Today is a good day to start an annual novena for Benedict XVI on the occasion of his double gala celebration this year - his 88th birthday on April 16, and the tenth anniversary of his election as Pope on April 19. AD MULTOS ANNOS, YOUR HOLINESS!
Thanks to Beatrice and to her source, Antonio Socci's Facebook pages, some reflections that are 'necessary' for the sake of objectivity and fairness and therefore, out of respect for fact...
Pictures speak louder than words
EASTER ATTENDANCE
AT ST. PETER'S SQUARE -
2010 AND 2015
Socci posted this on his Facebook page, with the caption: "BERGOGLIO 2015 - URBI ET ORBI BLESSING AT EASTER - NB: THE SAME WEATHER - BENEDICT XVI 2010". It is obvious, of course, that the weather on Easter 2010 was even worse than last Sunday, and yet, and yet...
Let me translate Beatrice's introduction to Socci's Facebook entry:
Many people commented yesterday on the attendance (or deficiency thereof) at the Easter Mass celebrated by Pope Francis on St. Peter's Square [and the Urbi et Orbi blessing that followed soon afterwards]. I refrained, at the time, from adding my own personal commentary.
But I saw that promptly, the [Bergoglian] firemen on duty rushed quickly to counter those who noted the relatively poor attendance on Sunday by saying it was because of... the rain. Of course, it rains in Rome on Easter Sunday - perhaps not frequently, but not rarely, either, in early spring.
It is, of course, absurd and even indecent, especially for Catholics, to set up a petty war of numbers between the 'two Popes'.
[Even if that is what the Francis fanworld has been doing since March 13, 2013 - to hype their obvious 'insurmountable advantage in popularity' over Benedict XVI, who, I am sure, never aspired to be a popular Pope, only a good one. Not that JMB/PF does not have the same goal.]
But... we are only human, after all, and personally, I invoke the very human right to respond.
Since March 2013, those who were immediately branded "Ratzinger nostalgians' (sic!) have had to put up with the incessant comparisons made between Francis and his predecessor, obviously to the detriment of the latter. Our ears have been battered by anecdotal accounts of the famous "Francis effect", of oceanic crowds at his Angelus prayers and audiences, and even unprecedented lines before the confessionals!
[One must note, by the way, that every Pope since John Paul II has been credited with working their own positive effect - e.g., 'the Wojtyla effect' and the 'effetto Benedetto', a felicitous phrase in Italian. One of these days, I ought to post a compendium of all the articles on the 'effetto Benedetto' in his time.]
So, we can now savor an innocent little payback (not against the Pope, but against his diehard incense-bearers), for which we beg pardon from the Supreme Judge.
Antonio Socci's photo documentation was accompanied by this commentary:
Since there are those who claim that the rain in Rome yesterday accounted for the relatively poor attendance in St. peter's Square on Easter Sunday, let us compare it to Easter Sunday 2010 (Remember that it came in the midst of the general media hurricane recycling the outrage over sex-offender priests) [that had dominated reporting on the Church in 2001-2002 - but in 2010, the object was to force Benedict XVI to resign from 'shame', even if the media failed miserably, despite the mightiest huffing and puffing, to prove he was culpable in any way, directly or indirectly, for any related sins and crimes]. It also rained that day - and the photographic comparison is 'pitiless'... GRANDE BENEDETTO XVI!
On Easter 2010, it rained so hard that the photo shows the raindrops on the camera lens...
Beatrice continues:
I have not read the reactions to Socci's post, but later, he felt it necessary to make his point clear in not quite gracious terms:
I see that these photos have 'eaten up' some people with envy. But I repeat what I wrote under the photos and which apparently was not read by many who have reacted with commentary:
Personally, I reject numerical comparisons, but since the Bergoglian court continually exalts the Argentine Pope's massive triumphal crowds, comparing it to his predecessor's (the Vatican itself has published such statistics and comparisons), then I say: Deal with it [what the photos show]! But above all, think!
Beware of the media's 'box office' mentality and the worldliness of mediatic success, especially those that turn out to be bluff!
A personal comment to conclude: Rain never kept the faithful from being there for Benedict XVI (even if no one wants to talk about it now), and no offense meant to myopic ideologues!
I remember particularly the marvellous images of the 'rain of faith' on October 7 in Mariazell, Austria.
[Not to mention that moving and awe-inspiring WYD Eucharistic Vigil taking place in a near-Biblical freak storm-deluge at Cuatro Vientos in Madrid in 2010!]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/04/2015 21:11]