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BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

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See preceding page for earlier posts today, 10/19/10.





BENEDICT XVI AND THE SYNODAL ASSEMBLY

Regretfully I have been unable to make regular postings about the Synodal Assembly, but fortunately, the secretariat of the Bishops' Synod has been very diligent and mostly prompt on posting bulletins, generally twice a day, reporting on the events at the General Congregations (full assembly) held twice a day last week, with summaries (sometimes the full address) of interventions by participants and guests alike.

All these are available in English and the other official Vatican languages on www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_24_speciale-medio-oriente-2010/bollettino_24_speciale-medio-oriente-2010_index...
As the Vatican webpages are fairly stable, it is unlikely that these posts will be taken offline at any time in the foreseeable future.



The Holy Father at the Oct. 18 morning session (Photos by CPP).

According to the Bulletins, the Holy Father registered a near-perfect daily attendance record so far:
- He was present at each of the morning congregations on October 11, 12, 14, 15, and 18. Oct. 13 was a Wednesday, and that morning, the Synod participants called on Italian President Giorgio Napolitano at the Quirinale, while the Pope held his General Audience.
- He also came back for each of the evening free discussion hours on Oct. 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15.

Strangely, there has not been a single news report about these free discussions, despite the attendance of the Pope.

He was not present at the Saturday morning congregation because he had a number of private audiences. There was no discussion hour on Saturday evening, when the participants attended the Verdi Requiem performance with the Pope, nor on Monday evening, when the assembly broke up into its working groups who are now drafting the propositions they will submit to the Pope for consideration in his post-Synodal Exhortation.

[There has been no news on when he will be issuing his Post-Synodal Exhortation on the Word of God following the General Synodal Assembly on that subject in 2008. He issued the Post-Synodal Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis on the Oct. 2005 General Assembly on the Eucharist in March 2007. By that timetable, the document on the Word of God assembly is now overdue. Then there was the special assembly on Africa last year.]

Meanwhile, the Synodal Fathers summarized yesterday the first week of the two-week Synodal Assembly in a full report that can be found on:
www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_24_speciale-medio-oriente-2010/02_inglese/b17_02.html#RELATIO_POST_DISCEP...


Synod Fathers reflect on
first week of deliberations



19 OCT 2010 (RV) - The Post-Discussion Report summarizing the main issues discussed over the past week by bishops attending the Synod for the Churches of the Middle East was read out to the assembly Monday morning. The bishops continued their work in the afternoon, in closed-door, small group sessions.

“We must become people of the Bible” – that’s the essential message behind the post discussion report. An invitation and a challenge to clergy and the faithful in the Middle East to live the Christian witness to peace, justice, communion and honesty.

The report raises the questions of the freedom of religion and of conscience, the equality of citizens before the law, and the importance of the mass media as a useful and powerful tool for communicating the Christian message. Also:
- Catholic education contributes to creating citizens committed to justice, peace and solidarity.
- Peace and development in the Mideast must be encouraged so that Christians will remain in the region.
- By the same token, immigration of Christians [almost all of them as workers] towards the region, particularly from Asia and Africa, poses another pastoral challenge to the Churches.
- Women, the family and young people should be supported and the role of the laity in pastoral and ecclesial life reinforced.
- Monastic and contemplative life should be rediscovered and a “Bank of Priests” and another for lay faithful were suggested to help fill the gaps in zones where they’re lacking.

The report calls the division of Christians a “scandal” that must be healed and the synod should help further communion and unity with the Orthodox Churches so that one day Christmas and Easter can be celebrated together.

The report favors a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, rejects anti-Semitism and calls for dialogue at all levels with Jews.

Muslims and Christians should treat “serenely and objectively the subjects which concern the identity of man, justice, the values of a worthy social life and of reciprocity.”

It was also suggested that the dialogue not be limited to moderate currents of Islam but should also engage fundamentalists and extremists who “profoundly” affect the masses. [Easy to say, but how to do that? The fundamentalists are by nature deaf to any other 'logic' but their own???]

The report concludes with a reminder to bishops that their real job is yet to begin, in communicating what has been accomplished to the faithful back home – and implementing the Synod directives and recommendations.


Synod report summarizes suggestions
for strengthening Church and dialogue

By Cindy Wooden



VATICAN CITY, Oct. 18 (CNS) -- Specific synod suggestions for a common Catholic-Orthodox celebration of Easter, wider authority for Eastern Catholic patriarchs -- including participation in conclaves to elect a pope -- and the need for local dialogue with Muslims and Jews were repeated in the midterm report of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East.


Left, Patriarch Naguib; extreme right, Cardinal Foley.

Coptic Patriarch Antonios Naguib of Alexandria, Egypt, the synod's recording secretary, presented his summary of synod speeches and suggestions Oct. 18 and gave synod members a list of 23 questions to discuss in their small working groups.

The questions were designed to help synod members draft proposals to be presented to Pope Benedict XVI before the synod formally ends Oct. 24 with a Mass.

The need for a common date for Easter, and also for Christmas, "is a pastoral necessity," especially because of the numbers of marriages between Christians of different churches and because it would be "a powerful witness" of Christian unity in the region, the patriarch said.

The continuing emigration of Christians from the Middle East, especially the emigration of the young and the well-educated, threatens the very survival of Christianity in the region in which it was born, the midterm report said.

War, conflict, economic and political pressures all have combined to urge people to flee the region, the report said. Christian leaders and all people of good will must pressure their political leaders to work for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an end to the ongoing violence and instability in Iraq, it said.

However, Patriarch Naguib said, "the danger that threatens Christians in the Middle East comes not only from their minority status, or external threats, but above all from their distance from the truth of their Gospel, their faith and their mission" to be Christian witnesses.

"The true tragedy of man is not when he suffers because of his mission, but when he has no more mission and thereby loses the meaning and purpose of his life," it said.

Patriarch Naguib told the synod, "The number of persons in the Church is not as important as their living their faith and effectively transmitting the message" of God's love for each person.

The majority of Catholics in the Middle East belong to Eastern Catholic churches -- the Chaldean, Coptic, Armenian, Maronite or Melkite churches -- and for many of those communities, there are more faithful living outside the Middle East than inside the region.

Church law gives the patriarchs and synods of the Eastern churches a large degree of autonomy and decision-making power over the territory of their traditional homelands, but gives the Pope jurisdiction over the Eastern churches' dioceses in the rest of the world.

In their speeches to the synod Oct. 11-16, members "emphasized the need" to extend the jurisdiction of the patriarchs to all members of their churches, Patriarch Naguib said.

"How can one be 'father and head' of a people without a head?" he asked, adding that "communion is a personal relationship, animated by the Holy Spirit," and not a jurisdictional relationship dictated by geography.

The heads of the Eastern churches contribute to making the Church truly catholic, he said, so the patriarchs should be automatic "members of the college that elects the Supreme Pontiff" without having to be named cardinals first, he said.

Chaldean Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria, told reporters Oct. 18 that the patriarchs are not looking for power and influence, but for a better way to express to all Catholics the communion that exists between them and the Pope, and the importance of the papacy for Eastern Catholics as well as for those of the Latin rite.

Throughout the synod, members discussed the need for full freedom of religion and conscience, for democracy and for a greater separation between government and religion throughout the region.

But members thought the synod organizers' use of the term "positive secularism" to describe religion-state separation was problematic, because secularism implies ignoring or even denying the religious values of a nation's people, the patriarch said.

"We prefer the term 'civic state'" to describe a political system based on "respect for each person and individual freedom, equality and full citizenship, the recognition of the role of religion -- even in public life -- and moral values," he said.

Despite the rise since the 1970s of "political Islam" in the region, Catholics must remember that Christians and Muslims lived side by side in the region for 14 centuries, often sharing the same challenges and tragedies.

"We must not argue with Muslims, but love them, hoping to elicit reciprocity from their hearts," Patriarch Naguib said.

At the same time, the synod called on Catholics to demonstrate awareness of sharing their destiny with their Muslim and Jewish neighbors by not focusing only on defending the rights of Christians, but engaging in work for the common good, he said.

The synod report called for continued support for Catholic schools in the Middle East, because the schools not only educate Catholics and give them the tools they need to survive in the region, they also are the primary place where the church shows that it is ready, willing and able to work with Muslims for the good of society and where Christians and Muslims learn to live and work side by side.

Cardinal John P. Foley, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, told reporters the Catholic schools in the Middle East "make a great contribution to mutual understanding," and helping the schools is a powerful, concrete investment in a future where members of different religions work together.

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Wednesday, Oct. 20, 29th Week in Ordinary Time

ST. MARIA BERTILLA BOSCARDIN (Italy, 1888-1922), Nun (Sisters of St. Dorothy) and Nurse
Anna Francesca Boscardin was born to a poor peasant family in northern Italy, with a violent drunk for a father. With limited schooling and often the butt of jokes because she was simple-minded and had few talents, she joined the Sisters of St. Dorothy in Vicenza in 1904, taking the name Maria Bertilla, and was assigned to work in the kitchen, bakery and laundry, In 1907, she started training as a nurse at a children's hospital run by the sisters, where she seemed to find her true vocation. During World War I, she cared for Italian soldiers in a hospital in Treviso, staying with her patients even when the hospital was bombed, for which she was commended by local authorities. A supervisor, jealous of the nun's growing reputation, reassigned her to the hospital laundry in Vicenza. But the congregation's mother-general, hearing of this, made her supervisor of the children's ward of the hospital. She died in 1922 after suffering many years from a painful tumor. Many healing miracles were reported at her tomb. She was beatified in 1952 and canonized in 1961. Many of her former patients were present at her canonization.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/102010.shtml



No papal stories in today's OR. Page 1 stories: Synodal fathers prepare their propositions for the Pope; Muslim terrorists storm Chechen Parliament and kill 3 before they themselves are killed; French President Sarkozy stands firm on his decision to raise retirement age from 60 to 62 on the sixth day of strikes and protests against his policy; international conference in Rome on Afghanistan foresees full responsibility for national security to be taken on by the Afghans themselves after 2014, wit international forces continuing to lend support.


THE POPE'S DAY

General Audience - The Holy Father's catechesis is on St. Elizabeth of Hungary. And as expected, he names
24 bishops who will become cardinals on Nov. 20.




The Italian service of Reuters reported earlier today that a Rome review tribunal has rejected the request of the Vatican bank IOR to release 23 million euros sequestered earlier because of an alleged violation of anti-money laundering regulations by the IOR; and that it will widen its investifation to other IOR accounts in Italian banks. Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican press director, made this statement in response (in translation):

We have learned with amazement of the news that the review tribunal has confirmed the preventive sequestration of funds deposited by IOR in an account with Credito Artigiano. We believe that this arose from a problem of formal interpretation. The officials of IOR maintain that they will clarify the question as soon as possible with the competent offices.

This issue first came up several weeks ago, at which time IOR officials said they were confident they could clear up the question as soon as possible, but have obviously failed to do so yet. It seems, however, that the premise of the accusation is that the two questioned IOR accounts are not really IOR's at all but held in the name of a client or clients, and that Italian banking authorities insist this name or names be revealed. Obviously, the IOR comes out the 'villain' if its word is not taken that it owns the accounts and is not covering up for unnamed clients!

Despite the announcement today of new cardinals to be named, the Yahoo headline list is still dominated by the 'Vatican claims the Simpsons are Catholic' story.
OR editor Vian should realize by now how idiotic it is for the Pope's newspaper to dabble in showbiz at all! - Anything that is published in the OR is automatically considered by the secular media to be the thinking of 'the Vatican'. if not 'the Pope' himself, not of the single OR writer whose personal and idiosyncratic views his editor chooses to publish on Page 1!

The Vatican should not be encumbered with unnecessary conceits like Vian's - certainly, he has managed to draw attention to the OR which it otherwise would not have, but is this the kind of attention Vian wants? None of the pop culture pieces he has decided to play up in the OR has advanced the cause of culture one bit, because instead of serving to start any meaningful discussion, they end up merely being ridiculed. Saner minds in the Vatican should tell him this!There's a wealth of subjects in the world that the OR could better accommodate in its sparse 8 pages daily, than to use Page 1 no less for a review of a U2 concert or to claim gratuitously that a cartoon family is Catholic, to name just the last two Vian bombs.

When Benedict XVI named Vian editor in 2007, Vian himself said that he received two specific directives from the Pope: have more reporting about the Oriental churches and use more women writers. He was not told to 'make the OR hip by playing up pop culture every chance you get'! Yet, even during the current Synodal Assembly for the Middle East, there has been no appreciable emphasis on the Oriental churches in the OR content, and only two women bylines come to mind (Lucetta Scaraffia and Anna Foa). Should Vian not consider the Pope's agenda before he does his own? And should he not have a better sense of priorities?

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BENEDICT XVI NAMES
23 NEW CARDINALS
IN HIS THIRD CONSISTORY

Translated from


As pre-announced in news reports, the Holy Father today, at the end of his plurilingual greetings to various pilgrim groups at the General Audience, made the following announcement:





And now it is with joy that I announce that on November 20 there will be a consistory at which I will name new members of the College of Cardinals.

Cardinals have the task of helping the Successor of Peter in the fulfillment of his principal mission and as the perpetual and visible foundaion of unity in faith and communion within the Church
(cfr Lumen gentium, n. 18).

Here are the names of the new cardinals:

- Mons. Angelo Amato, S.D.B., Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood

- His Beatitude Antonios Naguib, Patriarh of Alexandria of the Copts (Egypt)

- Mons. Robert Sarah (Guinea), President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum

- Mons. Francesco Monterisi, Arch-Priest of the Papal Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls

- Mons. Fortunato Baldelli, Major Penitentiary

- Mons. Raymond Leo Burke (USA), Prefect of teh Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Segnatura

- Mons. Kurt Koch (Switzerland), President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity

- Mons. Paolo Sardi, Vice-Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church

- Mons. Mauro Piacenza, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy

- Mons. Velasio De Paolis, C.S., President of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of teh Holy See

- Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture

- Mons. Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, Emeritus Archbishop of Lusaka (Zambia)

- Mons. Raúl Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, Emeritus Archbishop of Quito (Ecuador)

- Mons. Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

- Mons. Paolo Romeo, Archibishop of Palermo (Italy)

- Mons. Donald William Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, DC

- Mons. Raymundo Damasceno Assis, Archbishop of Aparecida (Brazil)

- Mons. Kazimierz Nycz, Archbishop of Warsaw (Poland)

- Mons. Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, Archbishop of Colombo (Sri Lanka)

- Mons. Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising

I have also decided to elevate to the rank of cardinal two prelates adn two ecclesiastics who have distinguished themselves for their generosity and dedication in service to the Church. They are:

- Mons. José Manuel Estepa Llaurens, Emeritus Archbishop and Military Ordinary of Spain

- Mons. Elio Sgreccia, former President of the Pontifical Academy for Life

- Mons. Walter Brandmüller (Germany), former President pf the Pontifical Commission for Historical Sciences

- Mons. Domenico Bartolucci, former Musical Director of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir.

The list of the new cardinals reflects the universality of the Church. They come from various parts of the world and carry out different tasks in the service of the Holy See or in direct contact with the People of God as Fathers and pastors of their local Churches.



P.S. Since I originally used the Vatican Radio report as my basic post for this news, I have since inserted into the RV list the ages of the new cardinals-elect.

Pope announces names
of 24 new Cardinals



20 OCT 2010 (RV) - Pope Benedict XVI has announced a consistory for the creation of 24 new cardinals.

Speaking at the end of his Wednesday audience, the Pope listed the names of Archbishops who will be elevated to the ranks of the College of Cardinals on November 20 next.

Four of the twenty four are over 80 years of age, meaning they will not qualify as cardinal electors eligible to vote in Conclave. Ten are heads of various Curial Dicasteries. Ten are Italian.

Currently there are 179 members of the College of Cardinals, 102 of whom are eligible to vote in conclave. The largest single group of electors is Europe with a total of 52 cardinals, followed by North America with 17 and South America with 11.

The full list of cardinals-elect:

From the Roman Curia -
- Archbishop Angelo Amato, SDB, 72, Prefect of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, Italy;
- Archbishop Raymond Burke, 62, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, USA;
- Archbishop Robert Sarah, 65, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Guinea;
- Archbishop Franceso Monterisi, 76, Archpriest of St Paul’s Outside-the-walls, Italy;
- Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli, 75, Major Penitentiary, Italy;
- Archbishop Kurt Koch, 60, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Switzerland;
- Archbishop Paolo Sardi, 76, Vice-Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Italy;
- Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, 66, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Italy;
- Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, 68, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Italy;

Diocesan Archbishops:
- Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, 62, Colombo, Sri Lanka;
- Archbishop Antonios Naguib, 75, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, Egypt;
- Archbishop Medardo Mazombwe, 79, Lusaka, Zambia.
- Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, 71, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo;
- Archbishop emeritus Raul Edoardo Vela Chiriboga, 76, Quito, Ecuador;
- Archbishop Donald Wuerl, 69, Washington, DC;
- Archbishop Paolo Romeo. 72, Palermo, Italy;
- Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis, 73, Aparecida, Brasil;
- Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz, 60, Warsaw, Poland;
- Archbishop Reinhard Marx, 57, Munich and Freising, Germany;

Non-elector cardinals:
- Archbishop emeritus to the Spanish Armed Forces José Manuel Estepa Llaurens, 84;
- Archbishop Elio Sgreccia, 82, President emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Italy;
- Archbishop Walter Brandmuller, 81, President emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historic Sciences, Germany; and
- Archbishop Domenico Bartolucci, 93, former Director of the Sistine Chapel Choir, Italy.

The 'surprise' nominees - those who were never mentioned in previous Vaticanista speculation - are Patriarch Naguib of Egypt, moderator-general of the current synodal assembly on the Middle East; Mons. Sarah, even if he was recently named the new president of Cor Unum; Abp. Mazombwe of Lusaka; Abp. De Assis of Aparecida; and the emeritus archbishop of Quito.

Not in the list are four who were considered almost-certain: Timothy Dolan of New York. Giuseppe Betori of Florence, Vincent Nichols of Westminster (London), and Andre Leonard of Brussels. In all cases, their dioceses already have a cardinal elector (Edward Egan in New York, Ennio Antonelli in Florence, Cormac Murphy O'Connor in London, Godfried Danneels in Brussels) who has not yet reached 80.

P.S. I did not see Andrea Tornielli's blog yesterday, in which he correctly names 20 of the 24, and was not wrong in his speculation on the four other names! That's real Vatican 'contact'!


P.P.S. This is the actual order in which the Holy Father announced the names today:
1. Angelo Amato (Italy), Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
2. Antonio Naguib (Egypt), Patriarch of the Coptic Church of Alexandria
3. Robert Sarah (Guinea), President of Cor Unum
4. Francesco Monterisi (Italy), Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul
5. Fortunato Baldelli (Italy), head of the Apostolic Penitentiary
6. Raymond Burke (United States), Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura
7. Kurt Koch (Switzerland), President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
8. Paolo Sardi (Italy), Pro-Patron of the Order of Malta
9. Mauro Piacenza (Italy), Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy
10. Velasio De Paolis (Italy), President of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs for the Holy See
11. Gianfranco Ravasi (Italy), President of the Pontifical Council for Culture
12. Medardo Joseph Mazombwe (Zambia), retired Archbishop of Lusaka
13. Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga (Ecuador), Archbishop of Quito
14. Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (Democratic Republic of Congo), Archbishop of Kinshasa
15. Paolo Romeo (Italy), Archbishop of Palermo
16. Donald Wuerl (United States), Archbishop of Washington
17. Raymundo Damasceno Assis (Brazil), Archbishop of Aparecida
18. Kazimierz Nycz (Poland), Archbishop of Warsaw
19. Albert Malcom Ranjith (Sri Lanka), Archbishop of Colombo
20. Reinhard Marx (Germany), Archbishop of Munich
21. Elio Sgreccia (Italy), former president of the Pontifical Academy for Life
22. Jose Manuel Estepa Llaurens (Spain), of the Military Ordinariate
23. Walter Brandmüller (Germany), former head of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Science
24. Domenico Bartolucci (Italy), former Maestro of the Sistine Chapel


Pope names new cardinals,
giving a boost to Italian
hopes to regain papacy

by VICTOR L. SIMPSON



VATICAN CITY, Oct. 20 (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI named 24 new cardinals Wednesday, putting his mark on the body that will elect his successor and giving a boost to Italian hopes to regain the papacy.

Among the new cardinals are two Americans and prelates from key posts in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Benedict said the new "princes of the church" will be formally elevated at a ceremony in Rome on Nov. 20, making the announcement "with joy" at the end of his weekly public audience.

The new cardinals include Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., and Archbishop Raymond Burke, an American who leads the Vatican's supreme court and has been sharply critical of the U.S. Democratic Party for its support of abortion rights.

Other key posts include Warsaw, Poland; Munich; Kinshasa, Congo; Quito, Equador; Aparecida, Brazil; Lusaka, Zambia; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and the leader in Egypt of the Catholic Coptic church.

Many of the new cardinals head Vatican offices, including Archbishop Kurt Koch, a Swiss in charge of the Vatican's relations with other Christians and Jews.

Cardinals are close advisers to a Pope, but their key job is to elect the Pontiff.

With the installation of the new cardinals, Benedict in just five years has named nearly half of the 120 prelates under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave following the death of a Pope.

Eight of the new cardinals under 80 are Italians, giving them a total of 25 — nearly half of the Europeans in the electing body of the College of Cardinals.

Italians held the papacy for 455 years until the election of Poland's John Paul II in 1978, followed by the German-born Benedict in 2005.

"The preponderance of Italians would suggest the scale has tipped in favor of an Italian candidate for the next conclave," said Gerard O'Connell, a veteran Irish Vatican correspondent. [What an anachronistic view!. 25 Italians in a college of 120 isn't all that decisive, because even in past conclaves, Italians have never voted as a bloc but according to so-called 'conservative' or 'traditional' lines.]

With the Church rocked by a global clerical sex abuse crisis, Benedict named as cardinal in Munich, his former diocese, Archbishop Reinhard Marx, who has been prominent in efforts to clean up the scandal in Germany. He was behind efforts to force out a bishop accused of physical abuse of children. [Marx's role in the Mixa case was hardly a qualification to be cardinal.]

However, the Pope passed up giving a cardinal's red hat to Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who has been the Irish church's leading advocate for Catholic openness in its child-abuse scandals. [Why Simpson ties up these nominations to the sex abuse issue is outrageous. I looked up Martin's bio in Wikipedia, and it turns out he has been speculated on in Ireland for a red hat since Benedict XVI's first conclave - long before the 'sex scandal broke anew - and for a Curial position to succeed Cardinal Raffaele Martino as head of Justice and Peace. Speculations which, significantly, have not been shared by Vaticanistas; his name never turned up in any of the pre-announcement speculations. Martin will have his time, and it will not have to do with how he deals with the child abuse scandal.]

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GENERAL AUDIENCE TODAY:
Catechesis on
St. Elizabeth of Hungary




Here is The English synthesis of the catechesis and the Pope's greeting to English-speaking pilgrims:


In our catechesis today I wish to speak about Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia.

She was born in the early thirteenth century. Her father was the King of Hungary, and Elizabeth was known from an early age for her fidelity to prayer and her attention to the poor.

Though she was married to Ludwig, a nobleman, for political reasons, she and her husband developed a sincere love for each other, one deepened by faith and the desire to do the Lord’s will.

In her married life, Elizabeth did not compromise her faith in spite of the requirements of life at court. She preferred to feed the poor than to dine at banquets, and to clothe the naked than to dress in costly garments.

Because of their deep faith in God, Elizabeth and Ludwig supported each other in their religious duties. After his early death, she dedicated herself to the service of the poor, always performing the humblest and most difficult works.

She founded a religious community, and lived her vows until her death at an early age. She was canonized four years later, and is a patroness of the Third Order of Saint Francis. May her dedication to the poor and needy inspire in us the same love for Christ in our neighbour.

I am pleased to welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present today. In particular, I extend greetings to members of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and to the Sisters of Saint Joseph and the Sacred Heart, along with their students, friends and benefactors here for the canonization of Saint André Bessette and Saint Mary MacKillop. Upon all of you, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.











Below, another one of Papino's recurring 'battles' with the wind -this time the cap falls off!


Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's catechesis:


Dear brothers and sisters,

Today I wish to speak of one of the women of the Middle Ages who has inspired great admiration - St. Elizabeth of Hungary, also known as Elizabeth of Thuringia.



She was born in 1207, but the historians disagree about the place. Her father was Andrew II, rich and powerful King of Hungary, who, in order to strengthen his political alliances, married the German countess Gertrude of Andechs-Meran, sister of St. Hedwig, who was the wife of the duke of Silesia.

Elizabeth lived in the Hungarian court only in the first four years of her infancy, with a sister and three brothers. She loved games, music and dance. She said her prayers faithfully and demonstrated special attention to the poor, for whom she always had a good word or an affectionate gesture.

Her happy childhood was brusquely interrupted when from far-off Thuringia, knights came to take her to her new home in central Germany. According to the custom of the time, her father had designated her princess of Thuringia. The landgrave or count of that region was one of Europe's richest and most influential sovereigns at the start of the 13th century, and his castle was a center of magnificence and culture.

But their feasts and apparent glory hid the ambitions of the principal feudal lords, often at war among themselves and in conflict with royal and imperial authorities.In this context, Landgrave Hermann gladly welcomed the engagement of his son Ludwig and the Hungarian princess.

Elizabeth left her homeland with a rich dowry and a grand entourage, including her personal handmaids, two of whom would remain her faithful friends to the very end. It is they who left us valuable information on the childhood and later life of the saint.

After a long journey, they reached Eisenach and the fortress of Wartburg, a massive castle overlooking the city. Here the engagement of Ludwig and Elizabeth was celebrated. In the years that followed, while Ludwig learned to be a knight, Elizabeth and her friends studied German, French, Latin, music, literature and embroidery.

And although the engagement had begun as a political arrangement, a sincere love developed between the two young persons, inspired by their faith and by the desire to do the will of God.

At age 18, after his father's death, Ludwig began his reign in Thuringia. But Elizabeth became the object of criticism because her ways did not correspond to life at court. Even their marriage was not a lavish feast and what would have been spent on a banquet was given to the poor instead.

Profoundly sensible, Elizabeth saw the contradictions between processed faith and Christian practice. She did not tolerate compromises. Once, entering church on the feast of the Assumption, she took off her crown, laid it in front of the Cross, and remained prostrate on the floor with her face covered.

When her mother-in-law reprimanded her for this, she answered: "How can I, a poor creature, continue to wear a crown of earthly dignity when I see my King, Jesus Christ, crowned with thorns?"

She behaved towards her subjects as she behaved towards God. Among the sayings noted down by her four handmaids, we find this testimonial: "She never ate food without first being sure that it came from her husband's property or legitimate assets. Even as she kept away from illegally acquired goods, she did all she could to make reparations to all who had undergone violence" (nn. 25 e 37).

She was a true example for all who would take on the role of leader: the exercise of authority, at every level, should be a service to justice and charity in the constant search for the common good.

Elizabeth assiduously practised works of mercy: she gave food and drink to anyone who knocked on her door. She collected clothing for them. She paid their debts. She took care of the sick and buried the dead.

Leaving the castle, she often went with her maids to the houses of the poor to bring bread, meat, flour and other basic fare. She delivered the food herself, and she carefully checked that the poor had adequate clothing and beddings.

Her behavior was reported to her husband who, not only was not displeased at all, but replied to the accusers: "As long as she does not sell the castle, I am happy".

This is the context for the famous miracle of bread that turned to roses. Once, when Elizabeth was out in the street with bread in her apron, she met her husband who who asked her what she was carrying. She opened her apron and there were roses instead of bread. This symbol of charity is often found in the depictions of St. Elizabeth. [And in quite a few other saints of whom a version of the legend has been told, like Rosa of Viterbo.]

She had a very happy marriage. Elizabeth helped her husband to elevate his human qualities to the superhuman, and in turn, he protected his wife in her generosity towards the poor and her religious practices.

Increasingly admiring the great faith of his wife, Ludwig, referring to her concern for the poor, told her: "Dear Elizabeth, it is Christ whom you have washed, fed and taken care of". A clear testimonial of how faith and love of God and one's neighbor can strengthen family life and make a matrimonial union even more profound.

The young couple found spiritual support in the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) who had spread throughout Thuringia since 1222. Among them, Elizabeth chose Friar Rudiger as her spiritual director. When he told her about the conversion of the young and rich Francis of Assisi, Elizabeth showed even greater enthusiasm in her chosen way of Christian living. From then on, she was even more determined to follow the crucified Christ who is present in the poor.

Even after the birth of her first son, followed by two more children, our saint never neglected her works of charity. She also helped the Friars Minor to build their convent in Halberstadt, with Friar Rudiger as abbot. Her spiritual direction passed on to Conrad of Marburg.

A hard trial for her was her husband's departure in June 1227 to join the crusade led by Emperor Frederick II. Ludwig IV reminded his wife that this had become a tradition for the sovereigns of Thuringia. She told him: "I won't hold you back. I have given all of myself to God and now, you too must do it".

But an epidemic decimated the troops, including Ludwig, who died in Otranto in 1227, at age 27, even before he could embark for the Holy Land. Learning of this, Elizabeth was so grief-stricken that she retired in solitude, but after being strengthened by prayer and comforted by the hope that they would meet again in heaven, she started to interest herself in the affairs of the kingdom.

But a new trial awaited her: her brother-in-law usurped the throne, declaring himself the true heir of Ludwig, accusing Elizabeth of being a pious woman who had no competence to govern.

The young widow and her three sons were driven out of Wartburg castle and had to look for a refuge. Only two of her maids remained with her, accompanying her and making sure that the three children were cared for by friends of Ludwig.

Wandering from village to village, Elizabeth worked wherever she was welcomed, she cared for the sick, she wove, she cooked. During this Calvary that she bore with great faith, patience and dedication to God, some relatives who remained faithful to her and considered her brother-in-law's government illegitimate, worked to rehabilitate her name.

Thus in 1228, Elizabeth was given a state income with which she could stay with her children at the family castle in Marburg, where her spiritual director Friar Conrad also came to live.

It was he who reported to Pope Gregory IX as follows: "On Good Friday of 1228, having placed her hands on the altar of the chapel in her city of Eisenach, where she had once welcomed the Friars Minor, in the presence of some friars and family members, Elizabeth renounced her own will and all the vanities of the world. She also wished to renounce all her possessions, but I dissuaded her for love of the poor. Shortly afterwards, she constructed a hospital for the invalid as well as the sick, and served the poorest and most derelict at her own table. When I counseled her on these actions, she said that she received a special grace and humility from the poor" (Epistula magistri Conradi, 14-17).

In this statement, we can see something of a mystical experience similar to that of St. Francis. The Poverello of Assisi had, in fact, declared in his spiritual will that in serving the lepers, what had once been bitter in him was transmuted into a tenderness of the soul and the body (Testamentum, 1-3).

Elizabeth spent the last three years of her life in the hospital she founded, serving the poor and keeping vigil with the dying. She always sought to carry out the most humble services and the most repugnant tasks. She became what we would call today a consecrated woman in the world (soror in saeculo) along with her friends, dressed in grey, a religious community.

Not surprisingly she became the patron saint of the Third Order of St. Francis and of the Secular Franciscan Order.

In November 1231, she was struck by a violent fever. When the news of her illness spread, many people rushed to come and see her. After ten days, she asked that the doors be closed so she could remain alone with God. And on the night of November 19, she slept sweetly in the Lord.

The testimonials on her holiness were so many and such that just four years after her death, Pope Gregory IX proclaimed her a saint, and in the same year, the beautiful church built in her honor in Marburg was consecrated.

Dear brothers and sisters, in the figure of St. Elizabeth, we see how faith and friendship with Christ create a sense of justice, of the equality of all, of rights towards others - they create love and charity. And from this charity, hope is born, the certainty that we are loved by Christ, and that the love of Christ awaits us makes us capable of imitating Christ and seeing Christ in others.

St. Elizabeth invites us to rediscover Christ, to love him, to have faith and thus find true justice and love, as well as the joy that one day, we shall be immersed in divine love, in the glory of eternity with God. Thank you.






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Thursday, Oct. 21, 29th Week in Ordinary Time

Center illustration:'The Temptation of St. Hilarion' was a subject of many paintings in the 16th-19th centuries.
ST HILARION THE GREAT (Hilarion of Gaza) (b Palestine ca 291, d Cyprus 371), Hermit and Abbot
Hilarion's life is known to us from a biography of him written by St. Jerome. Born to pagan parents in Gaza, Hilarion was sent to study in Alexandria, where he converted to Christianity, gave up all worldly pleasures in favor of going to church, and at age 15, sought out the future St. Anthony Abbot in his Egyptian hermitage. After a few months there, he returned to Palestine. When his parents died, he gave up his inheritance to his brothers and decided to be a hermit himself, choosing a spot in the Gaza desert between the coast and marshland. During his 22 years as a hermit, he was beset by temptations and demonic visions and starved himself to help fight them off. In the meantime, word spread about him and people came to see him for spiritual comfort and guidance. After curing a woman who had been barren for 15 years, more people came to him for healing and he performed a number of miracles. In time, a monastery grew around his cell, which was so beset by visitors, especially females, that Hilarion fled. After numerous adventures, always beset by enthusiastic visitors seeking his help, Hilarion died in Cyprus in 371 AD.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/102110.shtml



OR today.

At the General Audience, the Pope announces a consistory on Nov. 20 to create 24 new cardinals who reflect -
'The universality of the Church'
In the catechesis, he speaks of St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Other Page 1 stories: UK Prime Minister threatens to veto any European agreement that would, in effect, 'transfer power from Westminster to Brussels' (.e., from national governments to the European Union) on the eve of an EU summit next week; in Pakistan, seven million remain homeless from the recent floods; and Tokyo seeks direct talks with Beijing to restore regular rates of exporting rare earths to Japan (China has 97% of world resources in rare earths, which contain a group of chemical elements essential to high-tech industries; China slowed down its exports because of its current diplomatic war with Japan.]

THE POPE'S DAY

The Holy Father met today with

- H.E. Han Hong-soon, Ambassador from the Republic of South Korea, who presented his credentials. Message in English.

- Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

- H.E. Bogdan Tătaru-Cazaban, Ambassador from Romania, who presented his credentials. Message in French.




I hate having to waste space, time and effort on that OR-generated controversy about the religion of a TV cartoon institution, but this the latest kinda outrageous development, in an AFP news service story:

Jesuit says 'Vatican
misunderstood my Simpsons study'


ROME, Italy, Oct. 21 (AFP)— The author of an in-depth religious study on The Simpsons told AFP on Wednesday that the official Vatican newspaper had misinterpreted his work as meaning the famous cartoon family was Catholic.

"I don't think that at all," said Francesco Occhetta, a Jesuit priest and staff writer for the Rome-based journal La Civilta Cattolica.

"I wouldn't say they're Catholic, I would say they're people of faith," said Occhetta. Watching the Simpsons "could help us" spiritually, he added.

The claim in Sunday's issue of Osservatore Romano in an article entitled "Homer and Bart are Catholics" was also countered by the US show's executive producer Al Jean, who told Entertainment Weekly he was in "shock and awe"....


How insidious is it that anything which comes out in OR is automatically considered as the opinion of 'the Vatican' when even a Jesuit, who should know better, says something like his first statement above? The article was bylined 'Luca Possati' -
www.vatican.va/news_services/or/or_quo/cultura/2010/240q0...
if there was any misinterpretation at all, it was by Possati alone (who in the past has been equally reckless in making sweeping favorable conclusions about most of the now widely-reviled legislative 'reforms' pushed through by Obama), not by the OR itself [And certainly, not that of 'the Vatican', as most MSM has reported it]. Although of course, the OR's editor, who determines what goes into the newspaper and how it is played up, certainly had a major role in this most inopportune and unncessary controversy by using the item at all in the first place and giving it Page 1 prominence.

The least Vian ought to do right now is to issue a statement acknowledging his poor judgment in deciding as he did, and to immediately cease and desist from his ill-judged, counterproductive and totally unnecessary forays into pop culture! Once again, this was not at all one of his mandates from Benedict XVI.


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KOREAN CHURCH CONTRIBUTES
TO COUNTRY'S WELLBEING




VATICAN CITY, 21 OCT 2010 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Holy Father received the Letters of Credence of Han Hong-soon, the new ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Holy See.

Addressing the diplomat in English, the Pope noted "the remarkable economic growth that your country has experienced in recent years, which has transformed Korea from a net recipient of aid into a donor country"....


Here is the full text of the Pope's message:


Your Excellency,

I am pleased to welcome you to the Vatican and to accept the Letters accrediting you as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to the Holy See.

I would like to express my gratitude for the good wishes that you bring from President Lee Myung-bak, whose visit to the Vatican last year I recall with much pleasure. Indeed, His Excellency’s visit served to deepen the very cordial relations that have existed for almost half a century between your country and the Holy See. Kindly convey my cordial greetings to His Excellency and to the Government, and assure them of my continued prayers for all the people of Korea.

It is encouraging to note the remarkable economic growth that your country has experienced in recent years, which has transformed Korea from a net recipient of aid into a donor country. Such a development would be inconceivable without a remarkable degree of industry and generosity on the part of the Korean people, and I take this opportunity to pay tribute to their achievement.

At the same time, as your President pointed out during his visit to the Vatican, there are dangers involved in rapid economic growth which can all too easily bypass ethical considerations, with the result that the poorer elements in society tend to be excluded from their rightful share of the nation’s prosperity.

The financial crisis of recent years has exacerbated the problem, but it has also focused attention on the need to renew the ethical foundations of all economic and political activity.

I wish to encourage your Government in its commitment to ensure that social justice and care for the common good grow side by side with material prosperity, and I assure you that the Catholic Church in Korea is ready and willing to work with the Government as it seeks to promote these worthy goals.

Indeed, the commitment of the local Church to work for the good of society is well illustrated by the great variety of apostolates in which it is engaged.

By means of its network of schools and its educational programmes it contributes greatly to the moral and spiritual formation of the young.

Through its work for inter-religious dialogue, it seeks to break down barriers between peoples and to foster social cohesion based on mutual respect and growth in understanding.

In its charitable outreach it seeks to assist the poor and the needy, particularly refugees and migrant workers who so often find themselves on the margins of society.

In all these ways, the local Church helps to nurture and promote the values of solidarity and fraternity that are essential for the common good of any human community, and I acknowledge with gratitude the appreciation shown by the Government for the Church’s involvement in all these areas.

Furthermore, the Church "has a public role over and above her charitable and educational activities" (Caritas in Veritate, 11). It is a role that involves proclaiming the truths of the Gospel, which continually challenge us to look beyond the narrow pragmatism and partisan interests that can so often condition political choices, and to recognize the obligations incumbent upon us in view of the dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God.

This requires of us an unambiguous commitment to defend human life at every stage from conception to natural death, to promote stable family life in accordance with the norms of the natural law and to build peace and justice wherever there is conflict.

The importance that your Government attaches to our diplomatic relations demonstrates its recognition of the Church’s prophetic role in these areas, and I thank you for the willingness you have expressed, on behalf of the Government, to continue to work with the Holy See in order to promote the common good of society.

In this context I should like to express the Holy See’s appreciation for the active role played by the Republic of Korea within the international community.

By promoting the peace and stability of the peninsula, as well as the security and economic integration of nations throughout the Asia-Pacific region, through its extensive diplomatic links with African countries, and especially by hosting next month’s G20 Summit in Seoul, your Government has given ample proof of its role as an important player on the world stage, and has helped to guarantee that the process of globalization will be directed by considerations of solidarity and fraternity. Under "the guidance of charity in truth", the Holy See is eager to cooperate with all efforts to steer the powerful forces that shape the lives of millions towards that "‘civilization of love’ whose seed God has planted in every people, in every culture" (Caritas in Veritate, 33).

Your Excellency, you have spoken of the Congress of Asian Catholic Laity that took place in Seoul in early September under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. I too see in this important event a clear sign of the fruitful cooperation that already exists between your country and the Holy See and that bodes well for the future of our relations.

It was only right that the Congress’s focus was on the lay faithful who, as you have pointed out, not only sowed the first seeds of the Gospel on Korean soil but bore witness in great numbers to their firm faith in Christ through the shedding of their blood.

I am confident that, inspired and strengthened by the witness of the Korean martyrs, lay men and women will continue to build up the life and well-being of the nation through "their loving concern for the poor and the oppressed, their willingness to forgive their enemies and persecutors, their example of justice, truthfulness and solidarity in the workplace, and their presence in public life" (Message on the occasion of the Congress of Asian Catholic Laity, Seoul 2010).

Your Excellency, in offering my best wishes for the success of your mission, I would like to assure you that the various departments of the Roman Curia are ready to provide help and support in the fulfilment of your duties.

Upon Your Excellency, your family and all the people of the Republic of Korea, I cordially invoke God’s abundant blessings.




ROMANIA: CONTINUING THE PROCESS
OF RECONSTRUCTION




VATICAN CITY, 21 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Bogadan Tataru-Cazaban, the new ambassador of Romania to the Holy See, this morning presented his Letters of Credence to Benedict XVI who, in his address to the diplomat, recalled how "twenty years ago Romania decided to write a new chapter in its history".

However, the Pope went on, "so many years passed under the yoke of a totalitarian ideology leave deep scars in people's mentality, and in their political and economic life. Following the euphoria of freedom, your nation is solidly committed to a process of reconstruction. Its entry in to the European Union also marked an important stage in the search for true democratisation".

"In order to continue this profound renewal", he went on, "new challenges must be faced so as to ensue that your society does not focus exclusively on the search for wellbeing and the thirst for profit, understandable consequences of a period of more than forty years of privation. However it is important to ensure that integrity, honesty and sincerity prevail. These virtues must inspire and guide all members of society".

"Romania is made up of a mosaic of peoples", the Pope remarked. "This variety could be seen as an obstacle to national unity, but also as a factor that characterises and enriches national identity. ... Administering the legacy of communism is difficult due to the fact that it favoured the disintegration of society and of individuals. Indeed, authentic values were obscured in favour of false ideologies, in the name of the national interest. For this reason you now have to start the difficult task of ordering human affairs correctly, making good use of your freedom".

"The family occupies a primary place in this process of rebuilding social cohesion,. ... Family and education are the starting point for combating poverty and so contributing to respect for all people: respect for minorities, respect for the family and for life itself. Family and education are the soil in which basic ethical values sink their roots and where religious life grows".

The Pope then went on to speak of the nation's "long and rich religious tradition" which, he said, "was also injured during the dark decades. Some of these wounds are still open and must be cured, using means acceptable to each community. It is, indeed, appropriate that injustices inherited from the past should be repaired without being afraid of doing justice. To this end the situation should be tackled at two levels: at the State level by promoting genuine dialogue between the State and the various religious leaders and, in the second place, by fomenting harmonious relations between the different religious communities".

In this context the Holy Father also referred to the new Law of Worship and the Mixed Commission, established in 1998, the work of which "must be reactivated", he said.

The Catholic Church sees ecumenical dialogue "as the best way to know her brothers in the faith, and to build the Kingdom of God with them, while respecting the specific identify of each. Witness of fraternity between Catholics and Orthodox, in a spirit of charity and justice, must prevail over difficulties and open hearts to reconciliation. In this context, many were the fruits of John Paul II's historic visit a decade ago, his first to a nation with an Orthodox majority. Commitment to dialogue in charity and truth must be strengthened, and joint initiatives promoted. This dialogue will not cease to be a ferment for unity and harmony, not only in your country but also in Europe", Benedict XVI concluded.

[The message was in French, so I will translate it later.]
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There has been little controversy so far on Benedict XVI's choices to be named cardinals, except for some on the extreme left who think his choices are predominantly conservative, and some on the extreme right who think there are too many 'progressives' in the list. The way it fell out, half of the new cardinal-electors are curial heads, and half of them are metropolitan bishops, making for parity in the two categories of offices generally associated with a red hat. Gianni Cardinale gives a numerical breakdown by geographical origin, and provides some data about cardinals who belong to a religious order.

The new College of Cardinals:
A numerical breakdown

by Gianni Cardinale
Translated from

Oct. 21, 2010


ROME - When Benedict XVI formally creates 24 new cardinals next month, the Sacred College of Cardinals will have 203 members in all - of which 121 will be eligible vote in the next Conclave unless they turn 80 before then.

It is one above the 120 maximum number of electors set by Paul VI, but, barring an unexpected death, it will be back to 120 on Jan. 26, 2011 when the emeritus Bishop of maraseilles, Bernard Oanafieu, turns 80. [Another Vaticanista also pointed out thatduring his 26-year reign, John Paul II often went above the maximum 120 electors.]

Among the 121: 62 Europeans, representing 51.2% of the electors, compared to 56 out of 115 (50.4%) in the 2005 Conclave. A slight and insignificant increase.

Of the Eurpeans, 25 are Italian, 20.7% of the electors, more than the percentage represented by the 20 Italians in 2005 (17.4%), but less than the 22.5% the italians represented in the first Conclave of 1978, when there were also 25 Italians who then represented 22.5%. [NB: The Italians were split in their support between the 'conservative' and 'liberal' Italian candidates at the time, and the Conclave ended up electing the non-controversial Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice, who became John Paul I.]

Cardinal-electors from Latin America will number 21; from North America, 15; from Africa, 12; from Asia, 10; from Oceania, 1 (Cardinal Pell of Sydney).

The nation with the most cardinals after Italy will now be the United States, with 13. The others in the ranking: Germany 6; France, Spain and Brazil, 5 each; and Poland and Mexico, 4.

In terms of their region of origin, two of the incoming cardinals are from Puglia (Amato and Monterisi). With Ravasi, the cardinals from Lombardy (capital Milan) will be 5, confirming their longtime 'primacy' over the other regions. With Sardi, there will be 3 from Piedmont. Baldelli from Umbria, Piacenza from Liguria and De Paolis from Lazio, bring their respective regional representation to two apiece. Romeo retains representation for Sicily after his predecessor as Archbishop of Palermo, Cardinal De Giorigis, recently turned 80. The only cardinal from Rome is non-elector Fiorenzo Angelini, 94.

Two of the cardinals-designate are religious - Amato, a Salesian, and De Paolis, a Scalabrinian - bringing to 34 the total number of cardinals belonging to a religious order. 21 of them are electors. Overall, the Jesuits lead with 9, Franciscans adn Salesians have 6 each/ But among the electors, five are Salesian, 3 are Franciscan, and 2 are Jesuit.

With 10 heads of Curial organisms in the new list, the curial cardinals will total 38 (including non-electors) - 16 Italians, 9 from other European countries, 6 North Americans, two Africans, 3 Latin Americans, and one Indian. Six of them will turn 80 over the next two years.

This will be Benedict XVI's third consistory, after which he will have created 60 cardinals, 50 of them electors (41.3%). In his first five years as Pope, John Paul II called two consistories, creating 32 new cardinals, of whom 30 were electors. [The determining factor was how many elector seats became available as cardinals reached age 80.]

In the next two years, Benedict XVI, God willing, will have room for as many as 22 new cardinals, since 8 electors will turn 80 in 2011 and another 13 in 2012.


Some notes on the
College of Cardinals

by Filippo Di Giacomo
Translated from

Oct. 21, 2010

The Roman Pontiff is in theory, and by nature, a pastor who is shared universally and not a ruler who is more or less imposed on the Church. And yet, precisely because he is 'ruling', the Bishop of Rome is part of an institutional structure built up over the centuries in order to exclude the hold of any 'regime' or an unexpected coup de theatre, according to the simplifying logic of the Church of 'neither too much nor too litle' that holds for every circumstance, in easy times as well as difficult periods, in health or in sickness.

At every consistory, this unwritten rule seems to find confirmation. When one says 'cardinal', people read 'conclave'. The reason for this was explained by an illustrious canonist-bishop who died too early, and who had participated with then Prof. Joseph Ratzinger in the founding of the theological journal Communio.

In the editorial for the first issue of that journal which is still considered the theological voice opposed to that of the magazine Concilium (of Hans Kueng et al), from which the Communio group had broken off because teir interpretation of Vatican II was inceasingly progressivist), Eugenio Corecco said that 'collegiality' had been "for seven centuries the chronic ailment of the Catholic Church".

Take away all the finery and any redundant title, the substance of the College of Cardinals has now been reduced to the one role of maintaining an efficiently functioning electoral college of 120 members that can assure the Church that it can elect a new Pope whenever it has to.

The Holy Spirit ultimately 'chooses' the Pope, but the man is elected by other man. It is not entirely by chance that in order to discern among the 120 the man who will be Pope, the modern Church uses an electoral system that lends itself to the formation of alliances and power groupings within a conclave, just as it happens at the conventions of major political parties. This, in turn, takes place depending on currents that come together and can come apart, not out of theoretical considerations but because of a sense of belonging [to a community of interests].

The new cardinals announced yesterday - ten from the Roman Curia, ten diocesan bishops, and four non-electors - do nothing to alter this mechanism but still leaves unresolved the status of a Catholic Church that is destined to be less and less Western.

In the third millennium of her earthly pilgrimage, if and when a Conclave is called, the cardinal electors of the Church should theoretically represent the 1.2 billion Catholics found in 180 nations of the world.

The present College of Cardinals represents only about 70 of those nations - 60 if we exclude the non-electors. With present criteria, canonists think that a conclave of 500 cardinals could more correctly reflect the geographical and cultural extent of the Church today (taking account of the cardinals with curial positions and possible absences due to illness or old age disabilities).

But such a number, by institutionalizing 500 'super-bishops' among the world's 4,600 bishops, would drastically affect the dogmatically ealitarian structure of the Catholic episcopate. [???? I don't understand this logic. To be named a cardinal is not a matter of right - it must be earned, and the Pope who names new cardinals must always keep in mind that he is naming a potential Pope in every one of them!]

Still, the almost exponential increase in the membership of the College of Cardinals has been the only strategy by which the Church of Rome can equilibrate two necessities that go with Catholicity: Romanness and universality.

It follows, theoretically, that if the college of cardinals were replaced by other electoral mechanisms and other ocncepts of representation, Christian institutions would not resent it.

Since the 16th century, when the conclave we are familiar with was first instituted, Popes have named about 3000 cardinals, among whom 600 in the 20th century alone.

Indeed, it has been decades since the Bishop of Rome has named any Roman prelate among the 'cardinals' of the Church, indicating a tendency towards less tradition and more universality.

In the world's 'most exclusive club', representatives of countries that are marginalized in the international community are legitimized and stably accredited on exactly the same footing as those from the historically Catholic nations. No other international organization has such absolute parity between rich nations and poor nations.

But the Church does not live by conclaves alone. If, beyond the voices of a few cardinals representing them, the Catholic pastors of the world could find in Rome respect and a willing ear for all the voices that express themselves - as they have been in the last two speicial synodal aassemblies on Africa and the Middle East - then perhaps the 'chronic ailment' of collegiality can begin to be healed.



Di Giacomo does not particularaly express himself well in this. How does he define 'collegiality' in the sense that he and the aforementioned Cosecco use it? They seem to define it as something that fosters 'exclusivity'.

He ignores the one other function that the College of Cardinals performs, at least under Benedict XVI - one that he underscored in making the announcement yesterday: "Cardinals have the task of helping the Successor of Peter in the fulfillment of his principal mission and as the perpetual and visible foundation of unity in faith and communion within the Church", quoting from Vatican II's Lumen gentium.

He has used the occasion of his first two consistories to meet the cardinals as the informal 'Senate of the Church' to hear their 'advise and consent', as it were, on outstanding issues.

But the real venue for collegiality, where cardinals and bishops interact, is the Synod of Bishops to which they all belong, and which Vatican II created precisely for that purpose.

I also think that Di Giacomo does not get enough into the problem of representation in the College of Cardinals.

The remarkable expansion of the Church into the rest of Africa [North Africa was Christian very early on] has been fairly recent in the context of the Church's history. Their local Churches need enough time to develop to the point where they can have more than one cardinal, but wherever brilliant young African priests have emerged, the Church has lost no time in recognizing them and promoting them early/ The late Cardinal Gantin (Joseph Ratzinger's 'classmate' in the mini-consistory of 1977 and his predecessor as Dean of the College of Cardinals) and Cardinal Francis Arinze who was a leading papabile in the last Conclave, easily come to mind, along with Cardinal Turkson of Ghana, already touted as a papabile, and Cardinal-designate Sarah of Guinea.

Nor has the Church been slow to recognize 'potential Popes', in effect, among her Asian prelates. India has six cardinals now (3 of them electors, and one a Curial head), and even Sri Lanka with a tiny minority of Catholics has two cardinals now. This week, the Roman phase of the beatification process for the late Cardinal Nguyen Van Thuan of Vietnam begins.

Mainland China had its first cardinal in the legendary Cardinal Ignatius Kung of Shanghai whom John Paul II named a cardinal in pectore (secretly) in 1979 while he was serving a life sentence for 'counter-revolutionary actiivties. (He was released in 1986, after 30 years, kept under house arrest for another two years, and only learned he was a cardinal when he had a meeting with John Paul II in 1989. But this was not made public until 1991, when he was 90 and able to come to the United States, where he died of cancer at age 98. The Cardinal Kung Foundation is now the principal outlet for the underground Chinese Catholics.)

In terms of representation consistent with numbers and a long history of Catholicism, Latin America, which accounts for half of the world's Catholics today, is under-represented in the College of Cardinals, with 21 electors at present (one-sixth of the College), of whom Benedict XVI has appointed four (plus one over-80).


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How the Vatican intervened
to make Westminster Mass
'the ideal celebration of
the modern Roman Rite'


October 21st, 2010



The Westminster Cathedral altar (arr. Mgr Marini)

If you’re not interested in liturgical politics, look away now. If you are, here are two snippets of information relating to the Pope’s visit, confirmed by numerous sources.

First, Benedict XVI was delighted by the Mass at Westminster cathedral, apparently regarding it as an ideal celebration of the modern Roman Rite – “the best he’s presided over in any foreign country,” I’m told.

Second, the Vatican intervened at the last moment to make sure that the altar was decorated (as you can see in the picture above) by a free-standing antique crucifix.

I think I’m right in saying that the cathedral usually has a cross lying on the altar, propped up slightly to face the celebrant, thus following the letter but not the spirit of the Pope’s request that the priest should be symbolically orientated towards Calvary.

When Mgr Guido Marini, the Vatican Master of Ceremonies, visited Westminster Cathedral earlier this year he seemed satisfied with this arrangement. So, when they trooped into the sanctuary for the service, the Bishops of England and Wales were expecting a virtually invisible low-lying cross and, on the altar itself, a couple of those stumpy candles that look like loo rolls. (I’m not referring to the big six candlesticks which are always on a marble platform behind the altar.)

But Mgr Marini had other ideas. I’m not sure where the splendid crucifix and the two tall altar candlesticks came from – the latter from Archbishop’s House, possibly. But he asked for them, and in a manner that brooked no opposition. As it happens, some cathedral staff were only to delighted to oblige.

But, for certain bishops, this rearrangement was about as welcome as an unscheduled celebration of Benediction at a Pentecostal revival meeting. (Bishop Kieran Conry has already attacked the cathedral for using too much Latin.)

Why is the Bishops’ Conference so blind to the the advantages of a “Benedictine” arrangement of the altar, which adds solemnity while distracting from the personality of the celebrant? [It's even more worrisome - and preposterous - that they object to the prominent presence of the Crucific on the altar! What is it about the misbegotten Novus Ordo that has so addled the brains of 'progressivist' bishops and priests to the point that they can object even to the presence of the Crucifix on their 'communal meal table', which is apparently all they consider an altar to be? And what is it about the use of Latin in the Canon of the Mass that they could possibly object to???? The congregation can still read the English words on their missal or can remember the prayers by heart after 40 years of using them!]

I know how well the central crucifix can work because my local parish priest has adopted the innovation: there is absolutely no sense of an object getting in the way of the consecration. [Dear God!, is that what the objectors are saying???? That the Curcifix 'can get in the way of the Consecration"????] But he’s in a minority.

I referred earlier to liturgical politics, and of course it’s a shame that the celebration of Mass should be the subject of controversy. But a decision not to follow the recommendation of the Holy See is political.

In many cases, the absence of a freestanding altar cross means one of two things: (a) that the parish priest doesn’t want to be seen to be obsequious to the Holy See, thus annoying his Magic Circle bishop and diocesan curia; or (b) that he thinks Benedict XVI is wrong about the altar and is just sitting out this pontificate, as it were. Some curates would like to use a crucifix but don’t want to antagonise their PP.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols could solve this problem at a stroke by encouraging his clergy to follow the Holy Father’s example. Why doesn’t he? [Yes, why doesn't he? One gets the impression, at least from all the accounts I have read, that for all his unquestioned good intentions, Nichols has been more intent on 'keeping the peace' within his bishops' conference than in standing up for principle when he has to!]

Hell will freeze over before I get the chance to ask the Archbishop personally – unlike his mentor Cardinal Hume, he doesn’t take tricky questions from journalists – but the failure of every English and Welsh diocese to implement the Pope’s liturgical reforms does make one wonder whether it’s back to business as usual now that he’s left our shores.


Once again, there is simply NO EXCUSE for any priest or bishop to oppose the presence of the Crucifix on the altar at Mass!

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One year ago yesterday, the world of religion was rocked by an unprecedented announcement made simultaneously by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican and by the Archbishops of Westminster (Roman Catholic) and Canterbury (Anglican) in London: Benedict XVI had decided to respond to requests going back almost 20 years by leading bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion for the Church of Rome to work out a mechanism whereby they - and their parishes and dioceses with them - could enter into full Communion with Rome.

Less than 2 weeks later, the Vatican issued the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus which defined this mechanism, chiefly through a structure called the Ordinariate, previously a term used only for the national, supra-diocesan jursidiction exercised by a Pope-appointed bishop or Ordinary over the Catholics belonging to the military forces of a nation.

Who would have thought how far the Ordinariate proposal has progressed only a year later! Very fitting that Benedict XVI shouyld have issued Anglicanorum coetibus the year he decreed the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, who, before he converted to Catholicism, had led the early 19th-century 'Oxford movement' within the Anglican Church for rapprochement with Rome.



The cracks are now showing
in the Church of England

A parish in Kent is shifting allegiance to Rome and,
with many more likely to follow, Anglicanism is feeling the strain.

By Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor

19 Oct 2010



Shortly after eight o'clock one spring morning in 2007, an earthquake struck the parish church of St Peter in Folkestone, bringing down the gable-end of the south transept.

Three years later, the 19th-century church, which opened as a chapel for local fishermen, has caused tremors of its own, becoming the first parish in England to declare its intention to defect to Rome.

Within hours of the news emerging last Friday, the Bishop of Fulham announced that he, too, will take up the Pope's offer to join a new structure within the Roman Catholic Church for disaffected Anglicans.

Some are now talking openly of an "exodus" from the Anglican Communion next year, with thousands following Folkestone's lead. The Archbishop of Canterbury, from whose back yard the revolt has sprung, can be in little doubt about the seriousness of the threat.

The defectors represent the most traditional "High Church" members of the Anglican Communion. They believe that there is no place for women bishops and are appalled by what they see as the imposition of liberal reforms by the Church hierarchy.

The Rt Rev John Broadhurst, the Bishop of Fulham, put it more strongly. He accused the General Synod of being "vindictive" and "vicious" in its treatment of Anglo-Catholic conservatives. "It has been fascist in its behaviour, marginalising those who have been opposed to women's ordination," he said. "We have not been given any space."

The defections follow a decisive meeting of the General Synod in July, at which a compromise plan, intended to placate those who oppose women bishops, was rejected.

There is no doubting the strength of feeling in traditionalist circles. Bishop Broadhurst was applauded and cheered when he announced his decision to resign by the end of the year, at a meeting of the Anglo-Catholic group, Forward in Faith, in London. "I don't feel I have any choice but to leave the Church and take up the Pope's offer," he said.

Almost exactly a year ago, on October 20, 2009, the Vatican announced that it was prepared to establish a new structure for Anglicans who cannot reconcile themselves to the ordination of women.

The Ordinariate, as the new system is known, will allow those members of the Church of England – as well as Anglicans in the United States and Australia – to enter into full communion with Rome, while retaining some of their traditions and heritage.

A high-level commission of Catholic bishops is currently at work in England, tasked with reporting back to the Vatican on how many Anglicans want to follow the path to Rome. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the Vatican department formerly known as the Inquisition – is expected to approve the establishment of the English Ordinariate early next year.

But major questions remain over how the new system will operate. Priests will be expected to remain celibate, although married men may be ordained on an individual basis. The Ordinary – who will take charge of the Ordinariate – will certainly be required to be celibate.

Newly converted priests with families face a tough time, as they are likely to receive much less generous allowances from Rome than they are used to getting from the Church of England.

Then there is the question of what will happen to the buildings themselves. Fr Stephen Bould, the priest at St Peter's, Folkestone, said it would be "wonderful" if the parish were allowed to keep its 19th-century, earthquake-scarred church if it finally converts to Roman Catholicism next year.

But the Church of England is highly unlikely to give up its assets without a fight. The authorities have made it known that the buildings remain the property of the Church, regardless of the actions of those who occupy them.

And what of those parishioners left behind? Not everyone in the St Peter's congregation is convinced by the proposal to join the Ordinariate. The Canterbury Diocese has promised that the Church of England will not abandon those in the parish who are dismayed at the plan. The authorities have also moved to reassure local parents that St Peter's primary school "will remain a Church of England school".

In his sermon on Sunday, Fr Bould advised his ageing congregation that the parish was now "in a battle", inviting them to "fight it with flair, imagination and spirit".

In keeping with high-Anglican traditions, the service at St Peter's was closer to the incense-filled rituals of Roman Catholicism than a service at a modern, liberal parish, which is as likely to be led by a woman as a man. Inside St Peter's, there were statues of the Virgin Mary, Jesus bearing the sacred heart, and rosary beads in use.

Throughout its history, the Kentish church has been firmly in the Catholic tradition within the Church of England. The prospect of it now leaving the Anglican community entirely is all the more damaging for Rowan Williams, as it lies within his own diocese.

Four and a half thousand miles away, in the heat and humidity of Nagpur, the Archbishop of Canterbury was giving a sermon to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Church of North India as news of the Folkestone decision emerged. The theme for his sermon could not have been more apt: unity.

Lambeth Palace has refused to comment officially on the developments, but Dr Williams's Indian sermon reads as an implicit warning to the warring factions within his Church.

"Sometimes we have listened to the past," he said. "We have identified ourselves with our ancestors in faith. Sometimes we have listened to our own unconverted hearts and used the church of God for our own ends, welcoming people like us and rejecting those who make us uncomfortable.

"And when any of those things happens, the Church begins to fall apart. The wounds in the Body get wider and deeper, and we find ourselves giving great energy to justifying our decision not to be together."

In an impassioned plea for unity, he added: "As we stop listening to one another, we stop listening to Christ. Whether this happens in the name of nationality or tradition or pride of achievement or purity of teaching, the effect is the same tragedy."

The road to Rome is not the only option for traditional Anglo-Catholics in the Church of England. A new group is being formed – the society of St Wilfred and St Hilda – intended to mobilise support for a compromise that would allow opponents of women bishops to be led by men and remain inside the Anglican family.

But some fear that a permanent split is an inevitable consequence of decades of modernisation. While the Church of England has attempted to accommodate major changes in society, on issues ranging from a more liberal view of sexuality to women's rights, the Vatican has largely resisted change. It is possible that, by 2011, Anglicanism will have become simply too broad a church to survive in its present form.

The Rev George Pitcher, public affairs adviser to Dr Williams, put it starkly. Reacting to the defections in his Telegraph blog, he said: "Such departures to Rome represent an erosion, with the possibility of eventual eradication, of the catholic tradition within our established Church." [So? The 'catholic' (small c] tradition within the established CoE will be eradicated for good reason - that those who feel betrayed by the spineless liberal tendencies of the established church choose to become Catholics (capital C) in the real Catholic Church!]

Two more bishops are widely expected to follow Fulham into the Ordinariate when it is established next year, and senior figures in the Catholic church in England expect the new body eventually to accommodate "thousands" of converts.

In the meantime, the once-quiet coastal parish of St Peter's in Folkestone finds itself at the centre of a potentially seismic shift in the structure of the Anglican Communion.


Fr. Bould inside St. Peter's Church, Folkestone.

Remembering that April day three years ago when the ground began to shake, Fr Bould recalled: "I never understood what Jesus meant when he said 'the stones will cry out' until I was standing on top of an earthquake. It made a noise like nothing I had ever heard."


On the same day, Damian Thompson commented on this article in his blog:

The Ordinariate has got Anglican and
Catholic mediocrities seriously rattled


October 19th, 2010

There’s an excellent piece on the Ordinariate in today’s Daily Telegraph by our new religious affairs editor Tim Ross, reporting that “senior figures in the Catholic Church in England expect the new body to accommodate ‘thousands’ of converts”.

I sense a change in the wind, don’t you? The Bishop of Fulham is (at least in his own eyes) an Anglo-Catholic “big beast”. As I said at the weekend, although I’m glad he’s coming over, his rhetoric about the “fascist” Church of England is… unhelpful, I think is the word people use.

But if Bishop Broadhurst is joining the English Ordinariate, no one can say that it appeals only to an effete Anglo-Papalist fringe. I wasn’t surprised when, unlike other members of the Catholic Group in Synod in 1993-4, John Broadhurst stayed behind in the C of E and accepted a mitre. He thought Anglo-Catholicism was worth fighting for. Now he knows that the battle is lost.

In the end, though, it’s not his generation that matters. And I don’t think we should get too excited about the small number of parishes that will attempt to “come over”.

St Peter’s, Folkestone, has voted to join the Ordinariate, and good luck to the brave Fr Stephen Bould if he can achieve his aims. But I can’t see the Church of England releasing more than a few church buildings, and where will the money come from to sustain them afterwards? Large Anglo-Catholic congregations are likely to split over the Roman option; small ones won’t have the energy to reinvent themselves as parishes.

I suspect that the future of the Ordinariate lies elsewhere: with bright younger Anglo-Catholic clergy, some of them scholars, and with thousands of committed lay people who already belong to “gathered congregations” – that is, who are used to worshipping at a church that suits them rather than just attending their local parish.

This is an increasingly common pattern of worship throughout Catholicism, Anglicanism and the Evangelical world, not just some picky Anglo-Catholic habit.

Another significant pattern is church-planting, which the Catholic Church in England has been really bad at until now… but more of that in another post.

I’m not going to name the bright sparks of the Catholic tradition in the C of E who are planning to join the Ordinariate: it would make life difficult for them at a sensitive moment, particularly as some of them are attached to institutions whose own future in Anglicanism is looking doubtful.

The important thing is that they believe that the intellectual case for traditional Anglo-Catholicism is no longer tenable. The High Church wing of the C of E has moved in a liberal protestant direction: it has reached an accommodation with women priests and will do so with women bishops, too.

Meanwhile, the election of Benedict XVI and the success of his visit to England has helped tip the balance. This is a Pope who appreciates the achievements of Anglo-Catholicism. He believes that the best Anglo-Catholic worship retains elements of Catholic, not Anglican, patrimony that will be restored to the Western Church by the Ordinariate.


Which is the last thing philistine RC liberals want to happen, of course. Disgracefully, the most influential opponents of the Ordinariate are the old guard in Eccleston Square, SW1 [headquarters of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales] and a couple of retired cardinals who, thank God, have been kept out of negotiations.

Also, and this is sad, some former Anglo-Catholics who made the journey to Rome on their own are now busily talking down the Ordinariate project. They have a bad case of “labourers in the vineyard” syndrome.

Meanwhile, +Rowan is quietly fuming at the challenge to his authority, while the “catholic” C of E bishops (their own choice of lower case, by the way) have revealed their desperation by launching the “Hinge & Bracket” alternative Ordinariate SS Wilfrid and Hilda, holed beneath the waterline before its first voyage because it can’t provide any safeguards worth having.

That’s an awful lot of enemies for the poor pioneers of the Ordinariate. Now they know what it felt like to belong to the original Oxford Movement.

But, in the words of a Catholic priest friend of mine, “Look who they have on their side. The Pope. Blessed John Henry Newman. And the Holy Spirit.”

I’m more and more convinced that the Apostolic Constitution will bear fruit in the shape of new, evangelistic parish communities that will challenge the sluggish mediocrity of Eccleston Square Catholicism. No wonder so many younger, orthodox, cradle Catholics are excited by the Ordinariate mission.


Meanwhile, on the anniversary of the announcement, here's what the Archbishop of Canterbury was up to:

Archbishop of Canterbury moves to flush out
Anglicans planning to defect to Rome

By Tim Ross, Religious Affairs Editor

21 Oct 2010




The Archbishop of Canterbury moved last night to counter secret plotting among disaffected Anglicans who are planning to defect to Rome.

Dr Williams's suggestion came in his first public remarks since a parish in Kent and a London bishop announced their intention to accept the Pope's offer to convert to Roman Catholicism

In a surprise announcement, Williams said he wanted to establish a new joint group of Roman Catholic and Church of England figures to oversee the conversion process.

The proposed group would be designed to enable smooth and less painful transition for those who want to leave the Church of England to become Roman Catholics in protest at the ordination of women bishops.

The defeat of the Archbishop of Canterbury by supporters of women bishopsIt would also bring into the open the negotiations between disaffected Anglicans and the Vatican which have been taking place in secret for months.

Dr Williams’s suggestion came in his first public remarks since a parish in Kent and a London bishop announced their intention to accept the Pope’s offer to convert to Roman Catholicism.

Last Friday, St Peter’s church in Folkestone and the Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Rev John Broadhurst, disclosed their plans to join the so-called English Ordinariate, a new body proposed by the Vatican as a home for disaffected Anglicans.

At least two more bishops are widely rumoured to be planning to join the Ordinariate when it is established next year, but their negotiations with Rome are taking place behind closed doors.

Neither Lambeth Palace nor the Roman Catholic authorities in England and Wales know the extent of the numbers of Anglicans who are likely to switch allegiance.

Under Pope Benedict XVI’s plan, Anglicans would be able to move into full communion with Rome while at the same time preserving some of their traditions and heritage.

In an interview with The Hindu newspaper, while on a trip to India, Dr Williams spoke of his frustration at the Pope’s decision to announce the Ordinariate to the public with little prior warning a year ago.

“I was very taken aback that this large step was put before us without any real consultation. And it did seem to me that some bits of the Vatican didn't communicate with other bits,” he said.

“It caused some ripples because I think there was a widespread feeling that it would have been better to consult. [What was there to consult about? The traditional Anglicans had split off from the main Anglican Communion years ago over their rejection of liberal changes like women bishops, openly gay bishops, and same-sex marriage.]

“As this is now being implemented, we are trying to make sure that there is a joint group which will keep an eye on how it's going to happen. In England, the relations between the Church of England and Roman Catholic Bishops are very warm and very close. I think we are able to work together on this and not find it a difficulty.”

It is understood that neither the Church of England nor the Roman Catholic authorities in England and Wales have yet agreed to Dr Williams’s proposal for a joint group to oversee the Ordinariate.

In the interview, Dr Williams acknowledged that the ordination of homosexuals and women as bishops threatened to create “deeper divisions” within the world-wide Anglican Communion.

"I feel that we may yet have to face the possibility of deeper divisions," he said.

"I don't at all like, or want to encourage, the idea of a multi-tier organisation. But that would, in my mind, be preferable to complete chaos and fragmentation. It's about agreeing what we could do together."


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Italian seminary rectors
react to the Pope's letter

Translated from

Oct. 21, 2010

On Monday, Oct. 18, the Vatican released the test of the Letter of the Pope to seminarians around the world following the Year for Priests. SIR has gatthered initial comments from a few rectors in Italian seminaries.

Re-motivating response to vocation
"I think it was very beautiful that the Pope focused attention on seminarians at a moment when things are a bit shaken up because of episodes of suffering in the experience of the Church", said don Nico Dal Molin, director of the Centro Nazionale Vocazioni.

"Benedict XVI shows the importance of remotivating the choices made by those who have entered the seminary, by telling us how, in his time, he was told that priests were not needed to rebuild Germany after the devastating folly of Nazism, and that even today, their presence is absolutely necessary. Men need God even at a time when technology rules".

The CNV director underscores that the Pope has offered: a global re-incentivizing of the community life of priests, stressing that "one does not become a priest by himself".

And finally, he says, the Pope re-examines the wound that pedophile priests have caused the Church and "he orients us to be more attentive to the emotional and sexual dimension of the seminarians' formation so they a genuinely full and free life as priests".

In the service of the People of God
"The Pope's letter touches on the principal arguments regarding the formation of seminarians - the spiritual as well as the human," said don Luigi Renna, rector of the Pontifical Regional Seminary of Puglia.

"Two aspects that I found most relevant: the first, where he calls on seminarians to live their time at seminary as life in a community of disciples. He underscores the importance of formation that creates a special educational climate, where seminarians make the journey together as fellow disciples, and the presence of others helps them emerge from individualism."

"The second aspect is that the Pope emphasizes the importance of spiritual, human and theological formation converging to make the priest a true man of God. This emerges in his emphasis on the study of theological subjects along with respect for popular piety.

"Thus, the Pope shows, from the pastoral point of view, a clear and concrete vision of how the future priest must prepare himself fully to serve the People of God".

In the Puglia seminary, the seminarians have already met once to discuss the letter. "They found that it corresponds to their ideals and expectations. And we will continue to reflect on it together, not simply to revisit its contents, which are greatly appreciated, but to share its resonances in each individual, and thus, to make the text a vehicle for communicating with each other on a spiritual and existential level."

To communicate with the world
"Reading the Pope's letter, I had the beautiful sensation of a Pope speaking to his sons in a very direct and paternal dialog," said don Carlo Bresciani, rector of the diocesan seminary in Brescia.

"A second impression is his very broad view of the formation that seminarians need - the intellectual, human and spiritual aspects of such formation, the warm invitation to attend to the global formation of the seminarian, beyond merely the aspects contingent to the problems that have been in the news lately.

"The Pope calls for a well-prepared and well-motivated clergy, especially since the apostolate today is far from easy. It demands a wide-ranging preparation in order to be able to confront the modern world without fear and without any sense of inferiority. The Pope encourages us with the humble courage of one who knows himself how to safeguard a treasure with love and attention".

Priesthood is not a thing of the past
"The Pope's letter reaffirms the basic questions regarding the formation of seminarians, with a beautiful opening premise that to become a priest remains a challenge today, and that it is not a thing of the past", says don Giampaolo Dianin, rector of the major diocesan seminary of Padua.

"The Letter confirms the ways that seminarians can and should have a spiritual life, the primacy of God, the value of theological studies to be pursued not only to better carry out their pastoral duties but just from love for knowledge and the search for God and hope."

Don Dianin, whose seminary has 41 priests in training (Padua's minor seminary has 65), also finds the Pope's reference to popular piety as highly significant, being part of the priest's need to be close thos his people, to their normal life, to the sensibility and actual life experience of the faithful.

"Equally important is the reminder that seminary life is the challenge of being together in a community and acting with reciprocal understanding, tolerance and collaboration".


And the only other report or commentary on the letter that I have seen so far in the Anglophone press (other than the narrowly-focused Wall Street Journal article the day the letter was released:


Pope Benedict says abuse scandal
cannot discredit celibacy bow

By Joshua A. Goldberg

Oct. 20, 2010

While Pope Benedict XVI on Monday said the Roman Catholic Church feels “profound shame and regret” over the sexual abuse of children and young people at the hands of priests, he made it clear to those considering priesthood that the vow of celibacy is not to blame.

“[M]any people, perhaps even some of you, might ask whether it is good to become a priest; whether the choice of celibacy makes any sense as a truly human way of life,” the Pope acknowledged in a letter to Catholic seminarians.

But the Pontiff said “even the most reprehensible abuse cannot discredit the priestly mission [of celibacy], which remains great and pure.”

“Thank God, all of us know exemplary priests, men shaped by their faith, who bear witness that one can attain to an authentic, pure and mature humanity in this state and specifically in the life of celibacy,” he wrote.

Benedict’s comments marked the first time the German pontiff directly spoke of the Catholic Church’s celibacy policy in the context of sexual abuse [I previously questioned this assertion by Sandro Magister, among others, citing the Pope's answer to a quesiton about celibacy at the Prayer Vigil before the conclsuion of teh year for Priests last June, that Magister himself wrote up at the time] and the first time any Pope has spoken of the two issues in tandem, according to some experts.

Sandro Magister, a longtime Vatican observer who writes for Italy's L'Espresso magazine, told the Wall Street Journal that Benedict’s latest move suggests he is willing to engage in a discussion that previous popes have considered off-limits.

Ultimately, Magister said he believes the pope aims to "reinforce" the Catholic Church's celibacy rule by engaging in debate.

[Not 'debate' in the conventional sense, however, but a continuing reaffirmation of the rationale behind priestly celibacy. And certainly not a debate according to the idea of Cardinal Schoenborn and his fellow liberals as to whether priestly celibacy hsould be abolished at all, but only in the context of the fallacious contention that priestly celibacy is the underlying cause for the pedophile scandals! Pedophiles will be pedophiles whether they are priests or laymen - it's an individual affliction.]

To date, Benedict has staunchly defended celibacy, saying in June that it “is a great sign of faith.”

Like marriage, celibacy “is an act of fidelity and trust,” he added.

As for sexuality, Benedict wrote Monday that it is “a gift of the Creator” but can become “banal and destructive” when not integrated within the person – priest or lay.

“It is important for the priest, who is called to accompany others through the journey of life up to the threshold of death, to have the right balance of heart and mind, reason and feeling, body and soul, and to be humanly integrated,” the pontiff stated. “This also involves the integration of sexuality into the whole personality.”

Benedict went on to say the clergy sex abuse scandal “should make us all more watchful and attentive.”

The Pontiff urged seminarians to examine themselves earnestly before God as they make their way toward priesthood to understand whether it is His will for them.

He said their years in seminary should be a time of growth toward human maturity.

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Friday, Oct. 22, 29th Week in Ordinary Time

Second from left:St. Juan Capistrano appears to St. Pedro Alcantara', 16th-cent painting by Luca Giordano; next to it, the saint's founder statue in St. Peter's Basilica.
Other paintings are unattributed from the 17th-century.

SAN PEDRO ALCANTARA (Spain, 1499-1562), Preacher, Discalced Franciscan, Mystic, Founder of the Franciscans of Strictest Observance (Alcantarines)
One of the constellation of great Spanish saints of the Counter-Reformation, he is best-known as the confessor to Teresa of Avila, who encouraged her to reform the Carmelites. St Teresa's autobiography is the source of much information regarding Peter's life, work, the gift of miracles and prophecy. He was of noble lineage, joining the Franciscans at 15 and was ordained at age 25 after making a name as a great preacher. He was a true mystic, who often went into ecstasies and levitated during these experiences. His other great contemporaries and friends included St. Francisco Borja, St. John of Avila and the Venerable Luis of Granada. A recluse by nature, he nonetheless carried out various leadership positions in the order, which he sought to reform in keeping with what it was in the time of St. Francis, establishing the Alcantarine reform in 1555. His writings later inspired St. Francis de Sales. he died while on his knees in prayer in a monastery in Avila and was canonized in 1669.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/102210.shtml



No papal stories or photos on Page 1 of the OR today, although the texts of the Holy Father's messages to the new ambassadors from South Korea and Romania are in the inside pages. OR's 'big story' for the day is entitled 'Obama's strategies' which merely reports a routine security meeting by the US President that was nothing more than a calendar item even in the Washington papers. Second story is a commentary that contrasts a recent Economist poll showing that 75% of British respondents voted for the proposition that religion does more harm than good in ad debate between two journalists(!) and the message of a new French film about the seven Cistercian monks of the convent of Tibbhirine in Algeria who remained with the villagers despite Muslim fundamentalist threats during the Algerian civil war - they were kidnapped in 1996 and found dead two months later. There is also a review of the film in the inside pages. The two other page 1 stories: UK Prime Minister David Cameron's proposed austerity budget-cutting measures; and a UN report on refugees saying that more than half of the world's 36 million persons now living in refugee camps are women and children.


THE POPE'S DAY

The Holy Father met today with

- Three new ambassadors to the Holy See, who presented their credentials:
H.E. Luis Dositeo Latorre Tapia, from Ecuador

H.E. Mme. Maja Marija Lovrenčič Svetek, from Slovenia

H.E. Manuel Tomás Fernandes Pereira, from Portugal.
His messages to them were in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, respectively.

- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (weekly meeting)




- A major story in Libero today by Giancarlo Nuzzi, author of a much-acclaimed book last year Vaticano s.p.aabout the questionable management of the Vatican Bank IOR 'during the Wojtyla years' which continued after the major scandals involving it in the 1980s. His major statement: Benedict XVI and the man he named to be the IOR president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, are above blame in the current investigation by Italian authorities for alleged violation of money-laundering regulations. Rather, the charges - especially coming at this time - have been due to vengeful machinations by powerful IOR officials dismissed under Benedict XVI, who want to block the reforms underway. Some of these officials, in their time, reportedly did use IOR to launder money acquired by some Italian politicians in the bribery scandals that rocked Italy in the 1980s. [It's not an easy story to translate because of the financial verbiage and the use of many colloquialisms to describe bad behavior, but I will try to provide a translation later.]

- Fr. Federico Lombardi has issued a new statement regarding the IOR investigation (translated here):

The responsible officials of IOR acknowledge (receiving) the reasons given by the Review Tribunal of Rome to conform teh preventive sequestration of an IOR deposit in Credito Artigiano and are examining them with their lawyers.

In any case, IOR officials confirm their intention to proceed with transparency in all the bank's financial activities as indicated in the communique of the Secretariat of State last September 21, and are confident that they cay provides as soon as possible all the clarifications requested by the competent entities.

- Another important story that requires trasnlation is a lengthy letter from Cardinal-designate Velasio De Paolis, the Pope's administrator for the Legionaries of Christ, which was made public the day before De Paolis was named cardinal, in which he announces the next moves to rehabilitate the movement founded by disgraced Father Marcial Maciel. He says a commission will study the revision of the Legion's constitutions, and that two more will deal with complaints presented against maciel by his victims, and another to sort out the Legion's finances, complicated by Maciel's personal involvement.
- A surprise item today comes from the Jordanian news agency Petra, which says:

His Majesty King Abdullah II on Thursday sent a cable to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI congratulating him in his name and on behalf of the Jordanian people and government on the National Day of the Vatican City. His Majesty wished Pope Benedict continued good health and happiness and the Vatican further progress and prosperity.

The problem is that I cannot find any reference to Oct. 22 as Vatican National Day. Last year, the Vatican observed with appropriate prominence thw 80th anniversary of the creation of Vatican City State on February 11, 1929, with the signing of the Lateran pacts with Italy. There was no mention today in any Vatican bulletin or the news media of Vatican National Day.

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Two Vaticanistas have posted their respective commentaries on the new cardinals named by Benedict XVI, but there is really little to say since the nominations speak for themselves:
- The Pope has a certain number of elector seats to fill (20);
- He has a certain number of Curial heads deserving of a red hat personally and by virtue of their positions, and
- For the remaining ten, he chose the most senior of the diocesan bishops that could be accommodated on this list, without violating the rule of not having two cardinal-electors from the same diocese.

The only choices on which the Pope exercised his full discretion, unhemmed by regulatory consdierations, was in the over-80 prelates, and even here, except for the unheralded Spanish bishop who had worked with him on the Catechism for the Catholic Church, the Vaticanistas with the right contacts predicted 3 out of 4.

In the face of such obvious facts, speculation about why the 20 electors were named and not others, or what the Pope intended by his choices, is really idle and moot! Let's see what John Allen and Sandro Magister have to say nonetheless. (I confess that I cannot explain Allen's headline for his column, except as a snide remark to imply he is trying to discuss the Pope's choices with 'charity in truth'! But then that goes with the habitual condescension of his column)


On cardinals, consistories
and 'Caritas in Veritate'


Oct. 21, 2010


If there’s one thing even the most religiously illiterate person tends to get about the Catholic church, it’s the difference between a cardinal and everybody else. Cardinals matter: they set a leadership tone, and, of course, they elect the next Pope.

The news this week that Benedict XVI has named 24 new cardinals, including 20 who are under 80 and hence eligible to vote in a conclave, merits a few reflections.

First, it would not seem that Benedict XVI has stacked the deck in any ideological sense. While there are no real liberals in this crop (not by the standards of secular politics, or for that matter in ecclesiastical terms), neither is the Nov. 20 consistory stuffed with arch-conservatives.

In general, there’s a rough balance between traditionalists and pragmatists. The American appointments offer an example, with both the uncompromising Archbishop Raymond Burke and the centrist Archbishop Donald Wuerl.

If Benedict’s aim had been to fill the College of Cardinals with the most conservative prelates available, he could have elevated Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard of Brussels, for example. [Who could not have been named ,in the same way that Dolan of New York, Nichols of Westminster, Betori of Florence, Plaza Rodriguez of Toledo, and Duka of Prague could not have been named - their senior colleagues now wearing the red hat are still under 80. Italian Vaticanistas have noted that Benedict XVI in 3 Consistories has only broken that rule once - when he named Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa a cardinal although his predecessor Tarcisio Bertone is still alive. The rationale was that the Pope, as Primate of Italy, had named Bagnasco president of the Italian bishops' conference, and obviously Bagnasco needed cardinal rank to exercise appropriate authority over a bishops' conference that has at least a dozen cardinals in its membership!]

In truth, Benedict seems determined to defer to tradition at almost every turn, rather than placing his own personal stamp on the college. [Whether he intends it or not, the cardinal-electors that any Pope names do put his stamp on the College of Cardinals in that he chose them. But not necessarily in the sense that each of these choices is an ideological clone of the Pope!The rationale is simple: If he thought they were good enough by personal, pastoral and ecclesial criteria to name them head of a Curial organism or to lead a major diocese, then surely they qualify to become cardinals eventually.]

He sticks close to the ceiling of 120 voting-age cardinals established by Pope Paul VI (while John Paul II sometimes ignored it); he won’t break with custom by naming a new cardinal before his predecessor turns 80 (that’s why Archbishops Timothy Dolan of New York and Vincent Nichols of Westminster, as well as Léonard and several others, were not on the list); and he insists on giving the red hat to all those Vatican officials who have traditionally held it. [The primary rationale here is not so much that a Curial office is traditionally associated with a red hat, but again, the authority principle that a Curial head must have the rank to supervise or rule on matters that necessarily affect many other cardinals not just in Rome but around the world.]

Second, Benedict is continuing what some analysts have described as the “re-Italianization” of the Church’s senior government, with ten of the 24 new cardinals, and eight of the 20 electors, being Italians. [This is an absurd conclusion! As if Benedict XVI has been deliberately choosing Italians to head the Curial offices. It just so happens that there are more Italians this time among the recently named Curial heads - and surely, at the time they were named, no one questioned the rightness of the appointments of Ravasi, Monterisi, De Paolis, Baldelli, Sardi, Amato and Piacenza! Of these, the only major Curial players are Amato and Piacenza, because the others have mostly ceremonial or highly circumscribed and specific duties. What reason would Benedict XVI have to 're-Italianize' the Curia, anyway? Burke, Koch and Sarah have major Curial posts and they are not Italian.]

Some wags in the Vatican press corps have dubbed the Nov. 20 consistory the “revenge of the Italians” because it brings the Italian share of the electors up from 17 percent to 20 -- or one-fifth of the total. [Typical journalistic trivia!]

Third, and related to the point above, ten of the 20 new cardinal-electors are Vatican officials, which will bring the total of Vatican officials among voting-age cardinals to 40 -- representing one-third of the total electorate for the next Pope. [Again, this is not by design! It just so happens that the 10 represent the last batch of Papa Ratzinger's nominees to complete a turnover of the Curia from its Wojtyla membership. So that for the first time, after 5 years, all the Curial heads are Benedict XVI nominees! P.S. Sorry, I spoke too soon: Two Wojtyla appointees, Rode, at Institutes of Consecrated Life, and Rylko at Laity, both have a few more years to go before they reach 75!]

Fourth, while there are a few obvious efforts to recognize the Church outside the West -- elevating a Coptic patriarch from Egypt, for example, as well as four Africans -- in the end, only seven of the 20 new electors come from outside Europe and North America. [But the criteria for choosing cardinals cannot be dominated by geographical considerations. Personal factors, such as competence, experience and readiness, should count more, as they apparently do! With a limited number of available seats for cardinal electors, it is impossible to choose names that will give equal or even proportional representation to 170 Catholic nations into 20 seats, even if you limit the basis to the six major regions of the world instead of 170 nations. Representation in the college of cardinals should come about by merit, not from geographical quotas!]

The appointments thus extend a demographic imbalance between the church at the bottom and at the top. Two-thirds of the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world today live in the global south, but two-thirds of the cardinals are from the north. [This superficial 'analysis' is a false representation of Catholic history and fact! It does not take into account that the Europeans have held the numerical advantage for so long because they have the longest histories as Catholic nations, and the rest of the world will need time to catch up to them and outnumber them. Meanwhile, it is not as if European cardinals who are still of voting age can suddenly be taken out of the equation because there are more of them.]

Fifth, some people may ask whether these appointments say anything about the Church’s response to the sexual abuse crisis. [But why should it matter??? As long as not one of the names was ever linked to possible cover-up or sex offenses himself, that is not an issue at all in the selection of new cardinals.]

The basic answer is “no,” in the sense that most of these new cardinals don’t have a high profile on the issue. Had Benedict wanted to send a clear signal on that front, he could have tapped Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, just ahead of the coming visitation in Ireland.

Martin is widely seen as a point person for an aggressive response to the crisis. Instead, Benedict again deferred to tradition -- Ireland is a small country that already has a cardinal under 80 in Sean Brady of Armagh. (The situation is further complicated by the fact that while Martin is enormously popular with the public and the media, he’s a divisive figure for some clergy and bishops.)

Sixth, there also doesn’t seem to be burning concern with a perceived PR problem at the senior levels of the Church. At least in the English-speaking world, the best natural communicators in the queue -- Martin of Ireland, Dolan of New York, and Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto -- have to wait for another day. [They will still be effective communicators for the Church even if they are not cardinals, by the very importance of the dioceses they head. Unless Benedict XVI was naming a new head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications - note that Archbishop Celli was not named a cardinal - this factor is relatively unimportant in terms of the entire Church. Even so, Burke, Ravasi, Piacenza and Koch are very effective communicators, but unfortunately, Curial heads do not generally speak out about matters not within their competence. I wish they would at least speak out in defense of the Pope when the occasion arises!]

In general, one could analyze the Nov. 20 consistory largely as a “business as usual” set of appointments. [It's frivolous to call it 'business as usual' - as if the nominations were routinely decided on and not thought out!]

This remains a teaching pontificate, premised on what I’ve called Affirmative Orthodoxy -- presenting classic Christian doctrine in the most positive terms possible.

Benedict simply is not much interested in governance and thus tends to stick to the script on matters such as who becomes a cardinal -- which, in this case, translates into a bumper crop of Italians and Church bureaucrats. [Again, this casts a negative light on Benedict XVI - as though it really does not matter to him whom he names cardinals! No one could possibly think that of him. And to dismiss the heads of the Roman Curia as 'bureaucrats' is uncalled-for and a low blow. Benedict XVI has not made any second- or third-tier Curial officials cardinals, and we must trust that the Curial heads he elevated to cardinal deserve their elevation both as holy persons and as competent administrators.]

Whether that’s a commendably evangelical focus on the heart of the Christian message, or self-defeating indifference to a “crisis of governance” under this pontificate -- or, perhaps, both -- rests in the eye of the beholder. [Allen speaks of governance - that's exactly what the Curial heads are supposed to do: help the Pope in the governance of the universal Church. And yet he would begrudge them the cardinal's hat they deserve!]

* * *

Handicappers tend to scrutinize a consistory with one key question in mind: Is there a new papabile in the bunch, i.e., a strong candidate to become the next Pope? The consensus answer this time around is “yes,” and it’s Italian Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Here’s a piece I did on Ravasi from February, laying out why many people find him so impressive: A prelate with the mind of Ratzinger and the heart of Roncalli. The sound-bite version is this: Ravasi is a prelate with the mind of Ratzinger and the heart of Roncalli. At his best, he blends the intellectual acumen of Benedict XVI and the pastoral heart of John XXIII. [The inevitable implication here is that Benedict XVI has the intellect but not a paternal heart! Does Allen ever review what he writes???


I said it last February and I say it again. It's in poor taste for Allen to single out anyone at this time and to push his candidate so shamelessly. It's almost an affront to all the other cardinals in the Church, quite a few of whom (having been papabile in 2005) have credentials asgood as if not better than Ravasi's. What does Allen hope to gain by gaming this? To be able to say 'I told you so' in the future [a distant one, we all pray]??? It's a cheap and tacky exercise!

Also, I never start out knowing how I will react to Allen's statements, because I first copy-and-paste the article on the post box, and then type in my comments as I read through it the first time... I am always surprised how much in what he says so casually should not be taken casually at all, because it often betrays a reflexive (ultimately thoughtless, because it comes on autopilot) - rather than a reflective - way of thinking! Too much familiarity with the subject matter often does that - dig a predictable and none-too-recommendable rut in the brain.




My first objection to Sandro Magister's commentary is the gratuitous remark about Mons. Georg Ratzinger in his sub-headline. I am sure he means well, but this kind of speculation is out of place in this article. It belongs to his blog...

24 new cardinals tailor-made for the Pope
Koch, Ravasi, Burke, Amato, Ranjith... all very much in line with Benedict XVI.
Who, in honor of great sacred music, is also giving the red hat to Maestro Bartolucci.
With a secret thought, perhaps, for his brother Georg.




ROME, October 22, 2010 – On the eve of the Feast of Christ the King, the end of the liturgical year, the Catholic Church will have 24 new cardinals. Benedict XVI announced the names at the end of the general audience on Wednesday, October 20, in Saint Peter's Square.

Most of the appointments are expected, and some of them practically obligatory, as explained below by one of the most incisive analysts of Vatican affairs, Gianni Cardinale, in Avvenire, the newspaper of the italian bishops' conference.

But the appointments also show features distinctive of the current Pontiff.

The first is Benedict XVI's desire to keep the number of cardinal electors, the ones who have the right to vote in conclave, no greater than 120. Which restricts the number of those who can aspire to and get the red hat at each consistory. [Not exactly distinctive of B16, since Paul VI instituted and followed the rule, and John Paul II followed it most of the time!]

For example, it is no longer the practice to make cardinals of the nuncios of the most prestigious sees: Paris, Vienna, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Washington. [Did this not stop under John Paul II? It can't be 'original' to Benedict XVI.]

A second characteristic is that Benedict XVI has not made cardinals of archbishops, even from major dioceses, that already have a cardinal who has not teached 80.

This unwritten rule was adopted by Benedict XVI for the first time in the consistory of 2007, but he also made one exception - for the archbishop of Genoa, Angelo Bagnasco, who was made a cardinal even though his predecessor, Tarcisio Bertone, who had become the Vatican secretary of state, was 73 at the time. [The special circumstance was that he had recently been named president of the italian Bishops' Conference for which he needed the rank to impose his authority in a conference that has at least a dozen cardinals.]

This time, there haven't been any exceptions. And so, neither the Archbishop of Florence, Giuseppe Betori, or the newly-named Aechbishop of Turin, Cesare Nosiglia, are in the list. Florence and Turin, along with Milan, Venice, Bologna, Genoa, Naples, and Palermo (plus Rome, with the Pope's vicar) are traditionally headed by cardinals.

A third and unprecedented element of the next concistory is the promotion to cardinal, not of the archbishops in office in their respective dioceses, but of their emeritus predecessors, as Benedict XVI did with the retired archbishops of Quito and Lusaka.

Finally, it was certainly Benedict XVI himself who chose the four new cardinals over the age of 80, nominated "ad honorem."

It was Paul VI, in 1970, who set the rule that cardinals over the age of 80 may not vote inconclave. But in the three following consistories he did not name any cardinals older than 80.

The first appointments of this kind were by John Paul II in 1983, when among those sho honored was the Jesuit theologian Henri De Lubac. Papa Wojtyla named a total of twenty-two over-80 cardinals. Benedict XVI has already named 12, four at each consistory.

One of the four new cardinals "ad honorem" of the next consistory will be Domenico Bartolucci, remarkably robust at 93, who had been named by John Paul II 'director for life' of the Sistine Chapel choir that accompanies the Pope's liturgies.

Benedict's conferral of the red hat on Bartolucci looks like an unambiguous rehabilitation of this preeminent maestro of Gregorian and polyphonic liturgical music, who was treacherously expelled from the direction of the Sistine choir in 1997, despite his lifetime appointment, by the director of pontifical ceremonies at the time.

Since then, the Sistine Chapel Choir has fallen to abysmal levels. Nor is there any reason to hope for a worthy rebirth in the appointment as its director, a few days ago, of Salesian Fr. Massimo Palombell, a protege of the cardinal secretary of state.

Next Monday, October 25, in the academic hall of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music in Piazza Sant'Agostino in Rome, Maestro Bartolucci will also receive an award from the Fondazione pro Musica e Arte Sacra, together with Benedict XVI's brother, Georg Ratzinger, another great proponent of liturgical music.

It will be as if the red hat given to the former also honors the latter. Something not entirely bizarre, if one remembers that Leo XIII, at his first consistory in 1879, made a cardinal of his brother Giuseppe Pecci, a Jesuit theologian and the deputy librarian of the Vatican library. [Nonetheless, an unworthy speculation to ascribe to Benedict XVI, and an honor I am sure even Mons. Georg himself has not dreamed of, having completely retired in 1994!]


WHO'S WHO among
the new cardinals

by Gianni Cardinale
Translated from



The list of new cardinals announced by Benedict XVI on October 20, seems at first sight to be characterized by a large number of curial heads (10 out of the 20 new cardinals under the age of 80, and therefore with the right to vote in conclave) and by a substantial group of Italians (8 out of 20, among the voters).

In reality, these two figures shouldn't come as much of a surprise, since almost all of them are appointments 'ex officio' - the honor comes with the office - and are practically compulsory:

- The Salesian Angelo Amato, 72, since June of 2008 Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood (and before this, the second in command at the former Holy Office, where for three years he was the closest collaborator of then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger);
- Francesco Monterisi, 76, since July of 2009 archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, and for eleven years before that the secretary of the congregation for bishops
- Paolo Sardi, 76, since June of 2009 pro-patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Fortunato Baldelli, 75, the major penitentiary since June of 2009;
- Raymond Leo Burke, 62, since June of 2008 Prefect of the Apostolic Segnatura, the Vatican supreme court;
- the Scalabrinian Velasio De Paolis, 75, since April of 2008 {resident of the Holy See's Prefecture of Economic Affairs;
- Mauro Piacenza, 66 (the youngest Italian cardinal), since last October 7, Prefect of the congregation for the Clergy.

The norms and customs in effect stipulate, in fact, that all seven of the offices mentioned be filled by cardinals.

The other three curial officials chosen by the Pope for the next consistory are all presidents of pontifical councils:
- Gianfranco Ravasi, 68, from Italy, since September of 2007 the head of the Council for Culture;
- Kurt Koch, 60, from Switzerland, since last July, president of the Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity; and
- Robert Sarah, 65, from Guinea, since October 7, president of Cor Unum.

Under the 1988 apostolic constitution Psator Bonus, which regulates the structure of the Roman curia, the heads of these second-level dicasteries are not expected to be cardinals. But the following motu proprio, Inde a Pontificatus, which in 1993 combined the Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue with the one for culture, stipulates that "the new organism [be] headed by a cardinal president." And the dicastery for ecumenism, because of its strategic role, has always been led by a cardinal.

Sarah's promotion could be interpreted as a sign of appreciation both for the person, and for the African continent that he represents.

One of the signature notes of the next consistory, in fact, lies precisely in that there will be four new African cardinals: In addition to Sarah, Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, 71, archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, 79, archbishop emeritus of Lusaka, Zambia; and the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria Antonios Naguib, 75, general relator at the current Synodal Assembly for the Middle East.

Another significant element of the next consistory is the fact that of the ten metropolitan bishops elevated to carinal rank by Benedict XVI, six of them are from Third World countries.

In addition to the three Africans mentioned: Raúl Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, 76, archbishop emeritus of Quito, Ecuador; Raymundo Damasceno Assis, 73, archbishop of Aparecida, Brazil; and Malcolm Ranjith, 63, archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka, and until June of 2009 secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

Four of the new metropolitan cardinals are from the West: Paolo Romeo, 72, of Palermo; Donald William Wuerl, 70, of Washington, DC; Kazimierz Nycz, 60, of Warsaw; and Reinhard Marx, 57, of Munich-Freising.

The Third World sees were favored by the fact that Benedict XVI has followed the unwritten rule against creating a cardinal when a diocese already has a cardinal emeritus who has not yet turned 80. This rule knocked out of the running many prelates of dioceses traditionally headed by cardinals, as Turin, Florence, Toledo, Brussels, New York, Westminster and Prague.

Finally, the four new cardinals over the age of 80: Elio Sgreccia, one of the leading world experts on bioethics; Domenico Bartolucci, former conductor and director of the pontifical Sistine Chapel choir; Walter Brandmüller of Bavaria, former president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences; and the Spanish bishop José Manuel Estepa Llaurens, a theologian who worked with then Cardinal Ratzinger on the drafting of the 2000 Catechism of the Catholic Church.


[Magister also posts a second article by Cardinale which I translated and posted on this thread earlier.]

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Pope tells new ambassadors:
The Church is called to
contribute to the common good




22 OCT 2010 (RV) - The contribution of faith to the development of society, the promotion of life and family, the importance of the Christian roots of Europe were topics addressed by Pope Benedict XVI Friday as he received 3 new ambassadors to the Holy See. They are the ambassadors of Slovenia, Portugal and Ecuador. To each of them the Pope said the Church has no political ambitions, but is called to offer her contribution to the common good.



Addressing the Ambassador of Ecuador, Luis Tapia Dositheus Latorre, Pope Benedict spoke of a visit he made to the Andean nation in 1978.

The Church, he reiterated, "seeks no privileges, but only asks to give her contribution for the" development of individuals and society”.

The common good, he said, must prevail "over party and class interests " and the "moral imperative" must be an obligatory reference point for every citizen.

History, he noted, shows that disregard for the truth about man, created in the image and likeness of God, often leads to "injustice and totalitarianism".

The Pope stressed the need to defend life at every stage, religious freedom, as well as the family based on marriage between a man and a woman.

The Pastors of the Church, he added "should not enter the political debate by proposing concrete solutions”. But neither "must they remain neutral in the face of great problems, nor be idle in fighting for justice."

The Pope, who praised the Church's contribution to education also called on Ecuadoreans to preserve the many natural beauties of their nation.




Speaking to the new Portuguese ambassador, Manuel Tomás Fernandes Pereira, Pope Benedict began by recalling his apostolic visit to the nation and its people last May. This visit he said reaffirmed the commitment of the Holy See "to serving the cause of promoting the integral development of peoples”.

Thus, when the Church promotes the awareness of values that should guide public and private life, she is not doing it for political ambitions, but to be faithful to the mission entrusted her by her Divine Founder"."

The Church - continued Pope Benedict - is not part of the “passing and incomplete models of society but aims to transform hearts and minds, so that man can discover and recognize himself in the full truth of his humanity" .

And in this context - concluded the Pope - "the Church encourages Christians to fully assume their responsibility as citizens to contribute effectively, alongside others, to the common good and the great causes of mankind."




Receiving the Ambassador of Slovenia, Maja Maria Lovrenčić Svetek, the Pope focused primarily on the integration of the Slovenian nation in the European Union, which, he stressed, "has as its founding principles the shared Christian roots of the Old Continent".

He noted that Slovenia’s anchoring in Gospel values have contributed importantly "to the cohesion of the country." This heritage, he added, "has been, even in the most difficult and painful moments, a constant ferment of comfort and hope, and has supported Slovenia in its path to independence after the fall of communism." A time, recalled the Pope, in which the Holy See wished to be particularly close to the Slovenian nation".

The Pope also said he was pleased with the law recently passed in Slovenia to support those who have lost their homes and jobs. And he reiterated the commitment of the Holy See "to promote peace and justice, to overcome differences and to intensify their constructive relationship."

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William Oddie, a former editor of Catholic herald, joins Damian Thompson in unmasking a treacherous plot against Anglicanorum coeetibus...


Catholic Anglicans:
Don’t be taken in by incoherent scheme
to undermine the Ordinariate

The Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda is not a credible alternative -
It aims to copy the Ordinariate but
it will not be in communion with the Pope

By William Oddie

Friday, 22 October 2010


You may not have noticed it (I had hardly noticed it myself) but the Church of England (having with deliberation decided not to make any “special provision” for those opposed to women bishops) is currently mounting a last-minute attempt to undermine the Ordinariate for Catholic Anglicans which is expected to be erected in the New Year.

This scheme (which I have absolutely no doubt has the discreet backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury) would be laughable if there were not a real possibility that it might persuade some Catholic Anglicans who are seriously considering coming into communion with the Bishop of Rome to stay where they are.

They should be warned: have nothing to do with this scheme. It seems to me to be dishonest, deceitful and both morally and intellectually bankrupt.

The name of the disreputable organisation which hopes to inveigle those Anglicans seriously considering the provisions of Anglicanorum coetibus into staying exactly where they are is the Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda.

This was set up last month with the backing of 10 bishops claiming to be of Catholic mind; I can only say that I know some of these men of old and the ones I do know are about as “Catholic” in any real sense as a clockwork banana.

They claim that they are “committed to the full visible unity of the Church for its mission in the world and also to holding central the gift of the threefold order of ministry shared with others, received from the first millennium and held in trust for an ecumenical future” – a shared ministry officially rejected by their own Church nearly 20 years ago.

They speak warmly of the Ordinariate, which, they say, is “an exciting initiative for those for whom the vision of ARCIC of corporate union has shaped their thinking over recent years”.

So why don’t they join it? The sting in the tail is in the last paragraph of their creepy statement: “The crucial issue is the ministry of the Pope himself, as the successor of St Peter. Anglicans who accept that ministry as it is presently exercised will want to respond warmly to the Apostolic Constitution. Those who do not accept the ministry of the Pope or would want to see that ministry in different ways will not feel able to accept Anglicanorum coetibus.”

In other words, they really think that they can plausibly claim to be “committed to the full visible unity of the Church” (there it is, in the very first sentence of their mission statement) while absolutely rejecting any notion of being in communion with the Pope.

So their ludicrous outfit (which naughty Damian Thompson has dubbed “St Hinge and St Bracket”) will copy the Ordinariate in every detail but one: they will not be in communion with the Pope (that is with over half of Christendom) but they will be in communion with all the women bishops the validity of whose orders they refuse to accept, and with the disintegrating Church which will have ordained them. Incoherent, or what?

They say: “It will require courage, and vision on the part of those who accept the [Pope’s] invitation, particularly amongst the first to respond”. True.

And for those Anglican “Catholics” (and the dismissive quotations marks will now become inevitable) who do not have the courage or the vision there is always St Hinge and St Bracket. Is that really what they want? The Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe rather than the Pope? Where’s the vision in that?


In its current issue, The Tablet devotes its cover story to the separate announcements by Bishop Broadhurst and the parish of Folkestone earlier this week:

The journey begins:
Ordinariates and the Church of England

by Abigail Frymann

Oct. 23, 2010


A flying bishop and a small parish in Rowan Williams’s own diocese are the first of the Church of England rebels ready to turn their backs on Canterbury and make for Rome via the special structure of an ordinariate. But could progress be stymied by salaries, pensions and buildings?

One bishop and a small parish in Folkestone have independently announced that they will leave the Church of England for the Roman Catholic Church and be the first into the ordin­ariate offered to them by Pope Benedict XVI a year ago. The exodus has begun.

The apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, “On groups of Anglicans”, was simultaneously unveiled at the Vatican and in London a year ago, when it was thought that up to 500,000 traditional Anglicans and 50 of their bishops from around the world, prompted by their disaffection with the direction of their own Church, could enter into full communion with Rome. The Church of England’s move to allow women to become bishops is just one example of change that they oppose.

At the end of his visit to Britain last month, the Pope reminded the Catholic bishops of England and Wales to be “generous” in implementing Anglicanorum Coetibus, which he called “a prophetic gesture” that “helps us to set our sights on … the restoration of full ecclesial communion”.

Just how many will now join this exodus is hard to assess, but the prelates most likely to accept the Pope’s offer were always going to be the Church of England’s “flying bishops”, who were installed to minister to those who could not accept the 1992 decision to ordain female priests: Bishops Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet, Keith Newton of Richborough – who are both on “study leave” – plus John Broadhurst of Fulham, and Martyn Jarrett of Beverley. Burnham, Newton and Broadhurst have said they will join the ordin­ariate at some point, and last Friday Bishop Broadhurst reaffirmed that decision.

Never one to do things quietly, he described his employer and spiritual home of 44 years in an interview with The Daily Telegraph as “vicious”, “vindictive” and “fascist” over its refusal to accommodate more effectively opponents of women’s ordination.

Bishop Burnham and Bishop Newton’s predecessor, Edwin Barnes, last month told The Tablet they would also join the ordinariate, which is to be set up in January.

Meanwhile the first parish announced its desire to join the structure. The Parochial Church Council of St Peter’s, Folkestone, a small traditionalist parish of 400 or so worshippers, voted to instruct their churchwardens to contact the diocese and start negotiations for moving to the ordinariate.

A church member said they felt “fobbed off” over the Church of England’s promise of pastoral oversight because their bishop, Trevor Willmott of Dover, was one of those at General Synod who were “really not very helpful to any measures to ameliorate things as seen from the Anglo-Catholic side of things”.

In the next few weeks, the pace of these apparently isolated decisions may quicken. A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said each Anglican priest who, with a group of faithful, is considering joining the ordinariate has been asked to speak to his Anglican bishop about his interest by the end of October.

“At that time, the bishops’ conference will begin to know the likely number of groups that wish to avail themselves of … Anglicanorum Coetibus,” said the spokesman.

The initiative presents awkward issues for congregations, either those that are divided on whether to join the ordinariate, or those whose priest wishes to join while they do not. “I can see that it might split parishes,” said Bishop Malcolm McMahon, a member of the commission set up by the Catholic bishops to oversee the establishment of an ordinariate.

An estimated half of St Peter’s, Folkestone, want to join the ordinariate and, if they do, the question will arise of what happens to the pastoral oversight of the rest, and of the local community.

If a priest’s parish doesn’t want to join, “he would have to attach himself to another group or come [into the Catholic Church] by the normal route – but if he does that, he can’t join the ordinariate later,” explained Bishop McMahon, who draws a parallel between the incoming Anglicans and the Polish communities which shared church buildings with English catholic parishes and used very similar liturgy.

Bishop Alan Hopes, an auxiliary in Westminster and a former Anglican, is to head the ordinariate in its early days before relinquishing control to an ordinariate member selected from a governing council of six priests, three of whom are thought to be Anglican bishops who will be reordained as Catholic priests next spring.

Bishop McMahon said fears of a major rift within the Church of England were overplayed because the numbers of Anglicans wanting to join the ordinariate were relatively low.

Where a parish applied to the ordinariate, he said there was genuine pastoral concern from both the local Anglican and Catholic bishops to find the best way forward. It is still a learning process for all concerned.

What has become clearer in the last year is that Anglicans won’t be able to take their buildings with them – under ancient common law an Anglican church building is seen as “a legal entity, having a perpetual existence, which is distinct from the individuals who are incumbent from time to time”, according a statement by the Church of England.

Another important issue to be resolved concerns the funding of the clergy. Some Anglican clergy own properties; some don’t. But all will leave behind their Church of England final-salary pensions. Priests within the ordinariate will be paid and housed by it, and there are rumours of Anglo-Catholic benefactors bank-rolling the operation to make it viable.

But wherever the money comes from, the stipends will be relatively small and ordinariate priests will be allowed, and may even be encouraged, to take on secular work. The St Barnabas Society, which looks after Anglican clergy who are reordained as Catholic priests, said it will offer financial and pastoral support to ordinariate clergy.

Secretary of the society Fr Robin Sanders admitted that finding employment might be hard for clergy who hadn’t worked outside the Church for years.

One thing the ordinariate is not likely to do, said Bishop McMahon, is ease the shortage of Catholic priests, given that ordinariate clerics are intended to minister first and foremost to their own. Even so, the strictures of Rome may prove a shock to some Anglican clergy.

The secretary of Forward in Faith – a grouping of Anglo-Catholics within the Church of England – the Revd Geoffrey Kirk, said that reports about the suitability of applicants to the ordinariate are being sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He said he thought that those in civil partnerships would not be deemed suitable, and there might even be a reticence to admit younger married Anglican clergy who have no children.

“There may well be moral questions about relationships that have to be considered,” said Fr Kirk, adding that such concerns could be linked to the attitude of an applicant. “There’s bound to be an anxiety that they’re taking on a bunch of difficult individuals,” he said.

However, this week there was an unexpected fillip for those “difficult individuals” and others whom Rome may feel are unsuitable for the ordin­ariate, as well as those disaffected but reluctant to leave the Anglican Church.

An analysis of the composition of the new General Synod of the Church of England shows that the number of Anglo-Catholics and conservative evangelicals – who have formed an alliance of opposites – could produce a large enough bloc to defeat the legislation for women bishops.

To succeed, it needs a two-thirds majority when it is voted on by the whole synod in 2012, and that is now in some doubt.

This is good news for Canon Simon Killwick, chairman of the Catholic Group in the General Synod, who said he would like to remain in the Anglican Church “indefinitely”, and to that end he would like to see the legislation amended to include alternative oversight for those who cannot accept women bishops.

“There’s a fight on our hands, but once provision is established it should be possible to engage in our shared mission without these battles in the way,” said Canon Killwick, who is a member of the newly founded Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda, set up by Anglo-Catholic bishops who wish to remain in the Church of England.

The society, which shares offices with Forward in Faith, was dismissed by those wanting to move quickly to the ordin­ariate but it is already proving a popular haven with those who wish to stay.

Soon we will know whether the Pope’s gesture has been taken up by five parishes or by 50. For now, Anglicanorum Coetibus and the soul-searching it has provoked has strengthened in some their sense of Anglican identity while giving others a long-awaited method by which they can replant theirs.


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Saturday, Oct. 23, 29th Week in Ordinary Time

The saint was the subject of many paintings in the 15th century because of his legendary fame as a preacher and as a soldier. Third from left, he is shown holding up the crucifix in the midst of battle; next to it, with St. Bernardine of Siena (right); and second from right, appearing to San Pedro Alcantara in a vision.
ST. GIOVANNI DA CAPESTRANO (b Italy 1386, d Croatia 1456), Franciscan Preacher and Theologian, Inquisitor, Missionary and Papal Emissary, Army General
More familiarly known as San Juan Capistrano, from the Spanish version of his name, he was born in the diocese of Sulmona and received a thorough education in Perugia, specializing in the law. At the time he was born, one-third of the population of Europe and nearly 40 percent of the clergy had been wiped out by the bubonic plague. The Church was undergoing the Western Schism with two or three Pope claimants at any time, and the city states of Italy were in constant conflict. Giovanni's talents were such that at 26, he was appointed governor of Perugia and was imprisoned after leading a battle with the powerful Malatesta clan. Resolving to change his way of life, he became a Franciscan novice at age 30, along with the future San Giacomo (James) delle Marche, and was ordained four years later. At this time, the order was in turmoil over the observance of St. Francis's rule and Giovanni fought for strict observance as did Bernardine of Siena, succeeding in suppressing the heretical Fraticelli and 'Spirituals' of the Order. He and Bernardine were summoned to Rome to answer charges of heresy themselves, but they were absolved by the Commission of Cardinals. From 1420 onwards, he gained great fame all over Italy for his preaching - once in Brescia he preached to a crowd of 125,000. When he was not preaching, he tirelessly wrote tracts against all kinds of heresy and later in defense of papal supremacy. His talents led Popes Eugene IV and Nicholas V to send him on missions to other countries of Europe, during which his preaching was equally acclaimed and instrumental in reviving a dying faith and devotion. As papal emissary, he also acted as Inquisitor to prosecute heretics in Italy and in central Europe. After the Turks captured Constantinople in 1453, the Pope commissioned him to preach a crusade in defense of Europe. He concentrated his efforts in Hungary and then with the Great General Junyadi, led the Christian army in an overwhelming victory against the Turks in Belgrade. After this, however, he fell victim to the bubonic plague and died in a village in what is now Croatia. There are two dates given for his canonization - 1690 and 1724 - but his feast was first included in the Roman calendar in 1890. He is the patron saint of military chaplains and of jurists.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/102310.shtml



OR today.

Papal stories in this issue: On Page 1, the Synodal Assembly on the Middle East votes on its final message and propositions, and in the inside pages,
the papal messages to the new ambassadors from Ecuador, Slovenia and Portugal. Page 1 international news: New Israeli construction in East
Jerusalem remains an obstacle to resumption of direct peace talks; G20 finance ministers prepare to meet in South Korea to map out a strategy
for 'balanced growth' in the crisis-ridden world economy; France awaits Senate vote on raising retirement age from 60 t0 62 [the vote was yes,
and riot protests against the policy change continue for the second week]; a cholera epidemic among the homeless earthquake victims of Haiti
has now claimed 136 dead.


THE POPE'S DAY

According to the Synodal Assembly bulletin today, the Holy Father attended the 14th and last general congregation
this morning, during which the Assembly voted on the Propositions summarizing their recommendations to the Pope
which will be the basis for his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation. He authorized publication of the approved list.

He was also scheduled to host a luncheon for all the Synodal participants at Aula Paolo VI after the midday news
conference at which the Synodal officials presented the approved Propositions.



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Sacred mysteries: What the Pope's visit changed
Weighing the effect, a month on from Pope Benedict's visit

by Christopher Howse

23 Oct 2010


When the Pope visited Britain last month some said that everything had changed for good. That is not true in the sense of the nation being converted to the paths of righteousness. And there was also something which changed for the time being. That was the easy ride enjoyed by a small number of atheist zealots, the usual suspects, who had mocked him in the much the way that alternative comedians once mocked Mrs Thatcher.

What changed permanently is surely the reputation (more than just image) of Pope Benedict. However long he continues as Bishop of Rome, he will be known in Britain not as an isolated authoritarian hankering for lost glory, but as a thoughtful man, a little shy, never happier (except perhaps when listening to music, as at Westminster Abbey. or when saying his prayers) than in discussing how the Church and state might work for the common good.

A turning-point was the address to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall. It wasn't just that his audience applauded him after his speech as he walked through the historic building. This was remarkable enough, given the historic roots of a part of parliamentarianism in the rejection of popery.

But the friendly gesture was not the distinguishing note of the occasion – after all, the Queen herself, welcoming him to Scotland had spoken of being "united in conviction" with him about the freedom to worship being "at the core of our tolerant and democratic society".

No, the decisive moment at Westminster Hall was when the Pope denied for the Church the role of supplying "the objective norms governing right action", let alone proposing "concrete political solutions". The latter point should have been clear, since Catholics sit with conviction on both sides of the House of Commons. But it might have been thought that the Church ought to supply the moral underpinning.

Not so, the Pope insisted. The answer to the question "Where is the ethical foundation for political choices to be found?" was that it was to be supplied by reason, without the privilege of divine revelation.

Certainly, reason could be distorted, as the "totalitarian ideologies of the 20th century" showed. And that was why "the world of secular rationality and the world of religious belief need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilisation". This was a thousand miles from the exploded caricature of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope, as a dogmatic rottweiler.

[A pity that Mr. Howse and other Pavlov-dog critics of Joseph Ratzinger, even in the media, obviously never bothered to check earlier into what he has been saying and writing for decades - notwithstanding that he had written about 120 books before he became Pope, most of them translated to English!]

There were, naturally, moments of entirely spiritual witness – not least when 80,000 people at Hyde Park fell silent as the Pope led them in unspoken prayer to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.

Another striking scene came when this old man invited a crowd of schoolchildren – and all the young people in the land – to set their ambitions upon becoming saints. "Once you enter into friendship with God," he told them, "everything in your life begins to change."

Pope Benedict did not just preach to the converted. After their meeting (by coincidence at the beginning of the Day of Atonement), the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, moved by the Pope's commitment to Catholic-Jewish relations, said: "It was an epiphany. Soul touched soul across the boundaries of faith."

Those words echoed the motto – Cor ad cor loquitur – of the man the Pope had come to beatify, John Henry Newman. Now, after the beatification, previous objections to it seem petty.

Luckily, the Pope's speeches were not couched in the jargon-ridden half-Latin that once characterised English translations of encyclicals. [Once again, it is obvious Howse had not read Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI at all before he came to the UK! A pastoral, almost conversational, tone characterizes his public discourses, and he manages this by using simple direct language - elegantly formulated, to be sure, but effortlessly so - that engages the listener, whatever his intellectual level, that never talks down but never dumbs down the message either.]

They are online at thepapalvisit.org and, with colour pictures and reflections by figures who met him, in Benedict XVI and Blessed John Henry Newman, edited by Peter Jennings (CTS, £14.95).




What follows is quite a belated post - but still very relevant - from the Tablet that I missed seeing when it first came out and that I came across when I tracked down the Tablet story on the Ordinariate. It is a very beautiful, inspired and inspiring piece.

Building on the papal visit
by James Leachman

Oct. 2, 2010

Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain has been hailed as an outstanding success. But how can it become a starting point to help those making their first steps towards faith, or those tentatively wanting to return to the Church?

For the four days of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain it seemed at times as if the heart of the nation was beating with that of the Catholic Church.

The Pope spoke with his wisdom, humanity and obvious affection; the British responded with an unexpectedly warm welcome – and it was not just practising Catholics who reacted so warmly.

Now, in these days after the visit, there are enormous opportunities for the Churches in Britain to respond to the obvious spiritual thirst of our people.

Catholics, alienated by the child-abuse scandal, responded to the Pope’s frequent apologies and references to his shame and pain, and to his private meeting with victims. Non-practising Catholics took notice of his spiritual message and wondered what they had been missing.

Christians of other Churches showed great enthusiasm; they and members of other faiths welcomed his contribution to the debate on the place of religion in society.

Politicians and others in public life reacted positively to his address in the historic Westminster Hall. The cynical media were clearly wrong-footed by the fabulously organised roadshow for the nation.

I have spent time recently in Lincoln among Church of England and Catholic friends and family. After Evensong in the (Anglican) cath-edral one day, some of us were received by a delightful member of the cathedral community, many of whose Church of England friends had followed the papal visit on television and considered it an astounding success. Some who had stopped attending were considering a return to regular worship in the church that had nurtured their faith.

The Catholics I met were also united in their conviction that they had seen the Pope as he is for the first time, rather than through the distorting medium of a press that is often cynical and atheistic – and they had experienced a shift in their attitude towards him.

One of the central elements of Pope Benedict’s call was that all people of faith should have an active voice in society. Religious faith is not a private experience or hobby, and it must be active in promoting justice and truth.

It was clear from his joyful meeting with young people at Twickenham and outside Westminster Cathedral, and with the elderly in Vauxhall, south London, that both he and they were moved. They welcomed his call to follow Christ and become the saints of the twenty-first century.

The visit was also a powerful reminder through the pilgrims who turned out that the Church is “catholic” – that is, international, multicultural and multicoloured and that it includes people of all ages.

A further thread running through the papal liturgies was that beauty and the transcendent attract us and help us to respond to Christ’s call.

So how we can build on these events (which seemed more like a pilgrimage than a state visit)? How do we maintain a momentum over the coming months and years? What can our parish communities do in practice?

It seems clear that the Churches must work together in responding to the grace of the Papal visit – and each parish community will also have to develop its own plan of action.

Christians can work together to be advocates for those who are manipulated and instrumentalised by our society: the unborn, the young, the old, the disabled, the unemployed, the discriminated, migrants.

We must consider in our parishes how we can help young people to withstand the craving for the false values of alcohol, drugs, style, a consumerist sexuality and power promoted by ruthless advertising. This is the kind of Church the Pope has shown we can be in Britain.

There are two groups in particular we should focus on in the coming months: those inspired tentatively to consider becoming Christians and those who, as my Church of England friend pointed out, wish to enquire about returning to regular worship. They may find the journey daunting and be fearful.

So we might organise groups in our parishes to welcome back those who wish to return. This will require advertising in the parish and, perhaps, in the local press; and people will need to be reminded that personal encouragement is often most effective. We might make sure that people are aware of programmes such as Landings, a Paulist ministry for returning Catholics.

This is a moment for great sensitivity. Many Catholics who feel excluded from the Eucharist still come to Mass regularly, and non-Catholics also come to Mass with their spouses or children. We might make a deliberate, but gentle effort to invite them to talk to a priest by including a note in the bulletin or by putting enquiry cards in the church. Alternatively, the celebrant might include in the announcements a reminder that he is always available to speak privately after Mass or during the week.

The Pope’s Prayer Vigil in Hyde Park was extraordinarily powerful and the introduction of prayer vigils, or a time of adoration of the Eucharist, in parishes could help people reflect on their faith, or make the faith their own, either for the first time or once again. Such devotional practices can help build up a sense of Christian and Catholic identity leading to a sense of community.

Let me give some concrete examples of what we can offer. I know a woman who would sit at the back of the church during Mass, looking longingly at what Catholics do. When she had gained enough confidence, she began to light a candle before the statue of Our Lady. She would sit and think about her family difficulties and would share them with Mary — and she found that her burdens seemed lighter.

Then there was a refugee who had fled a violent husband, leaving behind her children. She would visit a church and sit and think before the crucifix of her own suffering and how she could make sense of it. In both these cases, someone befriended them in the church; both of these women became Catholic.

Ousama used to pray in a mosque that had once been a church. On one wall, not yet obliterated by whitewash, a face of Christ was discernible. He came to England as an economic migrant and searched for that human face again. A religious sister gave him a Bible and he would read the accounts of Jesus – and discovered that it was among the Christians he met that he could find that face.

None of these rituals — lighting a candle, sitting before a crucifix or icon, reading a Bible — involved an official liturgy, but the Christian community helped enquirers to reflect and pray. Their experiences and the personal encounters they had helped them to respond to God in their own way.

Our parishes and dioceses could use all these and other pious practices and popular devotions to help many of those touched by the visit of Pope Benedict to come into the Christian community or to return to it once more.

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After virtually ignoring the Synodal Ssembly for the Middle East at the Vatican, the Anglophone news agencies today picked up the 'political' part of the final message from the Synodal Fathers. Of course, the Synodal Assembly is not a 'Vatican body' since it is composed of prelates from the Middle East and from around the world who are concerned in any way with the Middle East.


Vatican body urges UN
to end Israeli occupation




VATICAN CITY, Oct. 23 (AFP) - Catholic bishops in the Middle East urged the United Nations Saturday to end the Israeli occupation of Arab lands at the end of a meeting chaired by Pope Benedict XVI.

[The Supreme Pontiff is nominally the President of every Synodal Assembly, but although he attends the sessions, he never 'chairs' them. This is the task of the presidents-delegate (3 for this assembly) who take turns chairing the general congregations of the assembly.]

In a final statement of their two-week synod, the bishops and patriarchs of the region's Catholic churches said the citizens of the Middle East "call upon the international community, particularly the United Nations, conscientiously to work to find a peaceful, just and definitive solution in the region, through the application of the Security Council's resolutions and taking the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories.

"The Palestinian people will thus have an independent and sovereign homeland where they can live with dignity and security. The State of Israel will be able to enjoy peace and security within their internationally recognized borders.

"The Holy City of Jerusalem will be able to acquire its proper status, which respects its particular character, its holiness and the religious patrimony of the three religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim. We hope that the two-State-solution might become a reality and not a dream only."

The statement referred to Security Council resolutions which called on Israel to quit territories seized during the 1967 Middle East War, including east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The synod was marked by repeated affirmations that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is at the root of the tension affecting the whole Middle East.

With its resolution, the bishops said, "Iraq will be able to put an end to the consequences of its deadly war and re-establish a secure way of life which will protect all its citizens with all their social structures, both religious and national.

"Lebanon will be able to enjoy sovereignty over its entire territory, strengthen its national unity and carry on in its vocation to be the model of coexistence between Christians and Muslims, of dialogue between different cultures and religions, and of the promotion of basic public freedoms."

The synod also said, "We condemn violence and terrorism from wherever it may proceed as well as all religious extremism. We condemn all forms of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Christianism and Islamophobia and we call upon the religions to assume their responsibility to promote dialogue between cultures and civilisations in our region and in the entire world."

[The final message struck a very good balance, actually, unlike the working agenda, Instrumentum laboris, for this assembly, which sounded alarmingly partisan for the Palestinians. ]


Here is the full message:

MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD

Oct. 23, 2010

During the Fourteenth General Congregation held yesterday afternoon, Friday 22th October 2010, the Synod Fathers approved the Nuntius, the Message to the People of God, at the conclusion of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops.

The full text (written in Arabic, French, Italian and English) of the English version is published below:



“Now the company of those who believed
were of one heart and soul”
(Acts 4:32)

To our brother priests, deacons, monks, nuns, consecrated persons, our dear lay faithful and all people of good will:

Introduction

1.May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you.

The Synod of Bishops for the Middle East was for us a new Pentecost. “Pentecost is the original event but also a permanent dynamism, and the Synod of Bishops is a privileged moment in which the grace of Pentecost may be renewed in the Church’s journey” (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily at the Opening Liturgy, 10 October 2010).

We have come to Rome, We the Patriarchs and Bishops of the Catholic Churches in the Middle East with all our spiritual, liturgical, cultural and canonical patrimonies, carrying in our hearts the concerns of our people.

For the very first time, we have come together in a Synod, gathered around His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, with both cardinals and archbishops, who are heads of the various offices in the Roman Curia, presidents of episcopal conferences around the world, who are concerned with the issues of the Middle East, representatives from the Orthodox Churches and ecclesial communities and Jewish and Muslim guests.

We express our gratitude to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI for his care and for his teachings, which guide the journey of the Church in general and that of our Eastern Churches in particular, especially in the areas of justice and peace. We thank the episcopal conferences for their solidarity, their presence in our midst during their pilgrimages to the holy sites and their visits to our communities. We thank them for guiding our Churches in the various aspects of our life. We thank the different ecclesial organisations for their effective assistance.

Guided by the Holy Scriptures and the living Tradition, we have reflected together on the present and the future of Christians and all peoples of the Middle East. We have meditated on the issues of this region of the world which God willed, in the mystery of his love, to be the birthplace of his universal plan of salvation. From there, Abraham’s vocation was initiated. There, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. There, Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of life and the kingdom. There, he died to redeem humanity and free us from sin. There, he rose from the dead to give new life to all. There, the Church was formed and went forth to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to the world.

The primary aim of the Synod is pastoral. Thus, we have carried in our hearts the life, the pains and the hopes of our people as well as the challenges they need to confront each day “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rm 5:5). Dear sisters and brothers, we therefore address this message to you. We wish it to be an appeal to safeguard the faith, based on the Word of God, to collaboration in unity and to communion in the witness of love in every aspect of life.

I. The Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness throughout History

The Journey of Faith in the Middle East
2. In the Middle East, the first Christian community was born. From there, the apostles after Pentecost went evangelising the whole world. There, the early Christian community lived amid tensions and persecutions, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42), and no one of them was in need. There, the first martyrs, with their blood, fortified the foundations of the nascent Church. After them, the hermits filled the deserts with the perfume of their holiness and their faith. There, the Fathers of the Eastern Church lived and continued to nourish the Church in both the East and West through their teachings. In the early centuries and later, missionaries from our Churches departed for the Far East and the West, bringing with them the light of Christ. We are the heirs of that heritage. We need to continue to transmit their message to future generations.

In the past, Our Churches provided saints, priests and consecrated persons; they still do in the present. Our Churches have also sponsored many institutions which contributed - and still do - to the well being of our societies and countries, sacrificing self for the sake of the human person, who is created to the image of God and is the bearer of his likeness. Some of our Churches continue to send out missionaries who carry the Word of God to many places in the world. The pastoral, apostolic and missionary needs mandate us to put together a pastoral master-plan to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life in order to ensure the Church of tomorrow.

We are now at a turning point in our history: The God who has given us the faith in our Eastern lands 2000 years ago, calls us today to persevere with courage, strength and steadfastness in bearing the message of Christ and witnessing to his Gospel, the Gospel of love and peace.

Challenges and Aspirations
3.1. Today, we face many challenges. The first comes from within ourselves and our Churches. We are asked by Christ to accept our faith and to apply it to all situations in our lives. What he asks from our Churches is to strengthen the communion within every Church sui iuris and that of the Catholic Churches of various traditions, and to exert every effort in prayer and charitable acts in order to attain the full unity of all Christians so as to fulfil the prayer of Christ: “that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21).

3.2. The second challenge comes from the outside, namely, political conditions, security in our countries and religious pluralism.

We have evaluated the social situation and the public security in all our countries in the Middle East. We have taken account of the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the whole region, especially on the Palestinians who are suffering the consequences of the Israeli occupation: the lack of freedom of movement, the wall of separation and the military checkpoints, the political prisoners, the demolition of homes, the disturbance of socio-economic life and the thousands of refugees. We have reflected on the suffering and insecurity in which Israelis live. We have meditated on the situation of the holy city of Jerusalem. We are anxious about the unilateral initiatives that threaten its composition and risk to change its demographic balance. With all this in mind, we see that a just and lasting peace is the only salvation for everyone and for the good of the region and its peoples.

3.3. We have reflected in our meetings and in our prayers the keen sufferings of the Iraqi people. We have recalled the Christians assassinated in Iraq, the continued suffering of the Church in Iraq and her sons who have been displaced and dispersed throughout the world, bringing with them the concerns for their land and their fatherland. The synod fathers have expressed their solidarity with the people and the Churches in Iraq and have expressed their desire that the emigrants, forced to leave their country, might find in the welcoming countries the necessary support to be able to return to their homeland and live in security.

3.4. We have extensively treated relations between Christians and Muslims. All of us share a common citizenship in our countries. Here we want to affirm, according to our Christian vision, a fundamental principle which ought to govern our relations, namely, God wants us to be Christians in and for our Middle Eastern societies. This is God’s plan for us. This is our mission and vocation - to live as Christians and Muslims together. Our actions in this area will be guided by the commandment of love and by the power of the Spirit within us.

The second principle which governs our relations is the fact that we are an integral part of our societies. Our mission, based on our faith and our duty to our home countries, obliges us to contribute to the construction of our countries as fellow-citizens, Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.

II. Communion and Witness Within the Catholic Churches of the Middle East

To the Faithful of Our Churches
4.1. Jesus says to us: “You are the salt of the earth, the light of the world” (Mt 5:13.14). Your mission in our societies, beloved faithful, through faith, hope and love, is to be like “salt” which gives savour and meaning to life; to be like “light” by proclaiming the truth which scatters the darkness; and to be like the “leaven” which transforms hearts and minds. The first Christians of Jerusalem were few in number, yet they were able to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth because of the grace of “the Lord who acted with them and confirmed their Word by signs” (Mk 16:20).

4.2. We want to greet you, Christians of the Middle East, and we thank you for all you have achieved in your families and societies, in your Churches and nations. We commend you for your perseverance in times of adversity, suffering and anguish.

4.3. Dear priests, our co-workers in the mission of catechesis, liturgy and pastoral work, we renew our friendship and our trust in you. Continue to transmit to your faithful with zeal and perseverance the Gospel of life and Church’s tradition through your preaching, catechesis, spiritual direction and the good example of your lives. Build up the faith of the People of God to make of it a civilisation of love. Provide the sacraments to the People of God so that this People might aspire to be renewed. Gather them together in the union of love by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Dear consecrated men and women in the world, we express to you our gratitude and with you we thank God for the gift of the evangelical counsels – of consecrated chastity, of poverty and obedience – through which you have made the gift of yourselves as you follow Christ, the special love to whom you long to witness. It is thanks to your diverse apostolic initiatives that you are the true treasure and wealth of our Churches and a spiritual oasis in our parishes, dioceses and missions.

We unite ourselves spiritually to hermits, to monks and nuns who have dedicated their lives to prayer in contemplative monasteries, sanctifying the hours of day and night, carrying the Church’s concerns and needs to God in their prayers. You offer the world a sign of hope through the witness of your life.

4.4. We express to you, faithful lay people, our esteem and our friendship. We appreciate everything you do for your families and societies, your Churches and home countries. Remain steadfast amidst trials and difficulties. We are filled with gratitude to the Lord for the charisms and talents which he has showered you and which equip you to participate, through the power of your baptism and chrismations, in the Church’s mission and her apostolic work to permeate the temporal world with the spirit and values of the Gospel. We invite you to give the witness of an authentic Christian life, of a conscientious religious practice and of good morals. Have the courage objectively to proclaim the truth.

Those of you who suffer in body, in soul and spirit, the oppressed, those forced from your homes, the persecuted, prisoners and detainees, we carry you all in our prayers. Unite your suffering to that of Christ the Redeemer and seek in his cross patience and strength. By the merit of your sufferings, you gain God’s merciful love.

We greet each of our Christian families and we look upon your vocation and mission with esteem as a living cell of society and a natural school of virtue and ethical and human values, the “domestic Church” which transmits the practices of prayer and of faith from one generation to the next. We thank parents and grandparents for the education of their children and grandchildren, who, like Jesus grow “in wisdom, in stature and grace in the sight of God and men” (Lk 2:52). We commit ourselves to the defence of the family through our pastoral programmes on its behalf, through marriage preparation courses and centres, open to all but mainly to couples in difficulty, where they can be welcomed and obtain counseling, and by defending the fundamental rights of the family.

We now wish to speak to the women of our Churches in a special way. We express to you our appreciation for what you are in the various states of life: girls, mothers, educators, consecrated women and those who engaged in public life. We revere you, because you harbour human life within you from its very beginnings, giving it care and tenderness. God has given you a special sensitivity for everything that pertains to education, humanitarian work and the apostolic life. We give thanks to God for your activities and we hope that you will be able to exercise greater responsibility in public life.

Young women and men, we look to you with the same love which Christ had for the young man in the Gospel (cf. Mk 10:21). You are the potential and renewing force for the future of our Churches, our communities and our countries. Plan your life under the loving gaze of Christ. Be responsible citizens and sincere believers. The Church joins you in your desire to find work commensurate with your talents, work which will help to stimulate your creativity, providing for your future and making possible the formation of a family of believers. Overcome the temptation of materialism and consumerism. Be strong in your Christian values.

We greet the heads of Catholic institutions of education. Pursue excellence and the Christian spirit in your teaching and education. Aim at the consolidation of a culture of harmonious living and concern for the poor and disabled. In spite of the challenges which confront your institutions, we invite you to maintain them, so as to further the Church’s educative mission and to promote the development and common good of our societies.

We address with great esteem those who work in the social sector. In your institutions you are at the service of charity. We encourage and support you in this mission of development, guided by the rich social teaching of the Church. Through your work, you strengthen the bonds of fellowship between people and serve the poor, the marginalised, the sick, refugees and prisoners without discrimination. You are guided by the words of the Lord Jesus: “Everything you do to one of these little ones, you do it to me!” (Mt 25:40).

We look with hope to prayer groups and apostolic movements. They are schools where our faith can mature and we can be given the strength to live that faith in family and society. We appreciate their activities in parishes and dioceses and their support for pastors, in accordance with the Church’s directives. We thank God for these groups and movements which are active cells in the parish and seed-beds for vocations to both the priesthood and the consecrated life.

We appreciate the role of the means of social communication, both printed and audio-visual. We thank you journalists for your collaboration with the Church in broadcasting her teachings and activities and, over the course of these days, for having given global news coverage to the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod.

We are pleased with the contribution of the media, both international and Catholic. With regard to the Middle East, Télé Lumiere-Noursat merits a special mention. We hope it will be able to continue its service of providing information and forming the faith, of working on behalf of Christian unity, of consolidating the Christian presence in the Middle East, of strengthening interreligious dialogue and the communion of all peoples of Middle Eastern origin, presently in every part of the globe.

To Our Faithful in the Diaspora
5. Emigration has become a generalised phenomenon by Christians, Muslims and Jews alike. All emigrate for reasons arising from political and economic instability. However, Christians also emigrate from a sense of insecurity, in varying degrees, in many Middle Eastern countries. May Christians have trust in the future and continue to live in their dear countries.

We send our greetings to you, members of our Churches in the various countries of the Diaspora. We ask you to keep alive in your hearts and concerns the memory of your countries and your Churches. You can contribute to their development and their growth by your prayers, your thoughts, your visits and by various other means, despite the fact that you are far from the Middle East.

Look at your goods and your properties in your home country; do not abandon and sell them too quickly. Keep them as your patrimony and as a piece of the homeland to which you remain attached, a homeland which you love and support. The land is part of a person's identity and his mission. It is a vital aspect of the lives of those who remain there and for those who one day will return there. The land is a public good, a good of the community and a common patrimony. It should not be reduced to a question of individual interests on the part of those who own it and who alone decide, according to their desires, to keep or abandon it.

We accompany you with our prayers, you the children of our Churches and of our countries, forced to emigrate. Bear with you your faith, your culture and your patrimony, so as to enrich your new countries which provide you with peace, freedom and work. Look towards the future with confidence and joy. Hold fast to your spiritual values, to your cultural traditions and to your national patrimony, in order to offer to the countries which welcome you the best of yourselves and the best of that which you have. We thank the Churches of the countries of the Diaspora which have received our faithful and unceasingly collaborate with us to ensure the necessary pastoral services for them.

To the Migrants in Our Countries and Our Churches
6. We send our greetings to all immigrants of varying nationalities, who have come to our countries seeking employment.

We welcome you, beloved faithful, and we see your faith as a source of enrichment and a support for the faithful of our Churches. We joyously provide you with every spiritual assistance you might need.

We ask our Churches to pay special attention to these brothers and sisters and their difficulties, whatever may be their religion, especially when their rights and dignity are subject to abuse. They come to us not simply to seek the means for living but offer the services which our countries need. Their dignity comes from God. Like every human person, they have rights which must be respected. No one should violate those rights. That is why we call upon the various governments which receive them to respect and defend their rights.

Communion and Witness Together with the Orthodox and Protestant Communities in the Middle East

7. We send our greetings to the Orthodox and Protestant Communities in our countries. Together we work for the good of all Christians, that they may remain, grow and prosper. We share the same journey. Our challenges are the same and our future is the same. We wish to bear witness together as disciples of Christ. Only through our unity can we accomplish the mission that God has entrusted to us, despite the differences among our Churches. The prayer of Christ is our support; the commandment of love unites us, even if the road towards full communion is still distant for us.

We have walked together in the Middle East Council of Churches and we wish, with God’s grace, to continue on this path and to promote its activity, having as an ultimate goal a common testimony to our faith, the service of our faithful and of all our countries. We acknowledge and encourage all initiatives for ecumenical dialogue in each of our countries.

We express our gratitude to the World Council of Churches and to the different ecumenical organisations which work for the unity of the Churches and for their support.


IV. Cooperation and Dialogue with Our Fellow-Citizens, the Jews

8. The same Scriptures unite us; the Old Testament, the Word of God is for both you and us. We believe all that God revealed there, since he called Abraham, our common father in the faith, Father of Jews, of Christians and of Muslims. We believe in the promises of God and his covenant given to Abraham and to you. We believe that the Word of God is eternal.

The Second Vatican Council published the document Nostra aetate which treats interreligious dialogue with Judaism, Islam and the other religions. Other documents have subsequently clarified and developed the relationship with Judaism. On-going dialogue is taking place between the Church and the representatives of Judaism. We hope that this dialogue can bring us to work together to press those in authority to put and end to the political conflict which results in separating us and disrupting everyday life in our countries.

It is time for us to commit ourselves together to a sincere, just and permanent peace. Both Christians and Jews are called to this task by the Word of God. In his Word, we are invited us to listen to the voice of God “who speaks of peace”: “Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his holy ones” (Ps 85:9). Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the Word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable. On the contrary, recourse to religion must lead every person to see the face of God in others and to treat them according to their God-given prerogatives and God’s commandments, namely, according to God's bountiful goodness, mercy, justice and love for us.


V. Cooperation and Dialogue with Our Fellow-Citizens, the Muslims
9. We are united by the faith in one God and by the commandment that says: do good and avoid evil. The words of the Second Vatican Council on the relations with other religions offer the basis for the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Muslims: “The Church regards with esteem also the Muslims. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men” (Nostra aetate 3).

We say to our Muslim fellow-citizens: we are brothers and sisters; God wishes us to be together, united by one faith in God and by the dual commandment of love of God and neighbour. Together we will construct our civil societies on the basis of citizenship, religious freedom and freedom of conscience. Together we will work for the promotion of justice, peace, the rights of persons and the values of life and of the family. The construction of our countries is our common responsibility. We wish to offer to the East and to the West a model of coexistence between different religions and of positive collaboration between different civilisations for the good of our countries and that of all humanity.

Since the appearance of Islam in the seventh century and to the present, we have lived together and we have collaborated in the creation of our common civilisation. As in the past and still existent today, some imbalances are present in our relations. Through dialogue we must avoid all imbalances and misunderstandings. Pope Benedict XVI tells us that our dialogue must not be a passing reality. It is rather a vital necessity on which our future depends (Pope Benedict XVI, Meeting with Representatives from the Muslim Communities, Cologne, 20 August 2005). Our duty then is to educate believers concerning interreligious dialogue, the acceptance of pluralism and mutual esteem.

VI. Our Participation in Public Life: An Appeal to the Governments and to the Political Leadership in Our Countries

10. We appreciate the efforts which have been expended for the common good and the service to our societies. You are in our prayers and we ask God to guide your steps. We address you regarding the importance of equality among all citizens. Christians are original and authentic citizens who are loyal to their fatherland and assume their duties towards their country. It is natural that they should enjoy all the rights of citizenship, freedom of conscience, freedom of worship and freedom in education, teaching and the use of the mass media.

We appeal to you to redouble your efforts to establish a just and lasting peace throughout the region and to stop the arms race, which will lead to security and economic prosperity and stop the hemorrhage of emigration which empties our countries of its vital forces. Peace is a precious gift entrusted by God to human family, whose members are to be “peacemakers who will be called children of God” (Mt 5:9).


VII. Appeal to the International Community

11. The citizens of the countries of the Middle East call upon the international community, particularly the United Nations conscientiously to work to find a peaceful, just and definitive solution in the region, through the application of the Security Council’s resolutions and taking the necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories.

The Palestinian people will thus have an independent and sovereign homeland where they can live with dignity and security. The State of Israel will be able to enjoy peace and security within their internationally recognized borders. The Holy City of Jerusalem will be able to acquire its proper status, which respects its particular character, its holiness and the religious patrimony of the three religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim. We hope that the two-State-solution might become a reality and not a dream only.

Iraq will be able to put an end to the consequences of its deadly war and re-establish a secure way of life which will protect all its citizens with all their social structures, both religious and national.

Lebanon will be able to enjoy sovereignty over its entire territory, strengthen its national unity and carry on in its vocation to be the model of coexistence between Christians and Muslims, of dialogue between different cultures and religions, and of the promotion of basic public freedoms.

We condemn violence and terrorism from wherever it may proceed as well as all religious extremism. We condemn all forms of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Christianism and Islamophobia and we call upon the religions to assume their responsibility to promote dialogue between cultures and civilisations in our region and in the entire world.


Conclusion:
Continue to bear witness to the divine path
that has been shown to us in the person of Jesus


12. Brothers and sisters, in closing, we say with the St. John the Apostle: “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”(1 Jn 1:1-3).

This Divine Life which has appeared to the apostles over 2000 years ago in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ and to which the Church has witnessed throughout the course of her history will always remain the life of our Churches in the Middle East and the object of our witness, sustained by the promise of the Lord:“Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the time” (Mt 28:20). Together we proceed on our journey with hope,“and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rm 5:5).

We confess that, until now, we have not done what is possible to better live communion in our communities. We have not done enough to better live communion among our communities. We have not done everything possible to confirm you in your faith and to give you the spiritual nourishment you need in your difficulties. The Lord invites us to a conversion as individuals and communities.

Today we return to you full of hope, strength and resolution, bearing with us the message of the Synod and its recommendations in order to study them together and to put them into practice in our Churches, each one according to the Church’s states of life. We hope also that this new effort might be ecumenical.

We make a humble and sincere appeal to you, that together we might embark on the road of conversion, allowing ourselves to be renewed through the grace of the Holy Spirit and again draw close to God.

To the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and Queen of Peace, under whose protection we have accomplished our Synodal task, we entrust our journey towards new, Christian horizons in the faith of Christ and through the power of his word: “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5).



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Here's a story available today only from the OR because the Catholic news agencies ZENIT, CNA and CNS do not work on weekends.


Thanking the Synodal Fathers,
Benedict XVI praises
'the polyphony of the one faith'

Translated from the 10/24 issue of



I wish OR had 'photoshopped' this photo before they published it; I tried to 'lighten' it as much as I could with my limited 'Paint' tools.

Benedict XVI used a musical metaphor to describe the two weeks of Synodal work with the bishops of the Middle East during a luncheon he gave in the atrium of Aula Paolo VI Saturday to mark the end of the synodal assembly's working sessions.

The two-week assembly formally closes tomorrow with a concluding Mass presided by the Pope at St. Peter's Basilica.

In his after-luncheon remarks, the Pope referred to the Middle East as "that land blessed by God, the cradle of Christianity, a faith that is not close in on itself but is open to ecumenical dialog as well as dialog with our brother Muslims and Jews".

He invited them all to participate in the liturgy tomorrow, after living together two weeks of communion in teh Synod, to experience "a moment of conviviality with the Lord in the Eucharist, where Christ comes to us, and sets us into motion, as at the Synod, along a common path".

Earlier, the Pope recalled that the now traditional luncheon at the conclusion of Synodal working sessions had been started by John Paul II - Oct. 22 is the 32nd anniversary of his inauguration as Pope.

Benedict XVI thanked the officers of the Synodal assembly and the secretary general of the Bishops Synod for their work, recalling his own personal experience as the general moderator of the Synodal Assembly on the Family in 1980.

He said that the two-week special assembly on the Middle East had demonstrated the richness of the 'diversity in unity' of the seven Churches sui iuris in the Middle East, with their respective rites and cultures, but sharing the one faith in Jesus Christ. That faith, he said, which only the Lord can give and which links together all the Catholic Churches of the Orient.

At the start of the convivium, the secretary-general of the bishops' Synod, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, presented to the Pope the principal data on the work of the previous two weeks. He said 173 out of 184 invited participants had taken part, 11 of them having been unable to come to Rome for various reasons.

Fourteen general congregations were held, and six sessions of the various working groups. Ten reflections and homilies were delivered, and 125 interventions were delivered on the floor, plus five in written form.

Also addressing the assembly were 12 fraternal delegates, a Jewish rabbi, and two Muslims representing Sunni and Shia Islam.

Mons. Eterovic stressed the 111 interventions made in the presence of the Pope at the free discussion hours, which had been introduced to Synodal deliberations in 2005 by Benedict XVI. He said this aspect of synodal assemblies was in the process of development. [I still have not seen a single report on these free discussions, and the topics taken up.]

He spoke about the gift that the Synodal fathers have made to Benedict XVI - a portrait which was on display at the atrium, executed by a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic artist now studying in St. Petersburg, from the realist school, "attentive to detail as well as to the spiritual dimension of the portrait". Unfortunately, the OR does not provide a photo of this portrait.]

[According to the Oct. 19 bulletin from the Synod, at the general congregation on Thursday, the Synodal Fathers received the Holy Father's souvenir gift to each them - a gold-plated bronze image reproducing a detail of Giambattista Tiepolo's fresco of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, conserved in the Oratory of the Purità in Udine (Italy). The piece, executed by the Savi brothers, commemorates the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the Marian dogma by Pope Pius XII, and is intended to represent the entrustment of the Eastern Churches to the maternal protection of the Mother of God.] [No photo of this either.]

A musical intermission featured the performance of the classic Neapolitan aria O sole mio by a young aide at teh Synod Secretariat, and a hymn of thanks to the Holy Father sung in French and Arabic to the music of the 'Ave Maria' of Lourdes.

Speaking for the Synodal Fathers, Syrian patriarch Youssif III Younan, one of the assembly's three presidents-delegate, thanked the Holy Fahter for the opportunity offered to the Middle Eastern Churches to be heard, assuring him that the pastors would return to their communities without fear of proclaiming the Gospel in charity and in truth and to live it faithfully day by day.

Finally, the Greek Melkite Patriarch Gregorios II Laham presented the Pope with a splendid Oriental liturgical garment.


News agency photos of the last General Congregation today:

Above left, first photo taken of the Holy Father with Coptic Patriarch Antonio Naguib since he was named one of the new cardinals-to-be, taken just before the Third Hour prayers today.




NB: According to the Synod bulletins, the Holy Father was present at each of the morning general congregations except last Saturday when he had private audiences, and all of the five free discussion hours held during the first week of the Assembly.


The final list of PROPOSITIONS from the Synodal Assembly may be read in English on
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/bollettino_24_speciale-medio-oriente-2010/02_inglese/b25_02.html

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The Holy Father, as Primate of Italy, keeps informed of local affairs and often sends pastoral messages to local dioceses or parishes facing an emergency or serious problem. These are not always 'publicized' unless one follows the local websites. Thanks to Lella's blog, which led me to one such message ,regarding protests by two communities at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius near Naples, who are protesting the proposed opening of a garbage dump near them that threatens their environment.

Pope expresses closeness
to Vesuvian communities facing
an environmental threat

Translated from the diocesan website
10/23/2010

Pope Benedict XVI today sent the Bishop of Nola, Mons. Beniamino Depalma, a message for the people of Boscoreale and Terzigno.

The Holy Father, who has been following with paternal concern the worrisome news coming from Terzigno, asks you to convey his spiritual nearness to the people, in the hope that with the cooperation and good will of everyone, a just and shared solution to the problem may be found. His Holiness gladly imparts his blessing to the dear people of the area.


In the past several days, Bishop Depalma and the diocesan church have appealed to the government institutions concerned to listen to the people's voice "in defense of their territory, their work, their economic activity and their quality of life".

The Vesuvian communities, he said, are merely asserting their "right to breathe healthy air so they can live a normal life". In a new appeal, Mons. Depalma stressed that the new dumpsite would "definitively mean the death of a territory in which development, work and tourism must instead be relaunched", saying "laws should be for the good of man".

At the same time, the bishop called on his people to stay calm and reasonable, to avoid violence, and to keep within the limits of legality in expressing their protest.

"We Christians address our appeal to local administrators, and plead with you with all our strength: do not sell the land for this dumpsite. No money nor environmental compensation can justify it. Better to remain poor but dignified, than to be destined to live in a poisonous environment.

"In the name of God, we cry out: It is not licit for anyone to sell the dignity of the people, especially not for electoral reasons".


P.S. It seems this story is much bigger even than it already is....

EU to Italy:
Clean up Naples trash or face fines





Pre-dawn standoff on Saturday between policemen and Terzigno demonstrators aiming fireqorks at them. Below left, the police fire teargas back.

MAPLES, Oct. 23 (AP) - The European Commission warned Italy on Saturday it may face sanctions if it doesn't remove the 2,400 tons of trash that have piled up in the streets of Naples in the country's latest garbage crisis.

For over a week, protesters in Terzigno, a small town near Naples, have torched vehicles, burned Italian flags and hurled stones and firecrackers at police to protest the stench and filth at a local dump and plans to open a new one in Vesuvio National Park.

Clashes continued overnight and residents around Naples set fire to heaps of trash. The situation around Terzigno was calm Saturday, but protesters did occupy a train station for a few hours, news reports said.

Pope Benedict XVI chimed in Saturday with words of support for residents, saying he was spiritually close to them and was praying for a "fair and mutually-agreed upon solution to the problem," according to a message received by the local diocese.

European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said the violence between residents and police over where to dump Naples's waste showed that Italy hasn't taken sufficient measures since the last garbage crisis flared in 2007.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has promised a swift solution to the mess, saying the government will take over management of the dump and pledging euro14 million ($20 million) in compensation to residents.

Naples and surrounding areas have suffered garbage crises for years, the result of corruption, poor management and infiltration by the local mob. Three years ago, Berlusconi intervened to help ease an emergency caused when collectors stopped picking up trash because dumps were full and residents were protesting the creation of new ones.

Potocnik said the latest pile-up showed that the government still hadn't taken definitive measures to resolve the garbage problem.

"The Campania Region still has no waste management plan and the Acerra incinerator, the only one existing in Campania, is not functioning properly and (is) at full capacity," Potocnik said in a statement. "This means that in Campania, the authorities are neither able to carry out a program to dispose of the old baled waste nor to manage the new daily waste production."

In March, the European Court of Justice found that Italy was in breach of EU rules for having failed to set up sufficient waste disposal infrastructure. Potocnik warned sanctions could be next if the EU sends the case back to the Court of Justice.

Berlusconi's disaster chief and garbage czar, Guido Bertolaso, chided the EU for its criticism.

"The EU would do well to do its job, and rather than pass judgment, give us a hand to find an alternative," the ANSA news agency quoted Bertolaso as saying.

Later though, Bertolaso said he welcomed an EU fact-finding mission which Potocnik had said was under consideration. Bertolaso said that within a week the EU would find a clean city.

Government ministers and politicians blamed the local mafia, the Camorra, for being behind the crisis. Giuseppe Pisanu, a former interior minister who heads Parliament's anti-mafia commission, said there was a "serious interference" of the Camorra in Naples' garbage collection.

"We have to create the structural conditions so that the problem is resolved at its roots," he said, according to ANSA.


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New energy for Middle East Christians:
A conversation with the Coptic Patriarch
and Cardinal-designate Antonios Naguib

by Mario Ponzi
Translated from the 10/23/10 issue of



Fear, despair, solitude, timidity - these words should be abolished from the vocabulary of the Catholic Churches of the Middle East. Written in capital letters in their place are courage, hope, communion and witness.

This is the resolve expressed unanimously by the Synodal Fathers in the list of Propositions that they were to present the Pope at the end of their work today.

This was reaffirmed in this interview given by the Catholic Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria, Antonios Naguib, who is one of those to be named cardinal at Benedict XVI's third consistory next month.

As the general moderator of the special Synodal assembly on the Middle East, the Egyptian patriarch took time off from preparing the draft of the Propositions.


On the eve of this assembly, you spoke to our newspaper of the expectations and hopes placed in the meeting by the Catholics of the Middle East. Now that it has ended, have these hopes and expectations been confirmed?
I am sure of it. The contributions offered these days have been essential to provide exhaustive answers to the fundamental questions concerning the presence and the life of Catholic communities in the Middle East. Starting with the need to stem the 'hemorrhaging'' of Christians from the region, assuring respect for the rights of everyone, justice. and the possibility of living with full dignity.

Before entering the assembly, many of us asked ourselves how we should look at our future, at that of our Churches. Now, leaving this meeting, we are certain of one thing: that we should look forward to the future no longer with fear but full of hope.

In effect, whereas the Instrumentum laboris for the assembly often used the words fear, trepidation, despair, to describe the conditions of life for Christians in the Middle East, these words no longer appear in the Propositions...
Precisely. After the first interventions, during which the emphasis was on the fears and despair that have characterized the life of Christians in that region, we decided to stop using those words. Not so much to exorcise a mentality that has increasingly imposed itself in our context, but rather to start teaching our faithful to live in the light of the Holy spirit which never abandons us.

The Synodal fathers have expressly requested never to refer to fears and trepidation in all of our documents starting with the Propositions. The common will was that the assembly should represent a major step forward towards hope.

An invitation to look to the future with a more positive spirit?
Certainly. We have always done that, but now, we must transform it into a lifestyle. We should be positive in our vision, our way of thinking, our relations with others, our pastoral activities.

Among the expectations you mentioned before the assembly, you thought it was urgent to recover unity among the various churches of the Middle East. Is that at hand now?
The question of such communion is very important. It was before and it still is. Perhaps even more precisely because these days we truly lived that communion among ourselves.

We discussed together for the first time. It was also the first time we worked together, edited shared documents together, but above all, we gave common witness.

Communion and witness [the themes of the assembly] are the two fundamental elements of our identity as children of the one God. As the Pope said in his homily at the inaugural Mass of the assembly, there can be no witness without communion.

Communion among ourselves is the expression, or better yet, the translation of the love of God, the presence of God-love. A living presence in our churches. And we are called on to bear concrete witness. There was a great sensibility to this in the whole assembly.

In fact, we have included an appeal for such a communion among all the churches in the region, which we have extended to include all sister Churches, and the other religious communities in the region, especially Muslims and Jews.

Will there be a new way to foster the ecumenical dialog?
I believe so, Up till now, we have approached dialogue too timidly. But with the impulse from this assembly, we shall pursue dialog with everyone without any more timidity, fear, and much less, subjection.

You would be strengthened by awareness of the role that Catholic communities already play in the social context in so many countries...
Of course. I would even say that this is precisely the platform from which we can claim parity of rights. We Catholics do have an active presence that is appreciated and even sought in the fields of education, social development and human promotion, in addition to charitable activities. Especially since these are services offered to everyone, without distinction.

And although we Catholics are a minority in these nations, majority of those who benefit from our social activities are non-Christians.

In fact, recognition of this came in the interventions made by the Jewish and Muslim representatives at the assembly...
And I thought they were very sincere. They also offered their vision of the collaboration that should exist among us, and that we can take part in common action while firmly maintaining our respective identities.

It was also clear to everyone that our common steps would be inspired by our faith in God and our trust in man and in his right to live in peace.

Rabbi Rosen emphasized a special problem: the need to know each other better. He said he has met some Catholic pastors who are not up-to-date on the development of dialog between Jews and Catholics, just as many Jews know nothing about Catholicism.
He is right. And this goes as well for the Muslim-Christian relationship. That is why, for us, it has been very helpful to have the input from experts in Arab-Muslim literature and veterans in inter-religious dialog. But obviously, a lot more needs to be done, starting with knowing ourselves and our own religion better.

If you had to summarize this Synodal assembly, what would you emphasize?
First of all, the common prayer to the Holy Spirit so he may illumine our Churches to keep in mind - and to concretely live - all the experience that has ripened during these extraordinary days.

But I would especially underscore the opportunity we were given to strengthen our union with the universal Church and among ourselves - it is an aspect that I consider essential to our witness in the Middle East.

Are these priorities reflected in the Propositions?
Substantially, yes. Because the recurrent concept is precisely the need for communion and witness.

Other aspects emphasized?
The need for better, deeper dialog with other religions in the region, as well as with other Christians; the search for peace; respect for individual freedoms; equal justice for all; the problems of emigration and immigration which both present their respective pastoral problems; the protection and appreciation of women; proper formation in seminaries and continuing education for priests. This last item is most important because the future of our churches depends on doing it right. There is much to reflect on and work to do.

How did you react to the news that you had been made cardinal, coming as it did during the assembly?
As a sign. I grasped the sense of the double responsibility that the Pope wished to give me: on the one hand, to reinforce the contact between our local Church and the universal Church; on the other, my personal responsibility to render service to the universal Church according to the disposition of the Pontiff and the Holy See.



Our Lady of Egypt is the patron saint of Patriarch Naguib's cathedral in Nasr City, Cairo.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/10/2010 04:06]
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