BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Tuesday, April 5, Fourth Week in Lent

ST. VICENTE (Vincent) FERRER (b Spain 1350, d France 1419)
Dominican, Prior, Preacher, Miracle Worker
Born in Valencia to an English father and a Spanish mother, Vicente joined the Dominican order at age 18,
and soon distinguished himself for his great scholarship in philosophy and theology, as well as by unusual
gifts of preaching. He was named prior of his friary at Valencia shortly after he was ordained by the
Spanish cardinal De Luna who would become the anti-Pope Benedict XIII. Ferrer lived through the turbulent
second half of the Western Schism, when there were two Popes, one in Avignon and one in Rome. Unlike his
great contemporary Dominican, Catherine of Siena, Ferrer supported the Avignon Popes - first Clement VII,
and then Benedict XIII, who made him Apostolic Penitentiary and Master of the Palace Household. However
in 1399, Benedict allowed him to resume preaching which he would do through most of Western Europe,
Britain and Scotland for the next 21 years. In his own homeland, his preaching led to the conversion of
many Jews (as many as 25,000) and Moors (8,000). He was said to have the gift of tongues, since he only
spoke the dialect of Valencia, and Latin, but inspired extraordinary ardor in his listeners. He became
known as the 'Angel of the Apocalypse' for his fierce sermons on sin, penance and teh Last Judgment. He
also performed numerous miracles, being credited with at least 25 episodes of raising dead people to life
(a record among saints), including a few after his death. Towards the end of Ferrer's life, as the monarchs
of France and Spain withheld their support for Benedict XIII, Ferrer tried in vain to persuade him to resign,
but he would not. In fact, in 1409, when the Council of Pisa decided that the three claimants to the Papacy
should all resign so a new Pope could be elected, Benedict XIII was the only one who refused to resign.
Ferrer died in Vannes, Brittany, during one of his preaching tours.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/040510.shtml


OR today.

Photo: John Paul II remembered on the 6th anniversary of his death at a football game in Poland. Illustration: Detail from Lorenzo Lotto's 'Adoration of the Shepherds'.
Below: Faithful at the Sunday Angelus, and two illustrations from a new children's book on the life of John Paul II.

Benedict XVI on the death anniversary of John Paul II:
'I remembered him in prayer'
Other Page 1 stories: More bloodshed in the Ivory Coast as forces of President-elect Ouattara take over most of the country from the
loyalists to ex-President Ngagbo who refuses to leave office four months after his electoral defeat; Qaddafi's government reportedly
seeking a diplomatic way out, but shooting continues between his forces and Benghazi-based rebels; in Japan, technicians fail to
contain increasing radioactivity from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant; and an essay on the Italian painter Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556),
as the lesser known face of 16th century Renaissance painting which was dominated by Raphael and Michelangelo. A major exhibit of his
works has opened at the Scuderie (former stables) of the Quirinale Palace; Lotto was a student of Raphael but he left Rome and chose to
paint his religious art in various small churches in central Italy. In the inside pages, a major essay by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect
of the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood, explaining the rigorous procedures followed even if the certification for
beatification took place in record time.


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

- No events announced for the Holy Father today.

- A news conference was held led by the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Cardinal Agostino Vallini, to discuss
the program for the beatification of John Paul II, which begins with a prayer vigil at the Circo Massimo and
in several other churches of Rome which will remain open the night of April 30.