This is the sort of story one will not find in regular news reports. Thanks to Dr. Clark, a scholar who specializes in the history of the Church in China, and who has made many contributions on this subject to Ignatius Insight.
Catholics in Paris
thank Benedict XVI,
await new Pope
By Anthony E. Clark, Ph.D.
March 7, 2013
I am now in Paris to conduct research for my next book, on a French bishop in China, but I always come to Paris as a pilgrim first, and despite the refrain one often hears that, “France is no longer Catholic,” Paris is still a Catholic city.
As large groups of Asian tourists snap photographs of the medieval vaulted arches and rose windows, daily Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral is well attended by French Catholics; before Mass they kneel in the choir stalls, pray rosaries, read the Divine Office, or say devotions in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
As I prayed at a side chapel before Mass, the young man beside me prayed his rosary, and when he received a phone call he answered his call with a whispered, “I’m praying right now” (Je prie maintenant).
At another church, almost as famous as Notre-Dame Cathedral here in Paris – the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal – one barely has room to stand as the crowds make their way to pray to Saint Vincent de Paul or Saint Catherine Labouré.
The city’s churches have displayed large banners in appreciation of the life and example of Benedict XVI, each one simply saying, “Merci.”
Photos taken by Dr. Clark: Above, in Notre Dame Cathedral; below, St. Procure book exhibit, and St. Germain de Pres church.
At the renowned La Procure bookstore near Saint Sulpice church, a book exhibit in honor of Pope Benedict XVI is located at the store’s entrance, and commemorative photo books in his honor are sold throughout the city.
It is clear that most Parisian Catholics are attached to Benedict XVI; Catholic bookstores brim with his books and recent DVDs about his life, though it is also clear that they anxiously await the next Holy Father.
The Church in France remains divided – the majority of vocations are in Traditionalist seminaries – and the next Pope’s ability to mitigate the antagonisms between the growing Traditionalist community and the historically unsympathetic French Catholic hierarchy will figure largely in the future of French Catholicism.
But despite the Church’s internal tensions in France, larger tensions between French Catholics and the secular culture that surrounds them has, it seems, begun to create greater Catholic solidarity.
As the Church in France recoils temporarily from political and secular assaults, it continues to celebrate the life and service of Benedict XVI, and waits to replace the “Merci” banners in appreciation for the service of Benedict XVI with “Bienvenue” banners to welcome the next leader of the Church, and of France, the “eldest daughter of the Church.”
After Rome, whose communal government posted 'GRAZIE - RIMARRA CON NOI' (Thank you - you will always be with us') in the city center the day Benedict XVI ended his Pontificate, I have not come across any other reports of such THANK-YOU posters. It's a very touching gesture... And French Catholics are always capable of surprising us. Think of the 300,000 who turned up in Paris for Benedict XVI's Mass in September 2008. Or those who turned up to protest the government's gay 'marriage' law last year... And Beatrice has posted on her site at least six special magazine issues dedicated to Benedict XVI (which I will post about later)...
And in the United Kingdom, an initiative and a website called GENERATION BENEDICT was launched on February 13 with the following message:
generationbenedict.wordpress.com/
WELCOME TO GenerationBENEDICT!
Pope Benedict has been responsible for the conversion, reversion, vocation and the deepening of faith of many young Catholics.
At the time of his visit to the UK, many Catholics were luke-warm, even living their lives completely at odds to the Church. During this visit, and also World Youth Days in Sydney and Madrid, he has connected with them through his eloquence, his love and genuine concern. Who is God calling you to be?
Pope Benedict will be truly missed by our generation. Those who have met him look upon him fondly as a gentle grandfatherly figure, as he has pointed us towards Christ, at a point in time when many of us were at a crossroads, telling us not to settle for second best, but to strive for sainthood.
Over the next 40 days of Lent, 40 young people from Generation Benedict will each be sharing how he has touched their hearts and changed their lives.
Without knowing that the testimonial came from GenBen-UK (as I will call them, to distinguish it from the far older GenBen-Germany (whose recent activities I have yet to check, shame on me!), I did post one of the Lenten testimonials, by Colette Powers, which was published in Catholic Herald. So now I have a fund of 39 other testimonials to tap. The site has lots of great features already, plus a loving little video tribute to GrandPapa Bene
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5rQsIAlfBoU
The YouTube video tributes are of course another great resource yet untapped by me...
OK, I have now checked the GenBen-Germany site.
www.generation-benedikt.de/index.html
They do have a message of thanks to the Holy Father dated February 28, in which they say it is just to formally say Thank you in place of a commensurate appreciation of his Pontificate which will come in time. I will translate later.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/03/2013 14:10]