BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

April 3, Fourth Sunday in Lent

Second from right, a fresco showing angels helping the saint in the kitchen, in the Palermo church where he is enshrined; extreme right, the saint's remains.
ST. BENEDETTO IL MORO (Benedict the Moor) (b N Africa, 1526, d Sicily, 1589), Franciscan
The son of Ethiopian slaves, he and his family were taken to Messina, where he was freed at age 18. He joined some hermits near Palermo, but since they
followed the Rule of St. Francis, Pope Pius IV ordered them to formally join the order. A lay brother, he began as cook in the friary in Palermo but later
became novice master and then its superior. Although he was uneducated, his understanding of theology and of Holy Scriptures was considered remarkable.
He also had healing powers. He developed a reputation for holiness and attracted such a following he could only go out at night, well-covered, to avoid
recognition and people trying to tear pieces off his garments. In the last years of his life, he asked to serve once again as friary cook. His cult was immediate
after his death, and today, he is particularly venerated in Brazil. He is considered the patron saint of black Americans. He was canonized in 1807. His incorrupt
body lies in Church of the friary where he served in Palermo.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/040311.shtml


OR today.
The Vatican announcement giving details for the Day of Dialog and Prayer in Assisi on Oct. 27 is prominent on Page 1 today, but there are no papal photos. Page international news: Hostilities continue in Libya with Qaddafi's forces pushing back the rebels towards Benghazi; protests continue to erupt in Afghan cities following the March 21 Koran burning by a Protestant pastor in Florida, and a violent protest raid on a provincial United Nations headquarters in which 12 people were killed, two of them decapitated; In the inside pages, the Italian bishops issue a strong appeal to the European Union to take concrete steps to face the waves of refugees arriving from North Africa which Italy alone cannot deal with.


ANGELUS TODAY

The Holy Father reflected on the meaning of Laetare Sunday today - a day of rejoicing during the Lenten season- and the Gospel account of Jesus healing a blind man. After the prayers, he recalled the sixth anniversary of John Paul II's death yesterday, explaining that this year, he did not celebrate a commemorative Mass in view of the late Pope's beatification on May 1. He enjoined the faithful to entrust themselves to his intercession as the Christian world prepared for Easter.


A PERSONAL NOTE
A small milestone today for the BENEDICT thread in the English section of the Forum: We are on Page 200, since it opened on May 1, 2009. It took 698 days to get here. An indication that as time goes, we are getting more 'efficient' with our posts - as we learn to track down stories better. It took 1008 days for us to get to Page 200 after we started the BENEDICT thread in the PRF in November 2005.

Another modest statistic: From an average of 200-300 hits a day when this thread began, we are now up to 700-1,000 a day. I thank each and everyone who has visited the Forum and continue to visit it, as I continue to hope for your active participation.

Over the years, both Forums have changed from the initial spurt of Benaddiction that had to be expressed volubly and effusively on a daily basis in 2005, to the far more sedate but still diligent channels for news and photos of Benedict XVI and his Pontificate.

By the time I started this thread on Gloria's Forum, I had settled for some time into treating it more like an online magazine - with possibilities for comment - about the Pope and his times, a convenient one-stop shop for those who want to know what's the latest about Benedict XVI, from sources that go beyond the Anglophone media, as well as a record of papal texts and available newsphotos of his Pontificate.

My comments have generally been a response to irresponsible media reporting and commentary, as well as my own effort to provide both Catholic and universal context to the events of this Pontificate - and occasional effusions of Benaddiction. Of course, every second that I devote to this Forum is motivated by sheer Benaddiction, and comes with a prayer for him and the Church.

God bless our beloved Pope, especially with good health and long years, as he has blessed him all his life in so many other ways.