BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

See preceding page for earlier posts today, 11/2/10.






Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine. Funerals for Baghdad victims today.



Tomorrow's issue of L'Osservatore Romano carries the text of a message sent today
by the Holy Father to the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad.


Pope sends condolences
at funeral of Baghdad victims
Translated from the 11/2-11/3 issue of


For years, Christians in Iraq 'have become the object of ferocious attacks' that aim "to undermine confidence and civilian coexistence", Benedict XVI wrote in a message sent to Mons. Athanase Matti Shaba, Syro-Catholic Archbishop of Baghdad, on the occasion of the funeral rites today, November 2, for the victims of the terrorist massacre Sunday in the Syro-Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation.

According to latest reports, the three-hour siege, during which 120 Massgoers were held hostage, led to a battle between the 'Islamic State' terrorists, an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, and Iraqi and US security forces who came to the rescue. The dead included many women and children as well as three priests (two were killed on tHE spot, the other died in the hospital). At least 80 were wounded.

Here is the text of the Pope's message:

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PROFOUNDLY MOVED BY THE VIOLENT DEATH OF SO MANY FAITHFUL AND THE REVEREND FATHERS THA'IR SAAD AND BOUTROS WASIM, I WISH TO TAKE PART SPIRITUALLY IN THE SACRED FUNERAL RITES, AS I PRAY THAT THESE BROTHERS AND SISTERS SHALL BE WELCOMED IN CHRIST'S MERCY TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.

FOR YEARS, THIS BELOVED NATION HAS SUFFERED UNSPEAKABLE SORROWS, AND CHRISTIANS HAVE BECOME THE OBJECT OF FEROCIOUS ATTACKS WHICH, IN TOTAL CONTEMPT OF LIFE - AN INVIOLABLE GIFT FROM GOD - AIM TO UNDERMINE CONFIDENCE AND CIVIL COEXISTENCE.

I RENEW MY APPEAL THAT THE SACRIFICE OF THESE BROTHERS AND SISTERS MAY BE A SEED OF PEACE AND TRUE REBIRTH, AND THAT THOSE WHO DESIRE RECONCILIATION, FRATERNITY AND BROTHERLY COEXISTENCE, MAY FIND MOTIVATION AND STRENGTH TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

TO ALL OF YOU, DEAR BROTHERS AND SONS, IMPART A COMFORTING APOSTOLIC BLESSING THAT I GLADLY EXTEND TO ALL THE WOUNDED AND THE VICTIMS' FAMILIES WHO HAVE BEEN SO SORELY TRIED.

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Tomorrow's OR also includes the Pope's words at the Angelus yesterday, All Saints' Day, expressing his sorrow for the Baghdad massacre.


Right, Iraq's Defense Minister called yesterday, Nov. 1, on Cardinal Emmanuel Delly, Chaldean Patriarch of Iraq, to express the government's condolences for the massacre. Below, left, the Cardinal attends the funeral rites for the victims today at St. Joseph's Church in Baghdad. Below right, Christians burying their dead are joined at a funeral procession by Muslims to protest terrorism.


Edward Pentin, who reported the Pope's message on his blog in National Catholic Register, adds the following:

Below is a summary of Archbishop Matoka’s intervention at the Synod on the Middle East which took place in Rome last month:

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Iraq, land of Mesopotamia, land of civilizations, where Abraham was born, where Ur, Babel, and Niniveh are, land of holy scripture, land of faith and of martyrs… Since Christianity spread there, realized despite the persecution by the Persians throughout the centuries , the blood of martyrs flowed and the Islamic influence covered it.

Today and since the Revolution of Abd el Karim Kassem, Iraq does not cease living a situation of instability of trials and wars. The last being the American occupation. Christians have always had their part in the sacrifices and tribulations: with the martyrs in the wars and all sorts of different hardships.

Since the year 2003, Christians are the victims of a killing situation, which has provoked a great emigration from Iraq. Even if there are no definite statistics, the indicators underline that half the Christians have abandoned Iraq and that without a doubt there are only about 400,000 Christians left of the 800,000 that lived there. The invasion of Iraq by America and its allies brought to Iraq in general, and especially to its Christians, destruction and ruin on all levels. Churches were blown up, bishops and priests and lay persons were massacred, many were the victims of aggression. Doctors and businessmen were kidnapped, others were threatened, storage places and homes were pillaged…

Perhaps the acuity with which Christianity was targeted has been lightened during the last two years, but there still is the fear of the unknown, insecurity and instability, as well as the continuation of emigration, which always makes this question arise: what is the future of Christian existence in this country should this situation continue, more so because the civil authorities are so weak. The tears are continuous between the different religious and political composing elements, as well as external influence by external powers, especially neighboring countries.

Seven years have passed and Christianity is still bleeding. Where is the world conscience? All the world remains a spectator before what is happening in Iraq, especially with regards to Christians.

We want to sound the alarm. We ask the question of the great powers: is it true what is said that there is a plan to empty the Middle East of Christians and that Iraq is one of the victims? I think this Synod should study this subject with attention and should see what can be decided in trying to reach a solution to the situation existing in the Middle East.

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MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE
FROM THE ITALIAN PRESIDENT
Nov. 2, 2010

President Giorgio Napolitano has sent a message to Benedict XVI about the Baghdad tragedy:

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My deepest condolence to Your Holiness for the tragic events that struck the Catholic community in Iraq, which is victim even in this sorrowful circumstance, of a blind barbarism which profoundly wounds every civilized conscience and negates the fundamental value of dialog among religions and cultures.

Remembering my recent meeting with the Patriarchs of the Oriental Churches, during the Special Synodal Assembly for the Middle East, I wish to convey to the Iraqi Catholic community the sentiments of solidarity and sincere closeness from the Italian people.

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Benedict XVI prays at
tombs of previous Popes
Nov. 2, 2010

The Vatican released the following pictures:

MISSALS FOR SPAIN VISIT
ARE NOW ONLINE


The Papal Visit websites of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and the Archdiocese of Barcelona have now published the liturgical missals for the visit. Both are in the format of the Vatican Office of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations.




www.archicompostela.org/ppmateriales/bxvi/messale-santiago...
papabarcelona2010.cat/node/208

Very useful guide to what to expect, because, as in previous apostolic trips by the Pope, not just the two Masses, but also the other main events of the visits involving some liturgy are described in detail: In Santiago, the Holy Father's visit to the Cathedral as soon as he arrives on Saturday - it is his actual pilgrim's visit 'ad sancti Jacobi limina peregrinatio' (pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James); and in Barcelona, the dedication rites of the soon-to-be-declared Basilica of La Sagrada Familia.

As one might expect, the liturgies are multilingual - mainly Gallego (the Galician language), Spanish and Latin, in Santiago; and Catalan (the language of Catalunya), Spanish and Latin, in Barcelona.






"Holiness, welcome to Catalonia". This is the heading of the letter published Tuesday, Nov. 1, in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, expressing a welcome to the Holy Father from prominent Catalan Catholics. Here is the full text of the letter.

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Holy Father,

We are happy to express our gratitude for your coming apostolic visit to Barcelona.

You are coming to dedicate the temple of Sagrada Familia, crowning the desire of generations who have placed their faith, their efforts and their talent in this space which is now the most emblematic monument of the city and one of the great artistic wonders of the Christian world. The meticulous, generous, and creative work of Antonio Gaudi is a model for all of us

And in your visit to the children of the Obra del Nen Diu (Work of the Child Jesus), we share your concern for the weakest members of society and the Christian recognition of the contribution of the family in creating a more just and human world.

The current economic crisis is also a concern for us and it has urged us to rethink society that must be focused on the dignity of human life and respect for it.

Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya. You are coming to an autonomous region that has the sense of being a nation, one that has always followed the tradition of the Church, as we know from the historical document 'Christian Roots of Catalunya".

And so we welcome you to a Christian nation which, a thousand years ago, under the protection of Peter's See, adopted the Roman liturgy and started the process of forging its cultural identity which is very much alive today.

In the course of centuries, the Church in Catalunya has created its culture, a culture that has, in turn, influenced the local Church. This has produced fruits of sanctity and characteristics that have made Catalunya a land of hospitality and openness to the rest of the world.

Today, with prestigious centers of education open to all; with a vast range of cultural associations; with an elevated level of Biblical, liturgical and theological studies; with flourishing popular religious traditions; and with its Christian social and charitable commitments, it will continue to be 'salt of the earth'.

We are a Christian community with Pauline origins, from the founding of the Church in Tarragona. Now. we are hoping that your visit to our home, praying for us in our own language, and preaching to us the Word of God, will be another milestone for the faith of believers, and an encouragement for harmony among everyone.

With these sentiments, we welcome you to Catalunya.

Barcelona
November 2, 2010

Jordi Pujol, former President of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
Eugene Gay, Judge of the Constitutional Court.
Josep Felix Ballesteros, Mayor of Tarragona.
Àngel Ros, Mayor of Lleida.
Josep Maria Soler, OSB, Abbot of Montserrat.
Josep Alegre, O. Císter., Abbot of Poblet.
Gertrudis Nin, OSB, Abbess of Sant Pere de les Puel,
Montserrat Viñas, OSB, Abgess of Sant Benet de Montserrat.
Valentí Miserachs, president of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music.
Josep M. Joseph M. Abella CMF, Superior General of the Claretian Missionaries.
Emili Turú, FMS, Superior General of the Marist Brothers.
Josep Maria Balcells, Sch.P., former Superior General of Escolapios.
Cristina Martínez, STJ, President of the Religious Union of Catalonia.
Màxim Muñoz, CMF, Vice President of the Religious Union of Catalonia.
Josep Maria Cullell, Adviser to the Prefecture of Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
Josep Maria Romaguera, Counsellor of the International Christian Youth Worker.
Artur Mas, President of CiU.
Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, Chairman Committee on Government UDC.
Jordi Carbonell, Honorary President of the ERC.
Xavier Trias, Municipal Chairman of CDC Group in Barcelona.
Núria de Gispert, former Minister of Justice (UDC).
Josep Maria Carbonell, former Chairman of the Audiovisual Council of Catalonia.
Ignasi Garcia Clavel, former Director General of Religious Affairs.
Jordi Lòpez Camps, former Director General of Religious Affairs (PSC).
Joan Viñas, Rector of the University of Lleida.
Ramon Pascual, former Rector of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Josep Oriol Pujol, Director General of the Fundació Pere Tarrés.
Pilar Malla, former Ombudsman of Barcelona.
Eduard Ibàñez, President of the General Commission for Justice and Peace in Spain
Pere Lluís Font, Vice President of the Fundació Joan Maragall.
Tica Font, director of the Catalan Institute for International Peace.
Josep M. Benítez i Riera, SJ, historian.
Albert Manent, Editor of the Dictionary of Ecclesiastical History of Catalonia.
Ramon Pla, Director of Christian Life Issues.
Jordi Bonet Armengol, Architect-director of the Sagrada Familia Temple.

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Additional names have since signed on and continue to sign the letter on the site of

Last Sunday, I posted items on the so-called 'Reformation Day' protest simply as a duty. As fairly insignificant as it turned out to be, I could not ignore it just because it is unpleasant - and especially because it did turn out to be a whimper and a fizzle. But it did produce a very beautiful letter from Fr. Lombardi to the protest organizers and victims that articulated clearly but in a kindly, gentle and Christian way, how wrong they are in their attitude and words, and to ignore what has been done to address the problem of sex-offender priests. It was a model letter whose sentiments many bishops who face the problem in their own dioceses would do well to learn from and emulate.

But still caught up in the euphoria of the Catholic Action children's rally with the Holy Father and my continuing amazement and admiration for how he answers young people, not to mention the Holy Father's Sunday Angelus message, I 'failed' to revel in the irony of the contrast between that event and the mean-spirited little 'demo' on Sunday, nor express outrage at the fact that MSM had failed to report the AC children's rally at all! Deacon Nick at PTP does both:


60 alleged child abuse survivors
and their supporters protest in Rome,
but they had promised 50,000
By Deacon Nick Connelly

November 2nd, 2010


Since August protest groups have been planning a spectacular media event called ‘Reformation Day’ at which they claimed thousands of alleged child abuse victims and their supporters would protest against Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church. One of the posters for Reformation Day was a graphic showing St Peter’s Square filled with people protesting.

The reality was quite different.

The day after 100,000 children and young people filled St Peter’s Square to over-flowing, 60 alleged victims of child abuse and their supporters held their protest in Rome.

The Catholic New Agency reports:
‘About 60 victims of clerical sex abuse gathered in Rome Oct. 31 to mark what they called “Reformation Day.” The number was a far cry from the 50,000 that organizers had predicted back in April when the event was first announced.’

The Daily Telegraph reports:
'Around 60 protesters – victims of abuse and their families – gathered near St. Peter’s Basilica with banners and torches and shouted “Shame on you!” at Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s spokesman, when he appeared.’

The group of protesters were further angered by the fact that the Vatican had refused to give permission for the protest to be held in St. Peter’s Square. However, as long as they were going to spread falsehoods about Pope Benedict this was always going to be impossible.

For example, the Vatican’s decision to ban the protest from St. Peter’s was vindicated by the calumnies on their banners: ‘The Pope protects paedophile priests’ and ‘The Pope on trial’.

The groups involved in the protest also continue to spread the falsehood that the Catholic Church is doing nothing to stop the crime of child abuse by Catholics which is patently untrue and knowingly misrepresentative of the safeguarding protocols being put in place.

An example of this false presentation of the Church as culpably inactive is Bernie McDaid’s statement: ‘Somewhere tonight in Africa a missionary is having his way with a child, taking his body for pleasure and robbing his soul, and nothing will be done to stop the perpetrator.’

Gary Bergeron, the co-founder of Survivor’s Voices, continued the aggressive misrepresentation of the Church’s actions against child abuse: ‘The continued acceptance of the systemic sexual abuse of children is nothing less than a crime against humanity’.

To say that the Church accepts the systematic sexual abuse of children is an outrageous calumny against not only Pope Benedict and the bishops, but also all Catholics. It is not true.

Protect the Pope comment:
The Church needs to hear the testimony of survivors of child sexual abuse, such as the deaf and speech impaired alleged victims of a priest in Verona. However, the cause of justice is not served by people who use this tragedy, for whatever reason, to make false attacks against the Church.

Surely, enough terrible things were allowed to happen with some bishops covering up child abuse, than to make up false allegations out of an animus against Pope Benedict. It is a disservice to the cause of justice to make false claims about Pope Benedict, when protesters should highlight the crimes committed against children. Its also wrong to pretend that things haven’t changed in the Catholic Church over the past 20 years. Most of the cases of child abuse by clergy are historic cases and not recently committed crimes.

It's typical that the media give coverage of 60 protesters against the Catholic Church but ignore the 100,000 children and young people supporting Pope Benedict and the Catholic way of life.


I still regret that quite a few victims continue to allow themselves to be exploited by victimhood advocates who seem to be more interested in discrediting the Church and the Pope (and gaining personal publicity for themselves, in the process) than in doing anything constructive for the victims. Instead, they prod them into the counter-productive and unhealthy state of self-pitying victimhood....

And they should stop claiming to be able to mobilize tens of thousands, when so far they have managed to come up with exactly four participants in their earlier previously ballyhooed protest last June, and this time with sixty, including themselves and the victims' families. It is unrealistic - and callously exploitative - to think they can move people at their beck and call as 'fodder' for PR cannon. They could better channel their budget to helping victims press criminal charges against the abusers.

P.S. It must be pointed out that MSM - including the major Italian newspapers - virtually ignored reporting Fr. Lombardi's letter at all, concentrating instead on the fact that he was booed and screamed at by some of the protestors. And yet, the letter - and the fact that Lombardi even thought to write it - was the one productive Christian aspect of the whole episode. As I said earlier, it's probably teh best thing Fr. Lombardi has written - and done - to date, as Vatican spokesman.

Wednesday, Nov. 3, 31st Week in Ordinary Time

ST. MARTIN DE PORRES (Peru, 1579-1639), Barber/Medical Aide, Dominican Friar, Miracle Worker
Illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed black slave, and rejected by his father because he inherited his mother's color, Martin was raised in poverty. At 12, he was apprenticed to a barber-surgeon and learned first aid and how to prepare and administer medications. After a few years in this work, he applied to be a Dominican lay brother. For nine years, he was such a model of prayer and penance, charity and humility, that the order asked him to profess fully as a friar. He belonged to that special breed of friar saints who worked menial jobs and doubled as beggar, fund-raiser and spiritual counselor to all. In addition, he continued his medical apostolate actively, founded the first orphanage in the New World, and took care of slaves just arrived from Africa. On normal days, he fed as many as 120 persons a day out of the alms he collected. He was blessed with extraordinary graces, such as ecstasies and visions, levitation, bilocation, ability to communicate with animals, and miracle cures even in his lifetime. Though he never left Lima, there were tales of beneficiaries seeing him and being healed in places like Algeria, Japan and China. He was a spiritual adviser to many, including the future St. Rose of Lima, the viceroy of Peru and the archbishop of Lima. When he died, all Lima turned out to pay homage to him, with mourners snipping off a piece of his habit that his burial clothes had to be replaced three times. Miracles proliferated after his death, and when his body was exhumed 25 years later, it was found incorrupt and exuding the odor of sanctity. He was beatified in 1837 and canonized in 1962. he is the patron saint of persons with mixed blood, of barbers, and of public health.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/110310.shtml


OR for 11/2-11/3/10:

In a message for the funeral rites of the victims and at the Angelus on Monday,
Benedict XVI condemns the Sunday massacre by Islamic terrorists at the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Baghdad
'A ferocious violence against helpless persons'
Christians are the victims of vicious attacks that aim to undermine confidence and civilian coexistence
Other Page 1 stories: International Monetary Fund president says the financial crisis has caused 30 million jobs lost since autumn of 2008 and may rise to 40 million; new Brazilian President Dilma Youssef vows to continue former President Lula da Silva's policies which have brought Brazil on track to the world's fifth largest economy; and a review of a new TV film documenting Pius XII's activities in favor of the Jews during World War II.


THE POPE'S DAY
General Audience - The Holy Father's catechesis today was on St. Marguerite d'Oingt,
a 13th-century French Carthusian nun and mystic.


A joint news conference at the Vatican today was held to present Volume 12 of Joseph Ratzinger's Opera omnia,
Künder des Wortes und Diener eurer Freude - Theologie und Spiritualität des Weihesakramentes (Announcers
of the Word and Servants of your Joy: The theology and spirituality of Holy Orders), the fourth to come out in the
16-book series published in the original German, with Mons. Gerhard Mueller, Bishop of Regensburg and president of
the Papst Benedikt XVI Institut, publishers of the 16-volume series, made the formal presentation. Two officials of
the Pontifical Council for Culture spoke on this year's plenary assembly of the Council on the theme "The culture
of communication and its new languages", to take place at the Vatican Nov. 10-13.

GENERAL AUDIENCE TODAY:
Catechesis on St.Marguerite d'Oingt

At the General Audience held today in the Aula Paolo VI, the Holy Father continued his catechetical cycle on great women saints of the Middle Ages, speaking on the life and legacy of St. Marguerite d'Oingt, a 13th century Carthusian nun and mystic.

He also asked the faithful to pray for his apostolic visit this weekend to Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona.





Here is what the Holy Father said in English:

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Our catechesis today deals with Marguerite d’Oingt, a thirteenth-century Carthusian prioress and mystic.

Marguerite’s writings, which include the earliest known examples of Provençal French, were inspired by the evangelical spirituality of Saint Bruno; they reveal her fine sensibility and her deep desire for God.

Marguerite viewed life as a path of perfection leading to complete configuration to Christ, above all in the contemplation of his saving passion. She imagined the Lord’s life, his words and his actions, as a Book which he holds out to us, a Book to be studied and imprinted on our hearts and lives, until the day we read it from within, in the contemplation of the Blessed Trinity.

Marguerite’s writings, filled with imagery drawn from family life, radiate a warm love of God and deep gratitude for his grace which purifies our affections and draws us more closely to him.

The life and writings of Marguerite d’Oingt invite us to meditate daily on the mystery of God’s infinite love, revealed above all in the sufferings of Christ on the Cross, and to find in it the strength and joy to place our lives at his service and that of our brothers and sisters.

As I welcome all the English-speaking visitors this morning, I am especially pleased to greet the delegation from the Anti-Defamation League, as well as the representatives of Pittsburgh’s Jewish and Catholic communities. Upon them and upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially the pilgrim groups from Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Japan, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America, I invoke the Almighty’s abundant blessings of grace and peace.

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Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's catechesis:

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With Marguerite d'Oingt, of whom I wish to speak to you today, se are introduced to Carthusian spirituality, inspired by the evangelical synthesis proposed and lived by St. Bruno.

We do not know when she was born, although some say it was around 1240. She came from a powerful family of ancient Lyonese nobility, the Oingt. We know her mother was also named Marguerite; that she had two brothers, Giscard and Louis, and three sisters - Catherine, Isabelle and Agnes. The latter followed her into the Carthusian order, later succeeding her as prioress at Chartreuse.

We have no information about her childhood but, from her writings, we can deduce that it was tranquil, and lived in an affectionate family environment.

Indeed, to express God's boundless love, she very much valued the use of images linked to the family, with particular references to the father and mother figures.

In one of her meditations, she prays thus: "Kind and sweet Lord, I think of the special graces you have given me out of your solicitude - above all, how you have protected me since my infancy, how you have kept me from the perils of this world, and how you have provided me with everything I needed to eat, drink, and clothe myself, such that I never had to think about all these things, but only about your great mercy!...(Marguerite d’Oingt, Scritti spirituali, Meditazione V, 100, Cinisello Balsamo 1997, p. 74).

Still from these meditations, we gather that she entered the Carthusian convent of Poleteins in response to a call from the Lord, leaving everything behind and accepting the severe Carthusian rule in order to be totally for the Lord, to be always with him.

She writes: "Sweet Lord, I left my father and mother and my siblings and all the things of the world for your love. But this is very little, since the riches of this world are nothing but sharp thorns, and whoever has more of them is more unfortunate. It is why I think I have left nothing behind but poverty and misery. But you know, sweet Lord, that if I possessed a thousand worlds, and could do with them as I please, I would abandon them all for your love. And even if you gave me everything that you possessed on heaven and on earth, I would not be satisfied until I have you, because you are the life of my soul, and I do not have, nor do I want, any father or mother besides you" (ibid., Meditazione II, 32, p. 59).

Even about her life in the monastery, we have little information. We know that in 1288, she became its fourth prioress, a position she held until her death in February 1310.

And her writings indicate no particular turning points in her spiritual itinerary. She conceived of life as a journey of purification towards full configuration with Christ. Christ was the Book that must be written, that must be inscribed daily in her heart and in her life, particularly his salvific Passion.

In her work Speculum, Marguerite, referring to herself in the third person, underscores that, by the grace of the Lord, "she had inscribed in her heart the holy life that God the Son, Jesus Christ, had led on earth, his good examples and his good doctrine. She had placed the sweet Jesus Christ so well in her heart that she felt him as someone present with a book in his hand to instruct her" (ibid., I, 2-3, p. 81).

"In this book she found written the life that Jesus Christ had led on earth, from his breath to his ascension to heaven" (ibid., I, 12, p. 83).

Daily, from the time she woke up, Marguerite applied herself to 'studying' this book. And after having looked at it, she started to read the book of her own conscience, uncovering the falsehoods and lies of her life (cfr ibid., I, 6-7, p. 82).

She wrote about herself to be of use to others, and to impress more profoundly on her heart the grace of God's presence, that is, in order to make every day of her life marked by a comparison with the words and actions of Jesus, with the Book of his life. And this, in order to impress the life of Christ on her soul in a stable and profound way, until she could see the Book from within - until she could contemplate the mystery of the Triune God" (cfr ibid., II, 14-22; III, 23-40, p. 84-90).

Through her writings, then, Marguerite gives us some glimmer of her spirituality, allowing us to glean some features of her personality and her gifts of administration.

She was a very educated lady. She wrote habitually in Latin, the language of the erudite class, but she also wrote in Provencal French, and even this was a rarity - her works were the first ever known to have been written down in this language.

Her existence was rich in mystical experiences, which she describes with simplicity, allowing the reader to glimpse the ineffable mystery of God, underscoring the limitations of the mind in grasping the experience, and the inadequacy of human language to express it.

Her personality was linear, simple, open, quite charged with affection, with great equilibrium and acute discernment, capable of entering the depths of the human spirit, and grasping its limitations, its ambiguity, but also its aspirations and the soul's reaching out to God.

She showed an outstanding aptitude for governance, uniting her profound mystic and spiritual life with service to her sisters and community. In this respect, a passage from a letter to her father is significant: "My sweet Father, I am writing you to say that I have been very busy because of the needs of our house that it is not possible for me to apply my spirit to good thoughts. In fact, I have so much to do that I do not know which way to turn. We were unable to harvest any grain in the seventh month of the year, and our vineyards were destroyed by a storm. Besides, our church is in such bad condition that we have been obliged to repair it ourselves" (ibid., Lettere, III, 14, p. 127).

Another Carthusian nun describes Marguerite this way: "Through her work, she reveals to us a fascinating personality, with a lively intelligence oriented to speculative thought. At the same time, she was favored with mystical graces. In short, a holy and wise woman who could express humor and affection that were totally spiritual" (Una Monaca Certosina, Certosine, in Dizionario degli Istituti di Perfezione, Roma 1975, col. 777).

In the dynamism of mystical life, Marguerite valued the experience of natural affections, purified by grace - that privileged means of understanding more profoundly and complying most promptly and ardently with the divine will. The reason for this was that the human being is created in the image of God, and is therefore called upon to construct a wonderful story of love with God, allowing oneself to be totally involved into his initiative.

The Triune God, God-Love revealed in Christ, fascinated her, and Marguerite lived a relationship of profound love with the Lord, and in contrast, she clearly saw human ingratitude to the point of vileness, to the very paradox of the Cross.

She said that the Cross of Christ was like a delivery bed. She likened the pain of Jesus on the Cross to a mother's pain during labor. "The mother who bore me in her womb, suffered greatly in bringing me to light, for a day or for a night, but you, good and sweet Lord, for me, you have been tortured not just one night or one day, but all your life! And when the moment of delivery came, your torture was so painful that your holy sweat became like drops of blood running down your body to the ground" (ibid., Meditazione I, 33, p. 59).

Marguerite, evoking the accounts of Jesus's Passion, contemplates his sufferings with profound compassion: "You were laid on the hard bed of the Cross, in a way that you could not stir nor turn nor even move your limbs as a man suffering great pain would do, because you had been stretched out and immobilized by nails... and all your muscles and veins were torn ... But all these tortures.. were not enough for you - you had your side pierced so cruelly by a lance that your whole body was plowed through and tortured; and your precious blood gushed forth with such violence that caused it to stream forth, almost like a large rivulet".

Referring to Mary, she writes: "It was not surprising that the sword that had torn your body penetrated into the heart of your glorious mother who would have wanted so much to hold and sustain you... because your love is superior to any other love" (ibid., Meditazione II, 36-39.42, p 60s).

Dear friends, Marguerite d'Oingt invites us to meditate daily the life of pain and love of Jesus and his Mother, Mary. Here is our hope, the meaning of our existence. From contemplating the love of Christ for us are born the strength and the joy of responding with equal love, placing our life in the service of God and of others.

With Marguerite, we can also say: "Sweet Lord, everything that you have done, for love of me and of the entire human race, provoke me to love you, but the remembrance of your most holy Passion gives unequalled vigor to my power to love you. It is for this that I believe I have found that which I have most desired: Not to love anything else but you or in you or for your love" (ibid., Meditazione II, 46, p. 62).

At first glance, this figure of a medieval Carthusian, as is her whole life, her thinking, appear quite remote from us, from our life, from our way of thinking and acting. But if we look at the essentials of her life, we see that they concern us, as well, and must become essential even in our own life.

We heard that Marguerite considered the Lord as a book, that she looked at the Lord as a mirror in which to see her own conscience. And from this mirror, light came into her soul - she allowed the words, the life of Christ, into her own being, and was thus transformed. Her conscience was illuminated, she found standards, light, and she was cleansed.

And this is exactly what we need: to allow the words, the life, the light of Christ into our conscience so that it might be illuminated to understand what is true and good, and what is evil; that our conscience may be enlightened and cleansed.

There is garbage not only in the streets. There is also garbage in our consciences and our souls. Only the light of the Lord, his strength and his love, can cleanse us, purify us, and put us on the right way.

So let us follow St. Marguerite in this contemplation of Jesus. Let us read the book of his life, let us allow ourselves to be enlightened and cleansed, in order to learn true life. Thank you.


In his greeting for Spanish-speaking faithfu. he asked for prayers for his trip to Spain this weekend:

I invite you to accompany me with your fervent prayers this weekend, when I make a pastoral visit to Santiago de Compostela, joining the pilgrims who have come to the feet of the Apostle James during this Holy Year.

I will also go to Barcelona, where I will have the joy to dedicate the marvelous temple of the Sagrada Familia, the work of the architectural genius Antonio Gaudi.

I go as a witness of the Risen Christ, with the desire to bring his Word to everyone, in which they may find the light to live with dignity and hope in order to create a better world. Many thanks.

---

Sidelights at the GA
Translated from the 11/4/10 issue of


Three Jewish delegations
attend the GA
In the front rows at Aula Paolo XVI, a large group of Jews wearing black and grey skullcaps was conspicuous at the General Audience yesterday.

Three delegations of different origins - who have been meeting withg officials in the Roman Curia - chose to attend the Holy Fahter's General Audience.

First, the delegation of the US-based Anti-Defamation League, led by
Robert G. Sugarman and Abraham H. Foxman, president adn national director, respectively; a group from Pittsburgh promoting Catholic-Jewish relations; and a delegation from teh Israeli Philatelic Service, composed of Sasi Shilo, president of the administrative council of the Israel Postal Company; Avi Hochman, president and administrator; Yaron Razon, director of the philatelic service, and the Israeli ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechai Lewy.



After the audience, this last delegation, accompanied by Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president of the Vatican City Governatorate, presented the Pope with a stamp commemorating the first anniversary of Benedict XVI's pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Keys of the city
from Manoppello
To commemorate another visit, the Communal Council of Manoppello formally presented the Holy Father with the keys to the city, as they ahd decided months ago.

Benedict XVI had visited theShrine of teh Holy Face of Manoppello in Sept. 2006. A group of pilgrims wearing yellow scarves imprinted with the Holy Face was led by Mons. Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, with the mayor and police chief of pescara.

A Don Bosco run raises funds
for Salesian missions in Asia
Also present at the GA was a delegation representing the Don Bosco Foundation and the sports division of the Centro nazionale opere salesiane (Cnos).

They had participated in the third edition of the so-called 'Corsa dei santi' run through the streets of Rome on Novmeber 1, starting from and ending in St. Peter's Square.

Three thousand members and their families had made the run which raised funds for the earthquake victims of Haiti and the flood victims o Pakistan, to be distribtued through Salesian missionaries in those places.

A Hungarian youth band
performs for the Pope

The band from the Táplánszentkereszt school in the Hungarian diocese of Szombathely performed a few short classic pieces for the Pope, including the prelude to Charpentier's Te Deum. The choir members, ranging in age from 14 to 220, were under the musical direction of
Fr. Gyula Perger.

Pope takes his campaign for
Christian Europe to Spain



ROME, Nov. 3 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI's campaign to reverse what he sees as the growing secularisation of Europe will be at the heart of his two-day visit to Spain starting on Saturday, Vatican officials said.

His trip is being seen as particularly significant in a traditionally Catholic country whose government is enacting some of the most progressive legislation in the continent on issues such as gay rights and abortion.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said Benedict would talk about Europe in a speech on Saturday in Santiago de Compostela in northeast Spain -- the third biggest pilgrimage site for Catholics after Jerusalem and Rome. [That was in the Middle Ages! Today Marian shrines like Lourdes, Fatima and Guadalupe each get more pilgrims annually than Jerusalem or Santiago.]

The Pope will warn against "relativism and the idea inherited from the French Revolution that in order to be fully human you have to get rid of religious tradition," said Celso Morga, undersecretary for the Congregation of the Clergy.

Marco Politi, columnist for Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper, said: "The re-evangelisation of Europe is one of the grand aims of his pontificate."

One of Benedict's greatest preoccupations has been that "Europe could be emptied of all its religious practice and memory," he added.

The Pope will first travel to Santiago, which is believed to be the resting place of the relics of Saint James the Greater, one of the 12 apostles, and then on to Barcelona where he will formally consecrate the famous Sagrada Familia church.

The architect of the unfinished and eccentric church, Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), will also be a subject of discussion as the process for his beatification, a first step towards sainthood, was launched in 2003. [The diocesan phase of the process has been completed, and it is now in the Roman phase of investigation by the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood.]

Benedict's visit to Spain will be his 18th trip abroad as Pope and his 12th in Europe -- a sign of the central role that the continent plays in his eyes. [Not necessarily. His age militates against long trips now, and shorter trips within Europe are more practical for him, and therefore will be more favored.]

In the Santiago de Compostela cathedral, the Pope will pray in front of Saint James's relics then embrace his statue -- a tradition kept by the thousands of pilgrims who visit his tomb every year since the Middle Ages.

He will later celebrate Mass in front of the cathedral, with several thousand people expected to attend.

There is likely to be little mention of the multiple paedophile scandals that have rocked the Catholic church in recent months -- a crisis that has affected Spain less than other European countries.

Benedict XVI, who will meet Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero briefly in the Barcelona airport before his departure on Sunday, is instead expected to address delicate issues such as the legalisation of gay marriage and abortion.

"At the Sagrada Familia, one of his themes will be that of the family," Lombardi said.

Politi said that Benedict would likely insist on "defending life and marriage as a union between a man and a woman."

Politi said the Pope is aiming to reverse secularisation in Europe.

"That's why he recently created the pontifical council for a new evangelisation" -- the equivalent of a ministry of the Vatican, he said.

[Surely, AFP did not need to consult Politi to deduce all that - Benedict XVI has said these things often enough!]

Sunday's Mass in the Sagrada Familia will also be an occasion to pay homage to Gaudi "both as an artist and as a model of Christian faith," Lombardi said.

At the end of the Mass, the church, which was begun more than a century ago, will be elevated to the status of a basilica.






A Spanish journalist had a beautiful phrase to describe the preparations for the Pope's visit: 'Santiago se esta emPAPAndo' - a great play on words. 'EMPAPAR' means to be soaked or drenched in something, but in the sense it is used here, it also means 'to Popefy' (as in prettify) - 'Santiago is Popefying itself'...




Pilgrims arriving on foot via the Camino de Santiago (St. James Way) are appropriately greeted at the city outskirts by the Galicia Xunta's welcome poster for the Pope.


A wonderful aerial shot of the vast Cathedral Complex and Plaza Obradoiro; the altar stage is at the white shell in the center right:
The altar stage under construction:









In Barcelona, we have a rare first picture of the interior of Sagrada Familia. The first picture below, taken from a tall building overlooking the city gives a good idea of how the church dominates Barcelona's cityscape; inset is Jordi Fauli, one of the architects carrying on the construction of the church.



Some pictures of decorations so far - welcome signs on buses, the Vatican flag hanging from house windows (the house, lower left, is the famous Casa Mila, also called La Pedrera, a residential building designed by Gaudi, which has been called a monumental sculpture; and at left, a protest banner by secularists reads in Catalan "I am not waiting for you", a sign that first surfaced in 2006 when the Pope visited Valencia. Below, right, nuns shopping for papal souvenirs, and a papal T-shirt displayed next to a Che Guevara shirt in a souvenir shop.

Forbes ranks B16 the world's
'fifth most powerful man' -
after Hu, Obama, Putin and King Saud

Isn't it most strange that in a year when he has been 'demeaned' by the media more than he has ever been - and more than any Pope in the modern media era has ever been - Benedict XVI is named by one of them, the influential buisness journal Forbes, as the 'fifth most powerful man on earth'? For whatever it's worth, last year, he was #11 on the same list.




Other than the fact that the Pope happens to lead as many persons as does the #1 figure on the list, the accompanying blurb about him is too brief and rather perfunctory to provide a true rationale for his presence on such a secular list. Of course, the man who is ranked one notch above him is also the nominal head of all Muslims in the world, being custodian of the holy cities of Islam. But King Abdullah also possesses the very real power of being master over the world's largest known oil reserves. Anyway, below is an overview of how Forbes produced this list and its rankings... BTW, its little blurb on B16 is almost absurd and quite obviously based on totally secular criteria, but it could have been worse...

One in a billion:
The most powerful people on earth
by Nicole Perlroth and Michael Noer
11.03.10

There are 6.8 billion people on the planet. These are the 68 who matter.

We are fascinated by power. We stand in awe of those who apply it adroitly, and in fear of those who abuse it. We lust for power. Everyone would rather be a hammer than a nail.

The people on this list were chosen ­because, in various ways, they bend the world to their will. They are heads of state, major religious figures, entrepreneurs and outlaws.

Comparing the relative power of such a diverse group is slippery business. To do it, we defined power in four dimensions. First, we asked if a person has influence over a lot of people? For heads-of-state we looked at population; for religious figures we measured the size of their flocks; for CEOs we counted their employees; and for media figures we considered the size of their audience.

Second, we checked to see if they have significant financial resources relative to their peers. This meant comparing GDP for political leaders, net worth for billionaires and ranking on the Forbes Global 2000 for CEOs. (The Global 2000 lists the largest companies in the world based on a composite of market capitalization, assets, sales and profits.) [I wonder what financial worth they attributed to teh Pope - or to the Vatican?]

Then we determined if they were powerful in multiple spheres, awarding bonus points for those who can project their power many ways. Silvio Berlusconi (No. 14), for instance, got a big boost for not only being the prime minister of Italy, but also a billionaire media mogul and owner of a soccer team, AC Milan.

Finally, we insisted that they actively wield their power. This eliminated some of the richest people in the world, including Ingvar Kamprad, the billionaire founder of Ikea, and the descendants of Wal-Mart Stores founder Sam Walton.

We culled an initial list of more than 100 names to 75, and then asked seven Forbes editors to rank them in all four categories. Those ranks were averaged to produce the final list. Obviously our rankings are not intended to be definitive; they are meant to spark a conversation--even an ­argument or two.

The full list may be found onhttp://www.forbes.com/2010/11/01/obama-china-power-opinions-powerful-people-10-intro.html

Here is Forbes's 2009 list:

Mons. Mueller presents
Joseph Ratzinger's writings
on the theology of Holy Orders
in his Collected Works
by Mons. Gerhard Mueller
Archbishop of Regensburg
Translated from

Nov. 3, 2010


At a news conference in the Vatican yesterday, the Bishop of Regensburg, who is also president of the Papst Benedikt XVI Institut, presented the fourth volume of Joseph Ratzinger's Gesammelte Schriften (Collected works) that has been published so far in German.



Referred to as JRGS-12 (Joseph Ratzinger Gesammelte Schriften), it is actually Volume 12 in the 16-volume edition published by the Regensburg-based institute through Herder publishing house.

Released earlier were Volume 11, on the theology of liturgy, published in Oct. 2008; Volume 2, Fr. Ratzinger's unabridged dissertation on St. Bonaventure (to qualify as a German university professor), published in Sept, 2009; and Volume 8, consisting of two books of his writings about ecclesiology and ecumenism, published in June 2009. The Italian edition of the writings on theology was recently published by the Vatican publishing house.

The following article is Mons. Mueller's Foreword to Volume 12.

---

The Year for Priests which we have celebrated on the 150th anniversary of the death of the holy Curè of Ars, the model of priestly ministry in our world, is now coming to an end. We have let the Curé of Ars guide us to a renewed appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the priestly ministry.

The priest is not a mere office-holder, like those which every society needs in order to carry out certain functions. Instead, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ’s name he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life.

Over the offerings of bread and wine he speaks Christ’s words of thanksgiving, which are words of transubstantiation – words which make Christ himself present, the Risen One, his Body and Blood – words which thus transform the elements of the world, which open the world to God and unite it to him.

The priesthood, then, is not simply “office” but sacrament: God makes use of us poor men in order to be, through us, present to all men and women, and to act on their behalf. This audacity of God who entrusts himself to human beings – who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in his stead – this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word “priesthood”.

---

These words from the homily which Pope Benedict XVI, at the conclusion of the Year for Priests, addressed to thousands of priests assembled in St. Peter's Square for the Feast of the Sacred Heart on Friday, June 11, 2010, summarize quite well the theology and spirituality of the sacrament of Holy Orders, which, under the title Announcers of the Word and Servants of Your Joy, constitutes the theme of Volume XII in the Collected Works of Joseph Ratzinger.

His scientific studies, meditations and preaching about the ministry of the bishop, the priest and the deacon cover a period of almost half a century, starting with the first texts written some years before the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

To this most recent fundamental event in Church history, it has become usual to associate, depending on one's point of view, either the start of a transformation, in step with the spirit of the time, or of a profound crisis in the Church, particularly in the priesthood.

In the hierarchical Constitution Lumen gentium, the Council spelled out the different functions of bishops, priests and deacons in a comprehensive ecclesiology based on Biblical and Patristic sources (LG 18-29). What it says about the episcopal and priestly grades of the tripartite priestly ministry were then treated more extensively in the decrees Christus Dominus and Presbyterum ordinis.

Why then, after the Council, was there an identity crisis in the Catholic priesthood that is historically comparable only to the consequences of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century?

In Section A of the volume, entitled "Theology of the sacrament of Holy Orders", Joseph Ratzinger analyzes the causes of such doubts, and positively illustrates the Biblical foundations and the consistent historical and dogmatic development of the sacrament of Holy Orders.

In Section B, entitled, "Servants of Your Joy", the reader will find a collection of meditations on priestly spirituality, which had been originally published as a book with the same title. It is a title that comes from the new priest Joseph Ratzinger's motto for his First Mass. ["Not that we are masters of your faith; rather, we are servants of your joy" (1 Cor 2,34); see photo of souvenir Mass card above.].

Finally, Section C puts together various homilies given during consecrations of priests and deacons, on first Masses, and on ordination anniversaries. These are not lyrical pieties, but rather a re-exposition of the spiritual sources from which a priest must draw daily in order to be a good worker in the vineyard of the Lord and an enthusiastic servant of the Good News of Christ - a pastor who does not pasture himself, but one who, like Jesus, the Supreme Shepherd, sacrifices his own life for the flock of God.

If the dogmatic foundation of Catholic priesthood crumbles, then it would extinguish not just the source that nourishes a life in the footsteps of Christ, but it would also weaken the motivation to renounce married life for love of the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt 19,12), and with the power of the Holy Spirit, to accept celibacy with joy and conviction as the eschatological earnest of God's future world.

If the symbolic relation inherent in the Sacrament of Holy Orders is ignored [i.e., a marriage to the Church], then priestly celibacy becomes nothing but a relic of a past, that opponents claim to have been hostile to the body, and becomes identified and opposed as the only cause for any failings by priests.

And not the least, it would lead to the disappearance of evidence for the Church's doctrine and practice of conferring Holy Orders only on men. An ecclesial ministry understood only in functional terms would give rise to an attempt to legitimize a power as one that should be democratically established and regulated.

The crisis in the priesthood which has struck the West in recent decades is also the result of a fundamental disorientation of Christians in the face of a philosophy that transfers the intimate significance and the ultimate objective of history and of every human existence to a worldly dimension, thus closing off the horizon of transcendence and cutting off the eschatological perspective.

Rather, to place every hope in God and base one's entire existence on him who in Christ has given us everything: this is the only logic for a choice of life that requires absolute dedication to following Christ and to take part in his mission as Redeemer of the world, fulfilled by him with his passion and Crucifixion, and unequivocally revealed with his resurrection from the dead.

Nor must one ignore other factors [contributing to the priesthood crisis] that have to do with matters internal to the Church. Joseph Ratzinger, as his first writings on the subject show, had acutely sensed the first tremors that with growing strength pre-announced the earthquake.

In the first place, the opening to Protestant exegesis in the 1950s and 1960s. Often, those on the Catholic side ignored the systematic premises imposed by the Reformation as a basis for Protestant exegesis. And that is how the heavy criticism of consecrated priesthood - which was claimed not to have any Biblical basis - invested both the Catholic and orthodox churches.

The sacramental priesthood strictly referring to the Eucharistic Sacrifice, as the Council of Trent stated, seemed at first glance to have no counterpart in the Bible - neither in its terminology, nor in the prerogatives of the priest with respect to the lay faithful, particularly in the mandate of consecration.

Thus, the radical criticism of worship became an effort to undermine a priesthood that limits the function of intermediary to itself, and seemed to cut off the idea of priestly mediation in the Church.

Such Protestant criticism of a sacramental priesthood that would thereby place into question the uniqueness of Christ's Supreme Priesthood (as the Letter to the Hebrews states), and would also marginalize the general priesthood of believers in the sense of 1 Pt 2,5, was then allied to the modern concept of autonomy which looks with suspicion on any exercise of authority.

The observation that, from the viewpoint of the sociology of religion, Christ was not a minister of worship, and thus, was a layman in anachronistic terms, and the fact that a sacred terminology is not used to define the services and offices of the New Testament, using instead apparently profane official titles, question what is claimed to be the 'improper' transformation - starting with the primitive church in the third century - of 'communal functions' described in the Bible into a new class of ministers of worship.

Joseph Ratzinger critically analyzes in his turn the historical criticism which had marked Protestant theology, making a distinction between philosophical and theological premises, and historical methods.

In this way, he was been able to demonstrate that, with the recognition of modern Biblical exegesis and a prompt analysis of the historical development of dogma, one can fundamentally arrive at the dogmatic statements expressed in the Councils of Florence, Trent adn Vatican II.

The significance of Jesus in the relationship of mankind and the whole world to God - and thus, the acknowledgment of Christ as Redeemer and Mediator of universal salvation, which the Letter to the Hebrews attributes to the category of Supreme Priest - never required that he must belong to the priestly class of Levites.

Rather, the foundation of Jesus's being and mission resides in the fact that he comes from the Father, in whose home and temple he must be (Lk 2,49). It is the divinity of the Word that makes Jesus, in the human nature he assumed, the one true Teacher, Pastor, Priest, Mediator and Redeemer.

And he made us participants in his consecration and mission by choosing the Twelve Apostles. The circle of Apostles was constituted by Christ's own consecration and mission, and as a body, they were the determinative entity that instituted the mission of the Church in history.

They, in turn, transmitted their mandate to the pastors of both the universal Church and local churches. In a comparative overview of religions, the ancient terms for the offices of bishops, priests and deacons in communities of Gentiles who had been converted to Christianity, may appear profane. But in the context of the early Church, their Christological references and their nexus with the apostolic ministry is plainly obvious.

The Apostles and their disciples and successors instituted bishops, priests and deacons through the imposition of hands and the prayer of consecration (Acts 6.6; 14,23; 15.4; 1Tm 4,14). Acting in the name of Christ, they are the pastors who represent the Supreme Pastor visibly. and through whom he himself becomes present as pastor.

The spirituality of the episcopate and priesthood also comes from this - through the imposition of hands from the Holy Spirit himself (Acts 20,28). It is not an adjunctive act of private religiosity, but the interior form of the readiness to vow one's whole existence and life to the service of Christ and to make this the priest's primary reference.

The true essence of sacramental priesthood consists in the fact that the bishop or the priest are servants of the Word, who execute the service of reconciliation and pastoral care of the flock of God who are entrusted to him.

To the degree that they carry out the mission of Christ, then through their acts and words, Christ himself becomes present as the only Supreme Priest of the Church of God gathered to celebrate the divine service.

The Council of Trent, in its decree on the sacrament of Holy Orders, limited itself to rejecting the objections of Martin Luther [to the Catholic concept of priesthood], but did not present a comprehensive theological approach. However, subsequent decrees on priestly reform, often ignored as Joseph Ratzinger points out, highlight the Biblical concept of the priest as servant of the Word and the Sacraments, besides being pastor and spiritual father of the faithful.

Of course, in the ecumenical dialog, beyond differences in content, the formal principles of theology must also be examined: Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium, which are different among themselves but are consistent in safeguarding Revelation by protecting it from subjective and arbitrary interpretations in order to preserve its fullness and universality.

Also evident in this respect are those dimensions of the sacrament of Holy Orders which transcend the actual offices, often at parochial level, of priests and deacons. It has to do with the responsibility of Bishops, as successors to the Apostles, to their own Magisterium and pastoral mandate in behalf of the universal Church.

In this respect, in the Catholic view, even the ministry of the Bishop of Rome as Successor of Peter, is of fundamental importance. Joseph Ratzinger often cites Irenaeus of Lyons, whose systematic presentation of Apostolic Scripture, Apostolic Tradition and the Apostolic succession of bishops had established permanent parameters.

Examining them carefully, and keeping our distance from Gnosticism, it substantially contains the doctrine of papal primacy so that its subsequent doctrinal development can be analyzed, with the help of Irenaeus, according to its true intentions.

To recover the priestly identity in relation to Christ, it is indispensable for the priest to consider himself a servant of the Word and a witness to God, as a follower of Christ who has the duty to live in communion with him.

For this, the priest must have a good theological formation and continuing access to scientific theology. Joseph Ratzinger, with his writings collected in this volume, has shown a way out of the crisis which has befallen the Catholic priesthood because of deficient theological and sociological background, and because of statements likely to arouse in many priests who undertook their way of life with love and zeal, personal uncertainty and perplexity about their own role in the Church.

With the present volume, the editors are carrying out the author's desire to dedicate an entire volume to the theology of Holy Orders. Pope Benedict XVI sees the announcement of the Divine Word that precedes every human action as the specific task of the episcopal and priestly service.

Thus this work can be profitably consulted not only for the theologic and scientific bases for the Sacrament of Holy Ofders, but will equally serve to help internalize the vocation of priesthood, to simulate spiritual exercises, and as a proclamation of this glorious ministry of the New Covenant which leads to the Holy Spirit and to life (cf. 2 Cor 3,6–9).

Thursday, Nov. 4, 31st Week in Ordinary Time

Center painting: San Carlo (left) and St. Francis (right), in adoration at the Manger.
ST. CARLO BORROMEO (Italy 1538-1584). Church Administrator, Cardinal, Papal Secretary of State, Reformer, Bishop of Milan
A Medici on his mother's side, he was born in Arona, northwest Italy. and was a precocious learner. When his uncle, Cardinal Angelo de Medici, became Pius IV in 1559, he made Carlo a cardinal deacon and administrator of the Church of Milan even if he was a layman and still a student. By age 22, he was Vatican secretary of state in charge of the Papal States. He rejected his family's desire for him to marry and carry on the lineage when his older brother died. Instead, he became a priest and at age 25, was consecrated Archbishop of Milan. Meanwhile, however, the Council of Trent was underway and this kept him from taking up his post in Milan. He worked tirelessly behind the scenes and facilitated the Council's final deliberations. He also had a large part in drawing up the Tridentine Catechism, and in the reform of teh Roman Missal and Breviary. When he finally took up his duties in Milan, he devoted himself to the reform of every phase of Catholic life among the clergy and the laity. He enjoined the clergy that unless they gave the Christian example and renewed their apostolic spirit, they could not succeed with their flocks. He set the example for poverty and penitence. In the famine of 1576, he borrowed large sums of money to be able to feed up to 70,000 people a day, and stayed in the city to tend to the victims, while civilian authorities fled. He was greatly esteemed by his brother cardinals, and his counsel by sought by the Catholic sovereigns of Europe, The Catholic sovereigns of Europe: Henry III of France, Philip II of Spain, Mary, Queen of Scots. His thought lives on in his letters and homilies, which are among the most quoted even today. The heavy burdens of his office took a toll on his health and he died at the young age of 46. In Milan, popular devotion to him as a saint arose quickly and continued to grow. The Milanese celebrated his anniversary as though he were already canonized. Supporters initiated the process for his canonization in Milan, Pavia, Bologna and other places. He was beatified in 1602 and canonized in 1610. His remains are enshrined in a glass urn in a crypt of the Cathedral of Milan.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/110410.shtml

OR today.

At the General Audience, the Pope speaks of a 13th century French Carthusian nun and mystic:
'St. Marguerite d'Oingt's sweet Lord'
The issue notes Benedict XVI's All Souls' Day visit to the tombs of his predecessors. Other Page 1 stories: Obama loses control of the US Congress, but no political earthquake from the midterm elections [???? Another example of teh separate reality inhabited by the OR editors! And despite the fact, that page 1 has a picture of the incoming Speaker John Boehner, it does not mention the fact that he is a devout practising Catholic who has been steadfastly pro-life all along unlike his dubiously Catholic predecessor Nancy Pelosi!]. In Baghdad, dozens are killed by 12 car bombs planted in a Shiite quarter.


THE POPE'S DAY

At 11:30 this morning, the Holy Father presided at the concelebration of a memorial Mass at the Altar of the Chair
in St. Peter's Basilica, for cardinals and bishops who passed away in the past twelve months. Homily in Italian.


The Vatican released today the texts of the Holy Father's messages to
- Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Milan, on the fourth centenary of the canonization of St. Carlo Borromeo
on November 1;
- The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
on the occasion of their Plenary Assembly this year; and
- The Seminary of San Carlos and San Ambrosio in Havana, Cuba, on its
inauguration today. It is the first seminary
to open in Cuba in fifty years. President Raul Castro attended today's inauguration.

Christian pilgrimage is booming -
and Pope's visit is expected to
further boost numbers in Santiago



SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Nov. 4 (AFP) - As the Roman Catholic Church suffers paedophile scandals and falling congregations, Pope Benedict XVI will on Saturday spotlight one centuries-old Christian tradition whose popularity is soaring. [The rise in popular devotion does not arise in a vacuum. Surely, it says something about the persistence of faith and man's unquenchable search for God - even when he does not know he is seeking!]

The Way of St. James pilgrimage route, which ends in the medieval Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, is attracting record numbers.

And it's not just those seeking religious salvation who are embarking on what is known in Spanish as the Camino de Santiago, as has been the case since the Middle Ages, but also growing numbers of non-believers in search of spiritual renewal.

"In Western society there is an absence of moral values, people are looking for something, something different, capable of filling this void," said Father Jenaro Cebrian Franco, who has run Santiago's pilgrimage centre for the past six years.

"People come to the Camino to make sense of their lives," said the 76-year-old priest.

He said he could relate "countless experiences" of people who have had a religious or spiritual awakening on the walk.




The Camino is in fact not one route but several, which start at different points in France and Spain and all end in Santiago, where the 12th-century Romanesque cathedral is believed to hold the remains of St. James the Apostle.

Considered the third most holy place in the Roman Catholic world in the Middle Ages after Jerusalem and Rome, Santiago, in the rugged northwestern region of Galicia, has drawn pilgrims for more than 1,000 years.

A 12th-century French monk and scholar, Aymeric Picaud, even wrote a guide, including descriptions of villages along the way - and warnings about what he considered some of the unsavoury inhabitants. It is now thought to be one of the world's first-ever tourist guidebooks.

Renewed interest in modern times was sparked by visits to Santiago by the late Pope John Paul II in 1982 and 1989, said Father Jenaro.

He said the number of pilgrims rocketed from almost 10,000 to some 99,000 from 1992 to 1993, the first real "boom year."

In 2004, the last Holy Year - which is whenever July 25, the name day of St. James, falls on a Sunday - some 180,000 people took the Camino. Since January 2010 - another Holy Year - the number is already around 260,000.

And a new surge is expected from the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, who will say mass in the vast Plaza Obradoiro outside the cathedral's main facade in the city's medieval core.

The pilgrims arrive exhausted but exultant at the pilgrimage centre, an old house on one of the city's narrow cobbled streets, many limping with bandaged feet or carrying heavy backpacks, and swapping stories about their experiences.

They stand in line, sometimes for hours, on two flights of stairs to receive their Compostela, or certificate, proving they have walked at least the last 100 kilometres (60 miles) or cycled twice that distance.

In the crowded entrance, abandoned walking sticks fashioned from tree branches are piled high.

Many pilgrims queue again outside the cathedral to embrace the statue of Saint James.

But not all are true believers, or even Christians. From 2004 to 2009, the percentage of those undertaking the Camino for purely non-religious reasons has nearly doubled from 5.61 percent to 9.81 percent.

One of those, Julien Jouanolle, a 23-year-old unemployed electrician from France, decided to take the Camino after reading best-selling Brazilian author Paulo Coelho's book describing his own pilgrimage in 1986.

"It was a sort of voyage within myself, a way to sort things out," said Jouanolle, who walked 777 kilometres over 35 days with a friend.

Others see the trip as a sporting challenge, or a chance to share time with friends or to meet like-minded people.

Luis Real, 62, a Spanish photographer and an agnostic, said he and 12 friends walked or cycled 267 kilometres to Santiago, just "because we like sport."

On the Camino, "people are ready to share and help each other, in a society in which there is a great lack of solidarity, a great lack of communication," said Father Jenaro.

Be they "believers or non-believers" the Camino leads people "to the mystery of something that is at the heart of all human beings and which only has to be in the right conditions to appear."

He said the visit to Spain by the Pope, who is also consecrating Barcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica on Sunday, "responds to his desire to be a pilgrim at the tomb of St James."


Above right, Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia perform the traditional embrace of the St. James's image when they attended Mass at the Cathedral of Compostela on the Feast of St. James last July 25, and the King re-dedicated Spain to its patron saint.

MEMORIAL MASS FOR
BISHOPS AND CARDINALS
WHO PASSED AWAY THIS YEAR



Pope and cardinals pray
for departed colleagues

Nov, 4, 2010

---

The search for 'things above' does not mean that Christians should ignore the obligations and tasks of this world, only that we must not lose ourselves to them, as if they had a definitive value.

The call to the reality of Heaven is an invitation to recognize the relativity of what is destined to pass, compared to those values that do not know the test of time.

We must work, we must be committed, we must allow ourselves just rest, but with the serenity of one who knows that he is only a traveller on a journey toward the heavenly homeland, a pilgrim, in a sense, a stranger on the road to eternity.

---

Inspired by St Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the Christian vision of life on earth and beyond to the bishops, priests and lay faithful who had come to celebrate Mass for the repose of the souls of cardinals and bishops who had died over the course of the past year.

Speaking from the altar of Peter’s Chair, the Pope said this “ultimate goal has now been reached by the late Cardinals Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi, Cahal Brendan Daly, Armand Gaétan Razafindratandra, Thomas Spidlik, Paul Augustin Mayer, Luigi Poggi, as well as a number of archbishops and bishops who have left us in the past year” .

We affectionately remember them, giving thanks to God for the gifts he bestowed on the Church through these our brothers who have preceded us in the sign of faith and now sleep the sleep of peace. Our gratitude becomes a prayer for their souls that the Lord will welcome them into the bliss of Paradise”.

---

We remember our venerable brothers as zealous pastors, whose ministry was always marked by the eschatological horizon that inspires hope in the promise of happiness without a shadow , promised to us after this life, as witnesses to the Gospel intent on living those "things above", which are the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal 5:22), as Christians and pastors animated by a deep faith, by a strong desire to comply to Jesus and to adhere closely to his person, constantly contemplating his face in prayer.

For this they were able to have a foretaste of eternal life …that Christ himself has promised to "whoever believes in him." The term "eternal life" in fact means a divine gift given to mankind: communion with God in this world and its fullness in the future...

The Son of man came not to be served but to serve and give life. God is not domineering, but love without measure. He does not show his omnipotence in punishment, but in mercy and forgiveness.

Understanding this means entering into the mystery of salvation: Jesus came to save and not to condemn, with the sacrifice of the Cross, he reveals the face of God's love …

We know that even the smallest force of love is greater than the maximum force for destruction and that it can transform the world, and because of this very faith we can have a "trustworthy hope, in that eternal life.

---

Pope Benedict, the bishops,
and the 'clash of civilizations'
By George Neumayr
Editorial

November 2010


Pope Benedict XVI delivered an important meditation at the beginning of the October Synod of Bishops for the Middle East. The meditation addressed the “false divinities” that govern modern times.

Though the Holy Father did not speak explicitly in the meditation about the media-labeled “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West, a topic central to many of the Synod’s discussions, his remarks apply to that struggle and offer the only real solution to it.

The world suffers under two destructive idols, he suggested in the meditation, one from the East that assumes the form of false religion, one from the West that takes the form of no religion. Both idols must fall under the advance of true religion, which alone comes from the Son of God:

---

Let us remember all the great powers of the history of today. Let us remember the anonymous capital that enslaves man which is no longer in man’s possession but is an anonymous power served by men, by which men are tormented and even killed. It is a destructive power that threatens the world.

And then there is the power of terroristic ideologies. Violent acts are apparently made in the name of God, but this is not God: they are false divinities that must be unmasked; they are not God.

And then drugs, this power that, like a voracious beast, extends its claws to all parts of the world and destroys it: it is a divinity, but a false divinity that must fall.

Or even the way of living proclaimed by public opinion: today we must do things like this, marriage no longer counts, chastity is no longer a virtue, and so on.

These ideologies that dominate, that impose themselves forcefully, are divinities. And in the pain of the saints, in the suffering of believers, of the Mother Church which we are a part of, these divinities must fall.

What is said in the Letters to the Colossians and to the Ephesians must be done: the domination, the powers fall and become subjects of the one Lord Jesus Christ.

---

The “clash of civilizations” is at bottom a clash of irrational ideologies: a distorted faith without reason in the East advances upon a culture of distorted reason without faith in the West.

Modernist commentators propose that the two find peace in “pluralism” and other articles of man-made faith, but Pope Benedict can see that secular humanism provides no resolution to the conflict at all. It is just one more false divinity.

Peace will grow in proportion to the East finding Christ and the West rediscovering him. It is this diagnosis of the global crisis that contributes to the Pope’s urgency in calling for Middle Eastern Christians to preserve the faith in embattled lands.

Inspired by his meditation, several Middle Eastern bishops spoke eloquently about the need for a continued Christian witness and presence in Muslim-dominated countries, despite the severe persecution Catholics endure in many of them.

Unfortunately, not all the bishops in attendance at the Synod grasped the meaning of the Pope’s words.

Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, one of two US representatives at the Synod, sounded more interested in winning conversions for modern liberalism than for Christ. Secular missionary activity appeals to Mahony far more than Catholic apologetics.

While he would never dare call Islam a false religion, he is anxious to evangelize Muslims in the merits of pluralism, feminism, reciprocity, and UN-decreed human rights.

The lengthy recitation of legitimate grievances at the Synod from persecuted Christians contradicts the popular claim that Islam is an intrinsically moderate religion.

But Cardinal Mahony still thought it appropriate to lecture fleeing Middle Eastern Christians on the virtues of Islam. It looks to the retiring archbishop, from his perch near Hollywood, like a very peaceful religion.

In his speech at the Synod, he said that a “particularly challenging” problem for him during his tenure was having to work with benighted Christian immigrants from the Middle East.

He said “we have a strong ecumenical, interfaith, and inter-religious legacy” in Los Angeles, yet “[r]egrettably such initiatives take place without much participation on the part of immigrant Christians from the Middle East. In fact, they are often critical of our efforts in these arenas, especially in the matter of forgiveness.”

Still other “Middle Eastern Christians,” he continued, “come to North America with attitudes and opinions toward both Muslims and Jews that are not in keeping with the Gospel or with the strides we have made in the Church’s relations with other religions.”

But Mahony isn’t giving up; he is willing to re-educate these immigrants according to his understanding of 'the spirit of Vatican II': “Because we in Los Angeles live ‘up close’ with peoples of many different faiths, how can we assist the people of this particular diaspora to correct these erroneous beliefs which might then influence their homelands through Christians living in the West? Although they may not want to hear it, Christians living in the Middle East and emigrating to the West need to be challenged to be a sign of reconciliation and peace.”

Cardinal Mahony isn’t normally so tough on immigrants. But these displaced Middle Eastern Catholics can at least take heart from words at the conclusion of the Pope’s opening meditation, that the “faith of the simple at heart is the true wisdom” and the Church’s bulwark against fashionable lies.


Some people like Cardinal Mahony, who are otherwise very intelligent and cultured, just don't get the utter, obvious hypocrisy and sanctimony of political correctness - at the expense of principle and common sense!

Pope Benedict XVI assures ADL
he will continue to speak out
against anti-Semitism



Photos from ADL: At left, the ADL delegation at the GA on Wednesday.

New York, NY, November 3, 2010 … In an audience at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI today assured top leaders of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that he would continue to raise his voice against anti-Semitism and attempts to isolate the state of Israel.

The Pope was greeted by a leadership delegation in Rome led by Robert G. Sugarman, ADL National Chair, Abraham H. Foxman, National Director, and Rabbi Eric Greenberg, ADL Director of Interfaith Affairs.

“Thank you for what you do. It is very important,” the Pontiff told the ADL leaders. “Continue what you do.” When asked if he would continue to condemn anti-Semitism, the Pope replied: “I will, you know I will.”

Mr. Sugarman expressed condolences over the tragic killing last week of dozens of Catholics, including two priests, in a terrorist attack in a church in Iraq.

“We ask that we join together to eliminate all terrorism in the name of religion,” Mr. Sugarman said, to which Pope Benedict agreed.

Mr. Foxman, a Holocaust survivor who has had numerous previous audiences with Pope Benedict and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, made brief remarks about the growing threats Israel faces as some in the international community seek to isolate the Jewish state.

He asked the Pontiff to use the Church’s moral authority to help prevent Israel from being made a pariah by its enemies.

“Please do not permit the world to isolate Israel,” Mr. Foxman said, to which Pope Benedict replied, “I will be there.”

The League leaders also raised the issue of recent anti-Jewish statements by Greek-Melkite Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros of Newton, Mass, and will continue to raise the issue with other Vatican officials.

The ADL leaders earlier met for more than three hours with New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is the Moderator for Catholic-Jewish dialogue in the United States on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The meeting was held at the Pontifical North American College, the Rome seminary where Archbishop Dolan served as rector for seven years.

Foxman, Sugarman and Greenberg participated in a wide-ranging discussion with Archbishop Dolan and other Church officials about the current challenges and opportunities facing interfaith dialogue in the U.S. and the world.

The delegation of 22 top ADL leaders from the United States is holding high-level meetings in Rome this week after having visited London and Paris. In Italy and Vatican City, the group met with Vatican leaders, Italian senior law enforcement officials and top Italian government officials from various political parties.

Mr. Sugarman presented the Pontiff a gift of a tzedakah (charity) box, saying that “one of the traditions we both share is giving charity, which in Hebrew is ‘tzedakah.’ We are pleased to give you this tzedakah box to commemorate our visit and our respect for you.”


I am rather surprised at this news release from the ADL, since their national director, Abe Foxman, has always been one of those hardliners who invariably reacts with outrage ahead of anyone (except perhaps the Cheif Rabbi of Rome) to denounce the Vatican for any perceived affront to Israel and/or the Jewish people.... But the emphasis of their news release made me realize how much store they set by the public statements of the Popes in favor of Israel and/or the Jews. (In hindsight, that is why they are so hostile to Pius XII for 'not speaking out' against the Holocaust during the war. It doesn't make their hostility any more reasonable, though, because anti-Pius Jews have chosen to ignore all the actions he did, initiated or authorized that helped tens of thousands of Jews. I will never understand how intelligent men can be conditioned by the Hochhuth-Communist propaganda disseminated through a literal piece of fiction against Pius XII enough to cloxse their minds so completely to objective fact!]

As for Benedict XVI, MSM should perhaps gauge how all their savaging of the Pope this year has not affected his moral authority at all in the eyes of the wider world - otherwise, Forbes, very MSM itself, would not have promoted him from #11 last year to #5 this year in their list of the world's most powerful (i.e., influential) persons.

FOURTH CENTENARY OF CANONISATION
OF ST. CHARLES BORROMEO



VATICAN CITY, 4 NOV 2010 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message from the Pope addressed to Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Milan, Italy, marking the fourth centenary of the canonisation of St. Charles Borromeo, on 1 November 1610.

"The time in which Charles Borromeo lived was a very delicate one for Christianity", writes the Pope. "In a period obscured by many trials facing the Christian community, with divisions and doctrinal confusion, the clouding of the purity of faith and custom, and the bad example of many sacred ministers, Charles Borromeo did not limit himself to deploring and condemning, nor simply to expressing hope that others would change; rather, he began to reform his own life".

St. Charles "was aware that serious and credible reform had to begin with pastors". To this end he focused on "the centrality of the Eucharist, ... the spirituality of the cross, ... assiduous participation in the Sacraments, ... the Word of God, ... and love and devotion for the Supreme Pontiff, readily and filially obedient to his directives as a guarantee of true and complete ecclesial communion".

"May St. Charles encourage us always to begin with a serious commitment to personal conversion", writes the Holy Father, going on to encourage priests and deacons "to make of their lives a courageous path of sanctity" and expressing the hope that the Church in Milan may always find in her ministers "a clear faith and a sober and pure life, renewing that apostolic ardour which characterised St. Ambrose, St. Charles and so many of your holy pastors".

"St. Charles was recognised", Benedict XVI continues, "as a true loving father to the poor. ... He founded institutions for the assistance and recovery of those in need. ... During the plague of 1576, the saintly archbishop chose to remain among his people to encourage, serve and defend them with the weapons of prayer, penance and love".

The Pope highlights how "St. Charles Borromeo's charity cannot be understood without an understanding of his relationship of passionate love with the Lord Jesus". In this context the Holy Father refers to "the contemplation of the holy mystery of the altar and the Crucified Christ" which awakened the saint's "feelings of compassion for man's misery and aroused in his heart the apostolic longing to bring the evangelical message to everyone".

"Let us make the Eucharist the true centre of our communities, let us allow ourselves to be educated and moulded by that well of charity. Each apostolic and charitable action will draw strength and fruitfulness from that source".

The Holy Father concludes his Message with an appeal to young people: "Like St. Charles, you too are can make your youth an offering to Christ and your fellows. ... Dear young people, you are not only the hope of the Church, you are part of her present moment. And if you have the courage to believe in sanctity, you will become the greatest treasure of your Ambrosian Church, which is built upon saints".


URGENT NEED TO EDUCATE LAITY
IN CHURCH SOCIAL DOCTRINE



VATICAN CITY, 4 NOV 2010 (VIS) - The Pope has sent a Message to Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, to mark that body's plenary assembly which is currently benign held in Rome. The assembly is focusing on how the Encyclical Caritas in veritate has been received in various communities.

"Only with charity, supported by hope and illuminated by the light of faith and reason, is it possible to achieve the goals of the integral liberation of man and universal justice", the Holy Father writes.

Referring to the "fundamental problems affecting the destiny of peoples and of world institutions, as well as of the human family", which are examined in "Caritas in veritate", Benedict XVI points out that social and national inequalities "have by no means disappeared. ... Co-ordination among States - which is often inadequate because, rather than aiming to achieve solidarity, it aims only at a balance of power - leaves the field open to renewed inequalities, to the danger of the predominance of economic and financial groups which dictate - and intend to continue to do so - the political agenda at the expense of the universal common good".

The Holy Father stresses the urgent need "for commitment to educating Catholic laity in Church social doctrine". Lay Catholics "must undertake to promote the correct ordering of social life, while respecting the legitimate autonomy of worldly institutions".

"A profound understanding of the social doctrine of the Church is of fundamental importance, in harmony with all her theological heritage and strongly rooted in affirming the transcendent dignity of man, in defending human life from conception to natural death and in religious freedom. ... It is necessary to prepare lay people capable of dedicating themselves to the common good, especially in complex environments such as the world of politics".

The Pope concludes his Message by expressing the hope that the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace may continue "to prepare fresh 'aggiornamenti' of Church social doctrine". In order to globalise this doctrine, he writes, "it may be appropriate to create centres and institutions for its study, dissemination and implementation throughout the world".

"In collaboration with others, seek more effective ways to transmit the contents of social doctrine, not only in the traditional itineraries of Christian formation and education of all kinds and at all levels, but also in the great centres where world thought is forged - such as the organs of the lay press, universities and economic and social study centres - which in recent times have come into being in every corner of the earth".


PAPAL TELEGRAM FOR NEW
CUBAN SEMINARY BUILDING


VATICAN CITY, 4 NOV 2010 (VIS) - Made public today was a message sent in the Pope's name by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. to Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of San Cristobal de La Habana, Cuba, for the opening a new headquarters of the archdiocesan seminary of St. Charles and St. Ambrose.

In the text the Holy Father expresses the hope that the new inauguration may be, "at one and the same time, a sign and a stimulus for a renewed commitment to strive for the careful human, spiritual and academic preparation of the those who, in that institution, ready themselves for the priestly ministry".

The Pope invites the seminarians "increasingly to identify themselves with the sentiments of Christ the Good Shepherd, through assiduous prayer, serious dedication to study, humbly listening to the divine word, dignified celebration of the Sacraments, and courageous witness of His love as authentic disciples and missionaries of the Gospel of salvation".

The Holy Father "entrusts the entire community of this educational institution to the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary who, with the title of Our Lady of Charity, is fervently invoked by the beloved nation of Cuba".

Coordinator briefs Spanish media
on some facts about the Pope's visit
Translated from

November 4, 2010

Isidro Catela, media coordinator of the papal visit to Spain this weekend, pointed out that after Benedict XVI visits Madrid in August 2011 for World Youth Day, Spain will be the country he will have most visited as Pope.

][He will have visited it three times, but as cardinal, he visited Spain seven times, though strangely, never to Barcelona and Compostela. Well, not so strange really, as his previous trips were all by invitation for a specific purpose - mostly to give lectures - so he did not choose the destination cities. The other oddity of all his three Spanish trips as Pope is that none of them is a full-fledged pastoral visit. Valencia in July 2006 was for the purpose of concluding the World Encounter of Families. Compostela and Barcelona this weekend are also for specific purposes - one, a personal pilgrimage on the occasion of a Jacobean Holy Year, and the other, to dedicate what is without a doubt the most significant church architecture in the Christian world since the last of the great Baroque masterpieces. And Madrid will be for WYD 2011.)

On the other hand, John Paul II made four pastoral visits to Spain, and a fifth one for World Youth day in Compostela.

This weekend, Benedict XVI will spend a total of 36 hours in both Santiago and Barcelona. he will have no public events other than liturgical celebrations and, in Barcelona, a visit to the Nen Deus social center.

Originally a center for children afflicted with Downs syndrome, Catela pointed out that the center now has more handicapped adults than children because "the number of children with Downs has gone down considerably since fetuses diagnosed with Downs are increasingly being aborted".

This has been abetted, Catela said, by legislation that consider abortion as a 'right' and have included it among the meeasures that are 'necessary' to safeguard women's health".

Catela cited three keys "for apprerciating the Pope's visit".

The first is to remember that the Camino de Santiago forged Europe - in teh words of Goethe, "Europe was constructed along the [ilgrim roads to Santiago".

The second is the Pope's ardent promotion of the family. symbolized in the name of Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, as well as his admiration for Gaudi as an architectutral genius and as a Christian.

Catela cited Gaudi, who has been called 'God's architect', who said "Man does not create, he discovers".

The third is the importance of the visit to the Nen Deu center, which is "an affirmation of life and respect for human dignity, regardless of the person;s social, cultural or intellectual level", or health status, for that matter.

He confirmed that in Santiago, the pope will meet with Mariano Rajoy, leader of teh opposition Populr Party, after the Mass; and in Barcelonal he will be meeting with Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero at Barcelona airport before he takes off for Rome.

3,250 journalists have been accredited to cover the visit, and direct telecasts of the papal events are expected to reach 150-250 million viewers around the globe.






Gaudi's 'extraordinary' church:
Interview with the chief architect
in the current phase of its completion
By Patricia Navas





BARCELONA, Spain, NOV. 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- One of the secrets of the success of the Holy Family Church of Barcelona, which receives between 8,000-10,000 visitors a day, is its novel architecture, according to the chief architect of the project, Jordi Bonet. [Rather strange lead, since DUH! that's the most obvious thing about the structure!]
This Sunday, Benedict XVI will consecrate the church, known mainly by its Spanish name, Sagrada Família, and proclaim it a basilica.

The church, which is considered the masterpiece of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), has been under construction since 1882. While it's not expected to be completed until 2026, the church opened for public worship and tours in September.

"There is nothing like it in the world," Bonet indicates in the following interview with ZENIT. "The people who come must think that they will see something extraordinary."


Left, Jordi Bonet; center and right, Etsuko Sotoo, the Japense sculptor who is executing the sculptural adornments from Gaudi's designs. In center phot, he is holding a scale model of the complete church as Gaudi modelled it. The model have become one of the most popular tourist souvenirs from Barcelona.

In what state will Benedict XVI find the Holy Family Church?
We are working as much as possible, finishing things to leave it all just right, and we await him.

The church is already covered. It is not just the central nave, but the totality of the space that the church occupies, which includes, in addition to the latter, the lateral naves, the transept, the apsidal chapels, the ambulatory.

The church can be consecrated only when the structure is completely covered, so that wind and water won't get in.

For example, the cathedral of Barcelona had been consecrated since the 14th century, but the spire that culminates with the statue of St. Helena was not finished until 1901.

What remained to be done during the last month before Benedict XVI's arrival?
We had to pave the area of the facade of Glory. Finally, we have received the porphyry, the stone that Gaudí chose for the four supporting columns of the highest part of the church, the dome dedicated to Jesus Christ, 170 meters [557 feet] high. It comes from Iran and is the most resistant stone in the world.

And what remains to be done to finish the structure completely?
We are lacking almost 100 meters [328 feet] to raise the tower dedicated to Jesus. Also lacking are the domes dedicated to the Virgin and to the four Evangelists and the four towers of the Glory Facade dedicated to Peter, Paul, Andrew and James.

This will take years, but the interior of the church will be practically finished.... Except for the stained glass windows of the side naves, which will be installed as we receive the corresponding donations.

Do you have problems with funding?
We are all right in this aspect: We receive donations from all over the world. At first, the patrons of Sagrada Familia, the Spiritual Association of Devout Followers of St. Joseph, were paying for everything themselves, but then the people of Barcelona joined them, othere Spaniards and the people from outside Spain. For example, the holy water fonts come from the people of the Philippines. It is lovely to see that there are people from all over the world collaborating.

What does it mean for the sponsors that it is Benedict XVI who will consecrate the church?
It is an honor that the Pope is coming to Barcelona. The Holy Family is a church of the universal level.

Deep down, Gaudí was a pious man of faith, and a brilliant architect. All the other works he did were always by way of experiments that could serve for Sagrada Familia.

He applied there for the first time in the world a quantity of elements that he discovered in nature, which can be used in architecture: forms of double curvature, enormously resistant, that can be made with a Mediterranean technology: the Catalan vaults.

These new forms arouse true admiration in all those who visit the church. It is natural that the Pope wished to consecratei it.

How many people visit Sagrada Familia?
It's difficult to give an exact answer. Right now, between 8,000-10,000 people a day. It's been unique in the world, so many visitors to a church under construction.

The people who come immediately know they are seeing something extraordinary. A few months ago, the Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, visited the church and he wrote in the guest book: "I have admired the Dante of architecture."

What do you think is the secret of its success?
The architecture is very novel, there is nothing like it in the world.

Gaudí said that he wanted to surpass the Gothic. That is why there are no great buttresses or flying buttresses, but it has inclined columns. He designed the naves of the Holy Family as a forest, in which light enters from above.

When was construction of this emblematic church begun?
The first stone was laid on St. Joseph's day in 1882. The crypt was finished by Gaudí himself, who, by the way, was not the first architect of the church. The first was the diocesan architect Francesc del Villar.

The crypt having been finished, such a large donation was received that the Spiritual Association of Devout of Saint Joseph decided it should be a monumental church, and it went from one tower to 18.

Gaudí realized that it would take centuries to build, and that he would not see it finished. That is why he left his ideas modeled in mock-ups, which were rescued from the fire in his study in 1936, and from research, we have found the geometric laws that Gaudí had thought up.

He said that architecture had to be alive, and that life is shown with color and movement. With the help of geometry, he produced this new architecture with forms of double curvature generated by straight lines.

Later this idea was used, for example, in the Cathedral of Brasília, which is an enormous hyperboloid, and in the Philips Pavilion by Le Corbusier, which is a [cluster of nine hyperbolic paraboloids.] Gaudí, I repeat, was a genius.

Do you think that the completion is faithful to that original idea?
Of course. We have Gaudi's mock-ups on a 1:10 scale. Ask any architect if they make models on this scale at all! But he did it because it was something so new, and he needed the architects and donors to understand.

The mock-ups have been restored and we have deduced all the geometric laws that enable us to do exactly what he wanted.

What's the damage from construction of a high-speed train tunnel near the church?
It will probably damage it in time, because the effects on the subsoil are not immediate. They have made us waste much time and since 2007, we have been in litigation against this tunnel, but the courts have yet to decide.

This has cost us much energy and time, fighting against something that seems incredible that they could even think of it. Technology is not everything.... We think the tunnel idea is folly. [Imagine if Italy built a tunnel for high-speed trains next to the Vatican!]

When do you think the church will be finished?
I don't know. If I set any date, I would be telling you a lie. We don't know what's going to happen. More than 10-12 years, certainly. When he was asked this question Gaudi answered: "My client is not in a hurry." [The goal is to finish it completely by 2026, 100 years since Gaudi's death.]



The main facade of the Church, the Facade of the Nativity, with the Holy Family icon that gives the church its name. The way the sculptures adorning the church seem to 'grow' from the stone is one of the more obvious wonders of Gaudi's genius.




Elizabeth Lev offers more background on Sagrada Familia:

Gaudi's church:
An expression of Catalonia's nationalism
by Elizabeth Lev


ROME, Nov. 4 (ZENIT.org) - This week, Benedict XVI will visit Spain on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, and then he will consecrate the Church of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, conferring on it the title of basilica.

The new honorific for this church has left some perplexed. The strange forms and style of the Sagrada Familia are confusing to many Catholics, especially Americans. While no one doubts the wisdom of Pope Benedict's decisions, it seems that many wish that he chose a more traditionally attractive church. [This is obviously not Lev's opinion, but it's a view that surprises me, having experienced the hypnotic fascination of Sagrada Familia on several visits since 1968. Even in its unfinished state and purely from the exterior, it elicited the same supreme awe inspired by the great Gothic interior of Mont St. Michel, with the added magic of Gaudi's arborescent/floral fantasies.]

I have been fascinated by this church for over nine years, ever since I started accompanying my students to Barcelona for the first weekend of Spring break. I would take them a first day to the medieval churches of Barcelona, and our director would take them the next day to the works of Gaudì.

The continuity between Barcelona's great age of Christian architecture in the 14th century and the Sagrada Familia built at the height of Catalonian nationalism is startling.

The Sagrada Famila was the last architectural work of Antonio Gaudì, a Catalonian architect who lived from 1852 to 1926. Gaudì died while working on the church after being hit by a tram, and his cause for canonization has been opened. After almost a century the church remains incomplete, but it is one of the most interesting works-in-progress in the world.

Gaudì lived during a of period of resurgence in Catalan nationalist sentiment and he was a member of the "Catalan Association of Scientific Excursions," dedicated to visiting the territory's historic monuments.

This love of the land, architecture and culture of Catalonia was beautifully expressed in the artistic movement of Modernismo, of which Gaudì was a major figure. He incorporated the national symbol, a shield with four bars into his architecture as well as the theme of St. George, Catalonia's patron saint. Gaudì was even arrested once for answering a Spanish soldier in Catalan.

The Catalonian nationalists rallied to their churches during their independence movement to the point where Dictator Primo de Rivera closed Barcelona's churches to stop a nationalist celebration.

Barcelona boasts several beautiful Gothic churches, including Santa Maria del Mar and the cathedral, co-dedicated to the Holy Cross and St. Eulalia, a Catalonian virgin martyr. Both churches were built in the 14th century during the reign of King Jaume II when Barcelona was at the apex of its commercial success.

The churches display a unique view of Gothic architecture; the interior is very high and the columns splay at the top to reach across the vault in slender ribs. The structure recalls nature---the columns lining the apse of Santa Maria del Mar look like the tall native poplar trees of the region with the sunlight filtering into the church. [The two churches are about a 10-minute leisurely walk apart through Barcelona's Gothic quarter, conveniently just off the Ramblas promenade - and for someone raised in the Hispanic Catholic tradition, it was always a convenient and most pleasant two-church 'visita Iglesia' anytime! Santa Maria del Mar is a little Gothic jewel, compared to the far larger Cathedral which has all the features of a grand medieval church - including crypt, choir stalls, adjoining walled courtyard lined by chapels, and that magnificent facade.]

In the cathedral, the intricate web of ribs and vaults over the ceiling and out towards the spires seem to be more organic than mineral, like vines curling around a trellis.

Six hundred years later, Antonio Gaudì, who loved the nature of his native land, studied the great architectural feats of his nation's past. These two elements, mixed with a great deal of imagination, are the foundation of the Sagrada Familia.

The high external spires, which symbolize the twelve apostles, four evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Christ himself, echo the high spires of the cathedral. The interior maintains the single nave and four aisles which is the form of the earliest Christian basilicas, St. Peter's, St. Paul's and St. John Lateran. The high columns branch out in a web that seems even more organic than Santa Maria del Mar, forming mesmerizing geometric patterns in space.

This man-made space echoes Catalonia's beloved landscape but also recalls the great mystics and saints from this land such as St. Anthony Mary Claret and St. Francisco Coll Guitart in its fascinating forms and captivating upward articulation.

Antonio Gaudì, long before the European Union would attempt to do away with the Christian roots of Europe, gave his nation a church that would bind Catalonia's national identity to its faith like bricks to mortar.

The Sagrada Familia is not the fruit of the modern quest for novelty as many have thought, but more an expression of St. Augustine's description of the Triune God, as a "Beauty ever ancient, ever new."


I've been ignoring the following item which has been highly popular for media outlets around the world, judging from the headlines cited in the daily online news roundups this week. I am posting this item simply to place on record what it's all about, and I hope not to have to refer to it again. I think it is profane, not because of the act, but because of why they are doing it. It's a silly and childish act of spite against the Pope, to begin with....


Spain's gays and lesbians
to stage 'kiss-in' during Pope's visit
by Giles Tremlett in Madrid

Nov. 3, 2010

Spanish gays and lesbians will welcome Pope Benedict XVI to their country at the weekend with a massive homosexual kiss-in to be staged in front of Barcelona's cathedral.

Organisers have invited gays and lesbians from around Spain to congregate in Barcelona during the papal visit on Sunday to form what, on their Facebook page, they call a "queer kissing flashmob".

The plan is for participants to meet at the city's Gothic cathedral and start kissing as soon as the Pope steps out of the building at 10am.

[It's not on the schedule for the Pope to be in the Cathedral Sunday morning. He will leave the Archbishop's Palace near the Cathedral by Popemobile at 9 a.m. headed for Sagrada Familia ,where he has a 9:30 private meeting with the King and Queen of Spain before the Dedication Mass.... I can see how the demonstrators can occupy the large plaza in front of the Cathedral that the Popemobile will have to pass, but police will probably have them cordoned off to allow regular folk to be present. And/or they can have the Popemobile get underway toward Sagrada Familia without having to pass by the plaza, using one of the side streets to get onto the Popemobile route.]

"No placards, no flags, no shouting and no slogans. Only kissing allowed," the Facebook page reads.

"When Benedict XVI passes in front of us we will kiss, man-to-man and woman-to-woman," Marylene Carole, one of the organisers, told the Spanish news agency EFE.

A whistle or horn will mark the beginning of a two-minute period during which couples are expected to maintain mouth-to-mouth contact. "Once the kiss is over we will go on our way as if nothing had happened," she said.

Some 1,500 people have pledged, via Facebook, to take part in the event. Invitations have been sent out via the social networking site to 12,000 more.

The planned kiss-in has provoked the fury of some Spanish Catholics, and even saw the group's page temporarily erased by Facebook....

Friday, Nov. 5
31st Week in Ordinary Time

VENERABLE SOLANUS CASEY (USA, 1870-1957)
Capuchin Priest, Candidate for Beatification
The first US-born man to be named Venerable, Fr. Casey
was the son of Irish immigrants who did several odd
jobs before he entered high school at age 21. Ordained
a Capuchin at age 33, he was not allowed to preach or
hear confessions because of a poor academic record at
the seminary. In 1924, he became porter-receptionist
at St. Bonaventure monastery in Chicago until he died,
distinguishing himself by his great faith, humility, and
role as spiritual counselor and intercessor. He was
declared Venerable in 1995 by John Paul II.


OR today.

Papal stories include the texts of the three important papal messages
released yesterday, and the memorial Mass for departed cardinals and
bishops. The paper highlights the message to the plenary assembly of
the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which will be discussing
the implications of Caritas in veritate on the global search for justice
and peace. Page 1 international items: Wall Street welcomes Federal
Reserve Bank decision to put $500-billion into circulation by 'buying'
US government obligations in that amount; Barack Obama accepts
mid-term electoral 'shellacking', now advocates bipartisan cooperation.


THE POPE'S DAY

The Holy Father met today with

- 12 Brazilian bishops of the Southern Sector, individually, then as a group. Address in Portuguese.



The Office for Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations has released the Holy Father's liturgical calendar
for November 2010 through January 2011.


Pope's post-Synodal exhortation
to 2008 'Word of God' synodal assembly
will be released on Nov. 11

A Vatican bulletin today says that the Holy Father's Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini
on the 12th General Assembly of the Bishops' Synod held in October 2008 on "The Word of God in the life and
mission of the Church" will be presented at a news conference on Thursday, Nov. 11.

Someone other than the printer
has now read the book!

on its order oage for LIGHT OF THE WORLD
www.ignatius.com/Products/LIWO-H/light-of-the-world.aspx
has added a blurb from no less than Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver.

---

The extraordinary personal and professional chemistry of Peter Seewald and Joseph Ratzinger has proven itself over the years in previous book-length interviews.

Light of the World is Seewald's latest conversation with the man who is now Pope Benedict XVI -- and arguably the most compelling.

The Benedict XVI who emerges from these pages is a man of profound faith and intellect, combined with disarming simplicity, and willing to engage any issue frankly and without rancor.

For anyone interested in the future of the Church, this book is ‘must' reading."

+Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.,
Archbishop of Denver

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CALENDAR OF PONTIFICAL LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS

November 2010 to January 2011

NOVEMBER 2010

Nov. 20, Saturday
10:30 St. Peter's Basilica
CAPPELLA PAPALE
Ordinary Public Consistory
to create new cardinals

Nov. 21, Sunday
XXXIV Sunday in Ordinary Time
SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING
09:30 St. Peter's Basilica
CAPPELLA PAPALE
Holy Mass
and conferment of new cardinals' rings

Nov. 27, Saturday
Eve of the First Sunday in Advent
18:00 St. Peter's Basilica
CAPPELLA PAPALE
First Vespers


DECEMBER 2010

Dec. 8, Wednesday
SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF MARY
16:00 Piazza di Spagna
Veneration at the Pillar of the Immacolata

Dec. 12, Sunday
III Sunday of Advent
09:00 Pastoral visit to the Roman parish
of San Massimiliano Kolbe, via Prenestina
Holy Mass

Dec. 16, Thursday
18:00 St. Peter's Basilica
Vespers with Rome university students

Dec. 24, Friday
CHRISTMAS EVE
22:00 St. Peter's Basilica
CAPPELLA PAPALE
Holy Mass

Dec. 25, Saturday
NATIVITY OF THE LORD
12:00 Central Loggia of St. Peter's Basilica
'Urbi et Orbi' Benediction

Dec. 31. Friday
EVE OF THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
18:00 St. Peter's Basilica
First Vespers and Te Deum
in thanksgiving for the year past


JANUARY 2011

Jan. 1, Saturday
XLIV World Day of Peace
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
10:00 St. Peter's Basilica
CAPPELLA PAPALE
Holy Mass

Jan. 6, Thursday
FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY
10:00 St. Peter's Basilica
CAPPELLA PAPALE
Holy Mass

Jan. 9, Sunday
THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD
10:00 Sistine Chapel
Holy Mass and Baptism rites

Jan. 25, Tuesday
FEAST OF THe CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL
17:30 Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls
Vespers

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