SOME B16 PHOTO UPDATES
A visit from Stefano Spaziani
July 25, 2018
The name Spaziani brings back a flood of memories from the eight glorious years of Benedict XVI's Pontificate, when the best photographs of even his most
routine events were captured through the lenses of Stefano Spaziani - and one learned to search first through all the photos available online for any by Spaziani.
Our Gloria was the best at collating all the photos, and so both PAPA RATZINGER FORUM and BENEDETTO XVI FORUM benefited greatly from her loving diligence.
The great photographer has compiled the best photographs he took of those eight years and presented them to Benedict XVI at the Vatican Gardens last July 25.
Sorry for the fuzzy pictures on the right which were blow-ups of thumbnails on Spaziani's site.
A Roman wine line Vinea Domini
(vineyard of the Lord) inspired
by Benedict XVI's first words as Pope
June 20, 2018
On June 20, Benedict XVI received a visit from the president and vice president of Gotto D'Oro winery, whose vineyards are in the Castelli Romani
[the towns in the Alban Hills southeast of Rome, including Castel Gandolfo], who presented the Emeritus Pope with their line of wines, Vinea Domini, which had been inspired by his first words as Pope, in which he described himself as a humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.
Luigi Caporicci and his two vice presidents were accompanied by Mons. Marcello Semeraro, Bishop of Albano [and secretary of Pope Fancis's Council of Cardinals], and one of his vicars, Mons. Gualtiero Isacchi.
The Gotto d’Oro winery preserves the ancient winemaking tradition of the fertile Castelli Romani from Roman times and gives the company its brand name Gotto d'Oro (goblet of gold).
The winemakers told Benedict XVI that it took the winery 13 years to get the line going. "We began with choosing the lands most favorable for the production of excellent wines, then we started planting the chosen vines from an international variety, after which we could start producing the wines. In ancient times, it was the Romans who exported their choice vine stocks beyond the Alps, those which throve in our lands and yielded grapes with the best bouquet and flavor," Ricci said.
He told the pope that his company considered it their duty to dedicate their best quality wines "to a pope who has given so much to the territory of the Castelli Romani and to the whole world".
Tributes to prelates
who have passed away
Finally, a thoughtful feature I noticed on the Facebook pages of the FONDAZIONE VATICANA JOSEPH RATZINGER/BENEDETTO XVI - their obituary tributes to prelates who were closely associated with Benedict XVI:
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/08/2018 03:10]