Wednesday, March 17
ST. PATRICK (Padraigh) (b Britain 387?, d N. Ireland, 493)
Bishop, Missionary, Apostle of Ireland
Few saints have as many legends about him as Patrick. But the only facts known about his life before he came to Ireland as bishop
and missionary come from one of only two existing letters from him. He called himself a Roman and a Briton. At 16, he and several
others were captured by Irish raiders and sold as slaves in Ireland. He was put to work as a shepherd but escaped back to Britain
after six years. He may have studied in France, but the next known event is that he was consecrated bishop at age 43. A dream
about Irish children convinced him it was his mission to Christianize what was then pagan Ireland. Once sent there, he made friends
with local chieftains and began converting many Irish, to the point that soon he was creating dioceses, calling councils, founding
monasteries, constantly preaching 'greater holiness in Christ' - and eventually able to send Irish missionaries to help Christianize
Europe in a matter of decades. If the dates currently 'established' for his birth and death are approximately right - they have been
changing over the centuries - he would have been about 106 when he died, and would have spent at least 60 years Christianizing
Ireland. The Irish have celebrated him on the anniversary day of his death for over a thousand years, and he has become very
much part of Irish culture and tradition.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/031710.shtml
OR today.
No papal stories in this issue. The main story on Page 1 has a misleading headline, 'Israel will not stop
new settlements', because even the story makes clear that 'settlements' refer to new housing in East
Jerusalem, which the Palestinians protest because they intend to make East Jerusalem the capital of a
sovereign Palestine. The Vatican officially advocates an international status for an undivided Jerusalem,
so the OR editorial decision opposing new Israeli housing in East Jerusalem which has been Israeli
territory since the 1968 war is puzzling. Other Page 1 stories: the UN secretary-general visits Haiti
where the final tally for the victims of the earthquake is 230,000 dead, 1.3 million homeless, and an
equal number also dependent on international aid for their basic needs; Europe's finance ministers agree
on coming to the aid of debt-ridden Greece but fail to decide the technical details; and remote-guided
bombs disrupt the first day of a peace conference in Nigeria to solve rebellion in its southern oilfields.
In the inside pages, the Vatican observer's March 10 address to the UN Commission Human Rights in
Geneva, about the protection of minors from sexual abuse; a story on the Irish bishops' note yesterday
clarifying Cardinal Sean Brady's involvement as a young priest in investigating a case of sexual abuse;
plus two separate interventions on Caritas in veritate - one by Cardinal Bertone before the council
of Italy's largest industrial confederation, and by a Nobel Prize-winning economist at a symposium on
globalization sponsored by the Vatican Nunciature at the United Nations in New York.
THE POPE'S DAY
General Audience today - It was held in St. Peter's Square for the first time since early autumn last year.
The Holy Father continued his catecheses on St. Bonaventure, and at the end,
he announced that he will
sign his pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland on March 19, Feast of St. Joseph, guardian of the
family and patron of the universal Church.
Events after the GA:
- The Holy Father met with Cardinal Jose Sanchez,
Emeritus Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy.
- He received honorary citizenship from the commune of Romano Canavese,
hometown of Cardinal Bertone. Address in Italian.
The Vatican officially announced today the formation of an international commission of inquiry on Medjugorje
by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with Cardinal Camillo Ruini as president. The commission will
include cardinals, bishops and experts who will carry out their investigation and submit their findings to the CDF.
This news was previusly reported unofficially.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/03/2010 02:56]