * *

On another note, the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” may also offer resources for fleshing out what Pope Benedict XVI’s call for a “New Evangelization” might look like in practice.

“New Evangelization” is, of course, very much the order of the day in Benedict’s Vatican.

Last year the notoriously anti-bureaucratic Pontiff stepped outside his own skin to create a new Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, which on March 11-12 held its first “study meeting,” bringing together roughly 30 experts from various parts of the world.

Two Americans took part: Benedictine Fr. Jeremy Driscoll, who teaches liturgy and fundamental theology, dividing his time between Rome and Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon; and Maryknoll Fr. John Gorski, a veteran missionary in Latin America and a former executive secretary of the Mission Department for CELAM, the conference of bishops in Latin America.

Next October, a Synod of Bishops also will be devoted to the theme of “New Evangelization,” the working document for which was presented on March 4.

One noteworthy step forward occurred during presentation of that document, which is that at long last, we have a working definition of what “New Evangelization” actually means. The secretary of the synod, Croatian Archbishop Nikola Eterović, distinguished three kinds of missionary effort:
- Evangelization as a regular activity of the church, directed at practicing Catholics;
- The mission ad gentes, meaning the first proclamation of Christ to non-Christian persons and peoples;
- “New Evangelization,” meaning outreach to baptized Catholics who have become distant from the faith.

(It’s not entirely clear, by the way, if this will be the official definition of “New Evangelization” when the dust settles. During the March 11-12 study meeting, word was that the new pontifical council was not really consulted in the preparation of the synod’s working document -- among other things, another indication that the problem of internal communication in the Vatican hasn’t been fully resolved. Nonetheless, Eterović’s way of defining “New Evangelization” at least provides a place to start.)

Defined as Eterović suggested, the “New Evangelization” aims to reach out to Catholics alienated from the church, and who in many cases have become effectively secularized in both thought and practice. In that sense, the “New Evangelization” is almost a sub-discipline of the broader relationship with secularism.

If the Catholic Church can open new channels of understanding with non-believers -- or so the thinking might run -- some of those non-believers who have a Catholic background may be drawn closer to the church. Opening such channels is precisely the aim of the “Courtyard of the Gentiles,” making it in effect a R&D laboratory for the ways and means of a New Evangelization.

Ravasi, coincidentally, is a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization. One hopes that means the lessons of the “Courtyard of the Gentiles” won’t be lost on the architects of the council’s efforts.

* * *

Finally, there’s a sign that Benedict’s push for “New Evangelization” is gaining traction in the United States. On Thursday, St. John’s Seminary, which serves the Boston archdiocese, announced the launch of a Theological Institute for the New Evangelization which will offer a Master’s of Theological Studies for the New Evangelization.

The institute will bring together the seminary’s formation programs aimed at laity, deacons, and professed religious, meaning everybody not training for the priesthood.

A press release says the programs will provide “theological and catechetical formation for the evangelization of the modern world, marked as it is by increasing threats to the dignity and eternal vocation of the human person.”

You can tell this is a quintessentially American initiative, if for no other reason than this: An Open House on March 24 promises not only an overview of the theological content of the programs, but also “ample parking.”

The launch will likely be taken as good news in the offices of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization back in Rome -- where the president, Italian Archbishop Rino Fisichella, is apparently still waiting for an American bishop to release a priest to help staff the office.

(European prelates joke that every Vatican office needs at least one American, not only because of the geopolitical and cultural importance of the United States, but also for a more practical reason rooted in America’s reputation for technical know-how: Somebody, they say, needs to know what to do if the printer jams.)

What an appropriate gift for Lent! Thank God for the common sense of the judges who overruled their colleagues in the inferior court. God bless....

European court's final ruling:
Crucifixes can remain in Italian schools


Strasbourg, France, Mar 18, 2011 (CNA/EWTN News).- The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Italian public schools can continue to display crucifixes in classrooms, overturning an earlier decision that declared them to be a human rights violation.

Seventeen judges of the Grand Chamber gave the 15-2 ruling on March 18, holding that there had been “no violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (right to education) to the European Convention on Human Rights.”

The protocol requires that state schools “shall respect the right of parents to ensure … education and teaching in conformity with their own religions and philosophical convictions.”



In 2009, a lower chamber of the same court ruled that the crucifixes violated that protocol, as well as another provision guaranteeing “freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.”

However, the Grand Chamber – whose ruling is final, and not subject to appeal – disagreed.

Their decision concludes a five-year legal battle that began in 2006, when an Italian mother of two non-Catholic students complained to the court that the crucifix displays were a form of involuntary religious indoctrination.

In a summary of the Grand Chamber's March 18 ruling, Court Registrar Erik Fribergh explained that the judges had found “nothing to suggest that the authorities were intolerant of pupils who believed in other religions, were non-believers or who held non-religious philosophical convictions".

The 53-page judgment in English - which presents all the facts and arguments made in the case including the lower court deliberations, may be read on
www.echr.coe.int/echr/resources/hudoc/lautsi_and_others_v__i...
It also includes four concurring opinions, and the dissenting opinion of the two judges who votes against the mAjority ruling.

An excellent 5-page summary including the names of all those governments and individuals who intervened for and against the legitimacy of having crucifixes in Italian classrooms (and by extension, in other European schools who may allow it), can be found in the ECHR's press release on the ruling:
www.echr.coe.int/echr/resources/hudoc/Lautsi_PR_ENG.pdf



Statement from the Vatican
Translated from


Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican press director, issued the following statement on the ruling from Strasbourg today:

---

Today’s judgement issued by the Great Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights about the statutory displaying of crucifixes in State schools in Italy has been welcomed with satisfaction by the Holy See.

It is in fact a very important history-making judgement, as we can see from the verdict pronounced by the Great Chamber after an examination of the issue in depth.

The Great Chamber has, in effect, completely overturned the judgement of first instance, previously adopted unanimously by another Chamber of the Court, which resulted not only in the appeal by the Italian State as defendant in the case, but also the support offered to Italy by many European States, to an unprecedented extent, as well as the adhesion of many NGOs (non-governmental organizations) expressing a widely shared feeling by the population at large.

Thus, it has been recognized, at an international and very authoritative juridical level, that the culture of human rights should not be placed in conflict with the religious foundations of our European civilization, to which Christianity gave an essential contribution.

It is also recognized that, according to the principle of subsidiarity, it is important to guarantee to every country a margin of appreciation of the value of religious symbols in one’s own cultural history and national identity, and of the place where these symbols are displayed (as, in the last few days, some judgements of Supreme Courts in some European countries have confirmed).

Without such guarantee, then in the name of religious freedom, one would paradoxically tend to limit or even deny this freedom and eventually exclude any expression of the latter from the public space. In the process, freedom itself would be violated, thus obscuring particular and legitimate forms of identity.

The Court has thus affirmed that to display a crucifix is not a form of indoctrination, but an expression of the cultural and religious identity of countries with a Christian tradition.

We welcome this new judgement of the Great Chamber also because it contributes effectively to make a vast segment of European citizens regain trust in the European Court of Human Rights, these citizens being firmly convinced and well aware of the crucial role of Christian values not only in their own history, but also in the construction of European unity and its culture of law and freedom.

---

The reaction from COMECE (Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community):

Acknowledging the place of
Christianity in the public square

---

COMECE welcomes the sound judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in the case Lautsi vs Italy. The Grand Chamber of the ECHR stated on 18 March 2011 that the presence of crucifixes in Italian State-school classrooms is not contrary to the right to education. This decision clearly refutes the previous 2009 judgment of the ECHR Chamber.

COMECE sees in this decision an acknowledgement of the legitimate place of Christianity in the public square as well as the recognition of the diversity of cultural traditions in Europe.

It is a fact that all over Europe, there is a variety of models ruling the question on how to deal with religion and religious symbols in public schools and public life. This diversity results from the Member States’ different traditions, identities and histories, and within the context of different Church-State relations.

The court rightly acknowledges that the absence “of a European consensus on the presence of religious symbols in State schools” has to be taken into account to assess this case. The presence of a crucifix in schools does not hinder the conveying of the curriculum in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner. The presence of this particular religious symbol aims rather at conveying basic moral values in public schools.

In view of the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, COMECE shares the view of the Court that the most appropriate level at which such matters, which are deeply rooted in the tradition of a particular country, can be sensibly assessed is the national one.

The crucifix symbolizes the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians from all denominations therefore see in the cross the symbol of God’s comprehensive love for all mankind.

To believers from other religions and even to non-believers, the cross can be valued as a symbol for non-violence and resistance to retaliation; its public display reminds all human beings of the respect for human dignity, a principle from which all fundamental rights are derived.

---

One of the disadvantages of being Pope is that a Pope cannot directly answer any allegations made about him personally - in his present status as well as in his past, no matter how bizarre, lurid and untrue those allegations are.

In today's issue, L'Osservatore Romano answers - even if it is about seven weeks late, but better late than never - a minor sensation caused in late January by the publication in Sueddeutsche Zeitung of a 1970 memorandum written by some German theologians to the German bishops conference on the subject of priestly celibacy. Joseph Ratzinger of Regensburg, was listed to be among its nine signatories. The German media had a brief floating Gotcha moment, pointing out that the memorandum proved the present Pope was at the very least flexible about priestly celibacy in 1970.

It appears from the explanation here, researched in part from a book of recollections about the late German theologian Karl Rahner, who was a well-known progressivist, with testimony from the present Archbishop of Mainz, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, among others... It appears that Joseph Ratzinger never signed the memorandum but that his name was merely placed on it since he was one of the theological consultors to the Doctrinal Commission of the German bishops' conference at the time...

The bonus, other than the explanation, is the reprint of an article written by Prof. Ratzinger for the OR in 1970. Who knew that he had been published in OR as early as then?

I must thank Lella and her blog

for providing the texts from OR, which, for some reason, are not among those posted online on the Vatican site for the OR today.

Regarding a memorandum of February 8, 1970
by 9 German theologians on priestly celibacy:
and how Joseph Ratzinger's name got on it
Translated from the 3/19/11 issue of


To present here once more an article by Joseph Ratzinger published by L'Osservatore Romano on May 28, 1970, is useful not just because it is a little-known text - which is also being published in the original German in our weekly German edition dated 3/18/2011 - but also in order to better evaluate the news, carried in many media outlets, claiming that in that year, Prof. Ratzinger had pronounced himself in favor of voluntary rather than obligatory celibacy for priests.

It must be pointed out that the Memorandum dated February 9, 1970, on the subject of priestly celibacy - this being the document that was reported on recently - was drafted by the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner (See the testimony by Cardinal Karl Lehmann in the book Begegnungen mit Karl Rahner. Weggefährten erinnern sich [Meetings with Karl Rahner recounted by his colleagues), ed. Andreas Batlogg and Melvin E. Michalski, Freiburg, Herder, 2006, pp. 94-95).

The Memorandum, along with an accompanying letter dated February 11, 1970, signed by Rahner alone, was sent to all German bishops and auxiliaries in mimeographed form, and carried the names - which were typed in - of nine of the 11 theologians who were consultors to the Doctrinal Commission of the German bishops conference (DBK). One of those names was 'Joseph Raztinger, Regensburg'.

The Memorandum was intended to encourage participants in the DPK plenary assembly to be held in Essen that year from February 16-19 to start a new discussion on priestly celibacy - in answer to a letter written by German-speaking bishops about the priesthood in January 1970. The bishops' letter was a Biblical and dogmatic directive in which celibacy was only a secondary issue. [In other words, the Memorandum was not even solicited by the bishops, but an initiative on the part of Rahner.]

The first reactions to the bishops' letter were discussed in a session of the Doctrinal Commission on January 30-31. Both Professors Rahner and Ratzinger were unable to attend this session. A week and a half later, however, the Memorandum drafted by Rahner was sent on to the bishops to convince them of "the need for an in-depth review and a more detailed examination of the law on priestly celibacy in the Latin Church in Germany, as well as around the world" (Paragraph 2).

Originally, the text was not intended for publication. But failing to get the expected reaction from the bishops, Rahner decided to make it public. It came out in the March 1970 issue of Orientierung (Orientations) (#34, 1970, pp 69-72), the monthly magazine of the Swiss Jesuits, but the editorial note accompanyng the memorandum only mentioned three theologians, and Ratzinger was not one of them.

In the book Begegnungen mit Karl Rahner (p. 110, note 12), one reads: "According to information from Fr. Nikolaus Klein, S.J., of the Orientierung editorial staff in Zurich, the magazine's editor-in-chief at the time, Fr. Ludwig Kaufman, S.J., had obtained the consent of more than half of the signatories for its publication, and thus he felt he could publish the text".
[If he got the consent from 'more than half' of the supposed nine signatories, i.e., at least 5, why were only three names mentioned in the editorial note?]

Editor's note in OR:In the spring of 1970, Joseph Ratzinger, who was then professor of dogmatic theology at the University of Regensburg, as well as a member of the International Theological Commission and a consultor to the Doctrinal Commission of the German bishops' conference, published this article on priestly celibacy in the May 28, 1970, issue of this newspaper, which we republish here in its entirety:

---

The priestly ministry:
The Cross is the foundation
and center of Christian priesthood
by JOSEPH RATZINGER
First published in the 5/28/1970 issue of


The question of priestly ministry in the Church has unexpectedly become a burning issue. Does a sacramental priesthood exist legitimately? Or was it founded only on a misunderstanding, on a fallback to pre-Christian structures?

Should not the Church, properly speaking, be constituted charismatically? And should questions over the existence and number of Church offices not be resolved solely on the basis of sociological needs?

There are many things that appear to justify these questions: The great Pauline letters are addressed directly to local Christian communities, and have to do with charisms, but seem to ignore the subject of the priestly office, specifically. [NB: In religious language, ‘office’ is synonymous to ‘service’ or 'ministry'.]

The Letter to the Hebrews speaks insistently of the singularity of Jesus Christ's priesthood, which seems to definitively exclude every other specific priesthood in the New Covenant. And nowhere in the New Testament are the subjects of churchly office referred to as sacerdos.

One can thus understand that when one starts to read the New Testament, without the living 'commentary' provided by the history of the Church, some uneasiness may be kindled and one may feel acutely the problem about the legitimacy and the significance of priestly service in the Church.

It can be objected right away that it makes no sense to read the New Testament without considering the living Church in which the priesthood had developed and in which it had always been acknowledged as a norm all through a long and often contentious history.

From this would arise the complex problem of how it can be possible to understand the Bible in its exact meaning, and what scientific and spiritual premises would be required for that purpose.

We can only refer here to such an ample context in order to point out that reading the Bible without any premises (as one would read any historical text) is not possible. Reconstructions of the past which claim to be genuine never depict only that which was, but are also always an expression of the ideas and desires of a particular era.

In any case, the contemporary crisis should urge us to listen with new vigilance to the message from the origins of Christianity in order to let ourselves be fertilized and guided anew.

So what does the New Testament say about the priesthood? There are numberless studies on this subject and they go in all directions, about which, in the course of an article, one can only cite some cardinal points.

Let us start with the figure of the Supreme Priest which is presented as the principal argument that in Christ, the character of service, and therefore of pure charism, had been transcended. These affirmations ignore the decisive element, which is, the figure of the apostle.

Certainly, Paul did not place himself in the line of the High Priests of Jerusalem's Temple (which would have been a sort of contradiction, since this temple and its priests were still there, and it is evident that neither Paul nor the other apostles belonged to their priestly order].

But neither did he consider himself as a Christian rabbi, or as a catechist in a worshipless synagogue. Rather, he considered himself an Apostle who had come directly from the Lord Jesus, who sent him to prepare the pagan world as a living offering to God (cfr. Rom 15,16). Thus, one can say with him, "The old things have passed away; behold, new things have come" (2Cor 5,17).

Paul was not a priest in the temple sense, but an apostle of the Risen Lord. In his discussions with his adversaries in the second Letter to the Corinthians, he explained abundantly the consequences this meant for him.

In that letter, he contrasts the apostolate with the office of Moses and defines it by comparing it to Moses's task. Here, the office of the apostle appears like the sublimation and transcendence - by the work of the Spirit - of the old office, of which Moses was the mediator (2Cor 3,7-9).

Thus, the apostolate, deriving from the axis of Christ, is defined by way of Moses. Apostolic service is explained as the pneumatic antithesis of the Mosaic service and made possible by the Risen Lord.

In that part of the New Testament, for the first time, the idea is developed in the sphere of primitive liturgy that the community of Jesus is a new order, alongside that of Moses, and therefore was also endowed with a new diaconate that corresponds in part to that of Moses, but on the other hand, was completely different from it.

Paul takes up this idea once more in Chapter V of the Letter: Defining the apostolic function as a 'service of reconciliation' (5,18), he brings us surprisingly close to the service of the Supreme High Priest in the Old Testament, whose most noble task was the liturgy of the Feast of Reconciliation.

Even in this context, the description 'pneumatic-Christologic' is certainly unclear, being at the same time antithetical and parallel. At this point, to the image of apostolic service is also added Moses's task of mediation: "So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (5,20).

Here the image of Moses who brings to the people the voice of God shines through clearly - Moses who conquered the people for God and God for the people, wished to mediate between one and the other, and was ready to let himself be consumed in order to be the contact between them.

Moreover, this trait recurs often in Paul, especially where he says with particular clarity: "I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent for your sakes" (12,15).

At the same time, the figure of Moses also becomes more clear, when referred to the Lord himself, who on the Cross really allowed himself to be spent for men, and through this, truly became priest and mediator for mankind.

The explanation of the apostolic office starting from the Old Testament includes its Christological justification, because for Paul, the Old Testament had become the messenger of Christ.

In view of these texts, it is difficult for us today to deny that with Paul (and also with the Synoptic evangelists, for instance Mark 3,13-19), there is a theology of the apostolate that is rich in content from which results a Christian office that is constituted Christologically.

Now the question arises: Does all this say anything about the service of those who in the New Testament are sometimes called 'presbyters' or is it limited only to that small group of those who were directly called to be apostles by the Lord?

Were these concepts not transposed to the local churches, where Christian priesthood developed? Were these concepts perhaps first conceived by Paul to be profane, but only much later came to be recognized as a charism equal in principle to other charisms?

We must now ask ourselves what is a 'charism' - what did Paul mean by it? Not having the space here to discuss such a difficult question, we must do with a reference to it and turn to some texts that concern our problem.

In fact, it is not difficult to demonstrate that the New Testament itself already shows the union of the apostolate and the presbyterate, because the latter is explained as being part of the structure of the apostolate. And this structure is presented as a permanent reality in the Church.

Even before the pastoral letters that are completely and integrally determined by this nexus, this union is apparent in the writings of Luke and in Catholic letters.

A fundamental text is St. Paul's farewell address to the presbyters of Ephesus (Acts 20,18-35). This address in its entirety looks toward the idea of the apostolic succession. The principal idea is in the statement that the office and task of Paul will pass on after his departure to the hands of the presbyters.

There are two particularly important features here: the office of the presbyters is understood as a patrimony (gift) from the Holy Spirit; and it was not Paul who would instruct the presbyters but the Pneuma (20,28).

The service of presbyters was made clear through the image of the shepherd and his flock, into which was inserted that great tradition of Israel which, on the one hand, presents Jahve as the only shepherd of the people, but also calls kings and priests 'pastors' (shepherds) who must be measured according to their relationship of service and faithfulness towards Jahve. The relationship to Christ is implicit in the concept of the shepherd even if this does not appear clearly in the text.

This concept becomes clear in the second passage that we must consider. In 1 Peter 5, 1-4, the image of the shepherd which reappears refers back to 2,25 – that impressive text which calls Christ himself ‘pastor and bishop’ of our souls. But important to the ‘mirror for presbyters’ (namely, examination of conscience by presbyters) in 5,1-4, is first of all the self-definition of the apostle as a ‘co-presbyter’ with prebysters.

The question of whether this text truly came from Peter or not, for our present purposes, can be left wholly intact. In any case, it remains certain that in this letter, the apostle appears to be the one who is speaking and who, through his determination as a ‘co-presbyter’, the two functions of apostolate and presbyterate are reciprocally identified with each other. Through this formula, the office of the apostolate is principally explained as synonymous to that of the presbyterate.

In the context of the New Testament, I believe that this is the strongest union of the two concepts, which truly includes the transposition of the theology of the apostolate into that of the presbyterate. Whoever, without prejudice, is able to understand these links, will come to answer – following the intrinsic dynamic of the New Testament - our original question unequivocally.

The priesthood in the Church is not contrary to the testimony of the Nw Testament, but is firmly anchored in it. From the point of view of the history of religions, this naturally presents something completely new: it doesn’t come from the priesthood of the temple in the Old Testament, nor from the Old Testament idea of ‘regal priesthood’, which in the first Letter of Peter is evidently applied to all the people. Rather, it comes from a Messainic-apostolic nexus: the mission of continuing the mission of Jesus Christ.

No one will dispute that in the history of the Church, signs of obscuring or transposing emphases alternate recurrently, but priesthood per se has never been questioned - rather, it is we to whom it has been transmitted that are put to question.

But are we in fact so sure that obscurity existed only in other times? Or is it not rather that every age should accept anew the gift of the Lord, and that it would be able to conserve the gift only if it understands it by questioning, living and suffering through it?

The purifying power of historical investigation is important and can certainly help our generation to better understand the primordial task of priesthood. But that is not enough, because thinking is situated within our life itself, and receives from it both its premises and its limitations.

Only that which is lived and suffered can be thought. And it is only if we always accept anew in its totality what the Lord has handed down to us that our thought can find the way.

The priesthood of Christ was fulfilled – according to the profound vision in the Letter to the Hebrews – on the Cross. The passage between God and man was manifested on the Cross. The Cross is and remains the foundation and the continuing center of Christian priesthood which can find fulfillment only in the availability of one’s ‘I’ to the Lord and to all men.

Herein lies the weight of Christ’s legacy to his Church. Thus what Paul said is valid: the priesthood of the New Testament is not a ministry of death, but a ministry of the Spirit, of justice in glory (2Cor 3,7-9). In fact, it is the double stripping of oneself, carried out by the apostle of Jesus Chrst, which makes him free to experience the presence of the Resurrection.

All this may sound demanding, and it is. Perhaps that is why today we have fallen into such uncertainties on the existence and the significance of the priesthood, because it appears to lay too many claims on us. But out inadequacy cannot constitute the measure for Christian reality. The measure is He – the Lord himself.

Of this, the witness once again is Paul, who had been Christ’s first persecutor, and then, the last of his Apostles (1Cor 15,8), who placed his own weakness at the disposition of God’s power, and thus became the strongest witness of the grace that he announced, and representating that grace is and will continue to be the highest task of the priestly ministry in all times.

---

Although this article by Prof. Ratzinger takes the form of a theologian addressing his fellow priests, it is clear and unequivocal in its message that the priesthood is demanding, as Christianity is demanding, and it is very consistent with the pastoral teachings we have heard from him as Pope.

Celibacy is, of course, one of the 'demands' placed on Catholic priests, but it is a choice that the candidate for priesthood freely makes, and a vow that he is presumed to make sincerely at the moment of his ordination, one that he is free to choose or reject until the moment he is ordained, but to reject it afterwards is another matte.

As for the late Karl Rahner, I remember posting on this thread last year a shocking discovery I made online about the theologian, namely, that he had a 22-year 'spiritual affair' by correspondence with a thrice-divorced German novelist, Luise Rinser, who later described him as "a great human being, a man who though vowed to celibacy, dared to love a woman and to suffer deeply in his love...", not 'forbidden love' but an attempt to live what both she and Rahner thought of as "the divine experiment ... to be fully man and woman, flesh and blood, yet remain totally on a spiritual level." I only cite this to conjecture that perhaps Rahner's unseemly initiative in trying to push a reconsideration of priestly celibacy could have been influenced by his own personal experience.

March 19, 2011

DOUBLE GALA TODAY FOR OUR BELOVED HOLY FATHER

FIVE YEARS, ELEVEN MONTHS, AND COUNTING....

AD MULTOS ANNOS, SANCTE PATER!

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU ARE

TO THE CHURCH, TO THE WORLD, TO ALL OF US.

AND A BLESSED NAME DAY, DEAR PAPINO...

---

On the Feast of St. Joseph
Translated from the 3/19/11 issue of

'Joseph and Mary register for the census', Cristobal de Villapando, 1698, Church of Guadapito, Zacatecas, Mexico.

With this rare image, on the feast of St. Joseph - spouse of Mary, guardian of the Holy Family, patron of the Universal Church - L'Osservatore Romano addresses to Benedict XVI the most sincere and heartfelt wishes on his name day, certain that we convey the sentiments of its readers and of many other persons all over the world.

---

It is no coincidence that the baptismal name of the Pope is that of the just and humble man who took care of the little family in the village of Nazareth, of the saint dear to Christian devotion, whom Pius IX proclaimed Patron of the Universal Church.

Like every name, Benedict XVI's baptismal name encloses a providential design, which, in his case, conveys the sense of testimony and service to the Church and the human family.




Paintings from left, by Francisco Herrera, Esteban Murillo, and (extreme right) El Greco.
ST. JOSEPH, GUARDIAN OF THE HOLY FAMILY, PATRON OF THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH

OR today.

On Page 1, a greeting to the Holy Father on his name day today, and a teaser headline on the articles inside (translated in the post above)about and by Prof. Ratzinger in 1970. In international news: Muddled situation in Libya where it is unclear what effect the belated UN resolution on a no-fly zone will do to stop Qaddafi from regaining full control of Libya; the worsening radiation threat from Japan's damaged nuclear reactors, as the yen goes into free fall in the world market; and Italian President Napolitano credits the Catholic Church for helping Italy united, in an address to the Italian Parliament yesterday to mark the 150th anniversary of Italian statehood. Cardinals Bertone and Bagnasco led Catholic prelates present for the occasion.


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

The Holy Father and the Roman Curia ended their Lenten retreat. Remarks by the Holy Father.

Afterwards, he had a private audience with Carmelita Fr. Francois-Marie Lethel, who preached the spiritual exercises.
The Vatican also released the text of the Pope's formal letter thanking Fr. Lethel for his spiritual guidance at the retreat.


NB: The decision yesterday of the European Court for Human Rights upholding the right of Italian schools to display the Crucifix in public obviously came after the OR went to press. The newspaper won't be reporting on it till the double issue on Tuesday, because there will be no Sunday edition tomorrow - the Feast of St. Joseph is observed as a holiday in the Vatican.

From the website of the Italian President today:

Italian President greets
the Pope on his name day


The President of the Republic has sent His Holiness the following message:

---

I wish to send you the most heartfelt wishes - mine as well as those of the Italian people - on the occasion of your name day.

The Feast of St. Joseph also represents an occasion to celebrate the Italian family, the basic cell of our society, and fulcrum of growth for the unitarian State.

Please accept, Holiness, the most sincere wishes for your personal wellbeing and serenity.

---

Benedict XVI and President Napolitano have had several meetings since 2006 when he became President - they have exchanged official visits, and at least twice a year, Pres. Napolitano has offered concerts in honor of the Pope.




Tomorrow, March 20, second Sunday in Lent, Benedict XVI will dedicate the new parish of San Corbiniano in Infernetto,
a working class neighborhood in Rome's southern suburbs. The Diocese of Munich contributed to construction of the parish church.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/03/2011 22:21]

Pope and Curia conclude
one-week Lenten retreat


19 MARCH 2011 (RV) - Pope Benedict and the Roman Curia concluded their week-long Lenten spiritual exercises Saturday morning. French Carmelite Father Francois-Marie Lethel, who preached the meditations, explored the theme of holiness, drawing on the figure of John Paul II in view of the upcoming beatification.



19 March 2011 (RV) - Pope Benedict XVI, in thanking father Lethel, noted that the meditations were in line with his catechesis on the figures of the saints in the general audience.

The Pope said this contemplation of the mystery of Christ reflected in the existence of his most faithful followers is a key element he inherited from Pope John Paul II and one he continues with complete conviction and great joy.

The last meditation on Saturday morning was devoted to the figure of St Joseph, coinciding with the Saint’s feast day and name day of the the Holy Father, who received the best wishes of the Roman Curia.


Pope closes Lenten retreat -
and receives greetings from
the Curia for his name day
Translated from

March 19, 2011


At 9 a.m. today, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the spiritual exercises of the Roman Curia in the presence of the Holy Father ended, at the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace.

The meditations during the weeklong twice-daiiy exercises were led this year by Fr. François-Marie Léthel, of the Discalced Carmelites, secretary of the Pontifical Theological Academy and professor at the Teresianum Pontifical Theological Faculty. The theme was "The light of Christ in the heart of the Church: John Paul II and the theology of saints".

At the end of the exercises, the Holy Father made the following remarks:

---

Dear brothers,
Dear Fr. Léthel,

At the end of this journey of reflection, of meditation, of prayer, in the company of the saint friends of Pope John Paul II, I wish to say with all my heart, Thank you, Fr. Padre Léthel, for your sure guidance, for the spiritual wealth you have given us.

The saints - whom you have shows as stars in the firmament of history, and with your enthusiasm and joy, you have situated us in the circle of roses of these saints, and you have shown us how even the 'little' saints are 'great' saints.

You have shown us that scientia fidei and scientia amoris (science of faith and science of love) go together and complete each other, that great reason and great love go together, and that great love sees more than reason alone.

Providence has it that these exercises conclude on the Feast of St. Joseph, my personal patron saint, and patron of the Holy Church - a humble saint, a humble worker, who was deemed worthy to the guardian of the Redeemer.

St. Matthew characterized St. Joseph with one word - he was 'just' - dikaios, from dike - and in the view of the Old Testament, as we find for instance in Psalm 1, 'just' is the man who is immersed in the Word of God, who lives in the Word of God, who lives the Law not as a 'yoke' (giogo) but as joy (gioia), who lives the Law, we might say, as Gospel.

St. Joseph was just, he was immersed in the Word of God - the written word transmitted in the wisdom of his people - and precisely because of this, he was prepared and called to know the Word Incarnate: the Word who came among us as man; and he was predestined to guard and to protect this Incarnate Word. And this remained his mission for always: to protect the Holy Church and our Lord.

Let us entrust this moment to his custody, let us pray that he may help us in our humble service. And let us go forward with courage under his protection.

We are grateful for the humble saints. Let us pray to the Lord so that he can keep us humble in our service and as holy in the company of the saints.

Once more, thanks to you, Fr. Léthel, for your inspiration! Thank you.

---

Later, in the Sala Clementina, the members of the Curia presented their wishes to the Holy Father on his name day.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, delivered a tribute in their behalf. The Holy Father ended the encounter with his blessing.

A very welcome perspective - and a complement to Geroge Weigel's article earlier on this page - is this contribution to the USCCB blog...

God doesn't waste Popes
by Don Clemmens

March 18, 2011

The upcoming beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1 has generated an outpouring of praise for the late Pope and the gift of his pontificate.

While JPII raised the profile of the papacy to unprecedented, "rock star" levels, it's worth noting that his time as Pope -- while extraordinary -- was not an isolated event in terms of a Pope making a lasting impact on the Church.

In fact a quick look at the modern papacy reveals that every Pope brings unique gifts from God. Let's review ...


BLESSED PIUS IX (1846-1878)
The longest serving pope since St. Peter, Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council, established the teaching of papal infallibility and used said infallibility to define the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary (a belief that had been part of Catholic tradition for centuries).

The reign of Pius IX also saw the loss of the Papal States, the territories directly under the rule of the pope. This began a period in which the pope became known as the "prisoner of the Vatican."

He was also the first Pope to be photographed. Pius IX was beatified by John Paul II in 2000.


LEO XIII (1878-1903)
The third longest serving Pope since Peter, Leo XIII is probably best known as the father of modern Catholic social teaching, launched with the epic encyclical letter Rerum Novarum, which addressed the plight of workers and society in the context of the Industrial Revolution.

It remains the social encyclical against which others are measured, with subsequent popes observing its anniversaries with encyclicals of their own, assessing the ongoing state of socio-economic justice in the world.

Leo XIII was the first Pope to be filmed, reportedly blessing the camera afterward, and the first to be audio recorded.


ST. PIUS X (1903-1914)
The last Pope to date to be canonized a saint, Pius X has been nicknamed "the Pope of frequent communion" for encouraging Catholics to do just that -- receive the Eucharist regularly. He's also credited with lowering the age of First Communion to "the age of reason." Today's Catholics take both of these realities for granted.


BENEDICT XV (1914-1922)
Pope during World War I, Benedict XV is remembered primarily as a "prophet of peace," something that led Joseph Ratzinger to take the name Benedict himself upon his 2005 election to the papacy.

Along with his peace advocacy and humanitarian efforts in the face of the devastation of global war, Benedict XV also found time to promulgate the first ever Code of Canon Law in 1917. It's amazing the Church didn't get around to doing this till 20 centuries into its existence.


PIUS XI (1922-1939) The pontificate of Pius XI is perhaps most notable for his signing of the Lateran Treaty, establishing the sovereign Vatican City state, as it is known today.

Pius XI also inaugurated Vatican Radio, whose operations continue to present day. In the way of social teaching, Pius XI issued the 1931 encyclical Quadragesimo Anno to mark the 40th anniversary of Rerum Novarum. In his encyclical, Pius XI looked at the rebuilding of society amid the Great Depression.

[NB: He also promulgated the 1937 encyclical Mit brennender Sorge (With burning concern) which first denounced the evils of Nazism.]


[PIUS XII (1939-1958)
Like Benedict XV, Pius XII had the challenge of leading the Church through a world war. In the midst of this, he had a reputation as a deeply prayerful man and versatile teacher, authoring many encyclicals. He also relaxed the restrictions for fasting before Communion.

Perhaps most notably, Pius XII defined the dogma of the Assumption of Mary in 1954, making him the last Pope to date to to take formal recourse in the dogma of papal infallibility.


JOHN XXIII (1958-1963)
Elected at age 76 and expected to be a mere transitional pope, the pontificate of John XXIII was pivotal. Convening the Second Vatican Council, he ushered in a paradigm shift in Roman Catholicism, the most significant since the Reformation. Other Christians went from being "heretics and schismatics" to "our separated brethren."

In the opening address of the Council, Pope John said the Church now prefers "the medicine of mercy" over a "spirit of condemnation." The Pope himself embodied this change, traveling outside of the Vatican, even traveling to Assisi by train, and appealing to people around the world with his warmth and good humor.

His groundbreaking encyclical on world peace, Pacem in Terris, was the first addressed not only to the bishops of the Church, but to all people of good will. He was beatified by John Paul II in 2000.


PAUL VI (1963-1978)
The pontificate of Paul VI was dominated by the completion and implementation of the Second Vatican Council, which saw sweeping reforms in liturgy, inter-religious affairs and virtually every area of Catholic life.

Pope Paul wrote several encyclicals, including affirmations of Catholic teaching on celibacy and birth control, and his own contribution to the body of Catholic social teaching with 1967's Populorum Progressio.

In his day, Paul VI was considered the "pilgrim Pope", having been the first Pope in a long time to travel outside of Italy. His message even traveled beyond planet Earth with his blessing of Apollo 11.


JOHN PAUL I (Aug.-Sept. 1978)
The proof that God doesn't waste popes might just lie with the 34-day pontificate of John Paul I. In under a month, John Paul I took two unprecedented steps. First: taking the first double name in the history of the papacy. Second: by refusing to be crowned, opting instead for a simple installation Mass. His successors to date have followed his lead on the this last point, a symbolic trajectory change at the very least.


JOHN PAUL II (1978-2005)
The first non-Italian pope in 400 years and the first Polish Pope ever, John Paul II seemingly surpassed every papal record in his 26 years on the chair of Peter.

He brought the Gospel and the papacy to nearly every corner of the globe in his expansive world travels. He wrote 14 encyclicals on topics including bioethics, Mary, the Eucharist, truth, the relationship between faith and reason, and the role of the papacy.

He also oversaw the publication of the revised Code of Canon Law in 1983 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The illness of his later years provided a powerful witness to the dignity of suffering.


BENEDICT XVI (2005-present)
Now coming up on six years into his pontificate, Benedict XVI has engaged in unprecedented levels of dialogue with the Muslim world, been an outspoken advocate on environmental issues, made his own contributions to Catholic social teaching, allowed wider use of the 1962 Latin Mass, and created ordinariates for traditional Anglicans to come into communion with Rome while retaining the unique character of their worship.

[What, no mention of his landmark encyclicals, his books on Jesus, the number of synodal assemblies he has called, his extraordinary travels abroad, his historic pastoral letters to the Catholics of China and of Ireland, his unprecedented personal letter to the bishops of the world in March 2010, his personal contribution to the Church's fight against criminal priests, his pastoral and theological contributions to Christian literature before and since becoming Pope, his enduring catecheses on the essentials of the faith?]

And as one Vatican official recently noted, this is only the beginning of his pontificate ...

To my knowledge, the new Archbishop of Los Angeles, the first Mexican-born US bishop, is only the second bishop in the USA to comment publicly on JON-2. (The first was Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver who reviewed the book for the blurb on the book jacket before its publication by Ignatius Press). And Mons. Gomez is so right about reading it in conjunction with Verbum Domini! I cannot imagine that Mons. Gomez's predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, would have done the same.

Reading the New Testament
with Pope Benedict XVI
By Archbishop José H. Gomez



March 18, 2011

I am starting to read Pope Benedict XVI's new book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection (Ignatius Press, 2010).

This is the second volume of our Holy Father's proposed trilogy on the life and message of Jesus. It is a scholarly work that is beautifully written, deeply spiritual, and inspires meditation and prayer.

I recommend it highly, especially to theologians, Bible scholars, religious educators, pastors and seminarians. Along with the pope's 2010 exhortation Verbum Domini ("The Word of the Lord"), the two volumes of Jesus of Nazareth are essential for all of us. These works help us appreciate how important the Scriptures are for our work of the new evangelization.

The Pope's method for reading the Scriptures is as important as the insights he draws from them.

His interpretations reflect what the best scholars have discovered about where the texts came from, their historical background, and the literary styles the biblical authors use.

But he does more than study the texts' historical and literary meaning.

He reads in light of the Church's teachings and tradition. He employs the spiritual interpretation methods found in the New Testament, the writings of the Church Fathers, and in the Church's liturgy.

The Pope's method has rich possibilities for those of us who must prepare homilies or study theology.

But we all need to read the Bible with his same diligence and reverence.

The Scriptures are the Word of God. They are written, as St. Peter said, "by men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke by God" (1 Pet. 1:21).

The Church has always believed that the Bible is both divine and human - just as Jesus Christ is both true God and true man.

In Verbum Domini, the Pope writes beautifully: "As the Word of God became flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, so sacred Scripture is born from the womb of the Church by the power of the same Spirit."

We can't speak about Jesus as if he is an ordinary man. And we can't read the Bible as we would read an ordinary book. Unfortunately, that has been the trend for at least two centuries now.

As Pope Benedict points out, most Bible scholars today take a "secularized" and "scientific" approach to the Bible. This leads them, for instance, to reject any biblical events that can't be explained by the laws of science, such as Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes or raising Lazarus from the dead. Many scholars today simply presume these events could not have happened.

Also as the Pope has noted, scholarship based on these kinds of assumptions has led to bad consequences for the Church's faith, worship and preaching.

Our Catholic faith is not mythology. It's based on true historical events. We believe that at a certain moment in history in a certain place in the world, a man named Jesus was born of a Virgin named Mary. We believe that this Jesus was the Son of God, that he worked miracles, and that he rose from the dead.

We believe that Jesus continues to live in the Church and that he changes the lives of we who believe in him. We believe that he continues to work miracles in the Eucharist and the sacraments.

We believe these things based on his first followers' testimony, handed down to us in the Church in the inspired Scriptures.

That's why Pope Benedict's project is so important.

For many years, beginning when he was a young theologian, he has quoted St. Jerome: "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ."

The Church has always known that if we don't read the Scriptures right, we won't meet the living Jesus Christ in their pages.

This is the tragedy of our age. As the Pope has noted, the crisis of faith in Christ is rooted in this "scientific" way of reading the Bible.

In Jesus of Nazareth, he gives us a new way of reading that is a path into the heart of God's Word. This method is scholarly, but is at the same time guided by faith and prayer.

Reading the Bible this way, we can come to a sure knowledge of the historical Jesus. And we can come to a personal encounter with the Christ who is our Savior.

In a letter to the world's bishops in 2009, Pope Benedict said: "Leading men and women to God, to the God who speaks in the Bible: This is the supreme and fundamental priority of the Church and of the Successor of Peter at the present time."

This must be the priority of everyone in the Church. Jesus of Nazareth helps to show us the way.

Let us pray for one another this week. And let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe for the grace to allow ourselves be shaped by the Word of God - through our listening, reading, study and prayer.




Fr. de Souza has alreadt gotten much flak from not-so-friendly bloggers for his column title...

The Pope’s latest book shows
he is the most learned man alive
by Raymond J. de Sousa, S.J.

March 16, 2011

Why does Pope Benedict XVI bother to write books? Long before his election to the See of Peter he was established as a leading theologian of his generation. Being universal pastor of the Church is a crushing job, so why add to it by embarking on a massive scholarly project?

Evidently the Holy Father enjoys writing theology. The deeper reason though is that Benedict knows, with all humility, that he is better at it than anyone else.

Just as the soon-to-be-Blessed John Paul II knew that he had a special gift for leading massive, history-changing public manifestations of the faith, Benedict likely concludes that if the Lord wanted him as Pope then he should do what God gave him the talent to do.

Last week marked the release of Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two, Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection. Together with Part One, released in 2007, Benedict has produced a 700-page work of profound biblical theology on the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

To put that in perspective, a full-time theology professor, teaching a few hours of class a week, would consider such a work the capstone of a career. That Joseph Ratzinger completed this project in his 70s and 80s, while being Pope, is simply staggering.

Intelligence is not a prerequisite for being Pope, or even to be a bishop or priest — evidence abounds! — but it is certainly a special grace of our time that the Holy Father is the most learned man alive.

And to what purpose is that prodigious intellect put in this massive study of Jesus? Nothing less than a revolution in biblical theology, or to put it more accurately, to make biblical studies theological again.

“One thing is clear to me: in 200 years of exegetical work, historical-critical exegesis has already yielded its essential fruit,” declares Benedict in the foreword to Part Two. “If scholarly exegesis is not to exhaust itself in constantly new hypotheses, becoming theologically irrelevant, it must make a methodological step forward and see itself once again as a theological discipline, without abandoning its historical character.”

That’s a mouthful. Exegesis is the technical term for the analysis of texts, and “historical-critical” exegesis is an approach to the Bible which studies the Scriptures according to the methods of history and literature. The goal which has dominated biblical studies for two centuries is the discovery of the “historical Jesus” who lies somehow hidden behind the “Christ of faith.”

The result has been catastrophic for biblical theology, as anyone who has been subject to academic biblical study in the last several generations can attest. My own undergraduate studies of the Scriptures at the Gregorian University in Rome — just steps away from the Pontifical Biblical Institute — were full of history and literary analysis, but included precious little theology.

I remember in particular a course on John’s Gospel and letters that was worse than useless. So immersed were we in the linguistic analysis of chapter two — for years the result was a loathing for the wedding at Cana! — that the course never even informed us that, say, St. Augustine had written extensive commentaries on those texts. The dominant historical-critical approach actually avoids the question of why these texts were worth studying in the first place.

The deep flaw in an exclusively historical approach is that history remains always in the past and cannot invite us into a relationship in the present. Also, because historical research cannot proceed by the scientific method, it remains always in the realm of hypotheses — many of which are little more than rank speculation.

I remember reading a work on Paul by the celebrated scholar Jerome Murphy-O’Connor. Wondering how Paul’s attitudes toward women were formed, Murphy-O’Connor opined that, given the frequency of earthquakes in the region, perhaps Paul lost his wife in one and the grief soured him on marriage. I closed the book there, realizing that a discipline that could elevate elaborate fabrications into scholarship had descended into the irrelevancy of which Benedict speaks.

Consequently, he has set out to fix that problem by example. He acknowledges that Christianity is a historical faith and the Scriptures are literary works, so history and criticism are necessary — demanded by the faith itself. They have produced “essential fruit.” But that needs to be complemented by theology — reading the Scriptures with the eyes of faith in the tradition of the Church.

“I hope to have taken a significant step in that direction,” the Holy Father writes. “Fundamentally this is a matter of finally putting into practice the methodological principles formulated for exegesis by the Second Vatican Council, a task that unfortunately has scarcely been attempted thus far.”

It has been successfully attempted now.

I meant to post this after the Holy Father's closing remarks at the Lenten retreat since we do not have a separate thread on saints in this Forum. It is an expression of my own personal devotion to St. Joseph from childhood inspired by the ladies of the local confraternity of St. Joseph in my hometown [my devotion to St. Anthony of Padua also stems from the ladies guild devoted to St. Anthony. These ladies would come to church dressed in their respective habits: green with yellow cord belt for the St. Joseph ladies, brown with white cord belt for the St. Anthony devotees). My devotion to St. Joseph was reinforced in the 1970s by my first of several visits since then to the shrine of St. Joseph in Montreal and the life of St. Andre Bessette - a fitting preparation for my eventual 'devotion' to Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI.

Time to 'Go to Joseph':
Recalling Jesus’s earthly father’s
commitment to God’s will
by JOSEPH PRONECHEN

03/19/2011

St. Joseph is so quiet, so humble — and often so forgotten. But, while instituting a new feast for him in 1955, Pius XII advised, “Thus, if you wish to be close to Christ, we again today repeat, ‘Go to Joseph!’”

The Pope echoed what God prefigured way back in Genesis (41:55, 57) with the patriarch when “Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them. ... In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain.”

Devotion to St. Joseph was rare in the early Church but increased by the Middle Ages. The Holy Fathers from Leo XIII to Pope Benedict XVI have repeatedly called our attention to Jesus’ earthly father.

What better time to answer the call to “Go to Joseph” than on his solemnity, March 19?

Father Larry Toschi of the Oblates of St. Joseph explains the Old-New Testament parallel: Patriarch Joseph was in charge of the grain of Pharaoh, but St. Joseph was in charge of the Bread of Life: Jesus.

“And the Church is the body of Christ. So he watches over all of us here,” says Father Toschi, author of St. Joseph in the New Testament (Guardian of the Redeemer Books, 1991), just as he did with Jesus.

He gives good reasons why St. Joseph is a go-to saint for our needs. “It makes sense. He’s the most powerful after Mary; he had the highest responsibility after Mary — even more than the apostles.

He was chosen by God to be the husband of the Mother of God and raise Jesus as his son. He is most intimately connected to the Incarnation. So when we want a favor, we go to him.”

Well-known saints did. Teresa of Avila declared: “I took St. Joseph for my patron and advocate, and I recommend myself unceasingly to his protection. I do not remember ever to have asked anything of him that I did not obtain.” She realized any request denied was only for her greater good.

St. Bernardine of Siena reasoned: “The Lord, who on earth honored St. Joseph as a father, will certainly not refuse him anything he asks in heaven.”

In his landmark 1889 encyclical Quamquam Pluries (On Devotion to St. Joseph), Leo XIII taught that “as Joseph has been united to the Blessed Virgin by the ties of marriage, it may not be doubted that he approached nearer than any to the eminent dignity by which the Mother of God surpasses so nobly all created natures. … Hence it came about that the Word of God was humbly subject to Joseph.”

In St. Joseph & Daily Christian Living (Macmillan, 1961), Jesuit Father Francis Filas commented on Leo’s teaching: “Devotion to Joseph is ultimately devotion to Our Lady, because Joseph is all he is because of and through Mary. For that matter, devotion to Our Lady ultimately is devotion to Our Lord, because Mary is all she is because of and through Jesus. It is no original comment to add that ‘What God has joined together’ — Jesus, Mary and Joseph — ‘man should not tear asunder.’”

And like his wife, Joseph was first obedient to God’s will. We should Go to Joseph to help us do the same.

”Nothing was more important to him than to follow the will of God — which means he was always at the service of Jesus and Mary,” says Rick Sarkisian, Ph.D., author of Not Your Average Joe (LifeWork Press, 2004). For instance, he willingly — and at once — embarked on the flight to Egypt.

“We’re asked the same way to find God’s will, follow God’s will and fulfill God’s will,” Sarkisian points out.

Sarkisian reminds us that God often reveals his will in our daily lives: “That’s what Joseph did: not just in the giant events like the betrothal to Mary and Nativity of Jesus, but in everyday events.”

Father Toschi adds that Joseph went through many trials with faith. “So St. Joseph, who went through all these trials trusting in divine Providence, is one who can accompany us in our trials and suffering and trust in divine Providence,” he says. When we do, “God makes everything work together for the good.” We Go to Joseph to lead the way.

Father Toschi often tells fathers to Go to Joseph when they need help as a parent, with the same advice for people out of work or who are worried or upset.

In Chicago, Michael Wick has learned through devotion to St. Joseph to follow that route. Wick considers Joseph a great role model of doing God’s work in a simple way by just doing what you’re called to do.

“For me, he epitomizes someone who is attentive to God’s will and open to God’s way, because God’s ways are not always our ways,” Wick says.

Joseph can give us willingness to put aside our own agenda and fine tune it to what God reveals in the daily grind of the ordinary. That includes following the Church’s teachings, having openness to life, trying to provide for the family in these difficult economic times, and responding to the needs of spouse and children.

Wick also looks to Joseph as a protector because he protected the Holy Family at every turn.

“He’s a great example of trust in duty and as a husband and father,” Wick finds. “I turn to him seeking his inspiration and intercession.” Wick, who works for the Institute for Religious Life, an apostolate entrusted to St. Joseph by its founder, Servant of God Father John Hardon, goes to Joseph for that help as he raises his family of four children, 8 to 16, with wife Bianca.

When he makes decisions, he asks: Is that God’s will for me? Is this going to draw me closer or distract me from mission in life as husband and father? Is it going to draw the kids away from the purpose in life of getting closer to God? “I entrust to Joseph to help discern and guide me in these decisions.”

He adds, “My wife and I had to make some limits on the children’s activities so God always comes first,” as they look to model the Holy Family praying, doing things together and being together.

Benedict XVI’s patron saint is Joseph. “For the sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty which this entails,” noted the Pope during an address preceding St. Joseph’s feast in 2009. “He had to settle far from his native town. His only reward was to be with Christ.”

In this and every event, Joseph was the first head of the domestic church, as John Paul II would later call the family. In fact, in his 1989 encyclical Redemptoris Custos (On the Person and Mission of St. Joseph in the Life of Christ and of the Church), he stated, “It is in the Holy Family, the original ‘Church in miniature,’ that every Christian family must be reflected.”

As fathers and mothers Go to Joseph, he will give them what they need to be that Church in miniature.

Asking for his intercession should go without saying.

Father Toschi points out that one really important prayer that’s neglected is the prayer to St. Joseph after the Rosary composed by Leo XIII. Added to Quamquam Pluries, it was also recommended by John Paul II in his encyclical on St. Joseph. There’s also the Litany of St. Joseph.

Wick also suggests the Prayer of Entrustment to St. Joseph (contact IRLstaff@religiouslife.com for free copies).

And Sarkisian recommends the nine- and 30-day novenas to Joseph. By praying we “constantly remind Joseph of how much we love him and how much we trust him,” he explains. “We’re asking him to take our greatest burdens, fears, worries and present them before the throne of God as the greatest saint in heaven next to Mary. He has immense power to cover us with his cloak and surround our lives with it in a profound way.”

All we have to do is Go to Joseph.





March 19, 2011

The publication of this serious, even profound study of a person intimately joined to the life of the Messiah and written by one of the most respected figures in our contemporary Catholic scene should cause serious attention to be paid to the often neglected figure of Saint Joseph.



Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, O.P., an important French theologian who died only in 2006, was a man whose thought was of great influence and depth. He was also a man greatly devoted to the Church who founded the Community of Saint John.

This new community is now recognized in several countries as a very successful attempt to restore a vibrant spirituality to the religious life, which in many places has seemed moribund for years.

The Brothers and Sisters of Saint John are a cause of hope to those who look ahead to the restoration of the authentic and powerful traditions of the religious life that have gotten lost in recent times. The Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Renewal have welcomed them with joy.

Father Philippe's book on Saint Joseph is very consistent with the new biblical theology called for by Pope Benedict XVI. The author very impressively examines the sparse facts that we have concerning the life of Saint Joseph, teasing from them material that connects easily and well with a very impressive structure of theological teaching. This then becomes a means of providing a firm foundation for devotion to the Foster Father and Guardian of the Son of God.

Except for Christ and Saint Paul, New Testament figures attract little attention from the secular world and especially the secular media – even when they are in a kindly mood. Occasionally a small amount of attention is shown to the figure of the Blessed Mother but rarely is Saint Joseph or any of the Apostles mentioned.

Even in cities named Saint Joseph or San Jose are the inhabitants really conscious of the fact that their hometown is actually named for a person – a person who played a role of immense importance in God's plan of redemption for humankind.

This apparent obscurity finds at its root a kind of Protestantism that is focused intensely on the figure OF Christ and on the writings of Saint Paul, but which seems barely acquainted with Saint Joseph and even the Mother of God herself.

Catholic theology, which takes a less constricted view of such things, opened up a world of devotion to Saint Joseph the humble carpenter of Nazareth as well as to the Mother of God. How could it be otherwise? These are the figures who stood at the manger on the first Christmas; they are the ones to whom the care of the Word Incarnate was entrusted by God.

In recent years there has been a gradual but very welcome return to biblical theology and a simultaneous turning away from the overly exclusive use of the historical-critical method. In the wake of such changes there has also come a resurgence of interest in the figure of Saint Joseph.

When we place the few facts that we have of him in the context of his personal responsibilities for the Messiah, we begin to move away from the shadowy figure presented in Scripture and discover a multi-dimensional person – one still wrapped in mystery, but one of great importance.

Young Catholics seeking more solid theological food than what is generally being fed to them through the historical-critical school alone will find in Father Philippe's book much to feed their spiritual lives and inspire their devotion.

Father Philippe has profoundly moved many of these intelligent and well educated young men and women, and quite a few of them have joined the community he founded.

The Community of Saint John now includes not only members from France but also from many parts of the world. The same spirit and insight that led Father Philippe to such success in the founding of this congregation can be found in his writings, which I recommend to all.

The Mystery of Joseph is a wonderful place to begin your appreciation of Father Philippe. His way of looking into Scripture and finding in it an inexhaustible theological reservoir is an inspiration to all. Read and enjoy and pray. Father Philippe will teach you much about Saint Joseph and much about your faith.

When you're all finished you will be quite surprised to see how your vision of this great saint may have changed. Even if you've been devoted to St. Joseph for many years, I feel safe in saying that in The Mystery of Saint Joseph you will learn a great deal about Jesus' Foster Father's true and undying importance.

The Ignatius Press blurb for the book:

---

Although the greatest of saints, after Mary, St. Joseph is perhaps the least well understood. What Scripture teaches is compelling, but mysterious: he moves quietly and thoughtfully through its pages, almost unobserved in his humility and silence.

And yet Pope Paul VI has said: "If we look carefully into this life that was apparently so unremarkable, we shall find that it was greater and more adventurous, more full of exciting events, than we are accustomed to assume in our hasty perusal of the Gospel."

In this illuminating book, Fr. Philippe leads you deep into the beautiful mystery of St. Joseph - revealing the greatness of the apparently unremarkable man who was the guardian of Jesus and Mary, and who is now the Guardian of the Church, "overflowing with immeasurable wisdom and power."

Weaving together the many different strands of the Church's ever-deepening understanding of St. Joseph, along with his own profound insights, here is a warm and moving portrait of the humble, heroic carpenter of Bethlehem - a great man who became, by God's grace, a great saint. After reading this book, you will never see St. Joseph (and perhaps yourself) in quite the same way again.

"This is an amazing book on a crucial (but neglected) topic, written by one of the greatest Catholic theologians of recent times. Profound and deep, clear and practical, grounded in Scripture and illumined by the brilliance of St. Thomas Aquinas — I know of no other book like it."
— Dr. Scott Hahn, Theologian

"In this beautiful book one of the great men of the Church of recent times helps us to contemplate the face of St. Joseph in all its chivalrous nobility, and to understand how the mystery of Our Lady's 'spouse most chaste' supplies the Church with a light in which she can move forward on her pilgrimage 'with a new surge of life and love'."
— Fr. John Saward, author Cradle of Redeeming Love

"In recent times, St. Joseph seems to have fallen out of favor in the conscious minds of believers. These deep meditations are a wonderful antidote for that. I highly recommend The Mystery of Joseph."
— Archbishop John J. Myers

"If St Joseph has a role in the Incarnation and its consequences – and he does – then he is an essential figure within our religion. The silence of St. Joseph in the New Testament can lead us to neglect him or see his role as minor. Fr. Philippe's book brings out the significance of the events of Joseph's life, and shows us his hidden greatness."
— Cardinal George Pell

"In these gentle meditations, Fr. Philippe draws out of the Gospels a mystical theology of who St. Joseph is, and what he represents."
— Aidan Nichols, O.P., author of Rome and the Eastern Churches

Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe, O.P. (1912-2006) was the founder of the Community of St. John. A prolific author, he is increasingly recognized as an important theologian of the later 20th century.

---

Benedict XVI dedicates new
parish church of San Corbiniano in Rome:
In service to the Church like
the bear in the saint's legend
Translated from the 3/19/11 issue of




A bear, or rather, its image, will attract additional interest in the visit Sunday of Benedict XVI to the parish of San Corbiniano, in the Infernetto neighborhood of Rome, located in the souhteastern outskirt of the city.


Sarà un orso, o meglio la sua rappresentazione, a suscitare un supplemento di attenzione sulla prossima visita pastorale che Benedetto XVI renderà -- domenica mattina 20 marzo -- alla parrocchia di San Corbiniano, nel quartiere dell'Infernetto, alla periferia sud-est di Roma.

The Pope will consecrate the new parish church and dedicate it to the patron saint of Freising, Germany - a Frankish bishop who became the evangelizing Apostle of Bavaria under Pope Gregory II.

A bear is prominent in the St. Corbinian legend, as Benedict XVI recalls in his 1997 memoir, Milestones, and in his greeting to the people of Munich at the Marienplatz on his visit to Bavaria in Sept. 2008.

"I found myself having to be a successor to St. Corbinian", he said then, "and I was. Since I was a child, I had been fascinated bu his legend, particularly by the story about the bear who had torn to pieces the saint's pack ass while he was travelling across the Alps towards Rome. Corbinian reproved the bear severely and to punish him, placed all his baggage on his back so it could carry it to Rome. And so the bear came to Rome with him, but once there, Corbinian set him free".

St. Corbinian's bear is in the Pope's coat of arms [adapted from his coat of arms as Cardinal Archbishop of Munich-Freising] to represent service to the Church. As he also explained in the Marienplatz address.

"It always encourages me to carry out my task with joy and confidence - thirty years ago as archbishop, and now in my new responsibility, as I repeat, day after day, my own Yes to God: 'Yes, I have become for you like a beast of burden, and I will be this way with you always'. In Rome, St. Corbinian's bear was set free, but in my case, the Master has decided otherwise".

St. Corbinian's group is the name taken by a group of fathers who are taking charge of parish life, organizing its important events. Recently, they started a 'journey of growth and sharing' the significance of fatherhood and family responsibilities. The men and their wives have also undertaken to guide young couples who are starting families before and after baptism of their children.

The parish is paying special attention to the pastoral needs of families. It has started a regular activity to prepare young people before their marriage, not just on their responsibilities as Catholic spouses but also to encourage listening to the Word of God.

A branch of Azione Cattolica Ragazzi was opened in the parish last December and with other youth groups, they are planning to open an oratorio (parish community center). Other parish groups now constituted are dedicated to liturgy, weekly Biblical readings, Caritas, adult and children's choirs, and ministrants.

Until 1999, the Infernetto district was served by only one parish. But the growing number of inhabitants required a second parish which was established in October 1999 and dedicated to, San Guglielmo. It began without its own church, holding Masses and other liturgical celebrations in the retirement home run by the Maestre Pie di Sant'Agata.

In June 2008, then Cardinal Vicar Camillo Ruini decreed that the parish patron would be St. Corbinian. In May 2009, construction started on the parish church that the Pope is dedicating this week.

The parish has some 10,000 residents (4,000 families), The district has the highest birth rate in the city of Rome. In 2010, 60 babies were baptized, and this year, 196 children received their First Communion.

Welcoming the Pope today in San Corbiniano are Cardinal Vicar Agostino Vallini; Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich-Freising; Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, his predecessor; Auxiliary Bishops Paolino Schiavon and Ernesto Mandara of Rome; Mons, Josef Clemens, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Lait; don Antonio Magnotta, parish priest, and don Pier Luigi Stolci, his vicar.

[NB: The diocese of Munich-Freising contributed to the construction of the Church, and last November, the Pope conferred a cardinatial title on the church of San Corbiniano in assigning it to Cardinal Marx as his titular church in Rome.]

March 20, Second Sunday in Lent
Transfiguration Sunday

From left: Fra Angelico, 1446; Raphael, 1520; detail from Raphael; Carracci, 1594; Vashelov, 18th-cent. Russian painter.
The Feast of the Transfiguration is observed on August 5, but because of the Gospel for today, this Sunday is also called Transfiguration Sunday.

Saint of the Day:

Left photo: Death of St. Salvador, 16th century painting.
ST. SALVADOR DE HORTA (b Spain 1520, d Sicily 1567), Lay Franciscan
Yet another in the line of sainted Franciscan laymen who, while serving as porter, cook and official beggar for his community, revealed healing
powers and was venerated in his day. Son of a peasant family, he worked as a shepherd and shoemaker before joining the lay Franciscans
at age 21. Carrying out his humble work, it was found he could heal by the Sign of the Cross. His fame was such that 2,000 people came
to see him every week and tore at his habit to get a relic. The relentless attention eventually forced his community to transfer him to Cagliari
in Sicily where he died two years later. Many miracles continued to happen at his tomb. When he was exhumed 23 years after his death for
his beatification, the body was found incorrupt. However, he was not canonized until 1938.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/032011.shtml


No OR today.


THE POPE'S DAY

Pastoral visit to dedicate the Church of San Corbiniano in a southeastern suburb of Rome. Homily.

Sunday Angelus - The Holy Father offered a reflection on the Gospel today about the Transfiguration and
after the prayers, he expressed his concern for the situation in Libya and appealed for international
attention to the plight of Libyan citizens and the humanitarian emergency brought on by events.


One year ago today...
The Vatican released the text of the Holy Father's historic pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland.

Apropos, here's a situationer from the BBC:

Irish bishops promise
more support to abuse victims

March 19, 2011

Victims of abuse within the Catholic church have been promised extra support from Irish bishops.

A document is being given to mass-goers in Northern Ireland on Saturday evening.

It will update them on what the bishops are doing to help victims and the ways they are improving child protection in the church.

Last March Pope Benedict took the unprecedented step of writing a pastoral letter apologising to victims of abuse in Catholic institutions.

Senior Church officials were then sent to look at clerical abuse within the Church in Ireland as part of an apostolic visitation, announced by Pope Benedict in his pastoral letter.

To mark the first anniversary of the Pope's pastoral letter, Irish bishops have issued a "progress report" into what they are doing called 'Towards Healing and Renewal'.

A counselling service for victims and families will get an extra £9m in funding.

The Church said it would provide more child protection training and would continue work closely with the police and social services over allegation of abuse.

Bishops will also set aside the first Friday of every month for prayer and fasting, to make amends for abuse and for the failure of leadership to respond to it effectively.

Representatives of victims of clerical abuse met with members of the apostolic visitation in January.

PASTORAL VISIT AND CONSECRATION
Church of San Corbiniano, Rome




20 MARCH 2011 (RV) - Pope Benedict XVI this morning presided at a Mass of Dedication for the newly-built Roman parish church of San Corbiniano, who had been the first bishop of Freising, in Bavaria, the diocese now joined with Munich, which Joseph Ratzinger served for four years as archbishop.

In his homily, Pope Benedict said, “One who would know God, must contemplate the transfigured visage of Jesus Christ,” who is the perfect revelation of the holiness and mercy of God.

The Holy Father also urged the faithful of the parish to grow in knowledge and love of Christ, to meet him in the Eucharist, in attention to his Word, in prayer and in charity.

He told the faithful that the Church desires to be present wherever people live and work, through the consistent Gospel witness of faithful Christians, and also by way of buildings that make it possible to gather for prayer, sacraments, and formation, as well as establishing relations of friendship and brotherhood, “in the spirit of community that Christ taught us and that the world so greatly needs.”

Here is the account by the Vatican Press Office preceding the text of the Pope's homily:

The Holy Father left the Vatican by helicopter at 8:30 this morning to make a pastoral visit to the parish of San Corbiniano all'Infernetto, in the southeastern sector of the Diocese of Rome to say Holy Mass and to dedicate the new parish church.

He arrived at 8:45 at the square adjoining the church and was welcomed by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, his Vicar in Rome; Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich-Freising, who was assigned this church last November as his titular church in Rome; Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, his immediate predecssor in Munich; Auxiliary Bishops Paolino Schiavon and Ernesto Mandara of Rome; Mons, Josef Clemens, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; don Antonio Magnotta, parish priest, and don Pier Luigi Stolci, his vicar.

NB: The helicopter trvael to and from San Corbiniano enabled the Holy Father to get back to the Vatican in time for the Angelus.

The Pope on arrival.


He changes into Mass vestments.


The Mass.



Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's homily:

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Dear brothers and sisters:

I am very happy to be among you to celebrate an event as significant as the dedication to God and to service of the community of this church named for St. Corbinian.

Providence has it that our encounter takes place on the second Sunday of Lent, which is marked by the Gospel on the Transfiguration of Jesus.

And so today, we have two elements brought together, both very important: on the one hand, the mystery of the Transfiguration, and on the other, that of the temple, the house of God in the midst of your homes. The Biblical readings we heard were chosen to illuminate these aspects.

On the Transfiguration: The evangelist Matthew has told us what happened when Jesus went up a high mountain bringing with him three of his disciples - Peter, James and John. While they were up there, by themselves, the face of Jesus became resplendent, as did his garments.

This is what we call the Transfiguration = a luminous mystery that is comforting. What did it mean? The Transfiguration was the revelation of the person of Jesus, of his profound reality.

In fact, the eyewitnesses of this event, namely the three Apostles, were enclosed in a cloud, which was also luminous - and which in the Bible always announces the presence of God - and they heard a voice which said: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. Listen to what he says" (Mt 17,5).

With this event, the disciples were being prepared for the Paschal mystery of Jesus: to overcome the terrible ordeal of the Passion and even to understand well the luminous fact of the Resurrection.

The narrative also speaks of Moses and Elijah, who appeared and conversed with Jesus. In effect, this episode was related to two other divine revelations.

Moses had gone up to Mt. Sinai, where he had a revelation of God. He had asked to see God's glory, but God replied to him that he would not see his face, but only see him from behind (cfr Ex 33,18-23).

Likewise, Elijah too had a revelation of God on a mountain: a more intimate manifestation, not with a storm or an earthquake or fire, but in a light breeze (cfr 1Kings 19,11-15).

Unlike these two episodes, it was not Jesus who had a revelation of God, but it was in himself that God was revealed and showed his face to the Apostles. Therefore, whoever wishes to know God should contemplate the face of Jesus, his transfigured face: Jesus is the perfect revelation of holiness and of the Father's mercy.

Moreover, let us remember that on Mt. Sinai, Moses also had the revelation of God's will: the Ten Commandments. Also on a mountain, Elijah received from God the divine revelation of a mission to accomplish.

Jesus, however, did not receive a revelation of what he was to fulfill: he already knew it. Rather, it was the Apostles who heard in a cloud, the voice of God that said, "Listen to what he says".

The will of God is completely revealed in the person of Jesus. Whoever wants to live according to God's will must follow Jesus, listen to him, accept his words, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, look deeply into them.

This is the first invitation that I wish to make to you, dear friends, with great affection: grow in the knowledge and love of Christ, as individuals and as a parish community, centered on the Eucharist, listening to his word, in prayer, in charity.

The second point is the Church, as an edifice, and above all, as a community. But before reflecting on the dedication of your church, I wish to tell you the particular reason that makes my joy even greater at finding myself among you today.

St. Corbinian was, in fact, the founder of the diocese of Freising in Bavaria, of which I was bishop for four years. On my episcopal coat of arms, I included an element that is very closely associated with the story of this saint: the bear.

It is said that a bear had torn to pieces the pack horse of Corbinian who was on his way to Rome. He scolded the bear severely, managed to tame him, and loaded him with the baggage which until then had been carried by the horse. The bear brought that baggage all the way to Rome, and only then did the saint let him go.

This is perhaps the point at which to say a few words about the life of St. Corbinian. He was French, a priest in the Paris area, who had founded a monastery near Paris. He was very much esteemed as a spiritual counselor, but he sought contemplation, so he came to Rome where he created a monastery near the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul.

But Pope Gregory II - this was around the year 720 - respected his qualities, understood those qualities, and ordained him a bishop, charging him with going to Bavaria to announce the Gospel in that area.

By Bavaria, the Pope thought of the land between the Danube and the Alps which had been for 500 years the Roman province of Raetia. Only at the end of the fifth century did its Latin population mostly go back to Italy.

But a few were left behind, simple folk. The land was sparsely inhabited, and a new people, the Bavarians, had arrived. They found a Christian legacy because the land had been Christianized in Roman times. The Bavarian people quickly understood that this was the true religion and wished to become Christian. But there were not enough educated people around, and few priests to announce the Gospel.

Thus Christianity remained very fragmentary, and only in its initial stage. Pope Gregory was aware of this situation, he knew the thirst for faith among the people, and so, he charged Corbinian with going to Bavaria to announce the Gospel. In Freising, a ducal city, on a hill, the saint built the Cathedral - already, he had found a shrine to Our Lady - which remained the bishop's seat for more than a thousand years.

It was only after the Napoleonic era that it was transferred 30 kilometers to the south, to Munich. It is still called the diocese of Munich and Freezing, and the majestic Romanesque cathedral of Freising remains the heart of the diocese.

Thus we also see how the saints stand for the unity and universality of the Church. Universality - in that St. Corbinian linked France, Germany and Italy. Unity - in that St. Corbinian tells us that the Church is founded on Peter, who guarantees the perennial nature of the Church built on rock, the same Church a thousand years ago as it is today, because the Lord is always the same. He is always the Truth, ever old and ever new, very actual, present, and with the key to the future.

I would now like to thank all those who contributed to the construction of this church. I know how much the Diocese of Rome is committed to assure that each meighborhood has adequate parochial facilities. I greet and thank the Cardinal Vicar, the Auxiliary Bishop of this sector, and the Bishop Secretary of the Opera Romana for the Preservation of Faith and Provision of New Churches.

And I especially greet my two successors [as Archbishop of Munich and Freising]. I greet Cardinal (Friedrich) Wetter, whose initiative it was to dedicate a parish church in Rome to St. Corbinian, and who provided valuable support for the realization of this project. Thank you, Eminence - Herzlichen Dank - I am very glad that the Church took shape so fast!

I greet Cardinal Marx, he current Archbishop of Munich and Freising, who carries on with love not only for St Corbinian but also for his church in Rome. Herzlichen Dank auch Ihnen.

I also greet H.E. Mons Clemens, of the diocese of Paderborn, and secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

A particular thought for the parish pruest, don Antonio Mangotto, and my sincere thanks gor the words which he addressed to me. Thank you!And of course, I greet the vice parish priest. Through all of you present, I wish to convey my affectionate closeness to all the 10,000 residents in the parish.

Gathered here together around the Eucharist, we are more easily aware that the mission of every Christian community is to bring to everyone the message of God's love, to make known to everyone his face.

That is why it is important that the Eucharist is always the heart of the life of the faithful, as it is today for your parish, even if not all members have been able to take part personally.

We are experiencing an important day which crowns the efforts, the labors, the sacrifices made and the commitment of the people who live here, to constitute yourselves as a Christian community that is mature and capable of aving your own church, now consecrated definitively for the worship of God.

I am happy that you have reached this goal and I am sure that this will favor the coming together and the growth of families of believers in this territory. The Church wishes to be present in every neighborhood where people live and work, with the evangelical witness of Christians who are consistent and faithful, but also with building xthat allow them to gather together for prayer and the sacraments, for Christian formation, and to establish relationships of friendship and brotherhood, so that children, young people, families and older persons may live in that spirit of community that Christ taught us and of which the world is so much in need.

Just as this parochial edifice was realized, I also wish that my visit will encourage you to realize even better that Church of living stones which you are. We heard in the Second Reading: "You are God's field, God's building" (1 Cor 3,9), St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, and to us. and he exhorts them to build on the one true foundation, Christ (1Cor 3,11).

And so, I, too, exhort you to make your new church the place in which one learns and listens to the Word of God, as the permanent 'school' of Christian life from which begins every activity of this young and committed community.

On this aspect, the text of the Book of Nehemiah proposed to us in the First Reading is illuminating. In it, we see that Israel was the people convoked to listen to the Word of God, written in the book of the Law. This book was read solemnly by the ministers and explained to the people, who are standing, raising their hands to heaven, and then kneel and prostrate themselves with their face to the ground as a sign of adoration.

It is a true liturgy, animated by faith in God who speaks, by repentance for their own infidelity to the Law of the Lord, but above all, by joy, because the proclamation of his Word is a sign that he has not abandoned his people, that he is hear to them.

You, too, dear brothers and sisters, gathered together to listen to the Word of God with faith and perseverance, become from Sunday to Sunday, the Church of God, formed and shaped internally by his Word. What a great gift this is! Be always mindful of that.

Tours is a young community, made up in great part of newly married couples who have come to live in this neighborhood, and there are so many babies and children. I know the commitment and the attention that are dedicated to families in this parish and to the accompaniment of young couples.

You have given life to a familial ministry characterized by an open and cordial welcoming of new family nuclei, to favor reciprocal understanding so that the parish community may increasingly be a family of families, able to share with each other, along with joy, even the inevitable difficulties of any beginning.

I also know that various groups now meet regularly to pray, to form themselves in the school of the Gospel, to participate in the sacraments and to live that dimension so essential for Christian life which is charity. I know that in the parish Caritas, you reach out to meet many demands in the community, especially those of the poor and the needy.

I am happy for what you do for children and young people in preparing them for the sacraments of Christian life, and I exhort you to be increasingly interested even in their parents, particularly those who have babies and small children.

The parish should try to offer to them, at convenient times, prayer encounters and formational events, especially for the parents whose babies must be baptized and whose children must be prepared for the other sacraments of Christian initiation.

You even have a program intended for families in difficulty, who are in conditions of precarious or irregular work. Do not leave them alone, but be close to them with love, helping them to understand the authentic plan of God on matrimony and the family.

The Pope also wishes to address a special word of affection and friendship to you, dear children and young people who are listening, and to those of your age who live in this parish. The present and the future of the ecclesial and civil community are entrusted in a particular way to you. The Church expects much from your enthusiasm, your capacity to look ahead, and your desire to make radical choices in life.

Dear friends of San Corbiniano: The Lord Jesus, who led the Apostles up the mountain to pray and showed them his glory, has invited us today to this new church. Here we can listen to him, here we can recognize his presence in the Eucharistic bread, and in this way, we become a living Church, temple of the Holy Spirit, a sign of God's love in the world.

Return to your homes with your heart full of thankfulness and joy because you are part of the great spiritual edifice that the Church is.

To the Virgin Mary, let us entrust our Lenten journey, and that of the entire Church. May Our Lady, who followed the Lord Jesus up to the cross, help us to be faithful disciples of Christ, so we may participate fully with her in the joy of Easter. Amen.

---

After the Mass.


Before the Pope leaves for the Vatican, a flight of doves is released.


As usual, the newsphotos give no idea of the Church exterior nor of the congregation.

ANGELUS TODAY



On his return from his pastoral visit to the Roman parish of San Corbiniano all'Infernetto, the Holy Father kept his noontime Angelus apppointment from his study window overlooking St. Peter's Square.

On this second Sunday of Lent, he reflected on the Transfiguration recounted in today's Gospel, and after the prayers, expressed concern for the humanitarian plight of the Libyan people as an allied coalition began enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya, using bombers and missiles to take out Muammar Qaddafi's air force and air defenses.

To English-speaking pilgrims, he said this:

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I am pleased to greet the English-speaking pilgrims present at this Angelus prayer.

As we continue our journey through Lent, today at Mass we recall the Transfiguration of the Lord and how it prepared the Apostles for the coming scandal of the Cross.

Strengthened by our faith in Jesus, true God and true man, may we be inspired, not scandalized, by the Cross given to our Saviour and to our fellow Christians who suffer with him throughout the world. Especially during this holy season, I invoke upon you and your families God’s abundant blessings!

---

Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's words at the Angelus today:

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Dear brothers and sisters:

I thank the Lord who has given me the gift of living the spiritual exercises in the last several days, and I am also thankful to those who were with me in prayer.

Today's Sunday, the second in Lent, is called the Sunday of Transfiguration because the Gospel narrates this mystery in the life of Christ.

After having pre-announced his Passion to the disciples, "Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light" (Mt 17,1-2).

According to the senses, the light of the sun is the most intense that is known in nature, but according to the spirit, the disciples saw, for a brief time, a splendor even more intense - that of the divine glory of Jesus, which illuminates the history of salvation.

St. Maximus the Confessor affirms that "the garments that had turned white symbolized of the words of Sacred Scripture which became clear and transparent and luminous" (Ambiguum 10: PG 91, 1128 B).

The Gospel says that alongside Jesus transfigured, "Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him" (Mt 17,3) = Moses and Elijah, figures of the (Books of) Law and the Prophets.

It was then that Peter, ecstatic, exclaimed:"Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (Mt 17,4).

But St. Augustine comments that we have only one dwelling - Christ. He is "the Word of God, the Word of God in the Law, the Word of God in the Prophets" (Sermo De Verbis Ev. 78,3: PL 38, 491).

In fact, the Father himself proclaimed, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." (Mt 17,5).

The Transfiguration was not a change in Jesus, but the revelation of his divinity = "the intimate compenetration of his being with God, becoming pure light. In his being one with the Father, Jesus himself is Light of Light" (Gesù di Nazaret, Milano 2007, 357).

Peter, James and John, contemplating the divinity of the Lord, were being prepared for the scandal of the cross, as it was sung in an ancient hymn: "On the mountain, you were transformed, and your disciples, as much as they could, contemplated your glory in order that, seeing you crucified later, they would understand that your passion was voluntary and would announce to the world that you are truly the splendor of the Father".

Dear friends, let us also take part in this vision and this supernatural gift, making room for prayer and listening to the Word of God.

Moreover, expecially in this season of Lent, I exhort you, as the Servant of God Paul VI wrote, "to respond to the divine precept of penitence with a voluntary act, beyond the renunciations imposed by the weight of daily living" (Apost. Const. Pænitemini, 17 Feb 1966, III, c: AAS 58 [1966], 182).

Let us invoke the Virgin Mary that she may help us listen to and follow the Lord Jesus always, to his passion and the Cross, so we may also participate in his glory.


After the prayers, he said:

In the past several days, the worrisome news coming from Libya has raised vivid trepidation and fear even for me. I prayed specially about this situation during the week of Spiritual Exercises.

I am now following the latest events with great apprehension. I pray for those who are involved in the tragic situation of that country, and I address my urgent appeal to those who bear political and military responsibilities that may take to heart, above all, the safety and security of the citizens and that they may guarantee their access to humanitarian aid.

To the people of Libya, I wish to assure my closeness, as I ask God that a horizon of peace and concord may emerge very soon in Libya and in the entire North African region.

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Pope urges allied military
to consider safety of Libyan civilians
in first comments on air strikes
by Nicole Winfield


VATICAN CITY, March 20 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI issued an urgent appeal Sunday to military and political leaders to consider the safety of Libyan civilians and ensure they have access to emergency aid in his first comments on the U.S.-led military assault on Libya.

The Pope didn't identify which leaders he was referring to in comments at his traditional Sunday blessing. Significantly, he didn't demand an immediate end to the U.S. and European air and missile strikes.

Rather, he directed his appeal in general to "those who have the political and military responsibility to take to heart the safety and security of citizens and guarantee that they have access to humanitarian aid."

Benedict said the outbreak of hostilities had sparked "great fear and alarm in me" and said he was praying for peace in the region.

Two weeks ago, Benedict lamented the deaths and humanitarian crisis caused by the fighting between Moammar Gadhafi's forces and rebels.

The Vatican has been remarkably quiet since then, and particularly since the U.N. Security Council authorized military force to halt Gadhafi's crackdown: the Vatican newspaper reported on the developments matter-of-factly, without commentary.

That was not the case eight years ago in the run-up to the Iraq war, when Pope John Paul II voiced emphatic opposition to U.S.-led military action and sent an envoy to Washington to try to avert it.

Yet in 1994, nearly two years into Bosnia's civil war, John Paul called for humanitarian intervention to end the suffering and said the Church endorsed action to disarm aggressors.

In 1998, the Vatican opposed NATO airstrikes on Yugoslavia launched after Serbia's leader Slobodan Milosevic refused to sign a peace deal for separatist Kosovo, but John Paul also said the international community couldn't remain quiet as innocents were forced from their homes amid repression and violence.

On Sunday, Avvenire, the influential newspaper of the Italian Catholic bishops' conference, said the Libyan "war" was necessary and justified, "animated by the noble motives of humanitarian intervention."

In a front-page editorial, Avvenire praised the French for having recognized the rebels diplomatically and "taken up the flag of interventionism with the aim of cancelling out its past links to the dictators of the Maghreb and relaunching French grandeur in the Mediterranean."

Recently, the Vatican has been chastened for what some in the Arab world considered interference in internal affairs: The pre-eminent institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world froze talks with the Vatican earlier this year after Benedict called for better protection of Christians in Egypt.
[Chastened shmastened! And 'some in the Arab world"/=? in fact, only the Grand Imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar, echoed one week later by the then about-to-be-deposed Mubarak government, made that ridiculous accusation! So where are they now? The new transition government promptly sent back the ambassador they had recalled from the Vatican, and an Al-Azhar representative came to Rome for a recent inter-religious meeting sponsored by the Sant'Egidio community
[though who knows, maybe he just did not want to miss the junket!]

Benedict's appeal had followed the New Year's bombing on a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria that killed 21 people.

I don't understand what Winfield gets out of misrepresenting the Pope and the Vatican any chance she gets. The regrettable thing is that regular news readers simply take news items as they are reported and do not really correlate them with what has gone before.

An admirable and
most appropriate initiative