BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

So Sandro Magister finally wrote his initial commentary on Benedict VXI's renunciation - it came with the other article about who will succeed the Pope. Both articles were written for the issue of L'Espresso magazine that went on sale yesterday, February 15, but he posted them on February 14 on his www.chiesa site. I translated the first one earlier and posted it yesterday on the preceding page, with considerable fisking.

Magister's title for this commentary is 'Una scomessa soprannaturale' (A supernatural gamble), but with apologies to him, I think the more appropriate and precise adjective is 'superhuman', in the sense of something above and beyond human nature as it is commonly manifested, rather than ‘supernatural’ which carries other connotations... I also think the word 'gamble' used to refer to both John Paul II's and Benedict XVI's end-of-Papacy decisions trivializes these decisions.

A superhuman gamble

February 14, 2013

Benedict XVI's renunciation of the Papacy is neither a defeat nor a surrender for him. [Magister could have done better than to start off from the negative and obviously fallacious premise he cites.]

"The future is ours, the future is God's", he said in defiance of those he called prophets of doom, in his last public appearance Friday, February 8, when he addressed the seminarians of Rome. [Oops, Mr. Magister, check the Vatican Bolletini: Afterwards, he addressed the Knights of Malta in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday morning, and led the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter's Square on Sunday.]

Two winters ago, speaking of the possibility that he could resign, he said, "One cannot flee during a time of danger and say, Let somebody else take care of it. One can resign during a period of calm, or simply, when you can no longer do the job." [It was not two winters ago he said it - it was July of 2010, in the Castel Gandolfo interviews with Peter Seewald that led to the book Light of the World.]

So, if now Papa Ratziner has decided that his days as a 'humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord' have come to an end, it is because two of the conditions he mentioned have been met: it is a time of calm, and the strength to govern well has deteriorated with advancing age.

[He may be stepping down as Pope but that does not mean he stops being 'a worker in the vineyard of the Lord', as he has always been since he became a priest. In the economy of Christian tasks, he also works who only kneels and prays. Prayer now becomes his main activity as it is for cloistered monks and nuns.]

Indeed, there appears to be a lull after so many tempests that have followed each other during the almost eight years of his Pontificate. But a lull that has left intact the positions of those in the Curia who for years have been fomenting instability. [As usual, the Roman Curia is denounced in toto without any names being mentioned - or at least, levels of responsibility - other than the two he cites below.]

The previous and current Secretaries of State, neither of whom is innocent, will be running the interregnum between two Popes - Cardinal Angelo Sodano as dean of the College of Cardinals, who will run the daily meetings of the cardinals prior to the conclave, but will not take part in the Conclave himself (he is 85), and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as the Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, the official formally charged with running the Vatican during a sede vacante.

But as soon as the Conclave begins, they will both leave the stage. Sodano has been in retirement for five years [but remains dean of the College of Cardinals], and Bertone, 78, could have retired three years ago, but Benedict XVI chose to keep him on.*

As for the other heads of the Roman Curia, canon law provides that the new Pope can name persons of his own choosing in their place, so if he wants to, he can get rid of those who proved to be bad managers under Benedict XVI. [In practice, however, unless the official is thought to be egregiously questionable, they are allowed to finish out their respective five-year terms.]

In his almost eight years as Pope, Benedict XVI was resolute and farsighted in setting his goals and keeping the rudder steady. But the crew on the bark of Peter was not always loyal to him.

Such as when he decreed strict rules of conduct to fight the scourge of perversion among priests, and from many bishops, all he got were delayed and/or hypocritical implementation.

When he ordered a clean-up and transparency in the Vatican offices that have to do with administration and finance, there were some who resisted.

The disloyalty was most emblematic when he was betrayed by his own valet who pilfered his private papers and made them public.

More than that, however, Benedict XVI's priority was to revive the faith itself,starting from within the Church, to correct the seeming freefall in doctrine, morals, the sacraments and the commandments. In which he often found himself alone, opposed and unappreciated. [Surely, this is not the fault of the Roman Curia, but a general consequence of the post-Vatican II laisse-faire-tous. Nor it it specifically that of the offices in it that have to do with catechism, Catholic education (including seminaries) and the sacraments. All these undertakings are diocesan responsibilities. The Curial offices lay down the guidelines and the norms, as the Pope tells them to, but these have to be applied at the local level. If the local bishop is compliant and obedient, then it's a good start. If the bishop is resistant or even hostile, he will do his own thing and simply ignore anything coming from Rome...

Besides, in the fields of catechism and priest formation, Benedict XVI recently made two important changes by reassigning the supervision of seminaries from the Congregation for Catholic Education to the Congregation for the Clergy, and the training of catechists from the Congregation for the Clergy to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization.]

So Benedict has not completed his reform. In resigning, he admits that he can do no more with his waning strength. And trusts that a Conclave will elect a new Pope who has the strength and energy that it takes to be a fulltime and effective Pope.

He has taken a superhuman gamble that recalls that made by his predecessor during the last agonizing years of his life.

Among the analysts who contribute to www.chiesa, it is Prof. Pietro Di Marco, of the University of Florence, who has most acutely grasped the significance of Benedict XVI's daring renunciation:

The difference would seem abysmal between Benedict's action and that of John Paul II who did not resign but chose to 'remain on the Cross' up to his last breath. But that is not so.

Papa Wojtyla trusted that the charism of his suffering body would bring spiritual profit to the Church over and above the growing inefficiency of his governance.

Benedict XVI has decided that, for the good of the Church, it is best to entrust her governance to the intact strengths of a younger successor, rather than stay on despite his waning strengths for whatever spiritual benefits such a sacrifice may gain.

The charisma of one Pope and the rationality of the other are the two inseparable faces of the last two Pontificates, which have marked their respective conclusions.

Thus it makes no sense to see Benedict XVI's decision as the start of a new practice that would oblige future Pontiffs to resign because of illness or the weight of age, perhaps on the visible or invisible advice of a team of doctors, bishops, canonists and psychologists.

A Pope's decision to renounce the office, or to stay on until his last breath, is his alone to make, within what canon law allows.

Benedict XVI said he made his decision after repeatedly examining his conscience before God, not consulting any human being about it. Once he made the decision, he simply announced it.

De Marco says, "The stake is enormous in terms of how others judge the decision. But I am confident of one thing: Just as John Paul II's sovereign risk to go on being Pope with his agonizing illness led to the miracle of Benedict XVI being elected Pope, the equally radical choice of Benedict XVI to give up the Papacy so that Christ can put her into the hands of a new Pope in the fullness of his powers, will
produce a Pope who will measure up to the demands of the present historical time".

*The asterisk at the end of the paragraph about Cardinal Bertone is to bring up a recent news report in which Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, and a close personal friend of Benedict XVI, said in a radio interview that he had once conveyed to the Pope the sentiment of many cardinals that he should replace Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as Secretary of State, and that the Pope replied, "Bertone will stay. Basta, basta, basta" (Enough of this!).

For the record, because those of you who are able to follow these developments better than I can must already have read it, John Allen did come out promptly, on February 11 itself, with his say about the renunciation, in an article fatuously entitled "Pope Benedict leaves behind legacy full of ups and downs". I say fatuous because what legacy is not full of ups and downs.
http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-benedict-leaves-behind-legacy-full-ups-and-downs
It reads like an abridged version of what he must have kept in file to use as an obituary report in case the Pope died, and it simply rehashes all his pet idees fixes about Benedict XVI, many of them negative and reflecting the MSM bias of judging a Pope as of he were some run-of-the-mill politician, not to mention his obsession with 'PR gaffes'. A reflection, in short, of everything Catholic liberals think about Benedict XVI, except for his closing line quoting British PM David Cameron who told Benedict VXI, "Your Holiness,s you have all made us sit up and think" (Too bad Cameron did not sit up and think accordingly when he decided to push the gay 'marriage' legislation in Parliament.) Allen has not filed anything more substantial since then.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/02/2013 21:38]

Thanks to Aqua for passing on this item which provides sidelights to the Pope's official agenda yesterday and also gives some background on Cardinal Bagnasco, which Sandro Magister failed to provide in his piece about likely candidates.

Less than two weeks to go...
by Robert Moynihan

February 15, 2013

Halfway through February, Benedict XVI has less than two weeks left as Pope. His pontificate will end at 8 p.m. on February 28.

The city has begun to accept the fact that the previously unthinkable will actually occur: that Benedict will step down from the papacy, and devote himself to a life of prayer "hidden from the world" in a convent in the Vatican gardens.

After dramatic days, with lighting bolts striking down on the very cupola of St. Peter's Basilica a few hours after his announcement of his decision to step down, days of drenching rain, of bitter chill, of long nights and grey days, today was warmer, sunnier, though still quite cold.


An image of the remarkable lightning bolt which struck St. Peter's Dome at about 6 pm in the evening on Monday, February 11; the Pope had announced his decision to renounce his office at about 11:40 am, about 6 hours before. It was a miserable evening as the photo indicates.

For the Pope, Friday was a normal working day.

Benedict received the President of Romania, Traian Basescu, at 11 this morning. (Trajan was the name of the Roman emperor who conquered Dacia, as it was then called, in about the year 100 A.D., and the president's name recalls that distant conquest from 1,900 years ago.)

There was nothing unusual: 20 minutes of private conversation (the Romanian language, because of Trajan's conquest, is derived from Latin and so quite close to Italian), an exchange of gifts, and greetings afterward to two journalists, Salvatore Mazza of Avvenire and Cindy Wooden of Catholic News Service, who formed the "pool" to observe the occasion and report back to the other journalists waiting in the press office.

"In the name of all the Vaticanists, we thank you for your commitment to the service of the Church, we are all praying for you," said Mazza, president of the association of journalists accredited to the Vatican.

"Thank you for your teaching and for helping us to explain everything with clarity, this helped us in our work," said Wooden.

“Grazie a voi per la preghiera,” ("Thank you for your prayers"), the Pope answered.

Toward noon, the Pope received a charitable group "Pro Petri Sede" ("For the See of Peter") from Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. Benedict greeted the group in French.

To close his working day, he received a group of Italian bishops from Liguria, the region around Genoa, headed by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa and president of the Italian bishops' conference.

Bagnasco is a man some Church watchers believe couLd be a leading candidate to be the next Pope.

Bagnasco was born in Pontevico, near Genoa, where his family was evacuated during World War II. He once said in an interview: "I became an altar boy in my parish in the historic center of Genoa, in Piazza Sarzano, when I was six years old. My old parish priest was Abbot Giovanni Battista Gazzolo, first, and afterwards Monsignor Carlo Viacava while his deputy was a young curate, Don Gianni Zamiti — the latter two are still alive and overjoyed that their little altar boy has become their archbishop — who supervised us on afternoons in the parish club where we went to play. The desire to become a priest was born precisely when I was in elementary school, but I didn’t confide it to anybody. Afterwards I went to a co-ed middle school, always with that desire in my heart."

Bagnasco attended the classical lyceum (high school) of the archdiocosean seminary of Genoa, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 1966, by the then-archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Giuseppe Siri.

While a priest in Genoa, he received a degree in philosophy from the University of Genoa, served as professor of metaphysics and contemporary atheism at the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy, and led the archdiocesan liturgical and catechesis offices.

Cardinal Bagnasco has expressed strong opposition to abortion, especially with regards to the RU-486 pill, which has abortive effects on the conceived embryos. He has also opposed homosexual unions, and as a consequence has received death threats.

(By chance, I was able to see Bagnasco this afternoon, as he walked down the Borgo Pio. He is not tall, and when one meets him he seems a simple, humble, intelligent, thoughtful man.)

In the press office, several dozen journalists listened to Fr. Federico Lombardi's 1 p.m. briefing on the Vatican's decision to name a new president for the Vatican bank.

The choice, announced at mid-day after a vacancy dating back more than 8 months, to last May, fell on German lawyer and financier Ernst von Freyberg. This decision is likely to be one of the last major acts of Benedict's papacy.

The Pope gave von Freyberg his personal support on Friday, according to a Vatican statement.

Freyberg is a member of the ancient Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He replaces Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, an Italian banker close to Opus Dei who was removed from the post in late May, accused of both negligence and "increasingly eccentric behavior."

Von Freyberg's task as president of the Vatican bank will be to bring about greater transparency in the bank's activities, as long desired by Pope Benedict XVI.

US and European regulators have expressed doubts about the Vatican's compliance with international transparency standards. [Moynihan cannot make a general statement like that without citing specific statements. Besides, surely the informal opinions of those he may have talked to carry no weight compared to the official findings of Moneyval which is the formal body supervising the activities of financial institutions in Europe, whose word is equivalent to an international imprimatur. The question he ought to pursue is why the Italian central bank is so hostile to IOR and seem to keep trying to find a pretext to embarrass the Vatican.]

Italian authorities on January 1 month blocked the use of credit cards in the Vatican, a block which ended on February 12 when the Vatican reached an agreement with a Swiss payment company to allow the resumption of card payments. (However, I was still not able to pay a bill with a credit card in the Vatican on Wednesday and Thursday.)

When I spoke with one of my confidants ['Confidants'??? I think he means 'trusted sources'] later in the afternoon, he said to me that he believed that the issue of the Vatican bank was one which all the cardinals should demand to be clarified.

In view of my Friday inability to put in 'regular work' in the Forum, I must reserve spaces for the papal events that took place yesterday, February 15, for which there are both stories as well as photographs, but starting with Benedict XVI's 'chat' to the clergy of Rome, of which a full transcript is now available.



Full transcript to be translated.

Space for meeting with the Romanian President

Space for meeting with Pro Petri Sede

Space for meeting with the bishops of Liguria

February 16, Ssturday after Ash Wednesday

ST. GILBERT OF SEMPRINGHAM (England, 1083-1190)
Priest, Founder of the Gilbertines
Son of a Norman noble, Gilbert was sent to Paris where he studied theology and returned
to be a clerk with the local bishop. He started a school of children and soon attracted
a small community of men and women aspiring to be religious. Gilbert was personally very
ascetic. When he came into his inheritance, he used it to expand the community and its
work with schools, orphanages and hospitals. In 1130, with the help of St. Bernard of
Clairvaux, he set up the Gilbertine orders, with an eclectic constitution, in which the priests
(canons regular) followed the Augustinian rule, and the nuns and lay brothers and sisters
followed the Cistercian (reformed Benedictine) rule. This was the only English medieval
congregation but it came to an end with the dissolution of monasteries that followed Henry
VII's break from the Catholic Church. The Gilbertines had 26 monasteries at the time. When
he was 80, he was imprisoned on suspicion of having helped Thomas Becket escape to France.
Although Becket did stay in Sempringham and escaped in the guise of a Gilbertine lay brother,
Gilbert did not deny the charges. In his 90s, he was denounced by some of his lay brothers
for being too strict with his Rule, but he was upheld by Alexander III. He died at age 108,
giving rise to an immediate cultus. Many miracles were attributed at his tomb and he was
canonized in 1201, just 12 years after he died.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021613.cfm


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

The Holy Father met with

- H.E. Otto Pérez Molina, President of the Republic of Guatemala, with his spouse and delegation

- 13 bishops from Lombardy on ad-limina visit, led by Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, and
his immediate predecessor, Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, who is currently apostolic administrator of Vigevano.

In the afternoon, he will meet with

- Senator-for-life Mario Monti, Prime Minister of Italy

All these events represent the last of their kind for Benedict XVI as Pope - the last audience for a head of state*,
the last ad-limina visit from bishops, and the last meeting with an Italian Prime Minister.

*P.S. The meeting with the Guatemalan President is not Benedict XVI's last with a head of state - that will be
his audience for Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Feb. 23



It can be highly instructive, and more than just an exercise in nostgalgia, in these final two weeks of
the Pontificate, to just look back at what took place one year ago on each of the remaining days, such as
the posts on February 16, 2012, which included an article by Sandro Magister entitled
'Bad news' about the Vatican
obscures the good, and worse,
the luminosity of this Pontificate
Document leaks, conspiracy theories, internal power struggles:
Vatican coverage has focused on these, neglecting the good
that is also happening - the good as the Pope wants it.
http://benedettoxviforum.freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=8527207&p=288&#idm115834482
The adjective 'luminous' to describe this Pontificate has recurred frequently since Benedict XVI announced
his renunciation - starting with Cardinal Sodano's tribute which freely used metaphors of light.



Let me post this reminder again as we have four more days till February 19:

Please sign up and pass on the link.
http://www.praymorenovenas.com/novenas/join-the-novena-for-the-pope?awt_l=Ei.mg&awt_m=3mF9DdVGKYjAMf.
The goal is at least 50,000 by Feb. 19.

This item seen early this morning set me off on another crying jag, and has provoked another as I am posting it...

A voice from 'Generation Benedict':
How Pope Benedict re-ignited
the flame of faith in my heart
By Collette Power

15 February 2013

It was with great shock and sadness that I learned of the news of Pope Benedict’s abdication on Monday. Pope Benedict has been responsible for the conversion, reversion, vocation and the deepening of faith of many young Catholics in this country.

At the time of his visit to the UK, I was living a life at complete odds to the Church but his powerful homily at Bellahouston Park was the catalyst for my conversion. Through his eloquence, his love and genuine concern for the young Catholics of Scotland, the powerful Truth of the Gospel message crashed into my life.

Looking back it was like a moment from Acts of the Apostles, for upon hearing his message, I too was cut to the heart. Like the crowds in Jerusalem, I asked the question, “What must I do?”

Through the ministry of Peter’s successor and in the subsequent messages of his UK visit, I found the answer to this question and began an incredible journey back into a living relationship with Christ and His Holy Church. The Holy Father re-ignited the flame of faith in my heart and in a world marked by mediocrity, he challenged me to become a saint.

The Church in England will reap the fruits of his short pontificate for many years to come. We are already seeing the flourishing of new signs of life in the Church in the UK. I think of the many vibrant lay apostolates in the UK: Youth 2000, Take a Stand, Made for Glory, 2nd Friday, Night Fever, 40 Days for Life and so on.

These young apostolates are very much influenced by a pontificate which called us to enter into an intimate relationship with Christ, to find our home in the Catholic Church, to live our Catholicism without compromise and to give a bold and courageous witness to the Gospel Truths in a world that so desperately needs Christ.

I know of many young men for whom the Papal Visit or WYD Madrid was the deciding factor in their entering seminary. Indeed the numbers in our seminaries continue to increase each year. Even more recently, the press coverage for the abdication saw many outstanding young Catholics from across the UK interviewed.

Through their questioning, many presenters were trying to get the “youth of the Church” to call for reform and the modernisation of the Church under a new Pope. What they got was a response from “Generation Benedict”.

Paschal Uche put it rather splendidly when he spoke these words on behalf of all young Catholics in a Channel 4 interview: “We aren’t looking for a Pope who will change the Church’s teaching, what we desire is a Pope who is faithful to the teaching of the Church because we believe that is how God loves us.”

These young people aren’t exceptional in any way at all, they are in fact typical of the countless young Catholics in the UK who are proud to be part of “Generation Benedict” and who are striving to be saints fuelled by a love of Christ and planted in the heart of the Catholic Church.

Pope Benedict will be greatly missed by my generation. He has been a father to us, a man who deeply loved his young people and placed his full confidence in us to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Our continued response to his love will be our parting gift to him and the Church in England will be all the richer for it.

And how can you not have the tears continue to flow, with this wonderful reflection by Fr. Lucie Smith...

The Pope's renunciation is not about him:
It is all about God at the center of everything
He also shows that humility is the hallmark of authentic Christianity
By Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith


The writer is a Catholic priest and a doctor of moral theology who contributes regularly to the Catholic Herald.

Amidst the huge amount of comment generated by the Pope’s decision to retire, two pieces stood out from the rest for me. They were both published in the Spectator, and are both worth reading. The first was by Melanie McDonagh and the second by John O’Donnell.

Both of them seemed to understand what it was that Benedict XVI was trying to do, and both seem to see him as a great Pope. This is in happy contrast to much of the rest of the comment stream, which is too often not only simply ill-informed, but irrational and vitriolic. None of that requires a link from me.

Given that Benedict XVI is a scholar in the German tradition (as Melanie McDonagh pointed out), it seems especially ironic that so many of the reactions to him were completely devoid of the careful thoughtfulness of the German and scholarly approach. This Pope has perhaps been the target of more polemical abuse than any other. [Not perhaps. He has been (even before he became Pope), continues to be and will continue to be the object of such abuse, simply because who he is and the God he represents, to whom he has always borne fearless and unequivocal witness. At least, the vitriol against Pius XII has been limited to what his detractors think he failed to do about the Holocaust.]

Consider the words of Claire Rayner, now deceased, who had this to say at the time of the papal visit: “I have no language with which to adequately describe Joseph Alois Ratzinger, AKA the Pope. In all my years as a campaigner I have never felt such animus against any individual as I do against this creature. His views are so disgusting, so repellent and so hugely damaging to the rest of us, that the only thing to do is to get rid of him.”

While Miss Rayner’s words leave us in no doubt about what she feels, they are hardly rational, for she does not engage with what the Pope has said on any matter. We can assume she disagrees with the Pope, but she has advanced no rational basis for this apart from vitriolic dislike. It is odd to think that she advocates getting rid of the Pope when one assumes that she believes in the founding values of a liberal society, such as free speech and freedom of expression and association. [More than that, nothing gives her or anyone the right, however morally superior she may have thought she was, to decree that another 'creature' must be 'got rid of' as if he were a pest to be exterminated - that is exactly the inhuman and bestial arrogance exemplified by the Nazis when they decided to exterminate the Jews.]

What was it about Benedict XVI that so infuriated Miss Rayner and those who thought like her? A clue can perhaps be found in the last liturgy the Pope conducted in public which was the Ash Wednesday Mass.

During the homily the Pope remarked that Jesus “denounced religious hypocrisy, behaviour that wants to show off, attitudes that seek applause and approval. The true disciple does not serve himself or his public, but his Lord, in simplicity and generosity.”

The Holy Father was referring to the passage in the Gospel which had just been read, which speaks of people performing their religious devotions at street corners. Ironically, at the end of the Mass, Benedict received a one minute standing ovation, to which he said: “Thank you, but let us return to prayer.”

These words speak for themselves. For Benedict XVI the centre of everything has always been God and His Church; he has not sought the approval of the crowd and what he has said and taught has been done in the light of the universal revelation that comes from God.

Because revelation represents a truth for all time, Benedict has not felt the need to “get with the programme” as represented by Claire Rayner and others. For him the programme has been set not by mankind but by God, and it is our job as human beings to meditate on what God has said to us and find the appropriate response. [And he articulated this explicitly in his inaugural homily as Pope - "My program is to listen to what God indicates"]

There is a huge difference between the Pope, a believer in the Almighty, and those who like Claire Rayner see problems as something that can be solved by human ingenuity unaided by grace. For these people the humility of Benedict XVI is something almost morbid. But for those who believe, it is clear that humility is the hallmark of authentic Christianity.

For the last eight years we have been lucky to have had a humble Pope, one who has listened to the Lord and followed where the Lord has led. His decision to retire is one made in conscience, before the Lord. The Pope’s humility underlines to us the grandeur and goodness of God, the God who calls us into question.

In the end so much of the comment about the Pope’s retirement misses this essential point. All of this is about God, not about any of us, and not about Benedict himself.

The process of losing one Pope, and the election of another, should serve to remind us all that it is God that reigns at the heart of the Church and to Him we must look.

Pope Benedict XVI reminds us all about the centrality of God and that is comforting and perhaps disturbing in equal measure.

'A humble Pope who has listened to the Lord and followed where the Lord has led'- no better description could be made of Benedict XVI's selfless act. The idea is embodied in the opening words of his renunciation declaratio: "After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God..." (Much more dramatically stated in the original Latin, "Conscientia mea iterum atque iterum coram Deo explorata...", better conveyed in English as 'again and again' rather than 'repeatedly'). Beside that statement, any and all speculations and interpretations of why he resigned are useless and superfluous.

The nay-sayers who have been very critical already that, by living in the Vatican after he is no longer Pope, Joseph Ratzinger would somehow inhibit the new Pope by his geographical proximity. But that is to assume that the new Pope, whoever he is, would react to the situation the same way those detractors do! And to ignore that the new Pope will have all the full ecclesial and juridical powers, and the ex-Pope none at all, other than his rights as a human being and a Vatican citizen. One expects the next Holy Father would not think like the nay-sayers at all... Reuters has an excellent enterprise story looking into the practical considerations behind the decision for the soon to be ex-Pope remaining within the Vatican.

Benedict XVI will have security and
legal immunity by remaining in the Vatican
By Philip Pullella


VATICAN CITY, February 16 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's decision to live in the Vatican after he resigns will provide him with security and privacy. It will also offer legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources and legal experts say.

"His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenceless. He wouldn't have his immunity, his prerogatives, his security, if he is anywhere else," said one Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It is absolutely necessary" that he stays in the Vatican, said the source, adding that Benedict should have a "dignified existence" in his remaining years.

Vatican sources said officials had three main considerations in deciding that Benedict should live in a convent in the Vatican after he resigns on February 28.

Vatican police, who already know the Pope and his habits, will be able to guarantee his privacy and security and not have to entrust it to a foreign police force, which would be necessary if he moved to another country.

"I see a big problem if he would go anywhere else. I'm thinking in terms of his personal security, his safety. We don't have a secret service that can devote huge resources (like they do) to ex-presidents," the official said.

Another consideration was that if the Pope did move permanently to another country, living in seclusion in a monastery in his native Germany, for example, the location might become a place of pilgrimage.

This could be complicated for the Church, particularly in the unlikely event that the next Pope makes decisions that may displease conservatives, who could then go to Benedict's place of residence to pay tribute to him.

"That would be very problematic," another Vatican official said.

The final key consideration is the Joseph Ratzinger's potential exposure to legal claims over the Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandals.

In 2010, for example, Benedict was named as a defendant in a law suit alleging that he failed to take action as a cardinal in 1995 when he was allegedly told about a priest who had abused boys at a U.S. school for the deaf decades earlier.

The lawyers withdrew the case last year and the Vatican said it was a major victory that proved the Pope could not be held liable for the actions of abusive priests.

Benedict is currently not named specifically in any other case. The Vatican does not expect any more but is not ruling out the possibility.

"(If he lived anywhere else) then we might have those crazies who are filing lawsuits, or some magistrate might arrest him like other (former) heads of state have been for alleged acts while he was head of state," one source said.

Another official said: "While this was not the main consideration, it certainly is a corollary, a natural result."

After he resigns, Benedict will no longer be the sovereign monarch of the State of Vatican City, which is surrounded by Rome, but will retain Vatican citizenship and residency.

That would continue to provide him immunity under the provisions of the Lateran Pacts while he is in the Vatican and even if he makes jaunts into Italy as a Vatican citizen.

The 1929 Lateran Pacts between Italy and the Holy See, which established Vatican City as a sovereign state, said Vatican City would be "invariably and in every event considered as neutral and inviolable territory".

There have been repeated calls for Benedict's arrest over sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

When Benedict went to Britain in 2010, British author and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins asked authorities to arrest the Pope to face questions over the Church's child abuse scandal.

Dawkins and the late British-American journalist Christopher Hitchens commissioned lawyers to explore ways of taking legal action against the pope. Their efforts came to nothing because the Pope was a head of state and so enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

In 2011, (some) victims of sexual abuse by the clergy asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the pope and three Vatican officials over sexual abuse.

The New York-based rights group Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and another group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), filed a complaint with the ICC alleging that Vatican officials committed crimes against humanity because they tolerated and enabled sex crimes.

The ICC has not taken up the case but has never said why. It generally does not comment on why it does not take up cases. [The important thing is that it did not take up the case. The legal reasons and precedents for why it cannot take up such a case have been presented previously. I will have to look up the page on this thread.]

The Vatican has consistently said that a Pope cannot be held accountable for cases of abuse committed by priests who are employees of individual dioceses around the world [or directly accountable only to their religious orders, if they belong to one] and not direct employees of the Vatican. It says the head of the Church cannot be compared to the CEO of a company.

Victims groups have said Benedict, particularly in his previous job at the head of the Vatican's doctrinal department, turned a blind eye to the overall policies of local Churches, which moved abusers from parish to parish instead of defrocking them and handing them over to authorities. [Morons, he did not begin to have any formal say at alll about these cases until 2001 - after which no objective can possibly fault him for failing to do what needed to be done.]

The Vatican has denied this. [And the news media have been free to verify that allegation but they have not - i.e., they cannot.] The Pope has apologised for abuse in the Church, has met with abuse victims on many of his trips, and ordered a major investigation into abuse in Ireland. [More precisely, he ordered an apostolic visitation of the dioceses and orders most involved in cases of abuse that had already been previously investigated by the Church and subsequently by three Irish government commissions.]

But groups representing some of the victims say the Pope will leave office with a stain on his legacy because he was in positions of power in the Vatican for more than three decades, first as a cardinal and then as pope, and should have done more.

The scandals began years before the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope in 2005 but the issue has overshadowed his papacy from the beginning, as more and more cases came to light in dioceses across the world.

As recently as last month, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, was stripped by his successor of all public and administrative duties [within the Archdiocese] after a thousands of pages of files detailing abuse in the 1980s were made public.

Mahony, who was archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 until 2011, has apologised for "mistakes" he made as archbishop, saying he had not been equipped to deal with the problem of sexual misconduct involving children. The Pope was not named in that case [And not in any of the abuse cases against the diocese of Los Angeles.]

In 2007, the Los Angeles archdiocese, which serves 4 million Catholics, reached a $660 million civil settlement with more than 500 victims of child molestation, the biggest agreement of its kind in the United States.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the Pope "gave the fight against sexual abuse a new impulse, ensuring that new rules were put in place to prevent future abuse and to listen to victims. That was a great merit of his papacy and for that we will be grateful".

Benedict's last GA will be
a Liturgy of the Word
Other updates from Fr. Lombardi

February 16, 2013

As of this morning, 35,000 requests had been received by the Pontifical Household for tickets to attend Pope Benedict XVI’s “last great appointment with the People of God” - the General Audience on Wednesday, February 17 - Vatican news director Fr. Federico Lombardi said in his daily briefing with journalists Saturday.

[Appropriately, just as Benedict XVI chose to announce his renunciation at a liturgical event (the consistory for the canonization of new saints), he will bid formal farewell to the faithful at a liturgical event.]

Fr. Lombardi told press that the gathering on Wednesday February 27th will not follow the normal format for a general audience. There will be no catechesis, but rather a Liturgy of the Word [which normally includes a homily after the reading of the Gospel passage, and I don't think Benedict XVI will fail to address the faithful at all during his last GA] and a celebration of the pontificate. [How exactly? Testimonials by representative Catholics? A video about the Pontificate? For Benedict XVI, an appropriate 'celebration' would be some form of Thanksgiving, short of a Te Deum.]

He also said that the Vatican Television Centre will be broadcasting live Benedict XVI’s departure from the Apostolic Palace on Thursday 28th, at 5 pm., following his final farewell to the College of Cardinals in the morning.

Lombardi confirmed that Pope Benedict is expected to remain in Castel Gandolfo for a period of at least two months. [Did anyone think to ask whether he would be attending the inaugural Mass of the new Pope, or keep away from it entirely? Very likely the latter, as he would not want to cause the least distraction at all from the new Pope, let alone call any attention to himself. In any case, whoever the new Pope will be, I would expect that one of his first gestures would be to pay a courtesy call on his predecessor, and that may be the only photograph we will get of the retired Pope for some time, if at all.]

Until then it’s business as usual. Fr. Lombardi remarked on the Pope’s calm and serenity as he carries out the final public appointments of his pontificate.

Today, these included a meeting with the President of Guatemala, the bishops of Lombardy on ad-limina pilgrimage, and later in the day, with outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti [whose government ends when the Italians go to the polls on Feb. 25 to elect a new Parliament].

And the Holy Father has gone ahead with with issues of governance, such as his renewal of the Cardinals Commission charged with overseeing the IOR for another 5-year term. [To those who question why this could not have waited for the new Pope, it is because the old term has already expired. However, I thought the presidency of this commission is held ex-officio by the Secretary of State, but apparently not.]

At sundown tomorrow, Sunday, Benedict XVI will join the entire Roman Curia for the annual week-long Lenten retreat, with the spiritual exercises preached this year by Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Vatican Council for Culture.

During this retreat, all papal appointments are suspended. But, Fr. Lombardi noted, the Pope will still sign documents pertinent to the life of the Church, brought to his attention by his secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein.

Then looking ahead, Fr. Lombardi said that the Papal Chamberlain (Cameerlengo), Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, is already at work with experts to clarify the steps to be taken during the sede vacante in preparation for the papal election, governed by the provisions of John Paul II's Apostolic Constitution, Universi Dominici Gregis.

He said that it was possible that the date for the start of the Conclave could be advanced earlier than the statutory 15-20 days after the sede vacante begins (The See of Peter will be vacant on Feb. 28 after 8 pm, but for practical purposes, the sede vacante begins March 1)

He said it was a decision for the Camerlengo, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, and the cardinal-electors themselves, who will be called to daily preparatory meetings (called general congregations) by the Dean of cardinals, as soon as most of the 117 electors are present in Rome.

AP's wrap-up story for today gives more detail about Seewald's last interviews with the Pope. I have not had a chance to look up the Focus article itself...

Vatican raises possibility
of early March conclave
By NICOLE WINFIELD


VATICAN CITY, February 16, 2013 (AP) — The Vatican raised the possibility Saturday that the conclave to elect the next pope might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date possible under current rules that require a 15 to 20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that Vatican rules on papal succession are open to interpretation and that "this is a question that people are discussing."

Any change to the law itself would have to be approved by the Pope before he resigns.

But if Vatican officials determine that the matter is just a question of interpreting the existing law, "it is possible that Church authorities can prepare a proposal to be taken up by the cardinals on the first day after the papal vacancy" to move up the start of the conclave, Lombardi said.

The 15-20 day waiting period is in place to allow time for all cardinals who don't live in Rome to arrive, under the usual circumstance of a Pope dying. But in this case the cardinals already know that this pontificate will end Feb. 28, with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, and therefore can get to Rome in plenty of time to take part in the conclave, Lombardi said.

The date of the conclave's start is important because Holy Week begins March 24, with Palm Sunday Mass followed by Easter Sunday on March 31. In order to have a new Pope in place in time for the most solemn liturgical period on the Church calendar, he would need to be installed by Sunday, March 17, because of the strong tradition to hold installation Mass on a Sunday. Given the tight time frame, speculation has mounted that some arrangement would be made to start the conclave earlier than a strict reading of the law would allow.

Questions about the start of the conclave have swirled since Benedict stunned the world on Feb. 11, by announcing that he would retire, the first Pontiff in 600 years to abdicate rather than stay in office until death. His decision has created a host of questions about how the Vatican will proceed, given that its plans for the so-called "sede vacante" — or vacant seat — period between papacies are based on the process starting with a papal death.

"At this moment we are not prepared," said Cardinal Franc Rode, the former head of the Vatican's office for religious orders who will vote in the conclave. "We have not been able to make predictions, strategies, plans, candidates. It is too early, but we will get there. In two or three weeks things will be put in place."

Meanwhile, a German journalist who has published several long interviews with Benedict over the years suggested that the Pope strongly foreshadowed his retirement during an August conversation.

Peter Seewald said in an article for the German weekly Focus published Saturday that the Pontiff had told him that his strength was diminishing and "not much more" could be expected from him as pope.

"I am an old man and my strength is running out," Seewald quoted the Pope as saying. "And I think what I have done is enough."

Asked by Seewald whether he was considering resignation, Benedict responded: "That depends to what extent my physical strength will compel me to." The summer interview, as well as another in December, were for a new Benedict biography.

Seewald's 2010 book-length interview with Benedict, Light of the World. laid the groundwork for a possible resignation.

In it, he quoted Benedict as saying: "If a Pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign."

He stressed then, however, that resignation was not an option to escape a particular burden, such as the scandal over sexual abuse by clerics which had erupted earlier in 2010.

In Saturday's article, Seewald recalled asking the Pope in August how badly the 2012 scandal over leaks of papal documents, in which the Pope's ex-butler was convicted of aggravated theft, had affected him.

Benedict said the affair had not thrown him off his stride or made him tired of office. "It is simply incomprehensible to me," he said.

The journalist said that when he last saw Benedict about 10 weeks ago, his hearing had deteriorated and he appeared to have lost vision in his left eye, adding that the Pope had lost weight and appeared tired.

Benedict, however, appeared in good form on Saturday for some of his final audiences. He met with the Guatemalan president, a group of visiting Italian bishops, and had his farewell audience with Italian Premier Mario Monti.

"He was in good condition," Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina told reporters afterward. "He didn't seem tired, rather smiling, lively — and happy and very clear in his decision to resign."

Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan and a leading contender to succeed Benedict, said several of the visiting bishops noted at the end of their audience that they were the last group of bishops to be received by the Pope. "'This responsibility means you have to become a light for all,'" he quoted Benedict as saying.

Lombardi also gave more details about Benedict's final public audiences and plans for retirement, saying already 35,000 people had requested tickets for his final general audience to be held in St. Peter's Square on Feb. 27.

He said Benedict would spend about two months in the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo south of Rome immediately after his abdication, to allow enough time for renovations to be completed on his retirement home — a converted monastery inside the Vatican walls.

That means Benedict would be expected to return to the Vatican, no longer as pope, around the end of April or beginning of May, Lombardi said.

He was asked if and when the Pope would meet with his successor and whether he would participate in his installation Mass. Like many open questions about the end of Benedict's papacy, Lombardi said, both issues simply haven't been resolved. [So someone did ask the question.]

In renouncing, Benedict XVI is asking us
to entrust the Church and his successor
with confidence to the Holy Spirit

February 16, 2013

Pope Benedict’s decision to renounce the papacy has shocked the world. For most people, inside and outside of the Church and the Vatican, it was an unexpected and remarkable event. We are all deeply touched, and are still trying to understand the import and significance of the Pope’s action.

But, to be honest, it's a decision that is more surprising to those who do not know him than to those who know him well and have followed him closely.

He spoke clearly of this possibility at unexpected times, in the book-length interview Light of the World; he had a way of always speaking discreetly and prudently about the future duties of his pontificate; he made perfectly clear that he considered the papacy a mission that he had received, rather than a power that he possessed.

It was not false humility when he described himself, at the beginning of his papacy, as “a humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.” He was always careful to conserve his physical strength, in order to better fulfill the immense task that had been entrusted to him so unexpectedly, when he was already quite advanced in age.

His act is one of admirable human and Christian wisdom, on the part of a man who has lived in the sight of God, in the faith of the freedom of spirit; one who knows his responsibilities and his abilities; and one who, with his resignation, sees new prospects for renewed service and new hope.

It is a great act of governance of the Church. It is a decision made not, as some think, because Pope Benedict felt he was no longer able to guide the Roman Curia, but because the major problems facing the Church and the world today, which he fully appreciates, require great strength and a length of office that is proportionate to pastoral initiatives of great breadth and no small length of time.

Benedict is not abandoning us in times of difficulty. He is inviting the Church to entrust herself with confidence to the Holy Spirit and to a new Successor of Peter.

In these days, he says, he has felt, almost physically, the intensity of prayer and of love that accompanies him. We, in turn, feel the unique intensity of his prayer and of his affection for his Successor and for us. We can expect this spiritual relationship to become even deeper and stronger than before — an intense communion in absolute freedom.

Thank you, Father Lombardi, even if you have made me cry all over again...

Obviously I cannot keep up with the volume of reactions and commentary to our beloved Benedict's renunciation (let alone translating those that are not in English but in languages I can translate) and can only try to post those that I have found most striking and representative as I come across them. There will be time later on to do a proper retrospective as I tried belatedly to do for his election and the start of his Pontificate in the Papa Ratzinger Forum... Meanwhile, here is this beautiful tribute from the president of the Australian bishops' conference...

'We will always remember his warmth,
his holiness, his goodness - and
the new light he brought to papal teaching'

February 15, 2013

“He has encouraged us in faith. He has courageously apologised to victims of sexual abuse, and that will always be remembered and appreciated. But his warmth, his holiness, his goodness is something we will always remember”, says Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, President of the Australian Bishops Conference, who spoke to Vatican Radio's Emeer McCarthy.

“Catholics and many others in wider Australian society were very surprised and shocked by Pope Benedict’s announcement of his resignation. However they do accept that a man of 85, nearly 86, whose health is failing, made a very courageous decision. I think they were very moved by his decisions and the reasons he gave for it”.

Pope Benedict XVI, he said, will always have a very special place in Australians hearts, particularly young Australians. The images of Pope Benedict crossing Sydney Harbour to launch World Youth Day Celebrations is perhaps one of the lasting memories of this pontificate, the Holy Father’s first and only voyage to Oceania.

“I was on that boat with Pope Benedict. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon and people were really excited that the Pope had actually come to Sydney. It was a wonderful moment when the young people of Australia engaged with the Pope and they suddenly realised that age didn’t matter. That there was this wonderful sensitive kind man who was their father in God. For all the events in that great week in Sydney, it will always remain a memorable moment for the history of Australia”.

Archbishop Hart says the Syndey celebrations left a lasting mark on Australian society: “I think the legacy of that moment really is the fact that the Pope seems much nearer to us and much more present. He has encouraged us in faith. He has courageously apologised to victims of sexual abuse, and that will always be remembered and appreciated. But his warmth, his holiness, his goodness is something we will always remember”.

But the President of the Australian Bishops Conference concludes that perhaps the greatest gift of this pontificate has been Pope Benedict’s widely felt support for the men and women on the frontlines of the Church, the priests and religious:

“I met him first when I was a young priest, walking across St. Peter’s Square. He would always greet you and have a word with you. When I met him as Pope he was always encouraging and sincere, a man of the Spirit and a man of God. I felt tremendously encouraged in my role as Archbishop and in my work with the people knowing that he was there with me, behind me, supporting and guiding me. He means a tremendous amount to all of us. I was made bishop and then archbishop by John Paul II, but Pope Benedict has brought a new light and a new clarity to papal teaching”.


Cardinal Brady speaks
of Benedict's affection
and concern for Ireland


“We recall with immense gratitude his great affection towards Ireland”, noted Cardinal Sean Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, as he reflected with Emer McCarthy on how Benedict XVI’s pontificate impacted the Irish Church.

Pope Benedict may have never made it to Ireland, but there can be little doubt that Ireland, the faith of the nation and its people, intensely engaged this pontificate. There was his unprecedented convoking of the entire bishops conference in 2010, in the wake of the revelations of the depth of the abuse scandal within the Irish Church, and his Pastoral letter to Irish Catholics, Cardinal Brady points out.

“We met to discuss the abuse crisis in 2010,” says Cardinal Brady “and of course, there was the great honour he did Ireland in writing the Pastoral Letter. I think the Chinese people were the only other people to receive such an honour. He chartered the way forward for the Church in Ireland and advised us on what to do”.

Doubtless, he said, Pope Benedict’s choice of Dublin to host the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in June 2012, was part of the process of healing and renewal for the Irish Church and society.

Cardinal Brady notes: “My last meeting with the Holy Father was on the 15th of November at the end of the last plenary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity when we both rejoiced over the success of the International Eucharistic Congress [held in Dublin in June 2012]. Ihink it was a great act of trust to assign that Congress to Ireland, to Dublin”.

The cardinal said that Benedict XVI's concern for the future of the Church in Ireland was evident in his appointment of New York native Archbishop Charles Brown as Apostolic Nuncio to Dublin, rather than a career diplomat. The young theologian had formerly been an official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whohad worked under Cardinal Ratzinger when he was Prefect of the CDF.

But Pope Benedict XVI’s interest in Ireland went beyond current difficulties and future challenges, the cardinal notes. A a teacher and theologian at heart, he was fascinated by Ireland’s legacy of missionary saints: “One of his Wednesday audiences he devoted to Saint Columban. In fact, arrangements were being made to present to the Secretary of State a petition to have Saint Columban declared a co-patron saint of Europe, but that will have to be put on hold for the moment”.

The Primate of All Ireland concluded: “The biggest legacy of all is his teaching, the example of his life, his dedication to the end, and then this courageous decision to step aside. This is typical of the man, not thinking of himself but primarily of the Body of Christ”.

And then of course, there is the one great legacy that Ireland will always have from this pontificate, a prayer for the nation penned by the Pope:

---

Prayer for the Church in Ireland

God of our fathers,
renew us in the faith which is our life and salvation,
the hope which promises forgiveness and interior renewal,
the charity which purifies and opens our hearts
to love you, and in you, each of our brothers and sisters.

Lord Jesus Christ,
may the Church in Ireland renew her age-old commitment
to the education of our young people in the way of truth and goodness,
holiness and generous service to society.
Holy Spirit, comforter, advocate and guide,
inspire a new springtime of holiness and apostolic zeal
for the Church in Ireland.
May our sorrow and our tears,
our sincere effort to redress past wrongs,
and our firm purpose of amendment
bear an abundant harvest of grace
for the deepening of the faith
in our families, parishes, schools and communities,
for the spiritual progress of Irish society,
and the growth of charity, justice, joy and peace
within the whole human family.

To you, Triune God,
confident in the loving protection of Mary,
Queen of Ireland, our Mother,
and of Saint Patrick, Saint Brigid and all the saints,
do we entrust ourselves, our children,
and the needs of the Church in Ireland.
Amen.

---

Today was the most 'crowded' day on Pope Benedict's schedule in his last two weeks as Pope. It started with his last private audience for a visiting head of state..

AUDIENCE FOR
THE PRESIDENT OF GUATEMALA

February 16, 2013

---

This morning, the President of the Republic of Guatemala, H.E. Otto Fernando Pérez Molina, was received in audience by His Holiness Benedict XVI, and afterwards, he met with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, accompanied by Mons. Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States.

During the conversations, the parties expressed satisfaction for the cordial relations between the Holy See and the State of Guatemala. Appreciation was expressed for the special contribution that the Church has offered to the development of the nation, especially in the field of education, the promotion of human and spiritual values, and her social and charitable activities, as after the recent earthquake that struck Guatemala.

They agreed on the need for Church and State to continue working together to resolve the social tragedies of poverty, drug trafficking, organized crime and emigration.

Finally, they dwelt on the importance of defending human life from the moment of conception./DIM]

---

The end of one audience... and now to prepare for the next.

BENEDICT XVI WITH
THE BISHOPS OF LOMBARDY
February 16, 2013

It was the ad-limina visit by the bishops of Lombardy to Benedict XVI, the last group of bishops to be received by Benedict XVI on this every-five-years visit (now every-seven-years because the number of bishops has increased considerably in the past eight years).

Of the three newsphotos of the event available from Yahoo's news service, two were of the Pope's one-on-one meeting with Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, and widely thought to be Italy's strongest hope to regain the Papacy.




Cardinal Scola talks about
the Lombard bishops' visit
with Benedict XVI
Translated from the Italian service of

February 16, 2013

"Lombardy should be the believing heart of Europe". Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of MIlan, said this was the basic message of Benedict XVI when he met the bishops of the region on their ad-limina visit this morning.

Shortly after the audience, Vatican Radio's Luca Collodi met with Cardinal Scola and asked him what the Lombard bishops told the Pope.

CARDINAL SCOLA: We presented to the Pope, with realism, the many points of light that there are in the Church in Lombardy. That there is a base of popular Catholicism that is still remarkably robust - Catholics who, in recent years, for example, thanks to the Second Vatican Council, have learned to take part in the Holy Mass with impressive attention and seriousness.

When I visit the parishes of Milan, I am impressed to see - contrary to what is often said superficially - a great participation in the Mass, people on their feet for as long as two hours if necessary remaining intensely concentrated.

Because of this, almost all the parents request the sacraments for their children, and also why majority of pupils and students in schools, including high schools, choose to join the religious instruction hour.

Or the extraordinary signs of charity, because in all Lombardy, the activities of the Church are so evident - through Caritas and a thousand other instruments - that the institutions of the State could not sustain their work without our help.

But we told him that the cultural situation is more critical, in the sense of culture as the ability to bring the profound experience of encounter with the Lord to the communities, within the concrete situations of their personal lives - their affective relations, matrimony, family, justice, the economy, employment, politics.

It is difficult to communicate all this simply to all the diverse groups that must be addressed. The Pope has always insisted - and this is the theme of this great Pontificate - on the joy of the faith, and this was likewise underscored by all the bishops when they spoke to the Pope about their respective dioceses. But all 13 of us who were there told him we find it a little difficult to convey the message.

We also spoke to him of the work we have done with immigrants, in inter-religious dialog, ecumenism, and relations with the Jews. Considerable time was spent on reflecting about our clergy, on the help that we must give the younger priests, their first assignments to pastoral work, the unity of the clergy.

I think that about summarizes what we discussed. It was a dialogue as in a family, with the Holy Father saying he wanted to listen to us one by one, and during our presentations, he showed a remarkable memory of his visits to our dioceses.

What specific pastoral instructions did the Pope have?
There was one that stood out above all, about which I can say this: At a certain point, considering Lombardy and its centrality, he said that it should be the believing heart of Europe. [The Archdiocese of Milan alone is the continent's largest diocese.] I thought that this was more than just a pastoral program for our dioceses.

Eminence, the Lombard bishops are the last group of bishops whom the Holy Father has met before February 28. What were the sentiments in the group?
We were all very emotional, each of us. The Pope greeted us individually twice, once at the beginning and then at the end. He gave each of us a pectoral cross, and we each conveyed to him our personal best wishes for him and those of our faithful.

There was a marked level of emotion among all of us. And I would say that the Pope was the most serene. But the familial spirit of the dialog was beautiful. We remarked at the end that we felt the responsibility of being the last group of bishops received by him as Pope, and he answered: "This responsibility means that you must become a light for everyone". We hope we are able to live up to that.

Cardinal Scola, it is said that when you first heard about the Pope's renunciation, you told some young people in Milan that you felt like you had been punched in the belly. Many love the Pope, but there is also some disorientation because of his decision, You have written a pastoral letter to your diocese about this...
Yes. I told the young people that my reaction was rather paradoxical. On the one hand, a blow to the belly would make you bend, right? But in this case, the blow makes us raise our head, because the Pope has made us see what faith is, a life of faith, as he has.

The Pope has shown that he is not attached to the things of this world, much less to power, but rather he has shown what it means to abandon yourself totally to God, to what the Spirit says.

And so, we have pulled ourselves together, and perhaps, this event with its mysterious significance serves as an occasion for the Holy Spirit to re-ignite hope and joy in us Christians so that we may speak out about our faith, so that we take on a more vigorous responsibility, a quantum leap of energy in our faith. Especially in Europe, but elsewhere too. Europe of course includes my own diocese, our own country, etc. The world needs Europe and Europe needs a new leap of faith.

The Pope spoke to the Roman clergy about Vatican II, as he has done so many times during his Pontificate. With Vatican II as the key to interpreting the Church today, what characterizes this historical period in the life of the Church?
Vatican-II is the key on two conditions. The first, that the event itself should not be 'isolated' - the vital presence of the Spirit in the Church produces events, and it is through an event like Vatican II, which defines fundamental relationships in the Church, that the first reform is possible.

But one cannot separate the event itself from the doctrinal corpus that Vatican II left us, which, as the Holy Father has said, must be read by the faithful as a unit, starting with the four constitutions, which will be found to show freshness, relevance as well as a program of execution which remains to be done.

I think that the 50th anniversary of the Council, the Year of Faith, and this event - the Pope's renunciation - which constitutes a supreme lesson in Magisterium. can truly represent an occasion of great rebirth of beauty, of truth, of goodness, of the coming of Christ, in the heart of contemporary man. Of that, I am convinced.

Not to mention that if we take, for example, the Vatican-II document on religious freedom, or that on relations with our Jewish brothers [and Muslim, and Hindu, and Buddhist], we see that there is still much to study deeply, to put into practice, to experience.

Think of our country. When it was born, the problem of immigration was non-existent. But now we are witnessing a mixture of peoples which will produce the new European citizen, one we have not seen before.

That's why I think that these three events together - the 50th anniversary of the Council opening, the Year of Faith, and the Holy Father's gesture of renunciation - will restore to Vatican II all its weight and demonstrate all of its relevance. It is for us to take the responsibility that this happens.

Among the Lombard bishops who met with the Pope today was the Bishop of Lodi, Mons. Giuseppe Merisi, who spoke to Alessandro Gisotti about the emotions of this last meeting with Benedict XVI as Pope:

MONS. MERISI: So much sentiment, so much emotion. We were all very moved to see and hear the Holy Father today, to greet him and to thank him. We felt very close to him, and we gathered around him to thank him for his great gifts to the Church.

He spoke to us above all of the Year of Faith, and of the relationship between faith and charity ... He ended the meeting asking us to re-read, re-consider, meditate and pray over both his Message for Lent as well as the earlier Motu Proprio regarding service to charity.

Was there anything that the Pope said today that struck you particularly?
His appeal regarding charity - of charity as the truth of the faith, = and thus, that we must be committed with a dedication born of the gift of the Lord to us, of his Spirit, of the Eucharist, to the persons around us, starting with the least of them, the marginalized, those who most need our attention.

What will you tell the faithful of your diocese?
I will say that the Pope asked us to feel that as a consequence of the Lord's call to us, of the gift of priesthood, our life must be spent in service to all those who are entrusted to our care; and that he said he will always feel close to each of us and to each of our churches.


A group picture of the Lombard bishops with Benedict XVI, who is flanked by Cardinal Scola and Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, former Archbishop of Milan, now apostolic administrator of Vigevano... One might call this a photograph of 'once and future Popes', in two senses, as Cardinal Tettamanzi was the favorite of the Italian media in the conclave of 2005 (he is in the liberal mold of Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, his predecessor as Archbishop of Milan, but younger and healthier).

Benedict XVI and Mario Monti:
Their last meeting
as Pope and Prime Minister
February 16, 2013





Benedict XVI steps down as Pope on February 28. Mario Monti's term as Prime Minister of Italy ends when Italians go to the polls on February 24 and 25 to elect a new Parliament.

The communique from the Press Office reflects the unusual situation of the meeting they had this evening:

---

At 6 p.m. today, Saturday, February 16, the Holy Father Benedict XVI had a private audience with the President of the Council of Ministers of Italy (Prime Minister) Mario Monti for a farewell visit that was particularly cordial and intense.

Prof. Monti expressed to the Holy Father once more the gratitude and affection of the Italian people for his most elevated religious and moral magisterium, and for his attention and great interestt in the problems and hopes of Italy and Europe.

---

Monti is running on a centrist coalition ticket, but polls show the leftist Partito Democrata as the likely winner. Monti is, however, a senator for life in the Italian Senate.







There were at least three times as many newsphotos on Yahoo's news service of their meeting than there were of the Benedict XVI-Scola meeting earlier. (There were also only three newsphotos yesterday of the Benedict XVI-Bagnasco meeting during the ad-limina visit of Ligurian bishops to the Pope. Both cardinals, who share the first name Angelo, are considered papabile in the coming Conclave.)

Thanks again to Aqua who sent me the link to this article with a beautiful title that plays on Joseph Ratzinger's papal name, suggesting openly that Benedict XVI has been a blessing as Pope. From a magazine one did not expect to find any such encomium... One moreover that makes only a few false claims in a routine rehash of some usual media falsehoods the writer has not bothered to verify, so confident is e that they must be fact...The dateline on the post is Monday, February 25, but more likely, it is for the February 18 issue.

A papal benediction
by Jon Meacham

Issue of Monday, Feb. 25, 2013

He has always been a man of paradox. A ferocious intellectual with a kindly face, a scholar in the arena, a German in Italy: Joseph Ratzinger, known to history as Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th bishop of Rome, defies easy categorization.

So it was in the beginning, in the early months of his pontificate, when Benedict--variously caricatured as "God's rottweiler" or the "Panzer Cardinal"--chose to initially address the Church not about discipline or authority but about love.

Issuing his inaugural encyclical (a message intended to be read through the whole Church), the successor to John Paul II called on the faithful to be always in charity: "In all humility we will do what we can, and in all humility we will entrust the rest to the Lord," he wrote at Christmas 2005. "It is God who governs the world, not we. We offer him our service only to the extent that we can and for as long as he grants us the strength."

Now, just over seven years later, his strength is gone, and in a striking, even revolutionary act of humility, Benedict has announced his resignation as the Vicar of Christ, effective at 8 p.m. Rome time on Feb. 28.

A figure as controversial as John Paul II was popular, Benedict XVI has yet again flummoxed his many critics by becoming the first Pope in six centuries to abdicate the Chair of Peter.

And it is now possible that his most enduring act of public witness to the Gospel will be the remarkable spectacle of a prince of the Church voluntarily surrendering the things of this world.

Just as John Paul II offered a testament of suffering in his last years, Benedict XVI has given us something rare among the most mighty: an example of Christian piety that was quite unexpected.

In caricature, Ratzinger has been about power, about quelling dissent and enforcing orthodoxy. In fact, he has always been a more complicated man, at once a reformer (he was initially supportive of the Second Vatican Council) [Oh Mr Meacham, have you not been reading him at all during these past eight years? Or at least, become aware of that lectio mirabilis last Thursday to the clergy of Rome? He is still the fiercest advocate of Vatican II, with an encyclopedic memory of its details and a grand synthesizing overview that made me really appreciate Vatican II through his eyes] and a traditionalist.

For him, salvation and the promise of the faith--that God and the risen Jesus will one day make all things new--are thrilling prospects that can be understood only by drawing on tradition. For Benedict, as for T.S. Eliot in Four Quartets, the way forward is the way back.

His was not a quiet papacy. Though he met with victims of clerical sexual abuse and did more than his predecessors on the insidious questions about years-long cover-ups, Benedict leaves a Church that tends to remain more interested in protecting its priests and bishops than its children. [Another dreadful fallacy because, Mr Meacham, you obviously follow news about the Church and the Vatican only through the highly biased prism and negative filter of MSM, so you do not know what has been happening. It will be difficult ever again for any bishop to behave as Cardinal Mahony did for decades, nor for any victim to keep silent instead of demanding justice right away. Unfortunately one cannot vouch for all priests because, as in any population, there will always be a few unregenerate perverts ]

In early days he provoked a controversy with Islam by citing the views of the 14th century emperor Manuel Palaiologos who said, "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." [Too bad Meacham dismisses the Regensburg lecture with just that incidental citation, completely ignoring its epochal significance!]

Reformers, especially American ones, eager for the ordination of women or a more liberal view of human sexuality got what they expected from Benedict: nothing.

And yet his legacy is not simply one of retrenchment. Quietly and subtly, Benedict has carried forward the more charismatic work of John Paul II to encourage a Catholic culture of evangelism.

When he came to power, Benedict was expected in some quarters to preside over a kind of catacomb church, creating a smaller, purer version of Catholicism. Instead: the 265th Pope is leaving in part because he knows that this is an hour to look outward, not inward.

"Now the door is opening to a missionary church, and Benedict had the humility not to stand on ceremony or inertia but to recognize that he does not have the strength or energy left to lead us through that door," says George Weigel, a biographer of Pope John Paul II who has just published a new book, Evangelical Catholicism: Deep Reform in the 21st-Century Church.

The departing Pope's evangelism is partly a response to the historical reality that the Church, once the center of culture, is in many places now at its periphery. To address this 21st century problem, he has drawn on the 1st century: the Gospel commandment to proclaim the Christian message, as Benedict has said, "to those regions awaiting the first evangelization and to those regions where the roots of Christianity are deep but who have experienced a serious crisis of faith due to secularization."

Unfashionable, perhaps, but Benedict has never worried about fashion (save for his red Prada shoes). [too bad, again, that Meacham allowed himself this completely uncalled-for cheap shot, which is, moreover, completely false.]. As he withdraws from the thick of the world's fight, Benedict has left his successors many tasks and, if they choose to follow it, a course that is, in the words of Benedict favorite St. Augustine, "ever ancient, ever new."


And Damian Thompson has another tribute to Benedict, and in his usual unsentimental but blunt way, he is not afraid to break convention and declare his personal preference openly when speaking about Popes...

Farewell to a modest
and wonderful Pope

February 15, 2013

"You must be awfully shocked by the Pope’s resignation,” people have been saying to me all week. It’s true – I was. For five minutes. But then I thought: how typical of Benedict XVI, the most modest, unsentimental and forward-looking of recent popes. And also, in my opinion, the best.

If that sounds like an odd verdict, perhaps you’ve been watching too much BBC. Auntie has a little circle of Catholic commentators, dogmatic liberals who hark back to the glorious days of the Second Vatican Council. Many are elderly, and hoarse from moaning 24/7 about Benedict “turning back the clock”.

Alas, unlike the Holy Father, they have no intention of retiring to a life of serene contemplation. There they are, sitting by the phone, bus passes at the ready, waiting for the invitation to join Ed Stourton or some Lefty religious correspondent in clucking at the Vatican’s failure to see the light over women priests, gay marriage etc.

These Tabletistas (so called because they write for a “with-it” quasi-Catholic rag called The Tablet) have been tying themselves in knots trying to argue that Benedict was simultaneously a caretaker Pope, an enforcer and a fire-and-brimstone conservative. Their thesis doesn’t work because he was none of those things.

First, that was no caretaker who visited Britain in 2010. Benedict XVI’s address in Westminster Hall was historically important as much for its content as its setting. No Archbishop of Canterbury has ever articulated so crisply the relationship between Britain’s parliamentary tradition and the role of Christianity, which sets out “objective norms governing right action”.

Also, Benedict tackled the huge task of restoring beauty to worship. But this is where we come up against the enforcer problem – that is, he isn’t one. The former Cardinal Ratzinger had to enforce things, in his job monitoring doctrinal orthodoxy, but as Pope Benedict he shied away from arm-twisting. This has allowed bishops, including those in England and Wales, to ignore any of his innovations that don’t take their fancy. Fortunately, young Catholics are so sick of the cod folk-wailing of “worship leaders” that Benedict’s restoration of beauty is being implemented quietly, from the ground up.

Benedict has not altered any teaching that the Church regards as God’s will, but his urge to conserve the faith reflects a gentle search for authenticity rather than tub-thumping intransigence. How many times, compared with John Paul II, has he railed angrily against sexual immorality? Hardly ever. Instead, he has talked urgently about the most poisonous threat facing young people everywhere: drug abuse, that unfailing killer of spirituality.

It is this practical wisdom that lies behind Benedict’s departure. He was at John Paul II’s side when the late Pontiff’s body and mind fell apart on the job, and he thought: I will not let this happen to the Church again. He is leaving office in frail health but with his mental faculties intact.

[This seems to me a very obvious fact that few have pointed out since February 11. Joseph Ratzinger must have started thinking long and hard about the question of papal resignation in those years, never thinking the situation would ever one day apply to himself. He implored his friends during the Conclave, "Do not do this to me. Choose someone younger and abler". But he found himself Pope nonetheless, and becoming so at age 78, would have brought the issue of the human frailty even of Popes to the fore with great personal immediacy. So it would not be a question of whether he would ever resign, but when God would tell him - through some serious disease, or even just the actual but inevitable signs of advanced age - that the time had come. And the time has come.

To our grief and almost inconsolable sense of loss, but we are all happy for him that he came to terms with his increasing limitations, limitations that would make him increasingly unable to fulfill his duties and functions as Pope in the way that he has done everything all his life, totally and with irreproachable excellence.

For this man of God, the Church deserves only the best, and if he can no longer be the best to carry out the leadership of his flock at a time of unimaginable challenges for the faith, he must give way to someone younger and stronger who will hopefully carry on the work he has begun and improve on it. By doing so, he has shown us his bedrock virtues of courage, wisdom and humility, that virtue which is ultimately, obedience to God's will.

On Thursday he delivered an unscripted, intellectually dazzling analysis of recent Catholic history to the clergy of Rome. He ended by expressing the belief that a properly reformed Church is emerging now that various trendy experiments have failed. If so, it is partly thanks to him – the first Pope in 600 years with the modesty to step aside for a stronger man. [Actually, the first Pope to ever step aside for this reason. All the other precedents were by some kind of force majeure. Celestine V comes closest to Benedict's example of self-abnegation, but that humble hermit-monk, octogenarian like Benedict, also also had the disadvantage of being totally unequipped - and without friends and supporters - for the byzantine machinations of a papal court that was steeped in the secular politics of its time. It became literally untenable for him after within just a few months after he was elected Pope in absentia, and without his knowledhe, just to break a Conclave impasse that had lasted over two years.

Benedict is deeply loved and must be aware that he is breaking hearts by abdicating. But he is willing to do so, because he understands the papacy as intimately as any Pope in history and has a rather wonderful message to impart: “This isn’t about me, you know.”

February 17, First Sunday of Lent

THE SEVEN FOUNDER SAINTS OF THE SERVITE ORDERS (Italy, 13th century)
They were rich young men in Florence at the height of the Cathari heresy and widespread political and moral breakdown. They belonged to a group of Marian devotees called the Laudesi (Praisers). It is said that in 1240, they had a vision of Mary who urged them to retire in prayer. They did, to a hilltop near Florence, where four years later, they would have another vision which prompted them to establish the order called Friar Servants of Mary (OSM, from the Latin name) - who follow the Augustinian rule, wear the Dominican habit and live like mendicant friars. Their goals are sanctification of each member, preaching the Gospel and spreading devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. The Servites, as they are commonly known, now have a worldwide family that includes monasteries, religious and secular orders for both men and women, diaconates and secular institutes like the Pontifical Marianum, the leading institute on Mariology. The Seven Founders were canonized in 1888.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.he also thanked eorg/bible/readings/021713.cfm


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

Sunday Angelus - The next to the last for Bdenedict XVI was attended by tens of thousands. He reflected
on the Gospel of the day about the the devil's temptation of Jesus in the desert, saying the choices he
offered were not evil in themselves but false good, which have in common that God is instrumentalized
for self-interests, and that the choice is between 'I and God' (in Italian "l'io e Dio). In his pluri-lingual
greetings, he also thanked everyone for 'the prayers and support you have shown me these days' and asked
for prayers as he and the Roman Curia begin their Lenten spiritual exercises later today.

The spiritual exercises begin at 6 p.m. at the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace.
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture will preach the weeklong
exercises, which end on Saturday morning, Feb. 23.


One year ago today...
The Holy Father presided at a Day of Reflection and Prayer with 133 members of the College of Cardinals
and the 22 cardinals-designate who were formally named in a public consistory on February 18.


Two to translate:
- Vittorio Messori has a lengthy essay in Corriere della Sera today reflecting on Benedict XVI's renunciation and the situation of the Church today.
- Paul Badde wrote a highly personal touching account of Benedict XVI's Ash Wednesday Mass.


And please do not forget:

Please sign up before February 19 and pass on the link.
http://www.praymorenovenas.com/novenas/join-the-novena-for-the-pope?awt_l=Ei.mg&awt_m=3mF9DdVGKYjAMf.

ANGELUS OF 2/17/2013





Vatican crowd is emotional
at Benedict's first Angelus
since announcing his renunciation
Next Sunday he will lead his last Angelus as Pope


VATICAN CITY, February 17 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI blessed the faithful from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square for the first time since announcing his resignation, cheered by an emotional crowd of tens of thousands of well-wishers from around the world.

Smiling broadly, Benedict raised his arms outstretched to the massive crowd in his second-to-last Angelus blessing before leaving the papacy. A huge banner in the square read: "We love you."

The Sunday noon appointment is one of the most cherished traditions of the Catholic Church, and this moment is one of Benedict's last opportunities to connect with the Catholic masses.

The Pope's voice was strong and clear as he looked into hazy sunshine over the square packed with at least 50,000 pilgrims, whom he addressed in Italian, English, French, German, Polish and Spanish.

Benedict made no direct reference to his stunning decision to step down on Feb. 28. But in his comments to Spanish-speaking pilgrims he asked the faithful to `'continue praying for me and for the next pope." And he thanked the faithful for their "affection and spiritual closeness."

The crowd broke out into cheers and wild applause.

The Pope gave particular thanks to the "beloved inhabitants of the city of Rome," a possible hint at the title he will take after retirement. The Vatican has suggested he may be called "emeritus bishop of Rome.

["What a silly comment! He almost always has a special greeting for Romans, especially at the Angelus prayers where he is always not just Pastor of the universal Church but also Bishop of Rome, and therefore, often issues diocesan announcements and observations much like a bishop or a parish priest would at Sunday Mass. I always found these 'parish sidelights' very endearing... As to how he will be called after February 28, regardless of what Vatican canonists decide will be the formal designation, I am almost sure the media will refer to him as 'former Pope Benedict XVI' or 'ex-Pope Benedict XVI' as an appellative to whatever the former title is... As for the address 'His Holiness', so many minor hierarchs in the Christian and Catholic world are designated 'Holiness' - why should he not continue to be addressed as 'Your Holiness'? In any case, he remains the 265th Successor of Peter, after all the titles he now has as Pope.]]

The traditional noon appointment normally attracts a few thousand pilgrims and tourists, but city officials prepared for a crush of people seeking to witness a moment of history.

"We wanted to wish him well," said Amy Champion, a tourist from Wales. "It takes a lot of guts to take the job and even more guts ... to quit."

From Sunday evening, the Pope will be out of the public eye for an entire week: A meditation service at the Vatican marks the beginning of the traditional Lenten period of reflection and prayer.

Rome threw on extra buses and subway trains to help deal with the crowds, and offered free shuttle vans for the elderly and disabled.

While cardinals elect his successor next month in a secrecy-steeped conclave in the Sistine Chapel, the 85-year-old Benedict, the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, will be in retreat at the Holy See's summer estate in the hills southeast of Rome.

After several weeks, he is expected to move into a monastery being refurbished for him behind Vatican City's walls and lead a largely cloistered life.

Pope Benedict XVI told a gathering of Rome's parish priests last week that he will be "hidden to the world" after he steps down at the end of the month.

The Vatican hasn't announced the date of the start of the conclave, but said on Saturday that it might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date it can be launched under current rules. Benedict would have to sign off on any earlier date, an act that would be one of the last of his nearly eight-year papacy.

Meanwhile, the first cardinals started arriving in Rome to begin a period of intense politicking among the `'princes of the church" to decide who are the leading candidates to be the next pope. Guinea-born Archbishop Robert Sarah, a cardinal who leads the Vatican's charity office, told reporters when he arrived Sunday at Rome's airport that the churchmen should select their new leader with `'serenity and trust."

AP's subsequent story explains why there were not as many people as one would have expected yesterday. Whoever was responsible for the unnecessary security measures taken deserves, at the very least, to wear a dunce cap for the next 12 months!



Pope blesses huge crowd
in St. Peter's Square


VATICAN CITY (AP) — His arms outstretched in a symbolic embrace, Pope Benedict XVI blessed tens of thousands of cheering people on Sunday in one of his last appearances as Pontiff from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Last week, 85-year-old Benedict shocked the world by announcing his resignation. He will step down on Feb. 28, planning to retreat to a life of prayer in a monastery behind the Vatican's ancient walls.

The noontime appointment in the vast cobblestone square also served as a kind of trial run for how Rome will handle the logistics, including crowd security, as the city braces for faithful to flock to Rome for the election and installation of the cardinal who will succeed Benedict as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said upward of 100,000 people turned out Sunday and that everything went smoothly. But while there was still space in St. Peter's Square for more, many couldn't get in — or easily out — because entrances from the main boulevard were just too narrow.

The huge crowd — including parents with babies in carriages and strollers, elderly people using canes, and the disabled in wheelchairs — tried to squeeze through two spaces police left open in the metal barricades edging the square. Some people panicked or called out to police to help them get in or out of the square.

Pilgrims and tourists had an easier time if they entered through spaces in the elegant colonnade that architect Gianlorenzo Bernini designed to cradle the sides of the St. Peter's Square.

Benedict seemed touched by the outpouring of affection after his decision to go down in history as the first Pontiff in some 600 years to resign. The Pontiff told cardinals last week that he no longer has the mental and physical stamina to vigorously shepherd the church.

Looking into hazy sunshine Sunday, he smiled shyly at the sight of the crowd below, filled with pilgrims waving their countries' flags and holding up banners with words of support. One group of Italians raised a banner which read: "We love you."

Speaking in Italian, the Pope told the cheering crowd: "Thanks for coming in such numbers! This, too, is a sign of the affection and the spiritual closeness that you are giving me these days." He stretched out his arms as if to embrace the faithful from across the vast expanse of the square.

Benedict made no direct reference to his departure. But in his comments to Spanish-speaking pilgrims he asked the faithful to "continue praying for me and for the next Pope."

The traditional Sunday window appearance normally attracts a few thousand pilgrims and tourists, but this time city officials prepared for as many as 150,000 people seeking to witness one of Benedict's last opportunities to connect with the masses.

Authorities also used the event as a kind of trial run for the crowds expected to flock to the square in the coming weeks for the next pope's installation.

Following tradition, Benedict's successor will make his first papal appearance by stepping onto the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on the square, shortly after puffs of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney tell the world the cardinals have made their secret selection.

On Sunday, extra buses and subway trains ran from Rome's train stations to near the Vatican, and free shuttle vans offered lifts to the elderly or disabled.

Mayor Alemanno has asked Italy's government to put aside its austerity agenda and give Rome a few million euros (dollars) to help pay for security, garbage pickup and other logistics for the Vatican crowds.

On Sunday, several in the crowd were exhausted and shaken by their attempts to get into the square between the metal barriers.

"You can't invite thousands of people and then bottleneck the entrance and exit to the square," said Gianbattista Di Rese, an Italian among the distressed. "Imagine if someone had had a bomb. There could have been hundreds of dead." He got into the square but was stymied trying to get out.

Tourists must go through metal detectors before entering St. Peter's Basilica, but there is no such security to stroll the square.

An Associated Press reporter saw many people give up. Some started to panic and yell at police to do something to ease the bottleneck.

Those who arrived hours before the Pope appeared could enter the square with ease for a chance to join in the show of support for him. "We wanted to wish him well," said Amy Champion, a tourist from Wales. "It takes a lot of guts to take the job and even more guts ... to quit."

But some were dismayed that Benedict broke with the centuries-old tradition that popes serve till their last breath.

A youth group Militia Christi (Latin for Christ's Militia) held a hand-painted banner asking the Pope to stay. "We are asking him to change his mind. He is the good of the Church," said youth GiovanBattista Varricchio.

No decision has been announced on a date for the conclave to elect Benedict's successor, but the Vatican has suggested that it might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date possible under current rules, which require a 15-20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant.

This has set off a debate whether such a change could be justified and whether it might benefit Rome-based cardinals who because of their positions at the Church's headquarters can count on their acquaintance with cardinals around the world. [But this has always been the case since the mid-20th century and its first great communications revolution. Why bring it up now as if it were some sinister scheme?]

"Church law should not be changed on a whim," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, an American Vatican expert. He said changing law "would be disruptive." [Not a whim, at all, Fr. Reese, and not for always, The cardinals at their first general cobgregation of the sede vacante could vote to shorten then stattoy waiting period for this special situation alone, since the death of a Pope would still require the 15-20 days time allowance, taking into account that a Novendiales - the nine-day Mass novena for the departed Pope = must take place before the Conclave begins.]

On Sunday evening, the Pope began a customary week of Lenten period reflection ahead of Easter, and his next public remarks won't come until Feb. 24, when he returns for his final studio window appearance over the square.

In his remarks to the throng Sunday, he told the faithful that during Lent "the church, which is mother and teacher, calls all its members to renew themselves in spirit, to reorient themselves decisively toward God, rejecting pride and egoism to live in love."

Benedict has chosen an Italian cardinal to preach to him and Vatican clergy during closed-door sessions in this week of meditation and prayer. The prelate, Gianfranco Ravasi, heads the Holy See's culture office and is touted by some Vatican watchers ['Some Vatican watchers'? Only John Allen, so far, to my knowledge!] as a leading candidate to be the next pope.

But other observers contend he is heavily identified with one of the rival blocs of Italian prelates in the Vatican's apparatus, which could hurt his chances.







Benedict asks the faithful to
'pray for me and the next Pope'
by Philip Pullella


VATICAN CITY, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, speaking before a larger than usual crowd at his penultimate Sunday address, asked the faithful to pray for him and for the next Pope.

The crowd in St. Peter's Square chanted "Long live the pope!," waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. The 85-year-old Benedict, who will resign on February 28, thanked the crowd in several languages.

The Vatican estimated the crowd at more than 50,000 people, larger than the size which turns out at a normal Sunday address not linked to a specific liturgical feast.

Speaking in Spanish, he said: "I beg you to continue praying for me and for the next Pope".

It was not clear why the Pope chose Spanish to make the only specific reference to his upcoming resignation. [It was not the only specific reference. In each of the greetings, he expressed his gratitude for 'the prayers and support you have given me in these days'. 'These days' certainly did not mean 'the past eight years', although he will express his global thanks, we can be sure, at his last Angelus as Pope. ]

A number of cardinals have said they would be open to the possibility of a Pope from the developing world, be it Latin America, Africa or Asia. [And so, because Benedict happened to say what he said in Spanish, it meant he was endorsing a Latin American??? He could just as easily be endorsing a Spanish cardinal by that illogic. Too much is being read into the most casual things these days!]

After his address, the Pope retired into the Vatican for a scheduled, week-long spiritual retreat and will not make any public appearances until next Sunday.

Speaking in Italian in an earlier part of his address about the season of Lent, in which Christians reflect on their failings and seek guidance in prayer, the Pope spoke of the difficulty of making important decisions.

"In decisive moments of life, or, on closer inspection, at every moment in life, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the ‘I' or God? The individual interest or the real good, that which is really good?", he said.

Since his shock announcement last Monday, the Pope has said several times that he made his decision to become the first Pope in more than six centuries to resign "for the good of the Church". [The ironic thing is that for once, admirers and detractors of Benedict XVI agree on that, even if the latter's reasons are bizarre!]

The Pope says his physical and spiritual forces are no longer strong enough to sustain him in the job of leading the world's some 1.2 billion Roman Catholics at a time of difficulties for the Church in a fast-changing world.









The streamer 'RIMANI'in the background is Italian for "Stay!"

But the duty Benedict XVI has taken upon himself is inexorable,
and though he leaves the public stage after February 28, he will stay on in our hearts and prayers,
'dolce Cristo in terra'.

The faithful began converging at St. Peter's Square well before noontime.

The Pope's Angelus reflection:
"In life's decisive moments,
do we want to follow ego or God?"
Does individual interest obscure that which is truly good?
February 17, 2013

---

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last Wednesday, with the traditional rite of the ashes, we entered the season of Lent, a time of conversion and penitence in preparation for Easter.

The Church, as Mother and Teacher, calls on all her members to renew themselves in spirit, and to reorient themselves decisively to God, renouncing pride and selfishness to live in his love.

In this Year of Faith, Lent is a propitious time to rediscover faith in God as the basic criterion of our life and the life of the Church. This always entails a battle, spiritual combat, because the spirit of evil naturally opposes our sanctification and seeks to make us deviate from God's way.

That is why on the first Sunday of Lent, the Gospel about the temptation of Jesus in the desert is proclaimed every year.

In fact, Jesus after having received his 'investiture' as the Messiah - he who is 'anointed' by the Holy Spirit - at his baptism on the Jordan, was led by the same Spirit to the desert to be tempted by the devil.

At the point of beginning his public ministry, Jesus had to unmask and push back against the false images of the Messiah that his tempter proposed. But these temptations are also false images of man,
which in any time, undermine conscience, since they are dressed up as convenient and efficient proposals, good ones even.

The evangelists Matthew and Luke present three temptations proposed to Jesus, differing from each other only in their order. But their central nucleus always consists in instrumentalizing God for self- interest, giving more importance to success and material goods.

The tempter is devious: He is not urging evil directly, bur rather a false good, making it appear that the true realities are power and whatever satisfies our primary needs.

This way, God becomes secondary, he is reduced to a means, he is made to be unreal, he no longer counts - he disappears. In the last analysis, faith is in play in the matter of temptation, because God is at stake.

In decisive moments of life - but on closer look, at every moment - we face a crossroads: Do we want to follow the ego (I) or God? [in Italian, beautifully put: 'io o Dio?' - in which just one letter reduces almighty God to almighty I instead]. Does individual interest obscure true Good, that which is truly good?

As the Fathers of the Church taught us, the temptations were part of Jesus's 'descent' to our human condition, into the abyss of sin and its consequences. A 'descent' that Jesus followed to the very end, to his death on the Cross and to hell, which is the extremest distance from God.

In this way, he is the hand that God holds out to man, to the lost sheep, to bring him back to salvation. As St. Augustine teaches, Jesus took those temptations upon himself to give us his victory
(cfr Enarr. in Psalmos, 60,3: PL 36, 724).

Let us not therefore fear to face ourselves this battle against the spirit of evil. What is important is that we are doing it with him, with Christ the Victor.

To be with him, let us turn to our Mother, Mary: If we invoke her with filial confidence in times of trial, she will make us feel the powerful presence of her divine Son, so that we may repel temptations with the Word of Christ and return God to the center of our life.

In English, he said:
I greet all the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present for today’s Angelus. Today we contemplate Christ in the desert, fasting, praying, and being tempted. As we begin our Lenten journey, we join him and we ask him to give us strength to fight our weaknesses.

Let me also thank you for the prayers and support you have shown me in these days. May God bless all of you!

In Spanish, he said:
During this Lent, let us ask the Lord that the contemplation of the mysteries of his passion, death and resurrection may help us follow him even closer.

At the same time, from my heart, I thank everyone for your prayers and affection these days. I beg you to continue praying for me and for the next Pope, as well as for the spiritual exercises which I will begin this afternoon with members of the Roman Curia.

Filled with faith and hope, let us commend the Church to the maternal protection of the Most Blessed Mary. Many thanks.

---