This is the sort of initiative that Cardinal Camillo Ruini might have taken in Rome if he were still the Holy Father's Vicar in the Diocese. In 2007, he organized a Mass in St. Peter's Square for the Holy Father's 80th birthday with Benedict XVI himself presiding, and in January 2008, he mobilized virtually overnight more than 250,000 Romans to gather for the Angelus in St. Peter's Square the Sunday after the Pope's cancelled visit to La Sapienza....I hope Cardinal Vallini can organize a Mass for April 16, the Pope's birthday, or for April 19.
BOLOGNA'S ARCHBISHOP TO OFFER
MASS FOR BENEDICT XVI ON APRIL 19
The announcement is on the diocesan website, but more details are in a newspaper release, which says:
Cardinal Carlo Cafarra, Archbishop of Bologna, will celebrate Solemn Mass at the Cathedral of St. Peter to mark the fifth anniversary of the election of Benedict XVI as Pope.
In a letter sent to the priests of the diocese, the cardinal said:
"As Cardinal Sodano rightly noted, 'We are in a cultural conflict. The Pope embodies moral truths that are not accepted by the secular society, and so the failings and mistakes of some priests are used as weapons against the Church'. Therefore, at this time, we should all draw close together in strong ecclesial unity with the Holy Father."
He requested his priests that starting Sunday, April 11, and for the next seven days, they should end each Mass by reciting the following prayer for the Pope:
Lord, source of every good and every truth,
give our Shepherd Benedict XVI
the Spirit of wisdom and intellect,
of strength and correct discernment.
Faithfully guiding the flock you have entrusted to him,
may he, as Successor of Peter, edify your Church
as a sacrament of unity for all mankind. Amen.
May the Lord watch over him,
give him long life, bless him on this earth and
not deliver him to the hands of his enemies. Amen.
He urged the priests to use the appropriate prayers for the anniversary of the election of a Pope in their Masses on April 19.
He also suggested that churches should not hold evening Masses on that day so that the faithful can come to the Mass at the Cathedral.