Nov. 10, Wednesday, 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
Raphael's 'Leo the Great Meets Attila the Hun', 1541, Vatican fresco. The Apostles Peter and Paul are shown above the figure of the Pope, left.
ST. LEO THE GREAT (b. ca 400, Pope 440-461), Doctor of the Church (Doctor of Doctrine)
Born to a noble Tuscan family, he came to a position of importance in the imperial court. When he was 40, he was
sent by the emperor to settle a dispute between the two highest officials in Gaul. During the mission, Pope Sixtus II
died and he was unanimously elected by the people to succeed him. As Pope, he was responsible for the first
administrative consolidation of the Church, distinguishing himself in four other critical areas: He controlled a number
of prevalent heresies in his time; at the Council of Chalcedon, he definitively declared the dual nature of Christ;
he defended Rome from barbarian attacks and is remembered for meeting Attila the Hun and keeping him from
invading Rome; and for the spiritual depth of his pastoral care, with a call to holiness embodied in his great sermons.
OR today.
No papal photos in this issue, Page 1 features the Holy Father's message to the ongoing General Assembly of the Italian bishops in Assisi
[translated and posted on this page on Monday], and inside, an interview with Cardinal Julian Herranz, who was with the Pope on the trip
to Spain. Page 1 international news: A new chill between Israeli PM Netanyahu and the White House over East Jerusalem construction work;
the International Labor Union says there are now about 310 million unemployed around the world - 31-million more than the level in 2007
before the financial crisis started in 2008; and the US Federal Reserve is criticized worldwide for decision to 'monetize' part of the national
debt thus flooding the market with at least $600 billion in paper money - the decision causes China's yuan to post its strongest level
against the dollar in many years.
THE POPE'S DAY
General Audience today - As expected, the Holy Father reported on his visit to Spain, stressing his appeal for Europe
to once more open itself to God, and for dialog between faith and reason, religion and politics, ethics and economics.
Cardinal Tauran delivers letter
from the Pope to Iran's President
By Sarah Delaney
VATICAN CITY, Nov. 10 (CNS) -- A top Vatican official met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Teheran and gave him a letter from Pope Benedict XVI, a Vatican spokesman said.
The letter was hand-delivered in Teheran Nov. 9 by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, said Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, vice-director of the Vatican press office, today.
Cardinal Tauran met personally with the Iranian leader while the Vatican official was participating in a three-day meeting regarding Muslim-Christian relations. The meeting, a joint initiative of the Vatican inter-religious council and the Teheran-based Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, included leaders of the local Catholic church.
In October, an Iranian official delivered a letter from Ahmadinejad to Pope Benedict in which the president said he hoped to work closely with the Vatican to help stem religious intolerance, the break up of families and the increase of secularism and materialism.
On that occasion, the contents of the letter were released by Iranian news agencies.
Father Benedettini did not disclose the contents of the letter from Pope Benedict.
- Getting much media play these days is the latest outrageous declaration by failed assassin Ali Agca, who now says the mastermind behind the plot to kill John Paul II was actually the man who was then his Secretary of State, the late Cardinal Agustin Casaroli (widely credited with carrying on the Vatican's Ostpolitik strategy of 'appeasement coexistence' with the Soviet regimes during the Cold War, in order to minimize persecution of Catholic bishops and clergy). [Why the MSM play up every mad rant that comes from Agca puzzles me, when he is clearly either a madman, or a wily schemer who is trying to exploit his notoriety in order to make big bucks from future movie or book deals!]
- Someone in the Anglophone media - Father Z, in fact - finally picked up on the highly significant message sent by Benedict XVI to the current General Assembly of Italian bishops.... But Fr. Z still has not wirtten a word about the momentous weekend events in Spain!
- I just found online a long interview done by La Vanguardia with Peter Seewald and published Sunday. I will translate and post as soon as I can.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/11/2010 23:54]