BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

See preceding page for earlier entries today, 5/7/12.




Monday, May 7, Fifth Week of Easter

Second from right: Canonization rites for St. Rosa and four others in October 2006.
ST. ROSA VENERINI (b Viterbo 1656, d Rome 1728), Virgin, Founder of the Maestre Pie Venerini
Viterbo's second Santa Rosa was born more than four centuries after the first one, the mystic who died at age 17. Rosa Venerini always wanted to be a nun and did enter
a Dominican convent at age 20, but the death of her well-to-do physician father forced her to go back home to take care of her ailing mother and two siblings.
With a sodality of friends who gathered in her house daily to pray the rosary, she was inspired to start a free school for poor girls in 1685. It was so successful that
the Bishop of nearby Montefalcone asked her to start one in his diocese. From there on, she went to other places in Italy to start other schools. In Rome, it took
her a few years to get going, but Pope Clement XI had heard of her good works, and one day, visited while she was giving a class. She eventually died in the Rome house
of what would be recognized after her death as the order of the Maestre Pie Venerini (Pious Teachers of Venerini). At the time of her death, there were 40 Venerini schools
in Italy. The order was very active in the United States during the great waves of Italian immigration in the 19th century, and today, it has missions in Africa and Asia.
Mother Rosa was beatified in 1952 and canonized by Benedict XVI in October 2006.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050712.cfm


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

The Holy Father met with

- Eight bishops from southeastern USA (Region XVI) on ad-limina visit.

- H.E. Ali Akbar Naseri, Ambassador from the Islamic Republic of Iran, on a farewell cisit

- Newly-inducted Pontifical Swiss Guards, with their family members. Address in German, French and Italian.


Socialist Hollande defeats Sarkozy
in French presidential runoff


Socialist Francois Hollande will be sworn in as France's new president on May 15, after defeating Nicolas Sarkozy in Sunday’s presidential election. Hollande will accompany Sarkozy at an annual ceremony tomorrow to commemorate the end of World War Two.

Both the euro and French stock market slipped at the news of Hollande’s win, since the Socialist has promised to overturn many of Sarkozy’s economic reforms, and challenge Germany’s focus on austerity in tackling the euro zone’s debt crisis.

Hollande has promised to promote economic growth to help lift Europe out of its current difficulties.

“My initial reaction would be that Hollande can’t really deliver on growth if he doesn’t implement an austerity package, which Sarkozy was not able to do,” said Kishore Jayabalan, the director of the Rome office of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.

“I’m hoping that Hollande will be like a lot of other centre-left prime ministers in recent European history, like Schröder and Blair, and be able to deliver real economic reforms while placating perhaps some of his leftist coalition partners,” he said.



One year ago today...

The Holy Father began a two-day pastoral visit to Aquileia and Venice in northeast Italy.


Iconic picture of Benedict XVI in front of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice (taken at dusk so adjusted to appear brighter).

The UK-MSM continue to describe members of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham as 'disaffected Anglicans' instead of the Catholic converts that they are... Now, the editor of the ultra-liberal weekly magazine The Tablet writes an article for the Guardian that is a pretext for her sarcastic reproof that Benedict XVI has donated to the Ordinariate instead of to some UK charity... Not once in the article does she mention Anglicanorum coetibus which set the stage for the Ordinariates (there are two now - the other in the United States), and that it is one way in which Benedict XVI is actively and concretely promoting the ideal of Christian unity (as he is doing with the FSSPX).


Pope's handout to disaffected Anglicans
offers a glimpse into his mind
by Catherine Pepinster

May 6, 2012

Anybody attempting to fund-raise in these hard-pressed times of austerity knows how hard it is to get big donations, especially now that George Osborne is going to tax philanthropy. So imagine opening an envelope to discover that, out of the blue, someone is giving your cause a quarter of a million smackers.

That is the happy state in which the Anglican ordinariate – the body set up to provide disenchanted members of the Church of England a berth in the Catholic Church – finds itself this week. A whopping US $250,000 (£154,000) is coming its way towards setting up the organisation. And it's from the Pope himself, no less.

It's not an everyday occurrence that the Pope provides handouts to cash-strapped good causes. I don't get calls from worthy Catholic organisations such as CAFOD or the homeless charity The Passage telling me that the Holy Father has bailed them out.

Maybe they're too discreet to say so. But it's not unheard of: Pope Benedict did send a donation to the appeal run by Fisher House, the Catholic chaplaincy at Cambridge University, for its refurbishment project.

But Fisher House got £2,000, paid in euros. This gift as well as being vastly more, comes in US dollars, the currency of Benedict's major publishers. Might it come from his publishing royalties? [It's his money, Madame, and he is free to dispense it as he thinks fit. Besides, his royalties have hardly put him in the league of Bill Gates, and even Gates does not just give out donations to all and sundry.]

I'd suggest this is about more than money. It gives an intriguing insight into church politics, Benedict's vision of the Church, his personal thinking, and the way he perceives Britain.

News of the donation came hard on the heels of a talk given by the papal nuncio to Britain to the bishops of England and Wales. You might expect a talk on the issues facing the church here would have focused on attendance of Mass, priest shortages, and the response of English Catholics to the new version of the English Mass [it is not a 'new version' of the Mass, it's a new translation of the Missal!], imposed by Rome and not exactly going down a storm in the parishes. [Projecting your own opinion, Ms. Pepinster, and foisting it on 'the parishes'?] Instead, top of the nuncio's agenda was the Ordinariate.

Now if the man who is the Pope's number one diplomat in the UK makes what is officially known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, top of his agenda, you can take it as read that the message has come from on high and that it is seen as being of the utmost importance. [Gee, what a brilliant deduction!]

And what Archbishop Antonio Mennini said to the English and Welsh bishops was: "Do please continue to be generous in support of their endeavours." That's code for: "Knuckle under and make this work." And it wasn't the first time that the bishops got this message: Benedict urged them to be similarly enthused about the Ordinariate during his final message to them at the end of his 2010 UK papal visit.

It's fair to say that the Ordinariate hasn't been a runaway success in Britain. It has about 1,200 members who retain elements of their Anglican identity, including 60 priests. But there haven't been droves of them – although that may change when the Church of England welcomes women bishops. [Oy veh, Ms. Pep can't hide her Schadenfreude!]

The bishops of England and Wales might have welcomed the Ordinariate but they don't seem to have exactly embraced it with a passion. [Their loss, and one more big bold question mark on their general obedience to the Pope as each one solemnly vowed when they were ordained bishops.]

At first they seemed to think it was something that would take off in the US and Australia, where there are larger groups who had already separated from the rest of the Anglican communion.

The bishops' focus was more on ecumenical relations with the Church of England. [They obviously fail to see that the goal of ecumenism is Christian reunification, and that ecumenism itself is not simply making nice with Protestant groups!] So they offered the Ordinariate a pretty ghastly unwanted church as its home and not much else.

But this imprimatur from the Pope is surely a message to the bishops that they really do need to be backing the Ordinariate to the hilt. [As they ought to, without having to be told!] That's a message that Archbishop Vincent Nichols will no doubt be musing on, as the clock is ticking on Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's membership of the College of Cardinals, the group who choose the Pope.

Nichols won't be relying on the notion that he will automatically get the next red hat after Cormac, even if it would be deeply shocking if he didn't. He will know that Rome will have been watching how he is shaping up at Westminster. So being seen to be supporting the pope's own project in England is crucial.

The Ordinariate has turned out to be divisive [In what way? The Anglican Church accepts it as a fait accompli, knowing it can expect more defections for as long a it continues to bend to popular notions in determining its policies; and there have been no stories of English Catholics revolting because former Anglicans are now Catholics and doing their own thing without impinging on them in any way!]], yet backed to the hilt by the Pope.

What is it about it that he likes so much? If you want to understand Joseph Ratzinger, you need to go back to his Bavarian roots. He is steeped in a German Catholic culture and its literature, full of longings for beauty.

He particularly treasures the works of Herman Hesse, who explores the tensions between loyalty to an institution and doctrinal system and one's own self-realisation. With the ordinariate, Ratzinger is offering people an opportunity to remain loyal to what they would see matters most – the tenets of an Anglican church that retains a certain Catholic sensibility.

And if Benedict allows them to keep what has been described as their Anglican patrimony, then they can keep the traditions that reflect Anglicanism at its aesthetic best – its stunning music, its beautiful prayers. This is a profoundly musical Pope, after all, who was enraptured by Anglican liturgy when he visited Westminster Abbey during his papal visit to Britain, and has since then developed a taste for CDs of its choral music. [What a shallow look this woman has, and what a trivial note on which to end what is supposed to be a 'serious' piece since it is hardly brilliant satire!]

Roman Jews to join Sant'Egidio
in a torchlight procession May 9
to protest continuing anti-Christian
incidents around the world
Translated from

May 7, 2012

After the nth massacre of Christians at prayer in Nigeria, the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Jewish Community of Rome have agreed to promote a torchlight procession of solidarity for all Christian communities that are currently the object of persecution and discrimination wound the world.

The demonstration will take place on Wednesday, May 9, starting at 8:20 p.m. from the Piazza del Colosseo. May 9 is Italy's day of remembrance for Italian victims of terrorism.

The lights in the Colosseum will be extinguished to call attention to "events that we cannot and we must not forget".

The initiative's organizers said in a statement:

---

Every day we are witnessing new acts of terrorism and unheard-of violence against the Christian communities of the world. The situation is particularly serious in Nigeria, where violence has not spared sacred places, killing dozens of helpless faithful, including women, children and the elderly.

We invite everyone to join us in showing solidarity and closeness to these persecuted Christian communities and to reject and condemn very form of fanaticism and religious extremism.

Civilian authorities, religious leaders and prominent members of Rome society have been invited. Among those who have committed their participation are Prof. Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Sant'Egidio Community and Minister for International Cooperation in the Monti government; Mayor Gianni Alemanno of Rome; president Nicola Zingaretti of the Province of Rome; president Renata Polverini of Lazio Region;a and TG5.

We appeal to all political and institutional authorities, to civilian society, and all associations to join us in this important event.

---

[NB: In other European countries, Sant'Egidio has organized similar torchlight processions to mark important anniversaries connected with the Jewish Holocaust.]

I must commend Mr. Tosatti because this news has not yet been posted on the websites of either Sant'Egidio or the Jewish Community of Rome.

FSSPX awaits the Pope's Yes
This month may see the end of the 24-year effort to
bring back the Lefebvrians to full communion with Rome
by ANDREA TORNIELLI
Translated from the Italian service of


VATICAN CITY, May 6 - The answer sent to the Vatican on April 17 by Mons. Bernard Fellay, superior-general of the FSSPX, will be examined in the next few days by the cardinals and bishops at the plenary session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whose recommendations will then be considered by Benedict XVI when he makes the final decision.

Before the month is over, the Pope could conclude the marathon course that the Fraternal Society of St. Pius X, founded by the late Mons. Marcel Lefebvre, has carried on for the past 24 years since Lefebvre ordained four bishops against John Paul II's express prohibition, leading to his excommunication and that of the four bishops, as well as a definite break with Rome.

When the Pope's decision is made known, the Vatican is also expected to publish the text of the Doctrinal Preamble proposed by the Vatican to Fellay and the FSSPX as the formula for reconciliation, and which Fellay returned to the Vatican with some 'non-substantial' modifications.

In recent days, there have been statements from various FSSPX district superiors who belong to the Lefebvrian wing that agrees with re-entering into full communion with Rome.

Fr. Niklaus Fluger, Fellay's first assistant, said at a public lecture in Hattersheim, Germany, two Sundays ago, that in the present circumstances, the FSSPX Superior-General "could not consider it possible to reject the Pope's offer", because to do so would be to "fall into sedevacantism" [refers to various ultra-trads who do not recognize any of the Popes who came after Pius XII and therefore consider the Papal seat vacant - 'sede vacante'. The FSSPX have been nothing but sympathetic to Benedict XVI, for whom they have constantly offered prayers. See summary of Pfluger's talk in the preceding page.]

Pfluger clarified that the FSSPX claims the right to be free to criticize some of the Vatican-II documents, and pointed out that an agreement signed by Mons. Lefebvre with the Vatican in 1988 had contained "far more (doctrinal concessions) by the FSSPX than those that Benedict XVI has asked this time". [As Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope had negotiated the 1988 agreement that Lefebvre signed and reneged upon less than a month later.]

Equally significant was an editorial by Fr. Franz Schmidberger, who had once been FSSPX Superior-General and now heads the German district, who wrote in the district's monthly newsletter-magazine: "If Rome now calls us back from the exile to which we were forced in1 1975 by the canonical abrogation of the fraternity... and worse, with the excommunication decrees of the consecrating and consecrated bishops in 1988", then "this is an act of justice and also, without a doubt, an act of authentic pastoral concern by Pope Benedict XVI".[Schmidberger's editorial is also translated in full in the preceding page of this thread.]

Even more significant was an editorial by another historical member of the FSSPX, Fr. Michele Simoulin, published in the May issue of the bulletin Seignadou published by the Priory of St. Joseph-des-Carmes. He too goes back to the 1988 agreement signed by Mons. Lefebvre and Cardinal Ratzinger, saying that the break at the time was not due to any doctrinal questions then, but for a practical reason.

Namely. that Lefebvre did not trust the Vatican assurances that he would be allowed to consecrate a bishop to succeed him at the FSSPX. [A distrust that is most perplexing! How could he not trust the word of John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger????]

"Therefore that process was stalled not due to a doctrinal question nor on the [canonical] status that would be offered to the Fraternity," Simoulin writes, "but simply on whether the promised bishop would be consecrated".

Responding to internal objections by the Lefebvrians who do not wish any reconciliation with Rome, Simoulin reminds them that Cardinal Ratzinger

---

...once he became Pope, made clear that the Tridentine Mass was never abrogated (July 7, 2007), and therefore, it is licit to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass according to the typical edition of the Roman Missal as revised by Blessed John XXIII; he rehabilitated our four bishops (January 21, 2009); he agreed to hold doctrinal discussions with us for two years, something which Mons. Lefebvre never asked for.

Thus it is not exaggerated to say that Mons. Fellay has obtained more than even Mons. Lefebvre asked for, even if he does not have his prestige nor moral authority. Under the circumstances, how can we be more demanding than either Mons. Lefebvre or Mons. Fellay?

---

Simoulin concludes that the situation today is different from what it was in 1975 and in 1988, and that whoever says otherwise does so because he rejects "any reconciliation with Rome, (showing) perhaps a lack of faith in the sanctity of the Church".

"The FSSPX is not the Church and it cannot respect the legacy of its founder unless it preserves his spirit, his love for the Church and his desire to serve the Church as a son who loves her".

[I am glad Tornielli quoted at length from Simoulin because that is the one major reaction text that I did not have in my earlier 'round-up'].

It is useful to re-read the doctrinal part of the 'protocol of intention' signed by Lefebvre on May 5, 1988, in order to understand some of the contents of the Doctrinal Preamble that has been much cited over the past several months, a text that has not been made public in view of the possibility - anticipated from the start - of modifications and formulations expressed in different terms.

Lefebvre promised loyalty to the Pope, stated that "he accepted the doctrine contained in No. 25 of the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium of Vatican-II on the ecclesial Magisterium and the adherence that is due to it".

On the question of dissent with some passages from the Vatican documents, he stated: "With regard to some points taught by the Second Vatican Council or relative to subsequent reforms in the liturgy and in canon law, which seems to us difficult to reconcile with Tradition, we commit ourselves to take a positive attitude and communicate with the Holy See while avoiding any polemics".

Moreover, Lefebvre declared that "he recognizes the validity of the Sacrifice of the Mass and sacraments celebrated with the intentions of the Church according to the rites indicated by the typical editions of the Roman Missal and by the sacramental rituals promulgated by Pope Paul VI and John Paul II". [This brings up one of those giant steps backward that Fellay and company have taken, since they claim not to recognize the validity of the Novus Ordo. You may dislike it all you want, but you can't say it's not valid!]

Finally, he promised "to respect the common discipline of the Church and ecclesiastical laws".

It is clear that even in 1988, in the document that was agreed upon with Cardinal Ratzinger, the existence of 'certain points' considered by the Lefebvrians to be 'difficult to reconcile with Tradition was acknowledged in black and white, but this dissent would not have prevented full communion at the time.

[What none of the experts have explained - nor the Lefebvrians for that matter - is why, and at what point, they decided they were going to be more Lefebvrian than Lefebvre, i.e., more unreasonable. Why did they raise the bar for reconciliation, and not simply pick up from the agreement that Lefebvre had signed? If he was comfortable agreeing to all the points cited, why did his heirs become more intransigent than he was, going so far as to state publicly many times during the two years of doctrinal discussions that they were not just questioning the four specific new 'doctrines' they oppose - religious freedom, inter-religious dialog, ecumenism and collegiality - but all of Vatican II? Lefebvre himself could not say that himself because he signed on to all 16 documents of Vatican II, although he claimed later that he did not realize he was signing the declaration on religious freedom when he was asked to sign what he thought was an attendance sheet, or something like that.]

Twenty-four years later, events had taken a different direction because there was a schismatic act (defying the Pope's orders) and the subsequent excommunications. But now, after almost a quarter-century, it would seem that the wound is about to be closed.

And here's an addendum to the FSSPX district superiors expressing themselves in favor of reconciling with Rome now, from the superior of the US district:

Pope welcomes 26
new Swiss Guards

May 7, 2012



Pope Benedict on Monday received in audience new members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard with their families.

The meeting with the Holy Father followed a ceremony on Sunday when 26 new recruits swore loyalty to Pope Benedict and his successors. The swearing in ceremony takes place each year on May 6, the anniversary of Sack of Rome in 1527, when 147 Swiss Guards gave their lives to defend Pope Clement VII.

In his address to the Swiss Guard, Pope Benedict welcomed the new recruits, and reminded them of the special qualities that characterize members of the Corps: a strong Catholic faith; loyalty and love for the Church of Jesus Christ; diligence and perseverance in their regular duties; courage and humility, selflessness and a willingness to help others.

The Holy Father urged the Guards to support one another, and to foster evangelical charity towards the people they meet each day, reminding them that call to love of neighbour is related to the commandment to love God.

To truly love others, he said, “it is necessary to tap into the furnace of divine charity, thanks to prolonged moments of prayer, the constant listening to the Word of God, and to a life completely centred on the mystery of the Eucharist.”

Finally, Pope Benedict called upon the new recruits to profit from their time in Rome, in order to grow in friendship with Christ and love for His Church and to advance towards the goal of every true Christian life of holiness.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012 Fifth Week of Easter

Center photos: the saint's reliquary in Bellvaux, and a view of the monastery grounds today.
ST. PIERRE DE TARANTAISE (France, 1102-1174), Cistercian, Abbot and Bishop
As a shepherd boy in the Isere region of France, Pierre could recite all the Psalms by heart, then joined the Cistercian order where he rose quickly to become prior and then abbot of Tamie, the monastery he founded in the Savoy (southeast France). Against his will, he was eventually named Bishop of Tarantaise, earning a reputation for his political skills. Nonetheless, he continued to draw strength from the monastic life, often visiting the Grande Chartreuse monastery for spiritual breaks. When Frederick Barbarossa named an anti-Pope against the legitimate Pope, Alexander III, Pierre became involved in seeking to defend the latter's legitimacy. Later, he would be asked to facilitate negotiations between Louis VII of France and Henry II of England. However, he fell ill during the course of the mission and eventually died in the abbey of Bellvaux. His renown was such that less than 20 years after his death, he was canonized. His remains were eventually distributed among the Cistercian monasteries in France. His major shrine is in Bellvaux.
Readings from today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050812.cfm


No events announced for the Holy Father today.

OR for 5/7-5/8:

This double issue contains the papal texts from the Regina caeli on Sunday, and his address to the 26 new Swiss Guards yesterday, as well as an Italian translation of his long letter last month to the German bishops with a theological explanation of why 'pro multis' in the words of Consecration should be translates as it says - 'for many' - and not for all as in the current German translation of the Missal (which is undergoing a new translation).

Page 1 international news: A Socialist returns to France's presidential palace after 17 tears; Greek voters choose anti-austerity politicians for new Parliament; Vladimir Putin begins a third term as president of Russia; uncertain market reaction to the weekend European election results not as great as expected.


One year ago today...

The second and concluding day of the Holy Father's pastoral visit to Aquileia and Venice with yet another iconic photograph - Peter on the water, in a gondola - of the best-looking octogenarian on earth:





- A small item in today's OR: The Pontifical Comission Ecclesia Dei has just published, for the first time the l’Ordo Divini Officii recitandi sacrique peragendi (Order of Reciting the Divine Office and Carrying Out the Sacred Rite) according to the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, for the liturgical year 2011-2012, based on the calendar of the universal Church, and in accordance with Benedict XVI's 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. The Ordo is published by the Vatican publishing house LEV.

- Washington DC's notoriously liberal Georgetown University, a Jesuit school, is doing a Notre Dame by inviting Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to be their commencement speaker this year. Obviously the Georgetown Jesuits are openly defiant of Benedict XVI's most recent statement - to American bishops - about the need for Catholic shcools to reinforce Catholic identity and not to undermine it (as for example, by 'honoring' open critics of Catholic teaching on non-negotiable principles like abortion).

- I am ashamed to admit that not having checked out La Bussola Quotidiana lately, the online journal started in December 2010 by some leading Italian Catholic journalists including Vittorio Messori and Andrea Tornielli announced on April 30 that it was suspending its activities for now because of financial difficulties. It has had to depend on goodwill contributions from its followers but obviously, that has not generated enough for the editors to plan on continuity. They say they hope to be able to resume activities eventually.

Cardinal Brady speaks to Irish TV
about 1975 investigation of abusive priest
He reiterates he does not intend to resign till he turns 75
and agrees the diocese should have informed parents
of other abuse victims named by a child victim at the time


DUBLIN, May 7, 2012 (UK Press Association) - The leader of the Catholic church in Ireland has apologised to a victim of paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth.

Brendan Boland was among those targeted by the predatory sex attacker in 1975.

Irish Primate Cardinal Sean Brady said he had no intention of resigning, despite pressure from those who believe the then relatively junior cleric did not do enough once concerns about Fr Smyth were raised with him.

Dr Brady said there had also been "many many calls from people who want me to stay on." But he said he hoped a coadjutor - with succession rights - would be appointed to his archdiocese as soon as possible.

A BBC documentary has uncovered new revelations about an internal church investigation into clerical child sex abuse in 1975.

It said a teenage boy who had been sexually abused by Fr Brendan Smyth gave the names and addresses of other children who were at risk from the paedophile priest to Cardinal Brady, then a 36-year-old priest. He passed the allegations to his superiors but did not inform police or the children's parents.

[Brady's role at the time, as he recounts it, was to take down the testimony of the witness for his bishop. From his description, it appeared to have been a one-time event. So after he submitted his notes to the bishop, the responsibility devolved on the bishop for any actions to be taken on the testimony. The bishop did dismiss the accused priest from working in the diocese and reported him to his superiors in the Norbertine Order, who had the ultimate responsibility of disciplining their priest, but instead reassinged him to several other places in the next several years during which he continued abusing children. Can the Irish media name any priest in 1975 who, on his own, reported knowledge of child abuse to the police or to parents of children named to have been abuse victims, much less without the testimony of the children themselves? It must be remembered that reporting such abuses to the police did not become law in Ireland until recently.

Monday-morning quarterbacks can have a field day with their shouldahave's and couldahave's, but it was 1975 - a completely different climate, during which the fact that the bishop even investigated the priest - not a diocesan priest but member of a religious order - is already in itself remarkable and commendable. But MSM seem to be laying the whole blame on the bishop - and Sean Brady, who was not even a diocesan official at the time, just a middle-school teacher who was asked to assist at one session of a diocesan investigation - rather than the Norbertine superiors who ignored the bishop's report and continued to assign the culprit to work with children! Why is the Norbertine order getting away with this blatant misdeed?]

Fr Smyth continued to sexually assault one of the boys for a year after that. He also abused the boy's sister for seven years, and four of his cousins, up until 1988.

Dr Brady said he now realised that the parents of children who were being abused by Brendan Smyth should have been informed about the allegations of abuse being made against him. "Definitely the parents should have been informed. That's quite clear," he told RTE.

Dr Brady said he apologised without hesitation to Brendan Boland, and to all survivors of abuse. He said he would also like to personally apologise to Mr Boland, and hoped to do so in the future. He said he intended to remain on as primate "until I'm 75, or unless the Holy See indicated it didn't want me to stay".

The cardinal said there was absolutely no indication from the Holy See that it wanted him to resign.

Blogger Mark Shea writes about a Protestant friend who claims he is close to converting to Catholicism except for two stumbling blocks... The objections about Mary have been well answered, I believe, in the joint Anglican-Catholic declaration on Mary a few years back, and countless volumes in Catholic literature about the essential role God gave her in the history of salvation and of the significance of being the Theotokos, God-bearer and therefore, Mother of God... so I have excerpted only the discussion about the Pope's 'style' (not that prescribed liturgical vestments ought to be considered any Pope's personal style)...

Why the Pope wears what he does
(and Orthodox and Anglican prelates, too)


May 8, 2012

...I am becoming more and more convinced of the one Apostolic Church of Christ with two exceptions that keep hanging me up. And I have heard they are usually the biggest hindrances to most protestants. Mary and the Pope... Concerning the Pope, it does not have to do with his position necessarily, but with his style. It really bothers me: the lavish dress, gold, kissing of his ring, Pope-Mobile, inter-religious dialogue etc. If Peter gave himself up to be crucified upside down and Jesus rebuked him for trying to defend him with the sword, why does the Pope have body-guards, a bullet proof car, a lavish cathedral that is well guarded???

Shea replies:

...As far as the Pope goes, the style thing actually comes out of Jewish liturgical practice. Note the (typically neglected) prescriptions for liturgical dress in Exodus. The priest’s garment are “for glory and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2).

Liturgical garb performs a revelatory function, as all liturgy does. It’s not for the comfort of priest (and when you think about it, it’s quite cumbersome). It’s for the benefit of the worshipper. Chesterton remarks on this wisely:

---

For instance, it was certainly odd that the modern world charged Christianity at once with bodily austerity and with artistic pomp. But then it was also odd, very odd, that the modern world itself combined extreme bodily luxury with an extreme absence of artistic pomp.

The modern man thought Becket's robes too rich and his meals too poor. But then the modern man was really exceptional in history; no man before ever ate such elaborate dinners in such ugly clothes.

The modern man found the church too simple exactly where modern life is too complex; he found the church too gorgeous exactly where modern life is too dingy. The man who disliked the plain fasts and feasts was mad on entrees. The man who disliked vestments wore a pair of preposterous trousers. And surely if there was any insanity involved in the matter at all it was in the trousers, not in the simply falling robe.

If there was any insanity at all, it was in the extravagant entrees, not in the bread and wine.

---

“Clothe yourself in Christ” is precisely what is happening in the vestments a Pope or any priest wears, because he stands in the place of Christ.

Likewise, with the ring and such like, it’s very much like when you go to receive communion and bow: you aren’t bowing to the priest, but to the Host. Likewise, to kiss the ring is to honor the office established by Jesus.

And the Popemobile? Even St. Peter didn’t *try* to get himself killed. When he escaped from prison, he skipped town and didn’t wait to be re-arrested and killed. The Pope is under no obligation to make himself a target for assassins. Nor, to be honest, is the Swiss Guard a particularly formidable force should somebody really decide to lay siege to St. Peters.

Regarding papal vestments, Shea fails to point out that the prescribed liturgical vestments for ordinary Orthodox prelates are even far more ornate than those used by the Pope, nor that Anglican liturgical vestments are equally lavish.

As for the prospective convert, he obviously needs to work out many more fundamental things than the Pope's style...

Some members of Pontifical Academy for Life
call for officials to resign because of
controversial speakers at recent conferences


Vatican City, May 8, 2012 (CNA) - Some members of the Pontifical Academy for Life want its top officials to resign over a series of recent controversial decisions, including a conference described as the “worst day” in its history.

“I am not alone with my feeling of profound shock over the (Febuary 2012) public conference and some of the official PAV communications,” wrote Professor Josef Seifert, a member of the academy, in a May 4 letter to its president Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula.

The professor told the academy president that he “can understand those members – most of whom never before criticized the Pontifical Academy for Life and are very soft-spoken – who told me that the only choice that remains for the Board of Directors … is to resign.”

In the wake of February's conference and subsequent events, Seifert expressed his “enormous concern” over the prospect of the academy “losing its full and pure commitment to the truth and its enthusiastic service to the unreduced magnificent Church teaching on human life in its whole splendor.”

Billed as a conference on ethical treatments for infertility, the pontifical academy's Feb. 24 assembly drew criticism from some participants who said it provided a platform for opponents of Church teaching. In Friday's letter, Seifert called it “the worst day in our history” at the Academy for Life.

In March, the academy canceled a planned conference on adult stem cells, which was to feature speakers who also support embryonic research. Conference organizers went on to distance the academy from “some pro-life activists,” while giving varying explanations for the cancellation.

Natural family planning expert Mercedes Wilson, an academy member who presented at the February 2012 conference, joined Prof. Seifert in criticizing that event and the academy's recent direction.

Many academy members, she told CNA, “were shocked to hear that several of the invited presenters did not represent the teachings of the Catholic Church” at that gathering.

Wilson said she was one of “only two presenters who offered the audience natural solutions to the problems of infertility,” along with Pope Paul VI Institute founder Dr. Thomas Hilgers.

“As His Holiness Benedict XVI read his message to the participants of the assembly, it was obvious that he was not aware that the president and its governing council had invited presenters who are in complete disaccord with the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church,” Wilson recounted.

“There were presentations on in vitro fertilization, and other medical procedures that are forbidden by the teachings of the Church. This became a public scandal in an academy that was formed specifically to defend life and protect the teachings of Holy Mother Church.”

Wilson said the incident was also an insult to the Pope, “who assumed that the leaders of the Pontifical Academy for Life would be teaching and guarding the moral and spiritual interests of the Church.”

She told CNA that several academy members “approached the leadership of the Academy and expressed their shock and dismay” over the February conference. Non-member attendees were also “greatly disturbed that such speeches were being given within the Vatican walls.”

It was at this same gathering that the academy announced its April 2012 meeting on adult stem cells. Although that conference was later canceled, some members saw the entire incident – including the reasons given for the cancellation – as a betrayal of the pontifical academy's mission.

One letter, sent to a scheduled speaker by the academy's chancellor and officer for studies, stated that the conference was canceled for economic reasons – and not because of the “lobbying activity” of “some pro-life activists” who “do not enjoy any credit” from the pontifical academy.

But a separate letter, signed only by the chancellor, said the meeting's indefinite postponement was due in part to the “threats coming from some persons” using “false and tendentious information” to raise “doubts or even fears” about the conference.

Organizers of the canceled April 2012 conference defended the choice of embryonic research supporters as speakers, saying they were also experts in adult stem cells and would not use the conference to promote views contrary to Catholic moral teaching.

But critics within the academy cited its founding statutes, which allow work with “non-Catholic and non-Christian medical experts, so long as they recognize the essential moral foundation of science and medicine in the dignity of man and the inviolability of human life from conception to natural death.” [It seems plain common sense that the activities of the Pontifical Academy for Life should not provide a platform in any way for those whose beliefs and practices contradict Catholic teachings about human life. Views contrary to the Catholic worldview will necessarily come up anyway in discussions during these conferences, so there is no need to hand the 'anti-Catholic' experts a gift by giving them the same status and opportunity as those presenting the Catholic worldview! Secular institutions would not do that for Catholic experts.]

In his letter to Bishop Carrasco, Prof. Seifert stated his reasons for considering Feb. 24 as the lowest point in the pro-life academy's history.

He corroborated Wilson's account of the discussions about infertility that took place, saying they disregarded ethical norms of the natural law in favor of a supposedly “neutral” viewpoint. Five out of the seven papers delivered, he said, “stood in flat contradiction to Church teaching on morals.”

“The contraceptive pill was praised if taken for a while and introduced as a healthy means for restricting periods of fertility,” Seifert recalled. In vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, and related technologies “were presented as morally acceptable and as major achievements.”

These presentations, he said, were “propaganda for everything the Church condemns in this field,” and they had “no legitimate place in our academy.”

Seifert also accused the academy of dismissing pro-life objections to the canceled stem cell conference as “useless controversies,” and responding with “cynical mockery” to those who raised concerns about the infertility conference.

“Instead of offering refunds to participants who had been gravely misled and wasted their money to attend a Planned Parenthood-like meeting under the auspices of the Pontifical Academy for Life, these unhappy participants were brutally told, if they did not like what they heard, not to return next year.”

This same attitude, he said, was evident in the tone of the letters that announced the cancellation of the April 2012 stem cell conference.

These factors, Seifert told Bishop Carrasco, made it understandable that some members of the academy should look for signs of repentance – including not only apologies, but possibly resignations as well.

The professor's remarks may soon spark a larger conversation about the academy's direction. In a post-script to the letter, he told Bishop Carrasco he was encouraging “all my fellow members in the academy to let you know to which extent they agree with the contents of this letter.”

[A similar outcry against the Academy leadership developed in 2009 when the then president of the Academy, Mons. Rino Fisichella, wrote a very controversial Page 1 article in L'Osservatore Romano - without firsthand information about the case - condemning a bishop in Brazil for having pointed out that the mother and participating doctors in the medical abortion of a twin pregnancy in a 9-year-old girl who was raped by a relative were excommunicated latae sententiae [by the very commission of an act forbidden by the Church]. That controversy only died down because Fisichella was subsequently named President of the new Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, and the Holy Father named the Spanish Mons. Carrasco to take his place at the Academy for Life.]

The Vatican and financial transparency:
Moneyval draft report objects to redefined role
of the new AIF and undue influence by Secretariat
of State in regulation of fiscal affairs
by ANDREA TORNIELLI
Translated from the Italian service of

May 8, 2012

VATICAN CITY - The draft of a Moneyval report, considered to be 'top secret', has arrived at the Vatican, with the initial observations of the inspectors who visited the Vatican two months ago preparatory to deciding whether the Vatican qualifies to go on the 'white list' of nations deemed to have adequate protections against money laundering.

But in addition to positive evaluation of steps that have already been taken by the Vatican, the draft, which is to be discussed by Moneyal with Vatican authorities, also points out some problems.

Among these, a redefinition of the role and tasks of the AIF (Authority for Financial Information) established in December 2010 in the latter Vatican law on financial transparency which went into effect last January. This means the road is not yet clear for the Vatican to join the 'white list' by July this year as previously expected.

The draft contains the individual opinions by the members of the Moneyval inspection team which have yet to be synthesized. A clarificatory meeting will take place May 14-16 in Strasbourg between Moneyval officials and a Vatican delegation.

But there is no doubt that a new round of controversy within the Vatican will be spurred by the Moneyval observation that the redefinition of AIF's role and functions was 'a step backward' and the related observation about the undue 'political' influence of the Secretariat of State on the supposedly autonomous AIF,

It will be recalled that an internal memo divulged by Il Fatto Quotidiano among its Vatileaks 'scoops' in February reflected the 'perplexity' of Cardinal Attilio Nicora, named by Benedict XVI to head the AIF, at certain paragraphs of the new Vatican law on financial transparency.

Vatican Law No. 127 signed by Benedict XVI on December 30, 2010, which created the AIF, to oversee all activities relative to 'Vatican finances', was drafted by lawyer Marcello Condemi, who had drafted similar norms for the Italian government.

Subsequently, in response to Moneyval requirements that the Vatican law should follow 'the recommendations of the GAFI' (Financial Action Group of the International Monetary Fund), the Secretariat of State and the Vatican Governatorate had at first asked Condemi to make the necessary revisions, but apparently, because of the short notice, they asked another group of experts to do it.

The result was Emergency Decree No. 59 which went into effect on January 25, 2012, becoming 'ordinary law with full effect' on April 2.

Sources told Vatican Insider that the Moneyval draft specifically contests Paragraph 41 of the decree regarding the exchange of written information "on the condition of reciprocity" between the AIF and their counterparts in other states. One Moneyval inspector considered this 'a backward step", and he is the same one who objects to what he considers the 'political weight' and responsibility taken on by the Secretariat of State in the revised law.

This law, now in effect, had introduced changes regarding the anti-laundering efforts, by specifying the competencies of various Vatican authorities, starting with the AIF, but recognizing the role of other juridical entities in the Vatican such as the Gendarmerie and the Vatican courts, none of which were mentioned in the original law. The current law also specifies that AIF supervision should be regulated by the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State - the only entity authorized to emanate laws.[In the first place, if the AIF is to be 'regulated' by another entity, it is no longer autonomous, which is the whole point of its supervisory function; and in the second place, isn't the Pope, as monarch-sovereign of Vatican City-State, the only one authorized to issue laws in the Vatican, which does not have a legislature???]

Hpwever, under the revised law the AIF retains the relative power to issue regulations on financial activities that would be current as well as binding. The AIF's power to investigate relevant affairs is also explicitly acknowledged (it was not in the first law).

Nonetheless, Cardinal Nicora argued that the revised law curbs the power and the autonomy of the AIF, as did the president of the IOR, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi.

Jeffrey Lena, the American lawyer who has looked after certain legal matters for the Vatican in the past 12 years, told Vatican Insider that "speculation on individual opinions expressed in the draft report are premature. The meetings in Strasbourg will help clarify the apprehensions of the inspectors and to decide whether the language of the report meets international criteria".

He pointed out that Moneyval itself acknowledges this is merely a provisional and incponclusive report. "The focal point is not which particular agency in the Vatican is 'strong' or 'weak' but whether the entire system is capable of making technical decisions and put in place mechanisms to promote internal and external cooperation that will prevent money laundering activities".

As for the supposed 'political' weight brought to bear by the Secretariat of State, Lena comments: "I think that whoever interprets the 'political' involvement and commitment of the Secretariat of State {in this matter) as come kind of interference is simply reading the law wrongly. The sections of the law regarding the execution of 'memoranda of understanding', the exchange of information among security agencies, or the responsibility of the Secretariat of State in setting policy, are not just appropriate but in line with international standards. That's what matters".

In effect, the Moneyval draft that has been circulating inside the Vatican reflects the internal debate about the evolution of the financial transparency law in the past several months.

Meanwhile, there are the meetings in Strasbourg next week and the Moneyval session in July before this issue can come to a conclusion.

European bishops consider
challenges of catechizing
children and youth today

May 8, 2012



The challenges of forming children and teenagers in the faith was at the heart of a keynote address given on Monday by Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster to the opening session of the XII European Congress for Catechesis.

The four-day meeting taking place here in Rome is organised by the CCEE, the Council of European Bishops Conferences, and focuses on the theme of 'Christian Initiation in the context of the new evangelisation, with particular attention to children and young people aged from 7 to 16'.

As President of the CCEE commission for catechesis, schools and universities, Archbishop Nichols spoke of the "intuitive sense of hope" of young people and their "desire to know and discover the underlying patterns and purpose of their existence and experiences".



Here is the substantive part of Archbishop Nichols's keynote address:

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The theme of our Congress has been well announced: Christian Initiation in the context of the new Evangelisation with particular attention to children and young people from 7 to 16 years of age. The importance of this theme in the life of the Church is clear. But so is the context.

First of all, there is the context of the awareness in the Church of a summons to a new Evangelisation: new because there is a need for fresh vigour and imagination; new because there are so many who have never heard the invitation of the Gospel.

Often it is said that Europe in particular is the field most in need of a new evangelisation. While it is difficult to generalise about Europe as a whole, there is truth in the view that Europe is, in a particular sense, the focus of so much tension between the summons of the Gospel and the call of a way of life which is seen, understood, developed and lived without any reference to the reality of God whatsoever. This is the atmosphere which young people meet in so many circumstances, sometimes within their life at home. It is the air they breathe.

Yet we know that it is not an air that satisfies or refreshes the human spirit. We know that many young people are filled with an instinctive generosity, an intuitive sense of hope and a desire to know and discover the underlying patterns and purpose of their existence and their experiences.

These aspirations are a source of great hope to us all. They are evidence, if we need it, that the truths about our humanity expressed in the gift of our teaching are indeed valid and enduring.

We know that we are made ‘in the image and likeness of God’ and therefore will find true satisfaction only when ‘we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He really is’ (1 John 3:2).

We also know that the fragility of our efforts to realise those aspirations is a direct consequences of the brokenness of our humanity, well expressed in the teaching about the presence within every human being of the reality of original sin. Every person experiences the conflict spoken of by St Paul as he struggled with the reality of his own experiences and calling (cfr Romans 7:13-25).

It is important for us to remember, during this Congress, that these deep-seated dimensions of the human spirit express themselves very differently in the years covered by this Congress – from 7 to 16. I believe we must be attentive to those differences.

Visiting a parish in Birmingham, a few years ago now, I met with a man who had spent many years in Catholic youth work and was renowned for his success in it. I asked him two questions and I remember clearly the answers he gave.

My first question was: What is the key advice you would give to those in the Church working with young people today? His answer: ‘Try to keep the age groups separate; they are so different’. My second question was this: ‘What was your most successful activity for the young people?’ His answer: ‘Ballroom dancing!’

A second part of the context in which we meet is, of course, the Year of Faith called for by the Holy Father for October 2012 to November 2013. I am sure that there will be opportunities during this Congress for considering the importance of this initiative for the work of Christian Initiation.

Certainly among the dioceses of England and Wales, considerable planning is taking place so that we can respond firmly and creatively to this initiative and use this Year as a major opportunity to help people to deepen their knowledge of the faith of the Church.

That knowledge is important. It recalls that our faith is essentially a revealed religion, a gift for us to receive, explore, understand, and come to enter ever more deeply. There are, of course, many moments for such learning to take place.

For some of us the moment of Sunday preaching is an important opportunity and we are looking at helping priests to present again the key themes of faith during their preaching in the Year of Faith.

Some are also looking to this Year as an opportunity of refreshing the work of parish catechists, those who work directly with the age groups of children and young people on whom we are focusing.

I am sure you will have your own ideas and plans for this Year of Faith and we will be guided and stimulated by the many ideas and proposals being put forward at this time by the Congregations and Offices here in Rome.

Central to this work for the Year of Faith is the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the arrival of the 20th Anniversary of its publication.

The Catechism is a great resource and a great challenge. It is a resource as it can and does guide our understanding of the faith, and its key content, in both profession and practice. It is a challenge because it holds before us the task of presenting the faith in its entirety, in its symphonic wholeness.

It is so easy for us all, and for those who work with youngsters, to concentrate on what might seem to be favourite and attractive aspects of our faith, relegating as ‘for later’ those other aspects which are more difficult, or more counter-cultural.

Obviously our presentation of faith has to be sensitive to age and capacity. But it should not, on that account, be over-selective. After all the full sweep of the articles of faith are just that: interconnected dimensions which, taken together as joined – or articulated – make up the whole of the Gospel invitation as understood and lived in the Tradition of the Church.

Much work is and has been done and properly adapting the Catechism of the Catholic Church for different countries and age groups. I know from my own experience how helpful the YouCat project has been for older youngsters. Indeed some who receive it for the first time are quickly absorbed by its content, as if it actually does answer a hunger and a thirst that they feel inside themselves.

There are many challenges that lie ahead of this Congress. I hope that that are tackled in an energetic and fruitful manner. From the point of view of this Commission of CCEE, this is an important moment.

The work of the Commission covers this great journey of faith: in the task of schools, in the experience of university life and, throughout life, in the task of continuing catechesis. So the theme of this Congress is very central to our overall view: how do we best share the Gospel in Christian initiation with youngsters in these crucial years?

I wish you well and ask God’s blessing on all this work. Thank you very much.

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At 96, John XXIII's secretary
speaks about his famous boss
By Francis X. Rocca


SOTTO IL MONTE GIOVANNI XXIII, Italy, May 4 (CNS) -- When the freshly named Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo G. Roncalli, chose 37-year old Father Loris F. Capovilla as his personal secretary in 1953, a skeptical adviser told the cardinal that the priest looked too sickly to bear the strain of his new job.

"Then he'll die as my secretary," replied the future Pope, now Blessed John XXIII.


Mons. Capovilla looks in excellent shape at 96!

Today, at age 96, now-Archbishop Capovilla has outlived his employer by nearly half a century, but remains an indefatigable custodian of his legacy. Here in Blessed John's birthplace, about 25 miles northeast of Milan, the archbishop pursues a highly active retirement that includes running a museum dedicated to the small town's most famous native son.

While keeping up with current events, Archbishop Capovilla draws on his remarkable memory to recount vividly detailed and revealing stories of his years with one of the most consequential figures in modern Catholic history.

The archbishop was privy to some of the Pope's first remarks, only a few days after his election in 1958, about what would become the Second Vatican Council.

Cardinals and bishops had presented the new pontiff with a litany of challenges before the Church -- "not doctrinal but pastoral problems," the archbishop notes -- in areas that included liturgy, diplomacy, and the education and discipline of priests.

"My desk is piling up with problems, questions, requests, hopes," Blessed John told his secretary. "What's really necessary is a council."

Though the Pope mentioned the idea more than once, his secretary refused to comment. Finally the Pope spoke up about the priest's silence.

"You think I am old," Blessed John told him. "You think I'll make a mess out of this enormous task, that I don't have time. ... But that's not how you think with faith. ... If one can only begin with the preparatory commission, that will be of great merit. If one dies, another will come. It is a great honor even to begin."

Whatever doubts he may have had at the outset, Archbishop Capovilla came to appreciate the council's historic importance and to play a part in it behind the scenes.

It was the archbishop, in his own telling, who persuaded a reluctant and tired Blessed John to step to a window and bless the crowd in St. Peter's Square on the night of Oct. 11, 1962, following the council's first day. In now-famous remarks, the Pope went on to bid the people: "Now go back home and give your little children a kiss -- tell them it is from Pope John."

Blessed John, who had earlier represented the Holy See as a diplomat in both Orthodox and Muslim lands, had a special appreciation of the Church's global character and responsibilities, Archbishop Capovilla says.

The Pope greatly admired the United States, especially for its racial and cultural diversity, and explicitly looked to the American-sponsored United Nations as a source of inspiration for Vatican II, Archbishop Capovilla says. [If the Blessed Pope only knew what a counter-productive farce the UN has become!]

The archbishop also recalls that Blessed John received a letter from the Anglo-American poet Thomas Merton, then a Trappist monk in Kentucky, urging the Pope to include an ecumenical dimension in the council. In fact, Vatican II would be the first council of the church to include Protestants as guests. [That does not really say much, since of the 21 Church councils, there have only been three since the Reformation - the Council of Trent (1545-1563) which continued under three Popes specifically to counteract the Reformation; the First Vatican Council (1869-1870); and Vatican-II.]

The Pope was a master of modern communication in a personal, popular style that broke with papal tradition just in time for the television age.

When a cardinal complained that due to a recent rise in Vatican salaries a mere usher earned as much as he did, Blessed John remarked: "That usher has 10 children; I hope the cardinal doesn't."

The Pope's ebullience was evident even in moments ordinarily governed by the strictest protocol. Receiving Queen Elizabeth II of England, with whom he conversed in French, the Pope asked her to say her children's names aloud, "because children's names acquire a particular sweetness on a mother's lips."

The Pope gave his secretary a lesson in communication when commenting on a speech by then-Cardinal Giovanni Montini of Milan, who would eventually succeed him as Pope Paul VI.

"He's used to speaking to intellectuals, he doesn't look at who's in front of him," the pope said. "Remember when you speak, if there are children present, as soon as you see the children start to swing their legs, it means they're tired. And adults are children, too; they listen for a quarter-hour or 20 minutes, that's it."

For all the changes that Blessed John ushered into the Church, and notwithstanding arguments that his reign marked a radical break with the past, Archbishop Capovilla says that the Pope saw himself as acting in full continuity with Catholicism's millennial teachings and traditions.

"Precisely because he was a great conservative," the archbishop says, "he was able to bring the world a message of love, of hope and of faith.

But that is the profile of John XXIII that progressivists prefer to ignore completely when they use him as a pretext to advance their ultra-liberal, anti-Catholic ideas!

Bishop shares the joy
of a papal audience
with his parishioners
Translated from the diocesan site

Mons. Luigi Negri, Bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro, published an unusual pastoral letter on the occasion of his seventh anniversary as a bishop which was marked by a private audience with the Holy Father. It is published both on the diocesan site and in San Marino Notizie, the online media round-up of the Republic of San Marino.


Left, Mons. Negri with the Pope in San Marino; right, at the private audience in the Vatican last week.

On June 11 last year, Mons. Negri hosted Benedict XVI on his pastoral visit to the diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro which covers both the sovereign Republic of San Marino and the contiguous Italian region known as Montefeltro. He met the Pope at the Vatican last May 3, as he recounts in the letter.

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Dearest children of the Church of San Marino-Montefeltro,

I send you this message on the day I remember the seventh anniversary of my episcopal ordination. As I renew my faithful obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Church, I also express my unconditional devotion to His Holiness Benedict XVI.

In the past seven years, I have given all my energies, intellectual and moral, for the good of our Church, which is very old but which is called upon to renew herself for a season of missionary presence among our peoples.

I thank you for the affection with which you have surrounded me from the first moment that I arrived among you, and I entrust myself to your prayers so that the weight, not always light, of my service, may in some way be attenuated.

I also wish to communicate to you two other facts which have characterized my life in recent days. On May 3, in Rome, there was a presentation of my book Fede e cultura at the Sala Vasari of the Apostolic Chancery in the presence of a group of ecclesiastics, men of culture, and ambassadors from many countries.

Cardinal Julian Herranz [emeritus president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts] and former Senate President Marcello Pera presented the book and spoke of my cultural service in terms that left me surprised and thankful.

The following day, May 4, at noon, I had the great honor of being received in a private audience by His Holiness Benedict XVI who welcomed me with his usual great cordiality.

We looked back on the most significant moments of the pastoral visit that he made to our diocese on June 11 last year. The Pope has vivid memories of that visit: from the solemn Mass in Serravalle (San Marino) to that no less solemn but more familiar meeting with young people in front of the Cathedral in Pennabili (Montefeltro).

The Pope remembers with great affection and gratitude his encounters with our people who desire to live profoundly that Christian tradition which the Pope refers to as our wealth.

We trust that a living revival of our tradition of faith will give rise to a real movement of life, culture and charity for the Church of San Marino-Montefeltro and for all of society.

I assured the Holy Father of our unconditional loyalty and our most affectionate devotion. I informed him of the steps we have taken, starting in September 2011, to make his Magisterium a living factor in developing our deeper ecclesial awareness and our missionary responsibility.

The Pope praised our initiatives and asked us to continue along the lines that had emerged clearly during his pastoral visit.

When we said our farewells, I felt with great emotion and gratitude that the Pope is truly a friend of our diocese, and that his friendship is a great gift which feels me with wonder and gratitude so that I have wished to convey this to you right away.

I entrust my journey to the Blessed Virgin of all graces, and to the prayers of which, I am certain, especially in the most sacred places of our diocese, are raised daily in behalf of the life and activity of its Pastor.

With my blessing,

+Luigi Negri
Bishop of San Marino-Montefeltro

Pennabili, May 7, 2012

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St. Bonaventure, Benedict XVI,
and the New Evangelization
by William L. Patenaude

May 9, 2012

The timing and intent of Pope Benedict XVI’s call for a “New Evangelization” have as much to do with his theological and pastoral pedigree as they do with the state of affairs in which the Church lives.

His early contributions to the topics of revelation, human history, and the relation between the two — which brought the young Joseph Ratzinger both praise and charges of championing “dangerous modernism” — today assist the Church in engaging modern ills with the enduring truths of the Gospel.

Of course, with a mind as expansive as Pope Benedict’s, no one event, or even a series of them, can be said to be “the” development that defines him. Certainly, his upbringing in Catholic Bavaria, his forced participation in World War II as a teenager, and his days among bomb-damaged seminary buildings studying St. Augustine, Henri de Lubac, Romano Guardini, Martin Buber, and so many others all influenced who the man is today. Still, not every encounter with the past has equal influence.

In the mid-1950s, Father Joseph Ratzinger began work on his second doctoral thesis — a standard requirement of the German theological academy. The study would introduce him to a dramatic moment in Church history, when rumors of the world’s end and the coming of a new age clashed with Christian orthodoxy.

The players in this drama were Joachim of Fiore, an eccentric 12th-century Italian abbot; St. Bonaventure, a 13th-century leader of the Franciscan Order; and an overly idealistic group of Franciscans known as Spiritualists.

Ratzinger concluded that Joachim, Bonaventure, and the events of the 13th century brought to the Church a “new theory of scriptural exegesis which emphasizes the historical character” of Scripture. This new theory was, notably, “in contrast to the exegesis of the Fathers and the Scholastics which had been more clearly directed to the unchangeable and the enduring.”

In finding value in such a view, Ratzinger aligned himself with a school of theologians that sought fresh approaches to orthodox Christian theology.

Evidence for this new view of revelation came from available notes from lectures by Bonaventure given in response to the followers of Joachim, the mystic whose writings had enthralled a troubled Europe. This attraction came, in large part, from how Joachim wove worldly activity into salvation history, and the particular way in which he structured this interplay with biblically-inspired numerical schemes.

For instance, Joachim’s numerology broke ranks with a long-held Augustinian view of time that divided world history into seven ages. For Augustine, these seven ages corresponded to the six days of creation — with the cosmic clock now ticking in the sixth age (which dawned on the first Easter) while moving towards the seventh age (which would bring the eternal Sabbath rest).

Joachim saw history in a Trinitarian light, which encouraged his readers to envision an age of the Father, corresponding to the Old Testament; an age of the Son, corresponding with the New Testament; and a yet-to-come new age of the Holy Spirit, which would complete the process of revelation. For some of Joachim’s followers, this new age would be one of spiritual awakening — of a new reality with no need of the Cross.

Joachim’s death in 1202 and an ecclesial condemnation in 1215 didn’t diminish his following. Quite the opposite occurred. Because Joachim seemed to imply that the year 1260 would herald the Second Coming, soldiers, kings, and clerics of the age couldn’t help but wonder if the world was indeed ending.

Were Muslim invasions signs of the Apocalypse? Were the growing mendicant orders proof that God was preparing a people for the eschaton? And if so, how should one respond to — or work to bring about — this coming of a new age?

With this heightened expectancy, and for reasons related to Trinitarian dogma, 13th-century theologians denounced Joachim’s writings. But for some Franciscans, Joachim had merely stated the obvious: History as it had been known since the time of the Apostles had come to an end with the coming of Francis.

Joachimist elements within the Franciscans became known as the Spiritualists, and they found themselves at odds with just about everyone else in their order and the Church.

In 1257 — three years before what many thought would be the Second Coming — the deeply divided order elected Bonaventure of Bagnoregio as their Minister General. In his new role, Bonaventure was given the task of steering the entirety of his flock to orthodoxy — which he accomplished.

Indeed, as a pastor, he intervened with sensitivity to the range of expressions and beliefs within the order. As a leader entrusted to protect the work of his beloved Francis, he deftly negotiated ecclesial suspicions and Spiritualist fervor by discarding what had been condemned and retaining those elements of Joachim that had value.

As Ratzinger will demonstrate, Bonaventure found much in Joachim worth salvaging.

For instance, we learn that Bonaventure employed a division of world-history that had similarities to Joachim’s. Ratzinger found this particularly important because in adopting some of what Joachim suggested, Bonaventure not only provided the Spiritualists a road home, he also shifted Christianity’s theology of history from an Augustinian view, which fixed Christ at “the end of the ages” to a new interpretation with Christ firmly in “the center of the ages.”

Ratzinger tells us that, thanks to Joachim, the placement of Christ at the midpoint of history allows Bonaventure to emphasize the “historical character” of engaging Scripture because, while all ages relate to the center, all ages are different.

This is where Ratzinger received criticism for holding a “dangerous modernism,” which he writes about in his memoirs, Milestones. The exact charge by one of his advisors — and supported by other theologians — was this: In championing Bonaventure’s historical character of biblical exegesis, Ratzinger would open the door to “the subjectivization of the concept of revelation.” That is, the meaning of revelation would be reinterpreted by each generation to the point of irrelevance to the human person.

This is, of course, not what Ratzinger proposed, and after polite revisions and a heated battle among his advisors, Ratzinger’s doctoral thesis on Bonaventure was accepted. He was free to present his findings to the wider, ecclesial world. [Actually, the revision was more than just 'polite' - it was quite drastic. As he explains it in pp. 108-112 of Milestones, he was forced to discard the first two parts, in which, among other things, he discusses the concept of 'revelation' at the time of Bonaventure compared to the current idea of revelation, and to rework the third part - Bonaventure's theology of history - and resubmit it as his dissertation. It was approved. The entire dissertation as he originally wrote it is published for the first time (Sept. 2009, the month Benedict XVI visited Bagnoregio) in the Collected Writings of Joseph Ratzinger and is entitled "Understanding Revelation and the theology of history in St. Bonvaenture".]



For the future pontiff, Bonaventure’s appreciation of Joachim’s dynamic theology of history seemed an obvious reality for the medieval Church, and it should to us. By the 12th century, it was clear that history had not been idly waiting for the Second Coming, nor was the Church. History was in motion. It was unpredictable, bloody, and brought to humanity new realities — some of them surprisingly wonderful, but many replete with loneliness and desolation and, thus, always in need of Christ.

At the end of his thesis, Ratzinger makes a statement that may very well define his pontificate. He notes that while for Bonaventure it is true that for now “the breath of a new age is blowing, an age in which the desire for the glory of the other world is shaped by a deep love of this earth on which we live,” what remains vital for both Augustine and Bonaventure, irrespective of their differences, is the pastoral exhortation that Christians must attend to the needs of the here and now — “that the Church which hopes for peace in the future is, nonetheless, obliged to love in the present.”

Thus, the central reality of the Church is the point of contact between revelation and our individual and communal moments of the present. Joachim and his followers, however, offered a tempting, and false, alternative path — one that still has its adherents.

In the 1970s, Ratzinger wrote in his opus on eschatology that “the hope aroused by Joachim’s teaching was first taken up by a segment of the Franciscan Order, but subsequently underwent increasing secularization until eventually it was turned into political utopia. The goal of the utopian vision remained embedded in Western consciousness, stimulating a quest for its own realization and preparing the way for that interest in concrete utopias which has been such a determinative element in political thought since the 19th century.”

This is not the only reference to Joachim one finds in Ratzinger’s later writings. His work on eschatology will return to Joachim, and many of his texts, talks, and homilies will raise the specter of the paradise-is-in-our-reach worldview that Joachimist thought unleashed.

To counter the resulting Western hope for better living through chemistry, economics, and political revolutions, Pope Benedict, like Bonaventure, offers Christ’s unchanging Gospel of love. In Caritas in Veritate, his third and most-recent encyclical to the Church, the Holy Father writes that “the Church’s social doctrine illuminates with an unchanging light the new problems that are constantly emerging.”

Indeed, when one examines Ratzinger’s post-Vatican II commentary on revelation or his pontifical homilies and encyclicals, one repeatedly finds him insisting that the unchanging light of Church doctrines — which participate in and shine forth from the unchanging light of revelation — has the power to elevate whatever that the Church encounters.

For Benedict XVI, then, evangelization is what takes place when revelation slips through history. Like a ship’s bow cutting the seas, revelation lifts and aerates. It also divides, because revelation offers a choice — it offers an encounter with a Person, and, should we wish, we need not stay and get to know Him.

In announcing the upcoming Year of Faith — which is inherently linked with New Evangelization — the Holy Father notes that “one thing that will be of decisive importance in this Year is retracing the history of our faith, marked as it is by the unfathomable mystery of the interweaving of holiness and sin. While the former highlights the great contribution that men and women have made to the growth and development of the community through the witness of their lives, the latter must provoke in each person a sincere and continuing work of conversion in order to experience the mercy of the Father which is held out to everyone.”

In other words, the call to New Evangelization is not a new reality for the Church. Rather, it reminds the Church of its command from Christ to offer eternal truths, to struggle and give witness to these truths, and, thus, to sacramentally embrace the ills of any age with divine doctrines — and to do so not with idyllic plans for a happy tomorrow, but with the Cross of sacrifice and by loving in the present.

Pope Benedict repeatedly reminds us that Christian love, when authentic, is sacramental because it offers transformative hope and meaning. Whether the Pontiff speaks of eros and agape, global economics or global ecologies, or he attempts to shift the anthropological understanding of marriage, life, and death, he offers what might be called sacramental social doctrines — teachings that in themselves foster necessary shifts in what he has called our inner attitudes.

In transforming these attitudes, people and cultures can live, love, work, buy, and sell with a greater concern for their neighbors, their labor force, and their ecosystems.

In offering the Christian proclamation that God is love, men and women can grow to understand that marriage is not a societal celebration of sentimental or biological urges. Rather, marriage exists for reasons that transcend the happy couple. It is meant for the conception, nurturing, and protection of future generations, all in the particular, gender-inclusive bond of love between a woman and a man. Reacquainting the modern world with such truths — and doing so firmly and with charity — is one facet of New Evangelization.

What New Evangelization is not, the Pontiff has expressed quite clearly, is the fruit of human planning. It is not the ushering in of a new, worldly Christian kingdom — the collapse of Christendom should have taught us this. And it is certainly not a Joachimist fervor that denies the Cross, or ignores the will of the God who mounted it.

Indeed, the New Evangelization is a pastoral response to a world that grew up Christian, learned about history as progress from Joachimist worldviews, and now suffers angst without the life source of Joachim’s original foundation — Jesus Christ.

The New Evangelization is also a reminder to many of the faithful, especially in the West, that the Church of 2050 will, outwardly, look unlike the Church of 1950.

In laying out his thoughts on New Evangelization in 2000, Cardinal Ratzinger speaks with Bonaventurian force when he teaches that

---

...new evangelization cannot mean: immediately attracting the large masses that have distanced themselves from the Church by using new and more refined methods. No — this is not what new evangelization promises. New evangelization means: never being satisfied with the fact that from the grain of mustard seed, the great tree of the Universal Church grew; never thinking that the fact that different birds may find place among its branches can suffice — rather, it means to dare, once again and with the humility of the small grain, to leave up to God the when and how it will grow (Mark 4:26-29).

---

While checking out the Herder catalog to get an image of the volume on Bonaventure in the Collected Writings (Gesammelte Schriften), I also learned that Volume 7, putting together all of Joseph Ratzinger's writings on the Second Vatican Council, will be published in September, in time for the 50th anniversary of the Council opening and the Year of Faith that Benedict XVI has convoked to mark its observance.


When the 35-year-old Prof Ratzinger signed on in 1962 to be Cardinal Josef Frings's theological consultant for Vatican-II, he could not have imagined he would one day be the third of three participants in that Council to become Pope - after Giovanni Battista Montini, at the time a ranking official in the Secretariat of State, who would be elected Pope in 1963 and preside over the rest of the Council; and Karol Wojtyla, then a very young Archbishop of Cracow. But whereas the first two were Council Fathers, he was but a theological expert (peritus) on the sidelines.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/05/2012 18:25]

Further updates on
the JR/B16 book industry

From the Vatican publishing house LEV this month, the volume on Benedict XVI's recent catecheses on the prayers of Jesus:


And three more new books about Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI (at least those that I can find online - I am sure there are more in various languages):


From the left:

Le chiavi di Benedetto XVI per interpretare ol Vaticano-II
(Benedict VXI's keys for interpreting Vatican-II)
by Cardinal Walter Brandmueller

In che senso una chiesa si puo chiamare apostolica:
Il criterio della testimonianza in Joseph Ratzinger e Iannnis Zizoulas
(When can a church be called apostolic? The criterion according to Joseph Ratzinger and Ioannis Zizoulas)
by Ioannis Asimakis
(Issue No. 24 of Quaderni di Studi Ecumenici [Nptebooks on Ecumenical Studies] on The Apostolicity of the Church)
*Zizoulas is the Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Pergamon, Greece, and the leading Orthodox theologian in the ongoing theological discussions
between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches towards eventual reunification.

L'avvenimento della conoscenza:
Un itinerario tra i discorsi di Benedetto XVI
al mondo della cultura, dell'Universita, della scienza
(The experience of knowledge:
An itinerary through the discourses of Benedict XVI
to the world of culture, the university and science)
by Giampaolo Cottini
This book will be presented this evening, May 9, at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce.

No reviews or commentaries on these books so far.

Wednesday, May 9, Fifth Week in Easter

Fourth from left, the saint's incorrupt body seated on a golden throne, and extreme right, a Madonna painted by the saint.
ST. CATERINA DI BOLOGNA (Italy, 1413-1463), Poor Clare, Mystic, Painter and Writer
Daughter of a diplomat, Caterina Vigri was raised and educated in the Este ducal court of Ferrara, but at 17, she joined the Franciscan Third Order along with a group of friends
who wished to perform an active apostolate. At 21, she joined the Poor Clares, where she made her way from baker and portress to mistress of novices. In 1456, she was sent to
establish a convent in Bologna, where she became the abbess and remained for the rest of her life. She is known to have had mystic visions and she wrote about her spiritual life
in a couple of instructive books and her 'sermons' to her congregation. She also wrote poems, played the violin and was an accomplished painter, illustrating manuscripts with
miniatures and even painting frescoes. When she died, her body was exhumed after 17 days because her grave emanated perfume. She was incorrupt, and her remains were kept
seated upright on a throne, in the Poor Clares convent. Many miracles were attributed to her. Some 12 years after her death, the Poor Clares published her book Le Sette Armi
Spirituali (Seven Spiritual Weapons) which became a medieval bestseller. Her remains are venerated at the Chiesa della Santa in Bologna, where she is still seated on a golden
throne, but the face is mummified and blackened from centuries of candle soot. On December 29, 2010, Benedict XVI dedicated his Wednesday catechesis to her.
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20101229...
Readings for today's Mass:
usccb.org/bible/readings/050912.cfm


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

General Audience - Continuing his catecheses on prayer in the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Father reflected today on the imprisonment of Peter by Herod and his miraculous release from prison, saying that the Church and each of us “goes through a night of trial... (but) the unceasing vigilance of prayer sustains us". He added a personal note: "I, too, from the first moment of my election as the Successor of St. Peter, I have always felt supported by the prayers of you all, by the prayer of the Church, especially by your prayers, especially during difficult times. Thank you from my heart”.

Hope&Joy: First anniversary of
a network promoting Vatican II

May 8, 2012

The launch on May 8th 2011 of the Hope&Joy Network was greeted as a landmark moment for the Catholic Church in Southern Africa.

The network, which aims to promote the second Vatican Council, energize the local Church, and provide tools for evangelization and education, was conceived to become the visible sign of a vibrant Church that is forward-looking.

It is significant that Hope&Joy, a grassroots movement with no formal structure or hierarchy, has been welcomed so warmly by so many bishops, including Durban Archbishop, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier.

So much so, that in a letter of encouragement and support for the Hope&Joy initiative, Cardinal Napier describes it as "a manifestation of the Holy Spirit moving within our Church…"

At the core of Hope&Joy’s creation is the Second Vatican Council. In October the Church will mark the 50th anniversary of the council’s opening. Hope&Joy sees this anniversary as an opportunity to deepen our understanding of its teachings.



At the top of the Hope&Joy webpage, you can read that at Vatican II, the Church recognised that it carries out its mission “in the modern world” not by fleeing from it, but by engaging with it.

RV's Linda Bordoni spoke to the man behind this wide-ranging initiative, Raymond Perrier, director of the Jesuit Institute in South Africa.

Perrier explains the idea behind the creation of Hope&Joy and why it is named with the English translation of "Gaudium et Spes", Vatican-II's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the modern world.

He said the network enables organisations to work together and benefit by association, being open to any organisation listed in a Catholic directory.

Perrier says he continues to receive much positive feedback and that the project, which is programmed for another year, is growing and developing day by day.

He says that although the initiative is very much rooted in a South African reality, he hopes it will provide inspiration and tools for others.

You can learn more about Hope&Joy on www.hopeandjoy.org.za/node/17

Dublin archbishop proposes independent commission
to investigate decades-old sex abuse case
by Gerard O'Connell


ROME, May 8 - As the dramatic crisis in the Irish Catholic Church deepened with calls for Cardinal Brady’s resignation over his role in an inquiry into the abuse of children by the notorious pedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has called for the setting up of “an independent commission of investigation” into the case of that priest as the best way to arrive at the whole truth.

Archbishop Martin made his proposal when responding to questions from journalists on the crisis after celebrating Mass at St. Francis Xavier church in Dublin, Sunday, May 6. Hours later, a spokesman for Cardinal Brady said he “welcomed and supported” the proposal.

“I really believe that we need an independent Commission of investigation into the activities of Brendan Smyth and how he was allowed to abuse for so many years,” Archbishop Martin stated.

He was referring to the fact that Fr. Smyth (1927-97), a member of the Norbertine order, is alleged to have abused more than 100 children in Ireland and others in the USA, over a forty-year period, and Church authorities failed to stop him.

He said the Commission should look “North and South”, and at “Church and State” in the whole island. Such an inquiry “is owed to the victims” and “is also in the public interest”, he stated; it would enable the whole truth to come out “and not the bits and pieces” that “an investigative journalist or diocesan investigation” might bring out.

Such a Commission “is necessary”, he explained to Vatican Insider, because the Smyth story “is of such a dimension, and the man did so much harm to people that I believe we’re never going to get the full story until we have an independent commission that has powers to get access to the information from Church and State as the Murphy Commission (for Dublin Archdiocese) had.”

He said the proposal is in line with what Pope Benedict advocated in his address to the Irish Bishops on 28 October 2006 when, speaking of the sexual abuse of minors by clerics, he told them: “in your continuing efforts to deal effectively with this problem, it is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past.”

Fr. Smyth’s case already led to the collapse the Irish Government in 1994, and could lead to Cardinal Brady’s resignation. As a young priest, serving on a Church Inquiry that interviewed a 14-year-old boy abused by Smyth, the future cardinal learned the names of other boys and girls whom the priest was abusing.

After interviewing a second boy, Brady reported to his bishop but never informed the children’s parents and Smyth continued to abuse them for 13 more years. People in Ireland are very angry that Brady did not inform the children’s parents, and top politicians have called for his resignation. [This is such outrageously crass hypocrisy on the part of Brady's critics, who ignore the facts that 1) in 1975, no priest or bishop anywhere was openly denouncing priests for sexual abuse, much less informing parents; and 2) it was not incumbent on Brady, who only took part in one session asking the boy prepared questions and recording his answers, to go to the parents of other children mentioned by the boy he interrogated; that was the competence of his bishop who asked him to assist at that one session. All of MSM, including Gerard O'Connell who should know better, are simply glossing over the facts and circumstances of Brady's involvement in 1975 in the salivating possibility of being able to chase out the Primate of All Ireland from office. This is just disgusting, IMHO.]

Asked whether he thought Cardinal Brady should resign, Martin told The Irish Times: “I don’t known enough to respond to this. I don’t know what his relation with his bishop was, or what his bishop did. Looking back at the Dublin inquiry I’ve seen that these are complex questions and I wouldn’t like to judge a person on things that I don’t know.”

“Moreover”, he said, “I have never called for anybody’s resignation. I have never done that. Everybody has to make their own decisions.”

Asked about the silencing or censuring of several Irish priests by the Vatican in recent times, Archbishop Martin said he believed the best way to deal with such cases was to address them first in Ireland.

“I think the Theological Commission of the Irish bishops has not been carrying out its function as in other countries where this dialogue would take place as a first stage and then be resolved without it necessarily being dealt with from Rome directly,” he said. “I would have preferred that these matters be dealt with in a dialogue…in a robust dialogue within the Irish church”, he stated. [But what dialog if the Irish themselves were not moving a finger about these theological dissensions published in Catholic journals? Either they were not aware of it, though it is their business to do so, or they have been playing blind (because they share the dissension, or because they choose not to see anything wrong with it).]

Earlier, preaching at St Francis Xavier church, he said the Irish Church was going through “a challenging and difficult period”. While “great things” are happening in parishes countrywide, there are also “unhealthy divisions” within the Church which is “called to be a sign of unity”.

Christians “must learn to resolve their divisions according to the indications of the Gospel”, he said; “In debate within the Church the truth must always be spoken in love”, there is “no need for negative polemics.”

Indeed, “the first premise of any reform and renewal in the Church” is to realize that being a Christian means “establishing a real personal relationship with Jesus Christ”, he stated.

In this context, he said he was “saddened by some comments made in the public arena about Pope Benedict, as if all he did as Pope was somehow suppressing the truth”. There is “no mention” of the fact that Pope Benedict has written “two extraordinary and striking books on Jesus Christ, witnessing to all of us and challenging us to get to know Jesus in a deeper way,” he said.

The inquiry that Mons. Martin has proposed into the entire case of Fr. Brendan Smyth would not just clarify the circumstances of then Father Brady's involvement in the first investigation of this serial child rapist, but also expose the inexplicable decision of the Norbertine Order to go on re-assigning Smyth to posts involving care of children after the Irish Diocese of Kilmore reported his transgressions in Kilmore and sent him packing from the diocese. (The diocesan bishop has no institutional authority over members of religious orders.)

None of the stories about Smyth today ever raise that question, and yet it was the order's responsibility to discipline him and keep him from further work contact with children after Smyth was found out in Kilmore! However, since it appears that the record of Smyth's various assignments after Kilmore that enabled him to abuse about a 100 children in the next 40 years is well-known, why don't they just reconstruct all the old reports and just concentrate the new inquiry into the investigation that was conducted in Kilmore, in which Sean Brady happened to take part? Brendan Smyth does not need to be litigated all over. It's Sean Brady who needs to get a fair hearing.

GENERAL AUDIENCE TODAY





Praying for Peter
and the Church

May 9, 2012

The story of the Lord’s liberation of Peter from prison tells us that the Church - and each of us - “goes through a night of trial (but) the unceasing vigilance of prayer sustains us", Pope Benedict said Wednesday as he continued his lessons on the power of prayer as recounted in the Acts of the Apostles.

In English, he said:

---

In our catechesis on Christian prayer, we now consider Saint Peter’s miraculous liberation from imprisonment on the eve of his trial in Jerusalem. Saint Luke tells us that as "the Church prayed fervently to God for him" (Acts 12:5), Peter was led forth from the prison by an Angel of light.

The account of Peter’s rescue recalls both Israel’s hasty exodus from bondage in Egypt and the glory of Christ’s resurrection. Peter was sleeping, a sign of his surrender to the Lord and his trust in the prayers of the Christian community.

The fulfillment of this prayer is accompanied by immense joy, as Peter rejoins the community and bears witness to the Risen Lord’s saving power.

Peter’s liberation reminds us that, especially at moments of trial, our perseverance in prayer, and the prayerful solidarity of all our brothers and sisters in Christ, sustains us in faith.

As Peter’s Successor, I thank all of you for the support of your prayers and I pray that, united in constant prayer, we will all draw ever closer to the Lord and to one another.

---

In his longer remarks in the main catechesis on this personal note, the 264th Successor of St Peter told the thousands who crammed into St Peter’s Square for the Wednesday audience: “I, too, from the first moment of my election as the Successor of St. Peter, have always felt supported by the prayers of you all, by the prayer of the Church - especially by your prayers, especially during difficult times. Thank you from my heart”. Applause greeted the Holy Father’s words.

“With constant and trusting prayer," he continued, "the Lord frees us from the chains, guides us through every night of captivity that can gnaw at our hearts, gives us the peace of heart to face the difficulties of life, even rejection, opposition, persecution”.

But only if "the whole community together speaks with God, truly praying assiduously and unanimously. Even the discourse on God, in fact, may lose its inner strength, and witness dries up if they are not animated, supported and accompanied by prayer, by the continuity of a living dialogue with the Lord... We must continually learn to pray well, really pray, directed towards God and not towards our own good".





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

---

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today I wish to dwell on the last episode in the life of St. Peter that is narrated in the Acts of the Apostles: his incarceration by Herod Agrippa and his liberation by the miraculous intervention of an Angel of the Lord, on the very eve of his intended trial in Jerusalem (cfr Acts 12,1-17).

The account is once again marked by the prayer of the Church. St. Luke, in fact, writes: "Peter thus was being kept in prison, but prayer by the church was fervently being made to God on his behalf" (Acts 12,5).

And after he had miraculously left prison, on the occasion of his visit to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is called Mark, it is said that there were "many people gathered in prayer" (Acts 12,12).

Between these two important observations which illustrate the attitude of the Christian community in the face of danger and persecution, the detention and liberation of Peter is described.

The power of the Church's unceasing prayer ascends to God, and the Lord listens and carries out an unthinkable and unhoped-for liberation by sending his Angel.

The account recalls the major elements of the liberation of Israel from slavery in Egypt, the Jewish Passover. As it did in that fundamental event, the principal action here was carried out by the Angel of the Lord who liberated Peter.

The actions by the Apostle - who was asked by the angel to rise quickly, put on his belt and sandals and follow him - reiterate those of the Chosen People on the night of their liberation from Egypt by God's intervention, when they were asked to eat in a hurry with their loins girt, sandals on their feet and staff in hand, ready to leave Egypt (cfr Ex 12,11).

And so, Peter could exclaim: "“Now I know for certain that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod" (Acts 12,11)

But the Angel does not just recall that of the liberation of Israel from Egypt, but also that of the Resurrection of Christ. In fact, the Acts of the Apostle narrate: "Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying, 'Get up quickly'" (Acts 12,7).

The light that fills the prison cell, the action itself of getting the Apostle to arise, point back to the liberating light of the Lord's Passover which conquered the darkness of the night and evil.

Finally, the instruction to "Put on your cloak and follow me" (Acts 12,8), re-echoes in their hearts the words of Jesus's initial call to them (cfr Mk 1,17), which he repeated after the Resurrection on the Lake of Tiberias, where the Lord told Peter twice, "Follow me" (Jn 21,19,22).

It is an urgent call to discipleship: Only by leaving oneself to walk along with the Lord and to do his will can one experience true freedom.

I also wish to underscore another aspect of Peter's attitude while he was in prison. We note, in fact, that while the Christian community was praying insistently for him, Peter 'was sleeping' (Acts 12,6). In a situation that was so critical and meant serious danger, it was an attitude that may seem rather strange, but instead, it denotes his tranquillity and confidence.

He trusts God and knows that he is surrounded by the solidarity and the prayers of his own people, and so he abandons himself totally into the hands of the Lord. And so should our prayer be: assiduous, fraternally bound to others, completely trusting in God who knows us intimately and takes care of us to the point that, as Jesus says, "even all the hairs of your head are counted, so do not be afraid..." (Mt 10,30-21).

Peter lives through his night of prison and liberation from it as part of his discipleship to Jesus who conquers the shadows of night and liberates us from the slavery of chains and the danger of death.

His is a miraculous liberation, marked by various passages that are carefully described: He is led by the angel, despite the vigilance of the guards, up to the iron gate which opens into the city - and the gate opens by itself before them (cfr Acts 12,10).

Peter and the Angel of the Lord walk together a short stretch of the road, until Peter recovers his senses and realizes that the Lord has truly liberated him, and he decides to go to the house of Mary, the mother of Mark, where many of the disciples were gathered in prayer. Once more, the response of the community to difficulty and danger is to entrust themselves to God, to intensify their relationship with him.

Here, I think it is useful to recall another situation, not at all easy, that the first Christian community underwent. St. James speaks of it in his Letter. The community was in crisis, in great difficulty, not so much because of persecution but because pf internal jealousies and conflicts (cfr James 3,14-16).

The Apostle asks why. He finds two principal reasons: the first is that the disciples allowed themselves to be dominated by their passions, by the dictates of their own will, by selfishness (cfr James 4,1-2a). The second is the lack of prayer - "you do not ask" (James 4,2b); or prayer which cannot be defined as such - "You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4,3).

This situation would change, St. James said, if the community spoke together to God, if they truly prayed assiduously and unanimously. Because even discourse with God risks losing its interior strength, and witness would wither if it is not inspired, sustained and accompanied by prayer, by the continuity of a living dialog with the Lord.

This is an important reminder even for us and our communities, whether the small ones like the family, or the far greater ones like the parish, the diocese, the entire Church.

And it makes us think that in this community that St. James addresses, they prayed but prayed wrongly, only motivated by their own passions. So we must always learn to pray well, to pray truly, to orient ourselves to God and not towards our own self-interest.

On the other hand, the community that 'accompanied' Peter in his imprisonment was a community that truly prayed, the whole night, as one. So it was an uncontainable joy that filled the hearts of everyone when the Apostle knocked unexpectedly at the door. it was joy and wonder in the face of an act by a God who listens.

Thus, the prayer for Peter arose from the Church, and it is this Church to which he returns, to tell them "how the Lord had led him out of the prison" (Acts 12,17). To that Church where he had been set as the Rock (cfr Mt 16,18), Peter recounts his 'Passover' of liberation: He experienced that true freedom was indeed in following Jesus, he was enwrapped in the blinding light of the Resurrection, and therefore he could bear witness to the point of martyrdom that the Lord is the Risen One who had "sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod..." (Acts 12,11).

The martyrdom which he would undergo later in Rome would unite him definitively to Christ, who had told him that "when you grow old, someone else will lead you where you do not want to go” to indicate the kind of death with which he would glorify God (cfr Jn 21,18-19).

Dear brothers and sisters, the episode of Peter's liberation narrated by Luke tells us that the Church, each of us, undergoes a night of testing, but it is the incessant vigilance of prayer which sustains us.

Even I, from the first moment of my election to be the Successor of Peter, always felt sustained by your prayers, by the prayer of the Church, especially in the most difficult moments. I thank you from the heart.

With constant and trusting prayer, may the Lord liberate us from chains, lead us through whatever night of imprisonment that could gnaw at our heart, and grant us the serenity of heart to face the difficulties of life, even rejection, opposition, and persecution.

The episode of Peter's imprisonment demonstrates the power of such prayer. The Apostle, even if he was in chains, felt tranquil, in the certainty that he was never alone - the community was praying for him, the Lord was near him. Rather, he knew that "the power of Christ is made perfect in weakness" (2Cor 12,9).

Constant and unanimous prayer is a precious instrument even for overcoming the trials that can arise along the journey of life, because it is being profoundly united to God that allows us to be profoundly united as well to each other. Thank you.

---

Biblical illiteracy
and Bible Babel
by George Weigel

May 9, 2012

One of the disappointments of the post-Vatican II period has been the glacial pace of the growth in Catholic biblical literacy the Council hoped to inspire. Why the slowdown? Several reasons suggest themselves.

The hegemony of the historical-critical method of biblical study has taught two generations of Catholics that the Bible is too complicated for ordinary people to understand: So why read what only savants can grasp?

Inept preaching, dissecting the biblical text with historical-critical scalpels or reducing Scripture to a psychology manual, has also been a turnoff to Bible study.

Then there is the clunkiness of the New American Bible, the pedestrian translation to which U.S. Catholics are subjected in the liturgy: There is little beauty here, and the beauty of God’s word ought to be one of its most attractive attributes.

But it was not until I read “Our Babel of Bibles” by Baylor University’s David Lyle Jeffrey, published in the March/April 2012 issue of Touchstone, that I began to understand that the proliferation of modern biblical translations and editions is also part of the problem. Not only are there a plethora of different translations from which to choose; as Dr. Jeffrey points out, there are now “niche” Bibles:

"If you are tired of your mother’s old Bible, which printed the words of Jesus in red, you can choose a more trendy Green Bible, with all the eco-sensitive passages printed in green ink. If you are a feisty woman unfazed by possibly misdirected allusions, then maybe you would like the Woman Thou Art Loosed edition of the NKJB [New King James Bible]. If you should be a high-end of the TV-channel charismatic, there are ‘prophecy Bibles’ coded in several colors to justify your eschatology of choice."

And that’s before we get to the super-trendy editions like the Common English Bible, which renders Psalm 122:1, “I was glad when they said unto me/Let us go to the Lord’s house,” as “Let’s go to the Lord’s house.” This is not just dumb; as Dr. Jeffrey points out, it also “verges on a grotesque secularism at the level of ‘Let’s go to Joe’s place – he has the biggest TV.’” And lest you think Jeffrey exaggerates, please note that the CEB renders “Son of Man” as “the Human One.” Yuck.

Dr. Jeffrey’s dissection of our Bible Babel also makes an important point about the use of sacral vocabulary, noting that Venerable Bede and the other first translators of the Bible into Anglo-Saxon understood the limits of their own vernacular and borrowed words from Latin to express what the biblical text meant.

A minor point? Not really, because these words came into English that way: alms, altar, angel, anthem, apostle, ark, canticle, chalice, creed, deacon, demon, disciple, epistle, hymn, manna, martyr, priest, prophet, psalm, Psalter, rule, Sabbath, shrift, and temple.

Later in the process of making English English, more words entered our language via the Vulgate: absolution, baptism, beatitude, charity, communion, confession, contrition, creator, crucifixion, devotion, faith, homily, mercy, miracle, obedience, passion, pastor, penance, religion, sacrament, saint, sanctuary, savior, temptation, theology, trinity, virgin, and virtue.

All of which is an answer to those who fretted that Anglophone Catholics couldn’t handle “consubstantial” in the new translations of the Roman Missal. As Dr. Jeffrey writes:

“What would have happened if someone had said, in that time and place, ‘We just have to find dynamic equivalents in Anglo-Saxon?’ There weren’t any.

"Appropriately, the first translators were not intimidated by the prospect of teaching people the meaning of biblical and sacral terms not to be found anywhere in their ordinary language. They gratefully borrowed the language of Scripture as they found it in another tongue.”

What to do today? My suggestion is to get yourself the Ignatius Press edition of the Revised Standard Version, and read it over and over again until its language works its way into the crevices of your mind and the texture of your prayer. Maybe, some day, we can hear that translation at Mass.

I must confess that since, before April 16, 2005, my previous acquaintance with the Bible consisted mostly of the well-known excerpts from both the Old and New Testaments in the King James Version. I had to make a conscious choice - when I started translating Benedict XVI's homilies and catecheses - to use the New American Bible published by the USCCB for the English translations of the Biblical citations used by the Pope. I had no previous 'close encounters' with the NAB, but I chose it for pure convenience (it is far easier to refer to online, and was/is the basis for the English translations of the Mass in the USA). Of course, it does not remotely approach the majestic language of the KJV, but it is 'functional', and in any case, every Biblical passage cited by the Pope is always followed by the exact chapter-and-verse notation, so those who may want to look it up in their preferred translation may do so easily.

Now that Mr. Weigel suggests the RSV, I will check it out, and if I find it as convenient to refer to as the NAB, then I will switch to using it. [It may not look like it takes some effort, but looking up the corresponding English translation of the Biblical passages cited by the Holy Father takes up not inconsiderable time, as I have to switch back and forth between the text I am translating and the right Biblical citation. It's not so bad when all the citations come from the same book, but when they range over several books from both the Old and the New Testament, that takes quite a lot of switching back and forth. But imagine how much more difficult it would be if I had to flip the pages of a book instead of doing a specific search online!]