A belated 85th birthday tribute
to the Pope from his fellow Bavarians
by Angela Ambrogetti
Translated from
CASTEL GANDOLFO, August 3 - An embrace, a gift, a celebration to bring the atmosphere of his 'Heimat' (homeland) to the Pope. [A belated greeting for his 85th birthday.]
In the internal courtyard of the Apostolic Palace, the sounds and accents of Bavaria resounded yesterday afternoon along with yodels and southern Germany's traditional Alpine songs, as a delegation more than a thousand strong, organized by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich-Freising, brought Bavaria to Benedict XVI with a veritable musical tour of the various regions of Bavaria.
An hour of entertainment that climaxed a pilgrimage that had set off by special train from Munich on August 1 and will end tomorrow at the Vatican with Mass at St. Peter's Basilica
Joining the Pope at the feast was his older brother, Mons. Georg Ratzinger, who is spending the summer at Castel Gandolfo.
Earlier, the main square of Castel Gandolfo was jammed with spectators as the famous Bayerische Gebirgschuetzen (Bavarian mountain guard) fired their famous salvos, before the song and dance performances in the inner courtyard.
Cardinal Marx greeted the Pope by saying, "What better gift can we make to the Pope for his birthday but to bring him a bit of the Heimat?"
Every regional folklore troupe executed their own specialty, using traditional instruments. Announcing the events was Elizabeth Rehm of Werdenfels, who hosts the program Unser unterem Himmel (Under our skies) on Bavarian TV.
Her family, originally from Garmish-Partenkirchen, composes and performs sons for both civilian and religious celebrations. The parents and their daughter performed songs accompanied by zithers.
The troupe from Tegernsee presented the Pope with a porcelain bas relief of Our Lady and a golden medal naming him an honorary member of their troupe.
In his extemporaneous remarks afterwards, the Pope reiterated that Bavarian culture is beautiful and joyous, saying Yes to the world and to life while demonstrating the beauty of being human.
But how can this be when one sees so much evil in the world, the Pope asked. Because, he said, faith shows us that the world is beautiful and that God is good and suffers with us, and it is good to be human.
Among the notable members of the delegation from Bavaria were Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, emeritus Archbishop of Munich-Freising
[he succeeded Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1982 when the latter was called to Rome to be Prefect of the CDF and served until his retirement in 2009], the auxiliary bishops of Munich, federal German Minister Ilse Aigner, Vanarian state minister Joachim Herrmann, regional Counselor Michael Schwaiger, and the mayor of Freising, Tobias Eschenbacher.
The evening ended with everyone, including the Pope,singing the Angelus and a Bavarian sacred hymn.
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's remarks:
Dear Cardinals,
Dear brothers,
Dear friends!
At the end of this Bavarian hour I can only say Vergelt'ss Gott ['God will reward you', the Bavarian 'thank you'] It was just beautiful, here in the middle of Lazio, to be in Bavaria at the same time. I was truly 'at home' [he used the Bavarian variant 'dahoam' for standard German 'daheim' and I must compliment Cardinal Marx that he pronounced 'dahoam' beautifully!
We have seen that Bavarian culture is a joyful one: "Mir san koane Rowdies, ’s is koa Gaudi" [again in Bavarian dialect: "We are not rowdy, it is just sheer joy". It is joyous, permeated with joy, which comes from an inner accord with the world, from an inner Yes to the world, an inner Yes to life, which is a Yes to joy.
It says that we are in harmony with creatin, in harmony with the Creator himself, and that thereby, we have discovered that it is good to be a man.
Of course, one must say, that God has made it easy for us in Bavaria: He has gifted us with such a beautiful world, such a beautiful state, that it is easy for us to acknowledge that God is good and to be joyous because of this.
But at the same time, he has also helped so that the people of this lace, out of their inner Yes to life, they have given the land its full beauty through the culture of its people, their faith, their joy, their singing, their music, their art has become as beautiful not only as the Creator has made it, but with the help of the people themselves.
One might well ask: Can one rejoice when the world is full of sorrow, when there is so much darkness and evil? Is it permissible to be so exuberant and jopyful? And the answer can only be Yes. Because saying No to joy does not help anyone - we can only make the world darker. And he who does not love himself cannot give others anything - it does not help him, and he cannot be a messenger of peace.
We know this from our faith, and we see it everyday. The world is beautiful,a nd God is good. And because he came among us as a man, suffered and lived with us, we know it definitively and palpably: Yes, God is good, and it is good to be a man.
We live from this joy, from which we also seek to bring joy to others, to guard against evil, and to be messengers of peace and reconciliation.
And I must really thank a whole list of names one by one, but the memory of an old man is not reliable, and so I will not even begin to try. I must nonetheless thank my dear Cardinal Marx, who has organized this hour, who has transported Bavaria to Rome and has in this way made us feel the inner unity of Christian culture.
I am grateful that he has gathered Bavarians from our diocese, from Lower Bavaria to the Upper State, from Rupertigau to Werdenfelser. Thank you to the moderator, who has gifted us with her beautiful Bavarian language. I really don't trust myself to speak Bavarian and also sound 'classy', but she can.
I thank all the groups, the trumpeteers - I better not get started. You know that you have all touched me in my heart, and I am thankful and happy for this... Of course, the Gebirgsschuetzen [the Bavarian mountain guard], who I could hear from afar, deserve special thanks, since I am an honorary mountain guard myself. although rather a mediocre one!
And of course, I thank you especially, dear Cardinal Wetter, my immediate successor on the seat of St. Corbinian, for having joined the delegation. You led the diocese as a good Shepherd for a quarter century. Thank you for being here.
In Italian, he addressed the Governor of Vatican City State:
Cardinal Bertello, thank you for your presence. I hope that you too experienced tonight the beauty of Bavaria and of Bavarian culture.
He ended in German:
In gratitude, I can only give you all my Blessing. But first, let us sing together the Angelus, and then, as best as we can, the 'Andachtsjodler' [a prayer sung with yodelling.] A most heartfelt Vergelt's Gott!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/08/2012 04:38]