BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

PORTUGUESE MEDIA OPEN THEIR ARMS
AND PAGES TO THE POPE

Here's a sampling of the May 10 newspapers:

'Everything is ready to welcome the Pope:
The Pope expresses his joy to be visiting Lisbon, Fatima and Porto'
24 HORAS : 'By land, sea or air, the Pope will come to Portugal!'
O PRIMEIRO DE JANEIRO: 'Not even the volcano can keep the Pope away'



JORNAL DO NOTICIAS: 'Everything's in place to welcome the Pope' and reports
the Holy Father's Regina caeli words: 'Joy in anticipating the pilgrimage'

Its 'Percorso del Papa' features the best of the animated infographics I have seen on the events and locations of the papal visit.


CORREIO DO MANHA: 'The faithful await the Pope's arrival'
DIARIO DE NOTICIAS: 'The four days of the Pope's visit' - an easy to-follow event map.




The stage is set
for the Pope's visit
Translated from
the Italian service of

May 10, 2010


The eve of the Pope's departure for Portugal. Great expectation in Fatima, where the Pope will celebrate Mass on the tenth anniversary of the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco.

There is great excitement in Lisbon, Porta and Fatima, the three cities which Benedict XVI will visit in the next few days. The Pope will be leaving Fiumicino airport in Rome in the morning and will reach Lisbon around 11 a.m. local time.

The centerpiece of Benedict XVI's 15th international trip as Pope will be the celebrations in Fatima which also marks the 83rd anniversary of the first apparition in 1917. Here is a report from Roberto Piermarini:

Portugal is ready to welcome Benedict XVI whom the local media are calling 'the third Pope of Fatima', after his predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II.

In Lisbon, large blue signs everywhere reading 'Obrigado Bento XVI' (Thank you, Benedict XVI) can be found in all the important places of the historical city center and along the Tagus River on whose right bank the Pope will be celebrating Mass in Europe's largest city square, the Placa del Comerzio still better known by its older name, Terreiro do Paco.

The festive spirit was building up in the hours leading to the visit. Newspapers and TV which have been focused on fears that Greece's financial and economic crisis could happen next in Portugal have nonetheless given the papal visit prominent play.

Many intellectuals who are declared agnostics or non-believers have written articles or have gone on talk shows to exalt the spiritual, moral and intellectual depth of the Pope and to defend him from the attacks in recent weeks.

Benedict XVI is visiting a nation where secularization has undermined the strong Portuguese folk religiosity - 88% call themselves Catholic but only 20% are practising.

After having legalized divorce and abortion, the cabinet of the Socialist Premier Jose Socrates has also approved gay marriage, but the law has been blocked so far by the President of the Republic on the ground that it is unconstitutional.

For the Pope's visit, the government declared a day off for all government workers - May 11 in Lisbon, and May 13 for the rest of the country.

Catholic media have been playing up the motto of the visit, "With you, we walk in hope", especially as it applies to topics like faith and reason, holiness and evangelization, that the Pope is expected to address during his various meetings in Lisbon, Fatima and Porto with a wide range of listeners: the worlds of culture, science and the arts; workers carrying out various pastoral ministries; and priests.

But Benedict XVI's 15th international visit is distinguished above all by its Marian dimension in Fatima, the religious heart of Portugal. In 1917, three young shepherds, Lucia and her younger cousins Jacinta and Francisco experienced multiple apparitions of Mary.

Benedict XVI is linked to Fatima above all by his theological commentary about the apparitions and the so-called 'third secret' when the Vatican disclosed this in 2000.

The Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Policarpo, said of the commentary that "it remains the peak of everything that has been said about the subject".

Upon his arrival in Fatima, Benedict XVI's first event at the Chapel of the Apparitions is to remember John Paul II and the May 13, 1981 assassination attempt on him.

In Fatima this time, Benedict XVI will deliver a meditation on history, and the significance of Fatima in the history of man's spirituality.

Antonio Pinheiro, from our Portuguese service, interviewed Mons. Jorge Ferreira da Costa Ortiga, Archbishop of Braga and president of the Portuguese bishops' conference:
MONS FERREIRA: In opur day, the intrinsic dimension of the human being has been neglected, and thus, too, that of society - a set of absolute and permanent values that transcend frontiers have been broken in favor of a relativism that closes off the horizon of human life and limits it simply to the world of exclusively material values.

This is the context within which the Pope is visiting Portugal. He will surely bring us the message that while it is necessary to live in the world and avail of its material conditions, there is another dimension of man's being that must be discovered, or rediscovered - a life that is rooted in values that point to the right path, values that the Catholic Church has always taught as values that belong to all men.

It will be these values that will lead us out of crisis, since the crisis itself has a positive dimension, as a challenge against which we can test ourselves.

And whatever message the Holy Father will have for the Portuguese people is also a message to the Church in general. If we think of Fatima as 'the altar of the world', I am convinced that this message will go beyond our frontiers into the greater European space, and even beyond, to all Christians who will have an opportunity to listen and to accept it.

Benedict XVI knows as no one else the heart and the significance of the Message of Fatima, particularly of the 'Third Secret', having written the theological commentary on the apparitions in Fatima and the visions manifested to the three seers. Will his presence in Cova da Iria [the apparition site] give new vigor to the message of Fatima?
I am sure of that. I think that Fatima has reached the consciousness of everyone in the world, not just the Catholic world. The presence of the Pope provides the best occasion that the world which more or less believes the reality of Fatima may become more sensitive to the spiritual experience of which the Shrine is the depository.

Moreover, this Fatima consciousness will surely act on many others who may be curious to know more about it, and from this first contact, many can arrive at its most profound and intimate message - why not say it? - conversion, renewal, the belief that human life should and can be different by being oriented to other horizons.

The motto "With you, we walk in hope' - do you think that Portuguese society, in general, will be able to catch this light from which they can draw hope?
I believe so. With the Holy Father, we do not simply want to craft a discourse, as it were, but to narrate the parable of a great hope. A parable of hope that says to the Portuguese people that although we are living in a truly difficult time - the message of Christ urges us to walk on, go forward, and that tomorrow can be better if each of us do not rely on solutions from outside but offer our own contribution.