See earlier entries for 5/8/10 on the preceding page.
Text-the-Pope service
launched in Italy
ROME, May 7 (AFP) - Roman Catholics can may now send text messages of support to Pope Benedict XVI, Italian public television said Saturday.
The mobile phone service was launched by RAI television's Sunday weekly religious programme, A SUA IMMAGINE, ahead of a gathering organised by lay groups in Saint Peter's Square on May 16 to show support for the PonTiff.
All messages sent to the special number -- +39 335 18 63 091 -- will be passed along to the Pope by the end of May, the broadcaster said. They will be shown from Sunday during the television show "In His Image".
"It's a truly unique event, because with this number everyone can show their solidarity without being physically present in Saint Peter's Square," said Rosario Carello, the chief of the programme on the Rai Uno channel.
Today, besides its regular coverage of the noontime Angelus at St. Peter's Square, RAI-1 is also presenting a special program on the Pope's coming visit to Fatima.
The Roman Catholic church and the Pontiff himself are under fire after a series of revelations on sexual abuse by priests that have emerged over several months.
Pope Benedict on Saturday accepted the resignation of a German bishop who admitted he beat children in a Catholic orphanage and also faces a paedophilia probe, the Vatican said.
Walter Mixa, 69, was the bishop of Augsburg in southern Germany and of the German military, and tendered his resignation on Thursday from both posts after admitting to hitting children some 20 years ago.
Addendum:
The call for a May 16 rally at St. Peter's Square was launched on April 16, the Pope's burthday, by the Consulta Nationale delle Aggregazioni Laicali (National Council of Lay Organizations) working with the Italian bishops' conference,
The call is being publicized by all the member lay organizations such as Italian Catholic Action.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/05/2010 12:19]