BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

See preceding page for earlier entries today, 1/4/11.





Thanks to
for leading me to this item.... Dave Pierre is the author of the book, Double Standard: Abuse Scandals and the Attack on the Catholic Church. Dave is also the creator of TheMediaReport.com and is a contributing writer to NewsBusters,org, the popular media-bias blog of the Media Research Center.


LA lawyer says many charges
against priests turn out false
by Dave Pierre

January 2, 2011


In a ten-page declaration recently submitted to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, veteran attorney Donald H. Steier stated that his investigations into claims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have uncovered vast fraud and that his probes have revealed that many accusations are completely false.

Counselor Steier has played a role in over one hundred investigations involving Catholic clergy in Los Angeles.

In his missive Mr. Steier relayed, "One retired F.B.I. agent who worked with me to investigate many claims in the Clergy Cases told me, in his opinion, about ONE-HALF of the claims made in the Clergy Cases were either entirely false or so greatly exaggerated that the truth would not have supported a prosecutable claim for childhood sexual abuse" (capital letters are his).

Mr. Steier also added, "In several cases my investigation has provided objective information that could not be reconciled with the truthfulness of the subjective allegations. In other words, in many cases objective facts showed that accusations were false."

Mr. Steier's declaration is a stunner. He is as experienced as anyone in studying the claims of abuse against Catholic clergy in the Los Angeles area. Also among Steier's eye-opening statements:

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"I have had accused priest clients take polygraph examinations performed by very experienced former law enforcement experts, including from L.A.P.D., the Sheriff Department, and F.B.I. In many cases the examinations showed my clients' denial of wrongdoing was 'truthful,' and in those cases I offered in writing to the accuser to undergo a similar polygraph examination at my expense. In every case the accuser refused to have his veracity tested by that investigative tool, which is routinely used by intelligence agencies."

"I am aware of several plaintiffs who testified that they realized that they had been abused only after learning that some other person - sometimes a relative - had received a financial settlement from the Archdiocese or another Catholic institution."

"In my investigation of many cases, I have seen the stories of some accusers change significantly over time, sometimes altering years, locations, and what activity was alleged - in every case, the changes seemed to have enabled or enhanced claims against my clients, or drastically increased alleged damages."

"I am aware that false memories can also be planted or created by various psychological processes, including by therapists who might be characterized as 'sexual victim advocates,' if not outright charlatans."

"Most of the approximately seven hundred psychiatric 'Certificates of Merit' filed in these Clergy Cases, as required by [California] Code of Civil Procedure § 340.1, were signed by the same therapist." (!) (Note: A "Certificate of Merit" from "a licensed mental health practitioner" is required in California before filing an abuse lawsuit.)

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Steier signed and submitted the declaration "under penalty of perjury" November 30, 2010. Los Angeles County Superior Court officially filed it at 11 a.m. on December 15, 2010.

Steier also took aim at the outspoken advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests):

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They maintain an interactive Internet website with a user 'Forum' and 'Message Board,' among other features, where people can share detailed information between alleged victims pertaining to identity of specific alleged perpetrators, their alleged 'modus operandi,' and other details of alleged molestation.

In effect, a person who wants to make a false claim of sexual abuse by a priest could go to that website and find a 'blueprint' of factual allegations to make that would coincide with allegations made by other people.

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Law enforcement also uses the S.N.A.P. website to attempt to locate new victims and allegations against Catholic priests.

Needless to say, SNAP had a fit at the sight of Steier's declaration. In a frantic press statement dated December 13, 2010, SNAP derided Steier's declaration as a "legal maneuver" that was "among the most outrageous and hurtful ever made by a church defense lawyer."

In addition to claiming it will file a complaint with the California Bar Association, it demanded that Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony "denounce Steier's claims and to disclose how much archdiocesan money has been paid to Steier."

(Gee, the last time I checked, SNAP steadfastly refused to divulge how much of its income is derived from the number of lawyers with whom it closely collaborates!)

Yet there is a glaring absence from SNAP's statement. The organization does not refute nor deny any of the specific claims made by Steier. It simply labels them as "outrageous" and "hurtful." That is hardly a blow to the explosive declaration aired by the veteran attorney.

Yes, Catholic priests terribly abused minors, and bishops failed to stop the harm. That's an undeniable truth. There are few crimes that revolt more than sexual abuse. The abuse of minors is a dark episode that the Church will forever have to live with.

Yet major media outlets have largely ignored a major element to the entire Catholic abuse scandal narrative.

Here is Wall Street Journal writer Dorothy Rabinowitz: "People have to come to understand that there is a large scam going on with personal injury attorneys, and what began as a serious effort has now expanded to become a huge money-making proposition."

Surprise: Ms. Rabinowitz made her remark in 2005. Since then, the Church has doled out an additional $1 billion in settlements.

Will 2011 be the year that the media finally begins to take a closer look at many of the claims being made? What about the suspicious relationships between SNAP, lawyers, and many in the media?

Vincent Carroll at the Denver Post is a rare voice of acknowledgement: "Fraudulent or highly dubious accusations are more common than is acknowledged in coverage of the church scandals — although they should not be surprising, given the monumental settlements various dioceses have paid out over the years" (Oct. 10, 2010).)

Stay tuned.


Steier's anecdotal observations from the cases he has personally looked into tie in well with the 2002 report by the John Jay College of Criminal Studies for the USCCB which found that for the period from 1950-2002, 4,392 priests and religious were accused of committing sexual abuse on minors and subsequently investigated by the police. Of the 4,000-plus accused, only 384 (8.7%) were formally charged in court, of which 252 were convicted - a conviction rate that is equivalent to 5.7% of the number of priests originally accused. They represent 2.4% of the total number of priests and religious in the United States during the study period.

Of course, these figures are conveniently ignored by MSM in reporting on the -sex abuse scandal', and although the fairly low incidence gives a fairer IDea of the extent of the scandal, it is still 2.4% too many, and who knows how many victims traumatized by the abuse, probably for life.

And, of course, the victimhood advocates - those who rant and yell the loudest against the crimes committed by priests - will do anything they can to inflate charges and inflame passions, But it would be good if MSM reports on this issue also routinely included a single sentence that puts the situation in better statistical and time perspective.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/01/2011 13:08]

The Catholic Ordinariates for converting Anglicans are taking shape, and now, yet another Benedictine initiative is about to materialize... Both initiatives were born in late 2009, and here they are, coming to life...Sorry I didn't see this report earlier...


Benedict XVI's first 'Court of the Gentiles'
to open at UNESCO Paris in March



PARIS, Dec. 28, 2010 - An office is working around the clock in order to get a new foundation off the ground and running – one which would promote dialogue between believers and nonbelievers.


Fr. Mazas, and right, UNESCO headquarters in Paris.

The Vatican-born foundation, the Courtyard of the Gentiles, is spearheaded by Father Laurent Mazas, who recalls that Pope Benedict XVI first proposed the idea in his Christmas address to the Roman Curia on December 21, 2009, when he also spoke of the urgent need for new evangelization.

“The Church should open a sort of 'Court of the Gentiles,' in which people might in some way latch on to God,” the Pope said then.

The Courtyard of the Gentiles was a historical free space in the Temple of Jerusalem that was reserved for Gentiles, who wished to pray there to one God, yet not take part in the mystery.


Photos are from a scale model of the Temple found in the Jewish Museum in Jerusalem.

Nearly 2,000 years later and through this foundation, the Catholic Church will organize a landmark open forum with non-believers, in order to discuss the reasons for believing, and also topics like medicine and culture.

Fr Maza said: "The main idea is organizing meetings of an advanced intellectual and cultural level about different topics, relating to for example, transcendence, the existence of God. Also to say to non-believers: look at today's world, the current situation that we are living in together, globalization. We have to walk together and reflect together on the sort of human race that we want.”

Gaia Zanini, one of the project movers, said: "Themes are mostly centered around fundamental anthropological questions, like faith-based questions and also the relationship a person has with their own religion and how this has an effect on their social life.”

The inauguration of the Courtyard of Gentiles will kick off in Paris under the title, “Enlightenment, religion and common reason”. The ceremony will welcome politicians, intellectuals and philosophers and will be celebrated in March of 2011 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The ceremony will continue at the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris.

“It will be an event geared towards young believers and non believers, a joyous event with diverse aspects, and at the same time a vigil of prayer organized inside a very holy place, in order to also invite non-believers and believers, ” said Fr. Mazas.

The organization is also planning similar meetings in Bologna, Stockholm, Prague and Santo Domingo, and they are working on having events in Russia, Spain, the United States and Canada.
Father Laurent hopes that the event will spark thought-provoking debate between believers and non-believers.

It's a meeting that he hopes will enrich the lives of both. For now, we'll just have to wait and see how this ground-breaking event unfolds in Paris.


What the Pope said

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In Paris, I spoke of the quest for God as the fundamental reason why Western monasticism, and with it, Western culture, came into being.

As the first step of evangelization we must seek to keep this quest alive; we must be concerned that human beings do not set aside the question of God, but rather see it as an essential question for their lives. We must make sure that they are open to this question and to the yearning concealed within it.

Here I think naturally of the words which Jesus quoted from the Prophet Isaiah, namely that the Temple must be a house of prayer for all the nations (cf. Is 56: 7; Mk 11: 17).

Jesus was thinking of the so-called "Court of the Gentiles" which he cleared of extraneous affairs so that it could be a free space for the Gentiles who wished to pray there to the one God, even if they could not take part in the mystery for whose service the inner part of the Temple was reserved.

A place of prayer for all the peoples by this he was thinking of people who know God, so to speak, only from afar; who are dissatisfied with their own gods, rites and myths; who desire the Pure and the Great, even if God remains for them the "unknown God" (cf. Acts 17: 23).

They had to pray to the unknown God, yet in this way they were somehow in touch with the true God, albeit amid all kinds of obscurity.

I think that today too the Church should open a sort of "Court of the Gentiles" in which people might in some way latch on to God, without knowing him and before gaining access to his mystery, at whose service the inner life of the Church stands.

Today, in addition to inter-religious dialogue, there should be a dialogue with those to whom religion is something foreign, to whom God is unknown and who nevertheless do not want to be left merely Godless, but rather to draw near to him, albeit as the Unknown.

- Benedict XVI
Address to the Roman Curia
Dec. 21, 2009

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The theologian Pope gets recognition
for his spiritual and moral contribution
to dealing with the world economic crisis

I failed to copy this morning - and it is now offline - the brief item in the 1/3-1/4/11 issue of OR that reported the inclusion of Pope Benedict XVI in the top 10 'persons of the year' chosen by Italy's top financial newspaeer, Il Sole 24 Ore, so I am translating the part about the Pope directly from Il Sole itself...

In July 2009, Benedict XVI's long-awaited social encyclical came out on the very eve of the first G8 summit following the world economic near-collapse in September 2008. It was held fortuitously in L'Aquila. Not only was the encyclical most timely for the summit, but the Pope also wrote a letter to the G8 leaders, as he has done from time to time, to express his concern over trends that increase the gap between rich and poor, and often to the detriment of the poorest nations. He also took time to meet with each of the leaders at the Vatican, including the American President.

The encyclical was generally well received in the financial capitals of the world, even prompting a suggestion that perhaps the Pope should be considered for the Nobel Prize in economics. In this context, his inclusion in a financial enwspaper's top 10 personalities of the year is not that surprising.

I've provided a brief general summary of the Il Sole article in the following introductory paragraphs, just to provide further context.

The editorial board and the various section editors of the newspaper chose FIAT president Sergio Marchionne as their Man of the Year in finance and economy for proving all the critics wrong who said no one could possibly save Italy's lone car producer Fiat from certain death. Instead, Il Sole says, his realism and application of global norms to making the critical decisions at Fiat - including the decision to enter into a joint venture with Chrysler - have also proven to be a lesson for the rest of Italian industry. Marchionne grew up in Canada where his family emigrated when he was a child and in returing to save an Italian institutionm has become an italian icon himself.

In second place - certainly, most unusual for a Pope - was Benedict XVI, ahead of Italy's Minister of the Economy. The rest of the list includes some industry leaders and labor union leaders who managed in outstanding ways to make the best of a terrible time, along with a 74-year-old electronics researcher, Bruno Murari, who with a team of younger assistants, who developed micromechanical integrated circuits on slicion chips which now run tens of millions of hi-tech products from Nintendo WII to the Apple products.

Herewith is the citation for Benedict XVI:

A soul for the market:
Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI
Supreme Pontiff, 83
Translated from

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For his continhual reminders to the economic and financial commnity against selfish interests and savage exploitation of natiraul resources. For having brought transparency to the Vatican banlk IOR:
The theologian Pope once more proved the depth of his own thinking and how much he is able to make an impact on contemporary society.

His constant reminders to the world of economy and finance, whichstarted with his encyclical Caritas in veritate, against teh selfishness and hihilism of contemporary society have not passed unobserved.

In the same manner, his warnings against the mindless exploitation of natural resources, especially agricultural, invite reflection on the far-reaching damage done especially to the poorer nations.

And finally, the motu proprio released at year-end to insure transparency in the Vaticna's finances closes in the best way possible the long period of opacity that ad characterized the Vatican bank.

---

There are a couple of excellent articles in Italian that acknowledge the historical significance and revolutionary impact of Benedict XVI's decision to have the Vatican bank emerge into the daylight. I will try to translate ASAP.

The blood of the faithful:
Christianophobia must be opposed as
Islamophobia and anti-Semitism
Translated from the 1/3-1/4/11 issue of





The massacre at Alexandria - which struck Orthodox Copts as they were leaving a New Year's Day liturgical celebration - has found space in media around the world, after a year that was punctuated by many volences and assassiantions against Christians.

Once more, it was the voice of Benedict XVI that was raised to condemn "this vile act of death, just like placing bombs near the hiomes of Christians to force them to leave".

Without mincing words, he denounced the "strategy of violence which targets Christians and has consequences on the whole population".

This time, the anti-Christian killings - which are multiplying in various parts of the world - seem to have drawn worldwide attention from the media, which generally pays little attention to such news.

In fact, for at least three years now, high-ranking representatives of the Holy See and the Catholic Church have raised alarm in the face of growing Christianophobia. Unfortunately, it is still growing, and it is time that it should rouse alarm and concern and be fought just as much as Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, as Archbishop Dominique Mamberti underscored in a conference in Rome in January 2008. (Mamberti is the Secretary for relations with other states, the Vatican foreign minister, in effect.)

"Christians are currently the religious group which suffers the most number of persecutions because of their faith", the Pope wrote in his message for the World Day of Peace, but even the message was barely noticed by the media.

Likewise ignored was the lucid analysis of Benedict XVI who assailed both fundamentalism and secularism, calling them "mirror images of the extremes in the rejection of legitimate pluralism and the principal of secularity".

The Pope recalled the Vatican-II declaration Dignitatis humanae on religious freedom to underscore that "it is a condition in the search for truth which is not imposed by viOlence, but through the power of truth itself". This, of course, is the opposite of jow secularists like to represent religion as obscurantism and intolerance.

The Pope underscores in his message that, particularly in Asia and Africa, "the principal victims are the members of religious minorities who are prohibited from freely professing their religion".

On the violent incidents that use religion as a pretext and often result in the massacre of the faithful, both Benedict XVI and other representatives of the Holy See have always raised protests, no matter who the victims are.

The Pope also spoke of such horrendous and unaceptable acts, "in which what is sacred is no longer respected, and in which the most elementary rules of humanity crumble", in his Christmas address.

Recalling the Synodal Assembly on the Middle East, the Pope cited the wisdom of a counselor to the Mufti of Lebanon who said, "By wounding the Christians, we are wounded ourselves."

Unfortunately, the Pope continued, "this and similar voices of reason, for which we are profoundly grateful, are too weak. Even here, the obstacle is the link between greed for gain and ideological blindness".

Many voices of solidarity and reasonableness followed the massacre in Alexandria, from Muslims, Jews and Christians in many parts of the world - and this is a sign of hope. Which gives reason to Beneeict XVI's words and his tenacious will to speak up for living side by side: "All human beings are one, and mankind is one. Whatever is done anywhere against man ultimately wounds everyone".

Because to shed the blood of the faithful, of any believer, or any human creature, is an offense to God.

Wednesday, January 5

Third photo from left shows St. John Neumann's remains at his National Shrine in Philadelphia.
ST. JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN (Jan Nepomucyk Neumann)(b Bohemia 1811, d USA 1860), Missionary and Bishop
It's very strange that the Czech-born saint left his native land to go to the United States at age 24 because no bishop in Europe would ordain
him as a priest. The reason: there were too many priests already! He came to the US, was ordained, became a Redemptorist father after 4 years
(the first one in the US), and did missionary work in several states before he was appointed at age 41 to be the third Bishop of Philadelphia.
A great organizer, he changed the parochial school system into a diocesan one, resulting in a 20-fold increase in enrolment, He also brought in
religious teaching orders to serve the city. In life, he was reputed for his holiness and learning, his writings and his preaching. In 1963, he became
the first American bishop to be beatified, and then to become a saint when he was canonized in 1997. President Obama's gift to Benedict XVI
when he visited in July 2009 was the original pallium that had been placed on St. John's remains.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/010511.shtml

OR today.
The only papal story is on the Holy Father's visit this afternoon to the Bambino Gesu pediatric hospital of Rome. Page 1 News: Alarming rise in worldwide prices of gasoline, wheat and gold is fuelled by market speculation in the emergent major economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa); more than a million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2010 (9% more than in 2009), and 9.8% unemployment continues, while the stock market is close to reaching the 12,000 mark again; and a book review on a new book by French philosopher Alain Besancon on marriage and religion in literature through the ages, from Homer to Flaubert - he concludes that though marriage has been secularized, civil unions today still represent the same link celebrated in ancient marriage ceremonies that took place in the pagan world as well as in ancient cultures like Hinduism. In the inside pages, Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenouda III appeals for calm in the wake of the New Year's massacre of Copts in Alexandria, as the Orthodox prepare to celebrate Christmas on January 7; a long interview with Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and peace, who says the Alexandria bombing was not just an act of terrorism as much as an act of religious intolerance; and a report on Cardinal Rouco Varela's homily in Madrid on the annual Family Day rally on New Year's Day.


PAPAL EVENTS TODAY

General Audience - For the first audience of 2011, the Holy Father focused on the significance of the Christmas season,
on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany, as a season for contemplating the link between the Incarnation and
Christ's redemptive mission, and that Jesus is a continuing presence in our life and our world.

At 5 p.m., the Holy Father will visit the children's ward of the Gemelli Hspital in Rome.




Among a slew of routine nominations today, the Holy Father has named
the members of the new Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization:
- Cardinals Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna;
- Angelo Scola, Patriarch of Venice;
- George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney;
- Josip Bozanić, Archbishop of Zagreb (Croatia);
- Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;
- Francisco Robles Ortega, Archbishop of Monterrey (Mexico);
- Odilo Pedro Scherer, Archbishop of São Paulo (Brazil);
- William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;
- Stanisław Ryłko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; and the following bishops:
- Claudio Maria Celli, President of thE Pontifical Council for Social Communications;
- Nikola Eterović, Secretary General of the Bishops' Synod;
- Pierre-Marie Carré, Archbishop Coadjutor of Montpellier (France);
- Timothy Michael Dolan, Archbishop of New York;
- Robert Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg im Bresgau (Germany);
- Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto (Italy;
- Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham (UK);
- André-Joseph Léonard, Archbishop of Brussels-Mechelen (Belgium);
- Adolfo González Montes, Bishop of Almería (Spain);
- Vincenzo Paglia, Bishop of Terni-Narni-Amelia (Italy).
The President of the new dicastery is Archbishop Rino Fisichella,
formerly rector of the Pontifical Lateran University.

This Pope understands Anglicanism
better than any other Pope
by Fr Dwight Longenecker

January 5, 2011

GREENVILLE, SC - Last weekend, in London, three Anglican bishops and their families were received into full communion with the Catholic Church in a very public ceremony in Westminster Cathedral. Three Anglican nuns and some laypeople were also received.

By Easter it is expected that the Anglican Ordinariate will have been set up, and up to 50 more Anglican priests will be received into the Catholic Church along with a significant number of laypeople.

This public reception is in marked contrast to the manner in which I, and many others were received into the Catholic Church in England in the mid 1990s. At that time "ecumenism" was still the main priority for the Catholic bishops of England and Wales as well as the Anglican establishment.

There was a pact between the rulers of both churches that the defections to Rome would be low key. No one wanted to rock the ecumenical boat. Consequently, the publicity machines of both churches went into overdrive to downplay and minimize what was happening.

In fact, in the mid 1990s there were not fifty Anglican priests who converted but 500. Some even reckoned the numbers to be between 750 and 1000. The reason it was difficult to establish how many of us converted to the Catholic faith at that time was because certain categories of Anglican priest didn't register in the official tally.

Retired clergy, clergy in minor posts like hospital chaplains and school chaplains or priests who were only ordained for a short time all failed to appear on the official lists. This was on purpose.

Both the Catholic and Anglican hierarchy had done a deal that the numbers would be deflated, those receiving converts into the Catholic Church were told specifically to make the reception low key.

Those of us resigning our livings and being received were told to keep a low profile. So, for example, my wife and I received private instruction at Quarr Abbey and were received on a Tuesday evening in the crypt in a very quiet and private Mass.

After the event the task of training us for ordination was dealt with on a quiet level in each diocese. No fanfare, no publicity, just a quiet work of putting us through our re-training and then getting us ordained.

It was almost as if we had committed a social error by converting. If we committed a further social error by being a high profile convert clergyman we were ostracized by the Catholic establishment, kept at arm's length and excluded in every way possible.

So, for example, I was being put forward for ordination by one English Catholic bishop, but when I published The Path to Rome - a book of conversion stories - and asked him to write a foreword, he declined, and when I asked about ordination in his diocese, I received a brief note informing me that it was now impossible.

This was the world of English Catholicism fifteen years ago. Everything was done to stay in with the English Anglican establishment. Conversion was embarrassing and the idea of an ordinariate at that time was unthinkable. How things have changed!

Now three bishops and fifty clergy are converting and they pull out the stops and have the Mass in Westminster Cathedral - the mother church of Catholicism in England; for this is not the embarrassed reception of disenchanted Anglicans, but a very public beginning of the Ordinariate, and what is going unsaid is the fact that under the papacy of Benedict XVI it is all but shouted from the housetops that the old ecumenism is dead.

This Pope understands Anglicanism better than any other pope. He sees clearly that ecumenism with the Church of England is dead. The ordination of women, the consecration of women bishops, the rationalization of homosexual unions, the doctrinal apostasy and the open moral degeneracy has led Benedict XVI to conclude that the new ecumenism is not a diplomatic building of bridges, but a bold establishment of a new kind of Anglicanism within the greater fold of the Catholic Church.

The Ordinariate will begin small and it will be persecuted. There will be difficulties and defections. There will be many problems, but history will show that the Anglican Ordinariate will provide for the ultimate preservation of the Anglican patrimony.

All Catholics should watch this development with care and with prayer. Those Anglicans who are stepping out to pioneer the Anglican Ordinariate should be upheld in our prayers.

The Anglicans often like to portray themselves as bold innovators and pioneers of the future, (We first had the liturgy in the vernacular, and five hundred years later Rome followed)

The real innovators are Pope Benedict XVI and the three bishops and their flocks who are, at last, coming home to Rome.

It turns out Fr. Longenecker had a more general blog about the Ordinariate yesterday.


The great re-alignment
Fr Dwight Longenecker

January 5=4, 2011


What is really going on with the Anglican Ordinariate? Why has Pope Benedict XVI taken such a bold and innovative step? This is historic. Never before has the Catholic Church opened its doors so wide to a group of Protestants in such a creative way. [That is why I continue to be rather shocked that much of the Anglophone MSM fails to see how historic this all is! And to think that it has only been a little over a year since we first heard the Pope had decided on this amazingly bold step!]

Essentially Pope Benedict is creating a little Anglican Church within the Catholic Church. The Anglican Ordinariate will have its own governing structure. It could have its own seminaries, its own religious houses, its own hierarchy and its own global network in addition to its own liturgy, customs and traditions.

Has Pope Benedict created the Anglican Ordinariate simply because he, himself is a secret Anglo Catholic who likes smells and bells and lacy cottas? Is it because, as critics charge, that the Catholic Church is dwindling and doesn't have enough priests and so they've come up with a scheme to corral as many former Anglicans as possible? Is it a cunning plan to undermine the liberal Catholics who Benedict sees as the real enemy?

None of the above. In fact, sometimes things are simply what they seem to be. Sometimes there are no secret agendas, no Machiavellian plots, no global conspiracies.

For decades serious Anglicans from around the world had petitioned Rome for some sort of mechanism whereby they might retain their Anglican traditions while being in full communion with the Holy See.

As head of the CDF Ratzinger received these calls and was sympathetic. He met with these men and understood them. Being fully informed about the dead end that was the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission he began to see a different way forward.

In the early 1990s the idea of an Ordinariate-type structure had been discussed and rejected by the English Catholic bishops. The idea of the 'Roman Option' and how it was rejected was made public by William Oddie in his book, The Roman Option. For this Oddie was effectively marginalized and excluded from the English Catholic inner circle.

Nevertheless, the idea took root, and most importantly it took root in Rome, and ten years later when Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI the time was ripe.

The Anglican Ordinariate must be seen in a wider context. The creation of the ordinariate is first and foremost an attempt to answer the repeated pleas for an Anglican-Catholic structure. Rome simply responded to those who were asking for a way in while still retaining their styles of worship and culture of religion.

However, the wider context is the present re-alignment within all of Christianity. This re-alignment is not between Catholics and Protestants but between those who believe in a revealed religion and those who believe in a relative religion. It is between two different foundational philosophies.

The re-alignment is between those, on the one hand, who believe that all religion is a human construction devised in particular historical circumstances and therefore flexible, ambiguous and necessarily adaptable, and between those who believe that religion is revealed by God in particular circumstances and places and times because those times themselves and those people and those places were the best and most propitious ways for the Almighty to reveal himself to his beloved race of men.

The first are those who believe religion is relative and the second are those who believe it is revealed. There are plenty of both types within the different denominations, and at this time in Church history the great re-alignment is taking place.

In the years to come more and more Christians of every denomination will begin to see clearly and the divisions will continue. On one side will be those who believe their relative religion was devised by humans in particular historical circumstances and so they will continue to adapt their religion to whatever the world demands. In other words, they will adapt Christianity to the world rather than challenging the world with the Christian gospel.

On the other side will be those who believe that the world and every human in it needs to be challenged by the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ.

They will continue--despite the howling rage of the worldlings--to stand up against the immorality, injustice and cruelty of our age. They will continue to tell the old, old, story of a fallen race, a forgiving God and a suffering Lord.

They will continue to call a rebellious race to repentance and simplicity and the search for the heavenly kingdom, and they will learn more and more that the fullest and grandest and most terrifying path to this kingdom is through the power and the glory and the humor and humility of Catholic sainthood.

Benedict XVI has opened the way for Anglicans who believe in this revealed religion to join with others who believe the same. It is time for all who believe in the timeless tale of God's love for mankind and the poignant sacrifice of his Son for man's salvation to come together, forget their disagreements and rally around Christ, his cross, his Church and the Rock on which it is built.

Fr. Dwight Longenecker was brought up in an Evangelical home in Pennsylvania. After graduating from the fundamentalist Bob Jones University, he studied theology at Oxford University. He was ordained as served as an Anglican priest in England for ten years. Realizing that he and the Anglican Church were on divergent paths, in 1995 Fr. Dwight and his family were received into the Catholic Church. In December 2006 he was ordained as a Catholic priest under the special pastoral provision for married former Anglican clergy. He is now the parish priest of Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Greensville, and continues to minister at St Joseph's. He is a leading Catholic blogger, conference speaker and broadcaster.




Appropriately, the next item is by the aforementioned William Oddie, who underscores the significance of Benedict XVI's personal involvement with and knowledge of many of the Anglican bishops who are now crossing the Tiber...

The Ordinariate is happening at an unprecedented pace:
Possible because of Pope’s personal
knowledge of those involved
By William Oddie

January 5, 2011


Three former Anglican bishops were received into full communion with the Catholic Church at Westminster Cathedral.

The English ordinariate, it seems, will be well on its way by the middle of this month. Three former Anglican bishops were received into full communion with the Catholic Church during a Mass at Westminster Cathedral on January 1.

One of the comments following the Herald online report, noting that they were received in secular clothing, opines that “For Bishops to wear ties is simply saintly and to lose all that prestige they once held is stunning to the mind of a Catholic Bishop”.

Well, indeed. But I think that their former prestige is the least important aspect of what they are giving up: they are abandoning certainty and recognition within an established institution, for uncertainty within an institution – the ordinariate – that doesn’t even exist yet.

What this shows is an absolute faith in the Catholic Church of which it will be a part, especially as it is embodied by the present Holy Father.

I last saw the most senior of the three, John Broadhurst, formerly Bishop of Fulham, splendidly caparisoned in full episcopal fig (I have known him, on and off, for over 30 years, and have never seen him except in clericals: I can hardly imagine him in a secular collar and tie) at the 150th anniversary of that great Anglo-Catholic institution, Pusey House, Oxford, just after the publication of Anglicanorum coetibus.

I asked him for his reaction to the document (it was pretty clear that most of those present were elated by it): his reply had to do, not with the visionary excitements of the proposed ordinariate, but with its practicability: “it’s doable”, he simply replied.

Now, it’s being done (by him and others), and at a dizzying speed. After their ordination on January 1, the three former “flying bishops” will be ordained to the Catholic diaconate on January 13, and to the priesthood two days later.

This, I am pretty sure, is unprecedented: Anglican clergy have previously had to undergo a period of seminary training before they are accepted for ordination in the Catholic mainstream.

What this new development demonstrates, apart from anything else, is the degree of knowledge, gained by the former Cardinal Ratzinger after a decade and a half of discussions with these men, of their already existing understanding of and belief in Roman Catholic doctrine and practice (entirely based, since its publication, on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and on other essential Catholic texts).

The Pope is well aware that the Anglo-Catholic clergy who will inaugurate the world’s first ordinariate already have a degree of authentically Catholic priestly formation which some of our seminaries are today far from achieving or even attempting.

Andrew Burnham, John Broadhurst and Keith Newton will be the first former Anglican bishops to be ordained as Catholic priests under the provisions of Anglicanorum coetibus.

They will be ordained and incardinated directly into the ordinariate: this means that it has to be erected before January 13. According to the Herald’s report, “Speculation suggests the decree of erection will be published on January 11”.

The next stage will be the ordination of a larger group of former Anglican clergy (it is said this Easter) who will be pastors to an uncertain number of parish groups: there are already 24 such groups in existence, but it is thought that this number will be at least doubled by the end of the year.

So the ordinariate will begin in a small way (one of the former flying bishops has told me that this is deliberate policy: “we don’t want to frighten the horses”, ie the Catholic bishops) but will have huge potential for growth.

This, I think (there is some evidence for this from American Anglican Use Parishes and elsewhere) will be not only among Anglo-Catholics but among returning lapsed Catholics too. I have in earlier blogs explained what I think the attractions of such small but closely-knit parishes will be to such people.

This is a brave and exciting venture; its contribution to the revitalisation of Catholicism in this country is potentially enormous. We in the Catholic mainstream should pray for its unqualified success[/S}.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 05/01/2011 20:54]

GENERAL AUDIENCE TODAY






On the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany, one of the highlights of the Christmas season (which ends January 9th, with the feast of the Baptism of Christ), Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the season as a time of recollection and joyful celebration of the Lord’s continuing presence, at his first General Audience for 2011.

This is what he said in English:

---

In this first Audience of the New Year, on the eve of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, I offer my prayerful best wishes to you and your families.

The Church’s celebration of these days of Christmas is not only a remembrance of things past, but a joyful experience of Christ’s enduring presence in our lives and in our world. In Jesus, the Word Incarnate, our salvation is accomplished in the flesh.

Jesus’s humbling of himself, beginning with his conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary, will find its fullest expression in the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection.

Our appreciation of the deep bond uniting the Incarnation and the Redemption naturally draws us from the contemplation of the Child Jesus in the Crib to the adoration of his real presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

The liturgical celebrations of this holy season, from Christmas through the Epiphany to the Baptism of the Lord, challenge us to be completely transformed by the Son of God who became man so that we might attain our ultimate human fulfilment by sharing in his glorious divine life.

Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace today and throughout the coming year!

---

Tomorrow morning, the Holy Father will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the Feast of the Epiphany.

---

Dear brothers and sisters:

I am happy to welcome you to this first general audience of the new year, and with all my heart, I extend fervent wishes to you and your families. May the Lord of time and history guide our steps along the path of goodness and grant to everyone an abundance of grace and prosperity.

Still surrounded by the lights of the Holy Nativity, which invites us to joy for the coming of the Lord, today we are on the eve of the Epiphany in which we celebrate the manifestation of the Lord to all peoples.

The feast of Christmas fascinates today just as ever, more than the other great feasts of the Church - it fascinates because everyone in some way senses that the birth of Jesus has to do with the most profound aspirations and hopes of man.

Consumerism can arise from this interior nostalgia, but if in the heart, there is the desire to welcome that Baby who brings the novelty of God, who came to give us his life in fullness, then the lights that adorn Christmas can become a reflection of the Light that was kindled with the Incarnation of God.

In the liturgical celebrations of these holy days, we have experienced in a mysterious but real way the entrance of the Son of God into the world, and we have been illumined once more by the light of his splendor.

Every celebration is the actual presence of the mystery of Christ, and prolongs the story of salvation. With respect to Christmas, Pope St. Leo the Great said: "Even if the succession of corporeal actions is past, as it was pre-ordained in the eternal plan..., nonetheless we continually adore the same birth by the Virgin which produced our salvation" (Sermon on the Nativity of our Lord, 29,2), and he adds: "because that day has not gone .any more than the power of the work that it revealed has gone" (Sermon on the Epiphany 36,1).

To celebrate the events of the Incarnation of the Son of God is not a simple remembrance of things past, but it is to render present the mysteries that brought salvation. In the liturgy, in the celebration of the Sacraments, those mysteries are made actual and become effective for us today.

St. Leo the Great also says: "Everything that the Son of God did and taught to reconcile the world we know not only from the account of actions done in the past, but we live under the effect of the dynamism of such actions present today" (Sermon 52,1).

In the Constitution on sacred liturgy, the Second Vatican Council underscored how the work of salvation realized by Christ continues in the Church through the celebration of the sacred mysteries, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit.

Already in the Old Testament, in the journey towards the fullness of the faith, we have testimony of how the presence and the action of God is mediated through signs, as for instance, that of fire (cfr Ex 3,2ffl 19,18).

But starting with the Incarnation, something overwhelming happens: the regime of salvific contact with God is radically transformed, and flesh becomes the instrument of salvation: Verbum caro factum est - the Word was made flesh - wrote the evangelist John, and an author of the third century, Tertullian, says: Caro salutis est cardo - Flesh is the hinge of salvation (De carnis resurrectione, 8,3; PL 2,806).

Christmas is the first fruit of the "sacramentum-mysterium paschale", the Paschal sacrament-mystery, namely, the start of the central mystery of salvation, which culminates in the passion, death and resurrection, because Jesus began the offering of himself for love from the first instant of his human existence in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

The night of the Nativity is therefore profoundly linked to the great nocturnal vigil of Easter, when redemption is fulfilled in the glorious sacrifice of the Lord who died and rose again.

In the light of the Gospel account, the same manger, as an image of the Incarnation of the Word, already refers to that Easter, and it is interesting to see how in some images of the Nativity in the Oriental tradition, the Baby Jesus is represented wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed on a manger in the form of a tomb, an allusion to the time when he would be taken down from the Cross, wrapped in a burial shroud and placed in a sepulcher that had been carved from the rock (cfr Lk 2,7; 23,53).

The Incarnation and Easter are not side by side, but they are the two inseparable key points of the one faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate and Redeemer.

The Cross and the Resurrection presuppose the Incarnation. Only because the Son, and in him, God himself, truly 'descended' and 'was made flesh', the death and resurrection of Christ are events that are contemporary to us and concern us directly - they snatch us from death and open to us a future in which this 'flesh', earthly and transitory existence, enters into the eternity of God.

In this unitary perspective of the Mystery of Christ, a visit to the manger orients us to a visit to the Eucharist, where we encounter in a real way the presence of Christ who was crucified and risen, the living Christ.

The liturgical celebration of the Nativity, therefore, is not simply a remembrance but above all a mystery. It is not just memory but also presence. In order to grasp the meaning of these two inseparable aspects, one must live intensely the entire Christmas season as the Church presents it.

Considered laterally, it lasts for 40 days, from December 25 to February 2 - from the celebration of Christmas Night, to the Motherhood of Mary, to the Epiphany, to the Baptism of Jesus, the marriage in Cana, the presentation at the Temple - very much analogous to the Paschal season, which forms a unit of 50 days up to Pentecost.

God's manifestation in flesh is the event that revealed Truth in history. Indeed, the date of December 25, which is linked to the cycle of solar manifestation - God who appears as a light that never sets on the horizon of story - reminds us that this is not just an idea, that of God being the fullness of light, but a reality for us men that was realized and is always actual. Today, like then, God reveals himself in the flesh, that is, in the 'living body' of the Church that is a pilgrim in time, and grants us salvation today in the Sacraments.

The symbols of the Christmas celebrations, recalled in the Readings and the prayers, give the liturgy of this season a profound sense of the 'epiphany' of God in his Christ-Incarnate Word, that is, a 'manifestation' that also has an eschatological significance - it orients men towards the end of times.

Already in Advent, the two comings - the historical coming and that at the end of history - are directly linked. But it is particularly in the Epiphany and the Baptism of Jesus that the Messianic manifestation is celebrated in the context of eschatological expectations: the messianic consecration of Jesus, Incarnate Word, through the effusion of the Holy Spirit in a visible form, brings to fulfillment the time of promises and inaugurates the end of times.

We must rescue the Christmas season from being too moralistic and sentimental. The celebration of the Nativity does not just propose examples for us to imitate, such as the Lord's humility and poverty, his benevolence and love for men.

Rather it is an invitation to allow ourselves to be transformed by him who took on our flesh. St. Leo the Great exclaims: "The Son of God! - He has joined us, and joined us to himself, in such a way that God's abasement to the human condition became the exaltation of man to the level of God" (Sermon on the Nativity of the Lord 27,2).

The manifestation of God is aimed towards our participation in divine life, to the realization in us of the mystery of his Incarnation. This mystery is the fulfillment of man's vocation.

Again, St. Leo the Great explains the concrete and ever actual importance for Christian living of the mystery of the Nativity: "The words of the Gospel and of the prophets... enkindle our spirit and teach us to understand the Nativity of the Lord, this mystery of the Word made flesh, not so much as a remembrance of things past, but as a fact that takes place under our eyes... It is as if it is proclaimed to us once again in today's celebration: 'I bring you news of great joy, which will be for all peoples: today, in the city of David, was born for you a Saviour who is Christ the Lord'. (Sermone 1 on the Nativity of the Lord, 3).

Dear friends, let us live this Christmas season with intensity. After having adored the Son of God made man and laid in a manger, we are called to go to the altar of Sacrifice, where Christ, the living Bread descended from heaven, offers himself to us as true nourishment for eternal life.

This is what we saw with our own eyes, at the table of the Word and the Bread of Life - and that which we have contemplated, that which our hands have touched, let us announce with joy to the world, and let us bear witness to it generously with our whole life.

From the heart I renew to all of you and to those dear to you my sincere wishes for the New Year, and i wish you all a good Feast of the Epiphany.

---

[I did not realize from the news accounts given of today's catechesis that it is such an awesome 'homily' - right up there with the great Christmas homilies of Benedict XVI, a fact underscored by his frequent citation of St. Leo the Great, in whose footsteps as homilist he follows so eminently, as Sandro Magister reminded us all recently.]

A CDF statement on December 21 made it clear that the Holy Father's statements on condom use in Light of the World did not in any way signal a change in Catholic teaching against artificial contraception. Of course it came out one month too late, and by the time it did, the two-week furor had died down, except for teh America/Commonweal-type liberal Catholics who insist on their own itnerpretation.... CWR revisits the controversy, but provides new information on what Cardinal Ratzinger wrote about condom use against AIDS back in 1987...


A false choice:
The mischievous debate over condoms
Editorial
By George Neumayr

Issue of nuary 2011

In 1987, a committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops published The Many Faces of AIDS. The document adopted a mixed message on condom use, ostensibly upholding Church teaching against it while at the same time endorsing “educational efforts” that could “include accurate information about prophylactic devices or other practices proposed by some medical experts as potential means of preventing AIDS.”

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and now Pope Benedict XVI, opposed that document. In a pointed letter, he warned “against engaging in compromises which may even give the impression of trying to condone practices which are immoral, for example, technical instructions in the use of prophylactic devices.”

He drew the US bishops’ attention to an article in L’Osservatore Romano that condemned condom use without equivocation: “I quote, ‘To seek a solution to the problem of infection by promoting the use of prophylactics would be to embark on a way not only insufficiently reliable from the technical point of view, but also and above all unacceptable from the moral aspect. Such a proposal for ‘safe’ or at least ‘safer’ sex — as they say — ignores the real cause of the problem, namely, the permissiveness which, in the area of sex as in that related to other abuses, corrodes the moral fiber of the people.”

During his 2007 visit to the US, he sounded this warning again, lamenting as “particularly disturbing…the reduction of the precious and delicate area of education in sexuality to management of ‘risk,’ bereft of any reference to the beauty of conjugal love.”

And then, most recently in the interview-book Light of the World, he repeated that condom use is not a “moral solution.”

Yet the Catholic left claims confidently that the Church’s position on condom use has “changed.” Dissenters continue to point to the passage from Light of the World in which Benedict offers a narrow and nuanced observation about an intention behind (but not the act of) condom use and speculates that the flicker of consideration for another person’s safety contained within that intention might in some cases grow into a greater sense of morality:

“[The Church] of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.”

Clifford Longley of the Tablet in the United Kingdom saw in this “small concession” a shift that could collapse “the whole edifice of Catholic teaching on contraception.” Such breathless interpretations revealed far more about the authors’ moral thinking than the Pope’s.

For these situational ethicists, a good intention can make an intrinsically bad act good. But Pope Benedict had said nothing of the kind. Were that his meaning, he would not have begun by saying that condom use is not a “moral solution.”

The construction that the Catholic left has tried to put on Benedict’s highly qualified remark represents little more than raw opportunism and mischief-making.

There is no change in Church teaching. True, some in the Church have made it easier for the Catholic left to create the impression of change by presenting the Pope’s remarks as novel and revolutionary.

“It was the first time Pope Benedict — or any Pope — has said publicly that condom use may be acceptable in some cases,” declared a report in the US bishops’ Catholic News Service. (But even the former CBS newsman Dan Rather didn’t fall for this hype and disinformation, saying that “Benedict had no intention of issuing a new edict on condom use” and that his hypothetical aside wasn’t meant to “encourage immorality.”)

Whether people should sin mortally with a condom or without one is a false choice, to which the Church’s answer is “neither.” Much of the public discussion about the Pope’s remarks revolved around that false choice, as if it is the mission of the Church to instruct the world on how to sin safely and strategically.

By trying to bait the Church into saying that a particular expression of sin is “better” than another, the world’s elite hopes to normalize and universalize that sin.

What looks on the surface like a nuanced academic discussion is actually part of a long propaganda campaign outside and inside the Church to harness the authority of the Magisterium for the advancement of “responsible” hedonism.

If anything, the controversy illustrated how little things have changed in the Church in one respect: the same tension between a dissenting, worldly morality and orthodoxy on display in the Catholic left’s Many Faces of AIDS and Joseph Ratzinger’s response to it exists today.

And what he said then holds just as true now. The Church, he reminded the bishops, should not send a mixed message to the public on condom use, but provide a “defense of the dignity of human sexuality which can only be realized within the context of moral law.”

THE POPE'S CHRISTMAS VISIT
TO GEMELLI'S CHILD PATIENTS



5 JAN 2011 (RV) - Pope Benedict XVI visited Rome’s Gemelli hospital Wednesday Afternoon, where he blessed a ward dedicated to the care and treatment of children living with spina bifida.

Named after the renowned Franciscan friar, physician and psychologist, Agostino Gemelli, who founded the medical centre in 1959, the Policlinico is a major teaching hospital in Rome.

Gemelli is where Pope John Paul II was taken after the attempt on his life in 1981, and where he received care on many subsequent occasions, including treatment during his final illness.

Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the hospital on Wednesday had a twofold purpose: to bless the recently expanded ward dedicated to the treatment of children with spina bifida, and to spend time with the children being treated in the Pediatric Ward of the facility, along with their parents.

On the eve of the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the children of the ward welcomed the Holy Father and one little girl offered words of greeting to him on behalf of all the young patients in the hospital.

Pope Benedict then greeted hospital staff and offered words of encouragement to the children and their families.

He told the children in particular that they were in his prayers and that he came to give them strength in order to help them overcome their illnesses.

The Holy Father also added that the Baby in the crib was sent by God to show us show much we are loved by him and concluded his speech by encouraging those institutions who are committed to the service of life.

Rounding off this visit to the Gemelli and to the delight of the children each and every child in the ward was given a Christmas gift from the Pope.

Unfortunately, the pictures released by the Vatican only showed the part where the Pope visited the babies - from neonates in incubators slightly older ones. None of the blessing, or of the meeting with the older children and their parents, and certainly not the gift distribution!









Pope brings toys and books
to kids in Rome hospital


ROME, Jan. 5 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI has brought stuffed animals, books and candy to children with spina bifida who are being treated at a Rome hospital.

Benedict brought the gifts to mark Epiphany, when Catholics believe the three kings brought gifts to the newborn Jesus. Benedict told the children and their families that he wanted to be like the kings and give the children gifts to show his love and affection.

The children, many in wheelchairs, gave Benedict little statues of the three kings and some drawings they'd made. He marveled at the artwork, kissed the children and blessed the babies who were brought to him.

The visit took place Wednesday at Rome's Gemelli hospital, which has a pediatric center for spina bifida, a common major spinal birth defect.


The Pope's visit
Translated from

January 5, 2011

This afternoon, the Holy Father visited the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli in Rome on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany.

On his arrival t 5:15 p.m., he was welcomed by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, his Vicar in Rome; the Vicariate's delegate for religious assistance to Rome hospitals; the rector of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Prof. Lorenzo Ornaghi; the administrative director of the University, Prof. Marco Elefanti; the president of the faculty, Prof. Rocco Bellantone; the director of the University in Rome, Dr. Giancarlo Furnari; the university's Ecclesiastic-General, Mons. Sergio Lanza; and by the director of the Policlinico, Prof. Cesare Catananti.

The Pope was escorted to the Pediatric Ward on the fifth floor,w here he was welcomed by its director, Prof. Costantino Romagnoli. After visiting the new facility dedicated to the care of children born with spina bifida, the Pope visited the child patients in the rooms of the ward, and finally, the intensive care ward for newborn children.

He then proceeded to the 7th floor for a brief visit to the ambulatory clinic of the Istituto Scientifico Internazionale "Paolo VI" for research, diagnosis, and therapy for infertility, where he was welcomed by the director, Prof. Riccardo Marana.

Lastly, he proceeded to the social hall of the Polyclinic to meet with other children being treated in other departments of the pediatric center, with their parents and the medical staff.

The children sang songs for him, and a little girl delivered words of greeting. The Holy Father then addressed them:

---

Your Eminence,
Dear priests,
Academic authorities, officials, medical and paramedical personnel,
Dear children, parents, friends:

Why did I come today to be with you on the day we start to celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany? First of all, to say Thank you.

Thanks to you, children, who welcomed me. I want to tell you that I love you and I am close to you with my prayers and affection, in order to give you strength in facing illness.

I wish to thank your parents and relatives, the officials and all the personnel of the Policlinico, who take care of human suffering with competence and charity.

I especially wish to thank the team in charge of the Pediatric Department and the center for the care of children with spina bifida.

I bless the persons, their commitment, and this place where love for the smallest and the neediest persons is exercised in concrete ways.

Dear children, I wished to come to meet you also to be a bit like the Three Kings whom we celebrate on this Feast of the Epiphany. They brought gifts to Jesus - gold, incense and myrrh - to show him their adoration and affection.

Today, I too have brought you some gifts, so that you may feel, through a small sign, the sympathy, the closeness and the affection of the Pope.

But I also wish that everyone, adults and children, during this Christmas season, should remember that God gave us the greatest gift of all.

If we look at the cave of Bethlehem, in the manger, who do we see? Who do we meet? There is Mary, there is Joseph, but above all, there is a baby, tiny, who needs attention, care, love. That baby is Jesus, that baby is God himself who came to earth to show how much he loves us. He is God who became like one of you, a child, to tell you that he is always near you and to tell each of us that every child carries his face.

Now, before I leave, I extend a heartfelt greeting to all the staff and all the patients in this great hospital. I encourage the various initiatives for good deeds and the volunteer work, as well as the various institutions who provide expertise in the service of life. I think particularly of the Istituto Scientifico Internazionale "Paolo VI", which was established to to promote responsible procreation.

Once again, thanks to all of you. The Pope loves you all.

---

The Pope then greeted each child present and gave him a Christmas gift. He left the hospital around 7 p.m. to return to the Vatican.


Thanks to Lella, who provided the link to these additional photos from the site of La Repubblica:








The picture of the day, for me!

It's unfortunate that at most papal events, either the photographers do not bother to get any shots of the crowd with which the Pope interacts, or their editors do not think the photos are 'newsworthy' enough to be released to the public! Also, there is very little in the pictures to indicate it is Christmas, and no picture of the Pope giving out the gifts!

Thursday, January 6
FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY

From left: 'Adoration of the Magi', 13th-century mosaic, Sta. Maria Maggiore; painting by Bartolo di Fredi; Russian icon of the Theophany; prayer-card image of the 'Adoration'.
The Epiphany on the twelfth day after Christmas celebrates the manifestation of Jesus to the world. In the Western Church, it is symbolized by the adoration of the Magi; in the Eastern churches, it is represented by the Baptism of Christ - the Theophany, or his manifestation as the Son of God. In some countries, the Epiphany is now celebrated on the first Sunday following January 1.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/010611.shtml

January 6 is also the feast day of a recently canonized saint.

BLESSED ANDRE BESSETTE (Canada, 1845-1937), Priest
The eighth of 12 children born to a poor Montreal family, the sickly Andre nonetheless
worked as farmhand, shoemaker, blacksmith, baker, and factory worker before applying
to the Congregation of the Holy Cross (CSC). He was first refused ordination because
of his poor health, but he was finally ordained at age 28 and was assigned to be
a doorman and general go-fer at the CSC's Notre Dame College, a job he would hold for
40 years. A lifelong devotee of St. Joseph, he used oils from votive candles to the saint
on visits to the sick. Miraculous cures started being attributed to the oil, particularly
during an epidemic, attracting pilgrims in ever-growing numbers. In 1904, Andre started
a small chapel to St. Joseph with $220 in contributions. Meanwhile, the CSC acquired
the property on Mount Royal near the college. In 1924, construction began on St. Joseph
Oratory, completed in 1967 as Canada's largest church, with the world's third largest
dome, next to St. Peter's. When Brother Andre died at age 92 in 1937, a million people
came to view his remains. Today, the Oratory gets at least 2 million visitors every year.
Brother Andre was beatified in 1992, and was canonized by Benedict XVI last October.


OR today.

Illustration: The Baptism of Christ, 11th-century icon from the Monastery of Our Lady of Khaftoun.
At the General Audience, the Pope reflects on the Incarnation
in the sermons of Leo the Great
'The light of the Nativity season'
The OR has a sidebar about the many youth groups present at the first GA of the year, but provides not a single photograph. There is a a front-page essay on the Feast of the Epiphany which, in the Eastern Churches, is the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, as reflected in the poetry of the great Fathers of the Church from the Middle East. Half of Page 1 is taken up with all the nominations made by the Pope yesterday of memberships in various Curial organisms. Front page international news is that the US debt surpasses 14 trillion dollars for the first time, and that the new Republican-controlled House of Representatives may not authorize another increase in the debt limit as requested by the Obama administration. The most interesting story in the inside pages is a wrap-up of reactions in Egypt to the Alexandria car bombing that killed 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians on New Year's Eve - with multiple expressions of solidarity, official and unofficial, from various Muslim groups, including a Day of Solidarity with the Copts tomorrow, Friday, traditional prayer day at the mosques (also the Orthodox Christmas Day), at which the imams are urged to preach against terrorism!

PAPAL EVENTS TODAY

Mass of the Epiphany at St. Peter's Basilica. Homily.

Holiday Angelus - The Holy Father reflects on the visit of the Three Kings, greets the Eastern Churches on the occasion
of their Christmas Day tomorrow (according to the Julian calendar), and recalls that the Feast of the Epiphany is also
the World Day for Missionary Children, an initiative promoted by the Congregation for the Evangelizaiton of Peoples.

MASS OF THE EPIPHANY



Libretto cover and illustrations from the Brevarium Romanum Domenicale et Feriale (Sunday and Holiday Roman Breviary), Stiftbibliothek Sankt Gallen, Switzerland.





Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass
on the Feast of the Epiphany


6 JAN 2011 (RV) - To the blare of trumpets, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI processed to the High Altar of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday morning, where he celebrated the Mass of the Epiphany, assisted by two Cardinal Deacons, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who is President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and Cardinal Walter Brandmuller, President emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.

The readings were from the Book of the Prophet, Isaiah, in which the Holy City of Jerusalem is exhorted to rise up in splendour and receive homage from all the kings and princes of the world; then the 71st Psalm which sings with joyful and certain expectation of the day in which all the Nations of the Earth shall adore the One, True God.

A passage from the Epistle of Paul to Ephesians was read, which proclaims the universal salvific mission of Christ and the creation of the Gentiles as co-heirs in His kingdom, full members of His body; the Deacon chanted the Gospel, taken from St. Mark, which tells the story of the Magi who were the first Gentiles to worship God in the flesh.

In his homily, Pope Benedict said that the story of the wise men who followed the star reveals that the universe is not the result of chance, as some would have us believe.

“Contemplating it,” he said, “we are invited to read something profound: the wisdom of the Creator, the inexhaustible creativity of God, his infinite love for us.”

The Pope exhorted the faithful not to let our minds be limited by theories that, even if they are true so far as they go, and not in competition with the faith, can nevertheless bring us only so far.//

(The translation of the full text is found farther below.)

---

Dear brothers and sisters,

On the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the Church continues to contemplate and to celebrate the mystery of the birth of Jesus the Savior. In particular, today's feast underscores the universal destination and significance of this birth.

Becoming man in the womb of Mary, the Son of God didnot come only for the people of Israel, represented by the shepherds of Bethlehem, but for all of mankind, represented by the Magi.

And it is precisely on the Magi and their journey in search of the Messiah (cfr Mt 2,1-12) that the Church invites us to meditate upon and pray today.

In the Gospel, we heard how, upon arriving in Jerusalem, they asked: "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage" (v 2).

What kind of men were they, and what kind of a star was it? They were probably wise men who studied the skies but not to try to 'read' the future in the stars, in order to ultimately profit by it. Rather, they were men 'in search' of something more - they were in search of true light that would be able to show them the road to take in life.

They were certain that in creation there exists what we might call the 'signature' of God, a signature that man can and should seek to decipher. Perhaps the best way to know the Magi and to grasp their desire to let themselves be guided by signs from God is to pause and consider what they found along the way, in the great city of Jerusalem.

First of all, they met King Herod. Of course, he was interested in the Baby that the Magi spoke about - but not for the purpose of adoring him, as he made them understand, lying to them, but to suppress that baby.

Herod was a man of power who could only see in the other a rival to be fought. Basically, if we reflect on it, even God seemed to him to be his rival, a particularly dangerous one, who would deprive man of his vital space, his autonomy, his power; a rival who would indicate the road to follow in life, and thus prevent us from doing everything we want.

Herod heard from his own experts in Sacred Scriptures the words of the prophet Micah (5,1), but his only thought was the throne. Therefore, God himself had to be eliminated, and all people should be reduced to being simple pawns to be moved in the great chess game of power.

Herod is a personage who is not at all likable, and whom we instinctively judge negatively for his brutality. But we must ask ourselves: Perhaps there is something of Herod in us?

Perhaps even we, at times, see God as some kind of rival. Perhaps even we are blind to his signs, deaf to his words, because we think that he places limits on our life and does not allow us to dispose of our existence as we please?

Dear brothers and sisters, when we see God this way, then we end up being dissatisfied and unhappy, because we do not let ourselves be guided by he who is at the foundation of all things.

We must cast off from our mind and heart the idea of rivalry, the idea that to make room for God is a limitation on ourselves. We must open up to the certainty that God is omnipotent love who takes away nothing, he does not threaten - rather he is the only one who can offer us the possibility to live in fullness and to experience true joy.

The Magi then met with scholars, theologians, experts who knew everything about Sacred Scriptures, who knew all of the possible interpretations, who were capable of citing from memory every passage, and therefore were a valuable aid to those who wished to fallow the way of God.

But, St. Augustine says, they liked being guides to others, showing them the way, but they themselves did not travel the road, they remained immobile. For them, the Scriptures had become a kind of atlas to read with curiosity, an ensemble of words and concepts to examine and to dispute learnedly.

And again, we can ask ourselves: it there not even in us the temptation to consider Sacred Scriptures, this most rich and vital treasure for the faith of the Church, more as an object for specialists to study and discuss, rather than the Book that shows us the way to reach true life?

I think, as I indicated in the Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, the profound readiness should always be born afresh in us to see the words of the Bible - read in the living Tradition of the Church (No. 18) - as the truth which tells us what man is really, and how he can realize himself fully, the truth which is the way we must follow daily, together with others, if we wish to build our life on rock and not on sand.

Then we come to the star. What kind of star was it that the Magi saw and followed? Through the centuries, this question has been an object of discussion for astronomers. Kepler, for example, maintained that it was a nova or a supernova, one of those stars that normally emanate a weak light but can suddenly have a violent internal explosion that produces an exceptional light.

Certainly, interesting things, but which do not lead us to what is essential to understand that star. We must go back to the fact that those men were looking for signs of God - they sought to read his 'signature' in creation. They knew that "the heavens proclaim the glory of God" (Ps 19,2). They were certain, that is, that God could be seen in creation.

But as wise men, they also knew that it was not with any kind of telescope that one could find him - only the profound eyes of reason seeking the ultimate sense of reality, and with a desire of God urged by faith, would make it possible for God to come to us.

The universe is not the result of chance, as some would have us believe. Contemplating it, we are invited to read in it something profound: the wisdom of the Creator, the inexhaustible imagination of God, his infinite love for us.

We must not allow our minds to be limited by theories that can only reach to a certain point, and if we look well, they are not in fact competing with faith, but neither do they explain the ultimate meaning of reality.

In the beauty of the world, in its mystery, in its grandeur and rationality, we cannot fail to read eternal reason, and we cannot do less than let ourselves be guided by it towards the one God, creator of heaven and earth.

If we have this outlook, we shall see that He who created the world and He who was born in a cave in Bethlehem and continues to dwell among us in the Eucharist is the same living God who interpellates us, who loves us, who wants to lead us to eternal life.

Herod, the experts on Scriptures, the star. Now let us follow the journey of the Magi as they reach Bethlehem. Over that city, the star disappears. It can no longer be seen. What does that mean? Even in this case, we must read the sign in depth.

For the Magi, it was logical to look for the king in the royal palace, where they found the wise counselors of the royal court. But probably to their amazement, they realized that the newborn was not to be found in the places of power and culture, even if those places offered them valuable information.

They must have noted, instead, that sometimes power - even that of knowledge - blocks the way to an encounter with the Baby. The star eventually led them to Bethlehem, a small city. It led them to the poor and the humble in order to find the King of the world.

The criteria of God are different from those of men. God does not manifest himself in the power of this world, but in the humility of his love, that love which asks to be welcomed by our freedom in order to transform us and make us capable of reaching him who is Love.

But even for us, things are not so different as they were for the Magi. If we were asked our opinion on how God should save the world, perhaps we would reply that he should manifest all of his power to give the world a more just economic system in which everyone can have whatever he wants.

Actually, this would be a kind of violence against man, because it would deprive him of the fundamental elements that characterize him. It would not make demands on our freedom nor on our love.

God's power is manifested in a totally different way: In Bethlehem, we have to encounter the apparent powerlessness of his love. It is there where we need to go, and it is there that we can find the Star of God.

So even an ultimate final element about the Magi appears clear to us: The language of Creation allows us to travel a good part of the way towards God but it does not give us the definitive light. In the end, it was indispensable for the Magi to listen to Scared Scriptures: only those could show them the way.

The Word of God is the true star which, in the uncertainty of human discourse, offers us the immense splendor of divine truth.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us be guided by the Star which is the Word of God. Let us follow it in our life, walking with the Church, in which the God has pitched his tent. Our way will always be illuminated by a light that no other sign can give us. And we too can become stars for others, a reflection of that light that Christ shines down on us. Amen.

---

DATES FOR THE MOVEABLE FEASTS
OF THE LITURGICAL YEAR IN 2011

Traditionally, on the Feast of the Epiphany, the Church looks forward to the rest of the liturgical year in the so-called Easter announcement, at which the dates this year for the major moveable feasts are announced:

Herewith was the announcement today at the Mass in St. Peter's:

---

Know, dearest brothers, that, with the favor of God's mercy, just as we have rejoiced at the birth of our Lord esus Christ, so we announce with joy the Resurrection of same Lord our Savior.

On March 9 is Ash Wednesday, start of fasting for holy Lent.

On April 24, we celebrate with joy the Sacred Easter of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On June 2, the Ascension of the Lord.

On June 12, the Solemnity of Pentecost.

On June 23, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

On November 27 will be the first Sunday of the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ:

To him be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

---

ANGELUS TODAY



6 JAN 2011 (RV) - After Mass today, the Holy Father prayed the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square, during which the Holy Father had greetings for the faithful in many languages, including English:

---

I greet all the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer. On this, the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the Church rejoices in the revelation of Jesus Christ as the light of all peoples. May the light of Christ’s glory fill you and your families with joy, strengthen Christians everywhere in their witness to the Gospel, and lead all mankind to the fullness of truth and life which God alone can give. Upon all of you, and in a special way upon the children present, I invoke the Lord’s abundant blessings!

---

Also at the Angelus, Pope Benedict offered special greetings to all the faithful of the Eastern Churches, which celebrate Christmas tomorrow, praying that the Goodness of God, manifest in Christ Jesus – the Word Incarnate – might strengthen all in faith, hope and love, and give comfort to those communities, which are at present facing trials.

The Holy Father also recalled the work of the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood, which celebrates the World Day for Missionary Childhood each year on the Epiphany.

Noting that through parishes and schools throughout the world, there is a spiritual network of children and young people ready and willing to help their brothers and sisters in difficulty, the Holy Father said the children’s prayer and dedication is a real contribution to the mission of the Church.

---

Dear brothers and sisters,

Today we celebrate the Epiphany, the manifestation of Jesus to all peoples, represented by the Magi, who came to Bethlehem from the East to pay homage to the King of the Jews, whose birth they came to know about by the appearance of a new star in the heavens (cfr Mt 2,1-12).

In fact, before the Magi came, knowledge about the event had not gone beyond the family circle: other than Mary and Joseph, and probably their relatives, it was known only to the shepherds of Bethlehem, who, having heard the joyful announcement, went in haste to see the Baby while he was still lying in a manger.

The coming of the Messiah, awaited by the people and predicted by the Prophets, therefore initially remained hidden. Until, precisely, those mysterious personages, the Magi, arrived in Jerusalem seeking news about the newborn 'King of the Jews'.

Obviously, since this had to do with a king, they went to the royal palace where Herod reigned. But he knew nothing of such a birth, and much concerned, he immediately called his priests and scribes who, on the basis of Micah's well-known prophecy (cfr 5,1), affirmed that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

And so, going in that direction, the Magi saw the star again which led them to the place where they found Jesus. Entering, they prostrated themselves and adored him, offering him symbolic gifts - gold, incense and myrrh.

This was the Epiphany, the manifestation: the adoration of the Magi was the first sign of the singular identity of the Son of God, who was also the son of the Virgin Mary.

From then on the question started to propagate itself that would accompany Christ all his life, and in various ways, through the centuries: Who is this Jesus?

Dear friends, this is the question which the Church wishes to inspire in the hearts of all men: Who is Jesus? This is the spiritual concern that impels the mission of the Church: to make Jesus known, his Gospel, so that every man may discover in his human face the face of God and may be illuminated by the mystery of his love.

The Epiphany pre-announced the universal openness of the Church, her vocation to evangelize all peoples. But the Epiphany also tells us in what way the Church carries out her mission: reflecting the light of Christ and announcing his Word.

Christians are called upon to imitate the service that the star performed for the Magi. We must shine as children of the light, to attract everyone to the beauty of the Kingdom of God. And to those who search for the truth, we must offer the Word of God which leads to recognizing in Jesus "the true God and eternal life" (1 Jn 5,20).

Once more, we feel profound acknowledgment of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She is the perfect image of the Church who gives to the world the light of Christ. She is the Star of Evangelization. 'Respice stella', St. Bernard tells us - Look at the Star, you who are in search of truth and peace. Turn your gaze to Mary and she will show you Jesus, light for every man and for all peoples.


After the prayers, he said this:

I extend my heartfelt greeting and most fervent wishes to our brothers and sisters in the Oriental Churches who will celebrate the Holy Nativity tomorrow.

May the goodness of God, manifested in Jesus Christ, Word Incarnate, strengthen faith, hope and charity in everyone and give comfort to communities that are under trial.

I must also recall that the Epiphany is the World Missionary Day for Children proposed by the Pontifical Works of the Holy Infancy. So many chiildren and young people, organized in parishes and schools, form a spiritual network of solidarity to help their contemporaries who are in difficulty.

It is very beautiful and important that children grow with a mind open to the world, with sentiments of love and brotherhood, overcoming egocentrism and consumerism.

Dear children and young people, with your prayers and your commitment, you collaborate in the mission of the Church. I thank you for this and I bless you.

---

Men on horseback representing the Three Kings were among the pilgrims in St. Peter's Square today.


Cardinal Bagnasco says Pope 'stunned'
by recent anti-Christian violence
By FRANCES D'EMILIO



VATICAN CITY, Jan. 6 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI is stunned by the wave of violence and intolerance toward Christians around the world, Italy's top churchman said Thursday at Epiphany services.

"Together with the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, we are stunned in the face of religious intolerance and so much violence, and we are asking ourselves, in sorrow: why?" said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of Italy's bishops conference in an Epiphany homily in Genoa. Bagnasco, in his role at the influential Italian bishops body, works closely with the Pontiff and other Vatican officials.

Christian Copts in Egypt, where a bomb outside a church on Jan. 1 killed 21 people, mark Christmas on Jan. 7, will flock to Christmas vigil services on Thursday evening. Other Orthodox Christians also celebrate Jesus' birth on Jan. 7.

Speaking from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square, Benedict told pilgrims and tourists he was offering heartfelt greeting and wishes to "the brothers and sisters of the Eastern churches who tomorrow will celebrate Holy Christmas."

He prayed that Christians would be "strengthened in faith, hope and charity" and that "comfort be given to communities that are suffering" - a reference to the wave of violence.

Deadly attacks on Christians also bloodied Christmas celebrations Dec. 25 in Nigeria and the Philippines. Catholics in Baghdad have been worshipping in a bloodstained basilica since an assault there last fall claimed 68 lives, including those of two priests.

Asking why "voices the chilling question that is rising from so many places on Earth," the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Bagnasco as saying in Genoa's cathedral.

Italian authorities said they were increasing security measures outside churches for Christmas services for the tiny Coptic minority in Rome, Milan and elsewhere in Italy.

"We feel bitterness and sorrow for what we suffered in Egypt," Coptic Orthodox Bishop Barnaba el Soryany, told Associated Press Television News. He add that while there will be a Mass, there will be no festivities.

"How can we celebrate Christmas after all that happened in Egypt?" the bishop said, speaking at the Virgin Mary Coptic church in Rome.

Benedict earlier marked the Roman Catholic church's last major Christmas period holiday on Thursday by celebrating Epiphany Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

The feast day recalls the Gospel's account of the journey by the three kings or "wise men," guided by a star, to pay homage to the baby Jesus, and many faithful exchange gifts.

The Pope noted that astronomers over the centuries have wondered about what kind of star was in the sky, including what he called "interesting" theories, like one holding that a supernova explosion might have guided the kings. What's important to remember, Benedict said, was that the voyagers were "in search of the true light" of God.

Benedict reiterated long-held Church teaching that God's design is behind the creation of the universe.

"The universe is not the result of chance, as some want to make us believe," the Pope said in his homily. "Contemplating it (the universe), we are invited to read something profound in it -- the wisdom of the Creator, the inexhaustible imagination of God, his infinite love for us," Benedict said.

"We shouldn't let our minds be limited by theories that always only go so far and that, if we look carefully, aren't at all in contradiction with faith but do not succeed in explaining the ultimate sense of reality," the pope said, musing on the Gospel account of the wise men searching for Jesus shortly after his birth.





NB: Salvatore Izzo says in his report on the Angelus for AGI that
1) The Pope started the Angelus 20 minutes late because he came from the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, which ended later than usual, so the Pope began his mini-homily by apologizing for being late; and
2) There were some 80,000 pilgrims in St. Peter's Square for the Epiphany Angelus. Amazing!

And an obvious trivial observation: The Pope has worn a Roman chasuble for his first two Masses in 2011...

Why is the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
making up lies about the Pope?

The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo - considered the highest authority in Sunni Islam - has made yet another provocative statement against Pope Benedict XVI, criticizing him a second time for statements he never said.

This is all that the Pope has said in public so far about the tragedy in Alexandria, in his Angelus message on January 2:

---

Yesterday morning, we learned with sorrow about the grave attack against the Coptic Christian community of Alexandria in Egypt. This vile act of death - like that of placing bombs near the homes of Christians in Iraq to force them to leave - is an offense to God and all mankind, which only yesterday had prayed for peace as we started a new year with hope.

In the face of this strategy of violence targeting Christians, with consequences to the entire population, I pray for the victims and their families, and I encourage the ecclesial communities to persevere in the faith and in bearing witness to non-violence as the Gospel teaches.

---

In his homily on New Year's Day, he made no specific reference to Alexandria, but reiterated the main points of his message for World Peace Day on religious freedom as a path to peace. Even in announcing he was calling a meeting of religious leaders in Assisi, he did not mention any specific cases.

And yet later that day, the Imam "criticised Pope Benedict XVI's call for world leaders to defend Christians as interference in his country's affairs", according to the official Egyptian news agency. "I disagree with the Pope's view," he was quoted as saying, "and I ask why did the Pope not call for the protection of Muslims when they were subjected to killings in Iraq."

I did not have all my wits around me that day and reacted only to the direct quote, but I should have noted the false statement in the lead: The Pope never called for 'world leaders to defend Christians', for the simple reason that he never does so, and has never done so. All his calls for leaders and governments to guarantee and protect religious freedom are always general, and never limited to Christians only.

Fr. Lombardi issued a very diplomatic statement in response to the imam's comments, arguing the above, but avoiding any criticism of the imam. (The full stories about all the above, including the Pope's New Year's Day homily and Jan. 1-Jan. 2 Angelus messages, are on the preceding page of this post).

And now, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, the imam wants the Pope to make a statement to the Muslim world to 'dissipate sources of misunderstanding' ('misunderstanding' which so far only he appears to have!]and other outrageous insinuations)... And yet, otherwise, he makes all the right noises about tolerance and peaceful coexistence and denouncing terrorism even, and he does have a reputation for being a 'moderate' Muslim...

Here is an account of the CDS interview by ASCA:

Al-Azhar imam says the Pope
should send a message to Islam!
Translated from

January 6, 2010


"I hope that His Holiness Benedict XVI, who enjoys a universal moral authority and who therefore carries responsibility of extraordinary importance will decide to send a message to the Islamic world. A message that could re-establish bridges of trust and dissipate the source of misunderstandings would be a much appreciated initiative".

[The first reaction one has is why doesn't Al-Tayyeb lead off by sending a clear and unequivocal message to all Muslims himself. After all, he is the highest religious authority in the Sunni world which makes up the overwhelming majority of Islam!... Al-Tayyeb already accused the Pope of 'interfering' in internal Egyotian affairs for something Benedict XVi never said. Imagine what he would then say if Benedict had decided to specifically address any message at all to the Muslims of the world in the context of any anti-Christian violence!]

This is the invitation made by Grand Imam Ahmed Al Tayyeb, head of the Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo, in an interview with Corriere della Sera published today, It follows the New year's day car bombing of a Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria, Egypt.

An attack that left at least 21 people dead and more than 80 injured, and which the imam called 'a crime condemned by all religions and by men of goodwill in the whole world".

"I heard the words of His Holiness on the massacre in Alexandria, and I heard him ask protection for the Christians of Egypt. [The one who did that was the Coptic Pope Shenouda - and rightly so, not Benedict XVI.] Now, being afraid that [S}his words could create a negative political reaction in the Middle East in general and in Egypt in particular [He seems to be the only one to think so - it's been five days since the Pope words, and no one is scapegoating him as this Imam appears determined to do!], I must make three things clear: that the Christians of the East are an essential component of the society to which they belong and a source of richness for Oriental civilization and of the Arab-Islamic tradition; that their protection and security is guaranteed by their rights as citizens and, according to Islamic tradition, through a long history of life in common based on respect of others and on religious and cultural diversity; and that these terrorist actions are directed not only at Christians but against all of Egypt, with the objective of destabilizing the nation and to threaten national security and unity". (Very fine words, but rather hypocritical: The Copts have always been oppressed and persecuted in Egypt).

The imam said that to eliminate this dangerous atmosphere, "we must deepen our mutual understanding and eliminate the sources of prejudice and misunderstanding. Respect for the other and his right to being different is an indispensable condition for that constructive dialog which can bring us closer".

From a news item when Tayyeb was named Grand Imam last March, I got the following information:

The grand imam of Al-Azhar has been appointed by presidential decree since 1961 and the institution receives most of its funding from the state, opening up the post to criticism of being too close to the government.

Tayyeb is known for his tough stance against the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and most organised opposition group, which remains officially banned despite popular support.

In 2006, he condemned a military-style parade by Brotherhood students at Al-Azhar University in which they wore black facemasks "like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Republican Guard in Iran," he said at the time.

Born in 1946, Tayyeb joined an Al-Azhar affiliated school at the age of 10. He has spent more than 40 years at the institution, receiving a PhD in religion and philosophy from al-Azhar university in 1977 before becoming a faculty member and then dean of the philosophy department.

Tayyeb has been in charge of the al-Azhar university since 2003 and was Grand Mufti, Egypt's highest religious legal authority, from 2002 to 2003.


And yet, here's the story in OR today (January 6) that contains reports I found almost unreal,
or 'miraculous', depending on your point of view:

Egyptian Muslims rally in support of the Copts
who will mark Orthodox Christmas January 7
with a Mass and cancel all other celebrations
Translated from the 1/6/11 issue of



CAIRO, January 5 - The Copts have been living the hours that separate them from Orthodox Christmas on Friday, January 7, in an atmosphere of 'armored' calm, amid the impressive deployment of the forces of law and order throughout the city.

A solemnity which, this year in Egypt, even if it is a national holiday - will be a day of reflection and prayer, as well as of mourning and fear of new violence, with threats running rampant on the Internet, after the New Year's Day massacre in Alexandria which killed 23 Copts who were leaving midnight Mass in the early hours of the New Year.

Security measures throughout Egypt are unprecedented, not only in churches but even in mosques - January 7 falls on a Friday, the weekly prayer day at mosques. The objective is to avoid unleashing a chain reaction of reprisals between the Christian and Muslim communities.

The Copts have cancelled all plans for Christmas celebrations and will limit themselves to the midnight Mass. In St, Mark's Cathedral, the Mass will be said by the Coptic Patriarch Shenouda III, who , while reiterating his call on government officials to provide better protection for the Christian minorities, has also sought publicly to bring down tensions that have been fed by protest demonstrations that have often degenerated into encounters between Christians and Muslims, both in Cairo and in Alexandria.

Also contributing to calm things down were expressions of sentiment from many Muslims. On Wednesday morning, a solidarity 'sit-in' by students was held in the University of Al-Azhar, with the participation of Ahmed Tayyeb, Grand Imam of the 10th-century mosque associated with the university.

Considered the highest authority of Sunni Islam, Tayyeb condemned the New Year's Day massacre, underscoring that Muslims and Copts alike must promote mutual tolerance "to fight attempts to feed sectarian violence".

Muslims, choosing white as the color of solidarity, issued invitations over the Internet for people to wear white as a gesture of solidarity for the Copts and to denounce terrorism.

Nineteen social and political associations will gather in Cairo's central square on Friday to light candles in memory of the victims, where as many celebrities, including entertainment figures and artists, said they would join midnight Mass celebrations.

On Saturday, various political parties will meet to launch an initiative in defense of civil liberties and national unity. It was even thought that January 7 could be declared a Day of National Unity.

Above all, according the head of the department supervising mosques in Alexandria, the Minister for Islamic Affairs has called on all imams to dedicate their sermons this Friday to the fight against terrorism, to unity between Muslims and Copts, and to the sacredness of places of worship.

The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, reminded the nation that Islam "prohibits attacks against innocents, regardless of their religion, race or nationality".

Gomaa, who is also the supreme authority on Islamic law underscored that Islam particularly respects non-Muslim places of worship, As a historical precedent, he cited the treaty between Caliph Omar and the people of Jerusalem that Islam 'would pay particular respect to non-Muslim places of worship and the inviolability of temples".

The Coptic community has also received continuing expressions of prayer and solidarity from the Christian world. Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople expressed his condolence and sorrow for an 'Unjust and unjustifiable' act which has 'shown us and the whole world the great price that Christians continue to pay for their faith in Christ".

In Jerusalem, a prayer meeting to commemorate the victims of Alexandria was held Wednesday at the seat of the Orthodox Coptic Patriarch. Representatives of all Christian churches in the Holy Land attended, as well as many Jews who are promoting relations among the monotheistic religions. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem sent a message of condolence.

In Brussels, the president of the European Commission, Hose Manuel Barroso, condemned the Alexandria tragedy and the [persecution of Christians, in general,

In Italy, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops' conference, said "Christians pray to the Lord even for those who persecute them, to that they may open up to the light and love of God". He said that episodes of religious violence should impel all men of good will along with nations, especially, the Western world, to "construct bridges of peace and reconciliation with resolve, sharing and determination".

Change of pace: This book came out in 2010, and in April 2010, I posted on this thread a translation of La Scala music director Riccardo Muti's Preface to the book
ffz.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=8527207&p=96
The following review comes from the Music and Cultue section of Il Sussidiario.


Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI
on the sense of music:
From Mozart to rock and pop
A book review
by Enrico Raggi
Translated from

January 6, 2011


Lodate Dio con arte
(Praise God with art)
by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI
Marcianum Press, 2010



"I thank God for having made me close to music, which has been almost like a travelling companion that has always offered me comfort and joy. May it give you new and continuous inspiration to construct a world of love, solidarity and peace".

It is one of the many invitations formulated by Joseph Ratzinger in the precious volume Lodata Dio con arte (Praise God with art, Marcianum Press, 2010) - a collection of texts about music (essays, lectures, discourses, remarks) written by the Pontiff through the decades.

The book is divided into four parts: sacred music, liturgical music, musical spirituality, and remarks pronounced after concerts at the Vatican. Everyone can draw from it fully, from the experienced theologian to the simple faithful who is devoted to Sunday Mass. The book is a mine of reflection points, inquiries, solicitations. It has flashes of daring synthesis, stinging but refined judgments, and gets into semi-virgin territories.

There is no room in it for prefabricated solutions, pious illusions, do-goodism, or miracle medicines. Benedict XVI reaffirms decisively his thinking on music, well known to those who have followed his work, though most of the time simply ignored by those who should be concerned.

Some post-conciliar liturgical theses by Karl Rahner have been reformulated with better balance. Musical interpretations by Costa and Rainoldi [I have to look up who they are] are demolished because they separate the New Testament from the history of the Church. The esoteric versus useful antithesis that often becomes 'composer's block' is reworked to a fertile unity.

Ratzinger does not spare anyone: classical music, with few exceptions, he believes, has retreated to an ambiguous elitist ghetto in which only specialists may enter; pop music is a factory of banal products from an industry cookie-cutter; rock expresses elemental passions and rock music festivals have become a sort of countercult to Christianity.

It presents to us precepts we know quite well as though we are seeing them for the first time: rock and pop are irreconcilable with Church liturgy; some youth-oriented music provokes an ecstasy of the senses but but does not uplift the spirit - rather, it overwhelms it with the senses to produce distraction, confusion and giddiness; liturgical music should be humble - its purpose is not to gain applause but to edify; the pipe organ is the king of instruments; the choir is not performing for a community of the faithful in church as they would in public, but it is itself part of that community and sings for it.

Delicate gems and unmistakable 'whip lashings' alternate equally: To reduce the Church to a liturgy of words is to make the novelty of Christianity equivalent to the synagogue and even to abandon the way to Christ. Some liturgical reforms are dead letters which inter other dead letters. The conflict between the accessibility/performability of liturgical music and absolute art can bear fruit only if it aims at an internal unity which must be sought anew every time.

If it is not 'celebrated', art becomes nothing but a museum piece that lives only in memory. But there is no celebration without liturgy, without that invitation to something which transcends man. If the religious base of music is eliminated, both music and art are threatened. Sacred music is faith that has become culture - it must justify, in the face of puritan arrogance, the necessary incarnation of the Spirit in a musical event and it must seek, in the face of routine, to orient the Spirit and the cosmos itself towards the divine.

The loving and paternal counsel in the last part is retroactively illuminated by the first three sections of the book. For Benedict XVI, the splendor of the truth shines through in Mozart - his Requiem is a prayer to a just and merciful God of the Last Judgment; a delicate wind instrument reveals creation as the fulfillment of God's promise.

Poetic touches: Christian artists have taken the Cross into their paintbrush, they have used words like nets with which to fish men in the world - the Word as a hook, the bait being the flesh of the Sovereign of the universe.




It is just one indication of this Pope's breadth of interest and knowledge that at year's end 2010, a book came out collecting his writings about science and faith.


FEDE E SCIENZA: Un dialogo necessario
Joseph Ratzinger/BenedictXVI
Lindau, 2010

The book, after an introduction by its editor Umberto Casale, consists of two parts: a selection of pasages taken from Joseph Ratzinger's writings as a theologian and German university professor; and speeches he gave as Pope on this subject to various institutions including the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

The Pope has often pointed out that a theologian must know philosophy before he can be a theologian. In the contemporary world, it is equally important for a theologian to be conversant, at the very least, with the latest developments in the natural sciences - theology being a science itself - especially in the past century, with the revolutiuonary strides made in cosmology, astrophysics and microphysics, and the biological sciences. And Benedict XVI, in his discourses about science in particular, in some homilies where he has used startling scientific metaphors, and in spontaneous responses to question that have to do with science, has shown that he is. Not to forget that when he was a cardinal, he was elected to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, and that even earlier, he was elected to take the seat vacated by the death of nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov in the Institut de France's Academie des Sciences Politques et Morales.

Friday, January 7
Today is Christmas Day - the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord - in the Orthodox world
and Eastern Churches who celebrate liturgical feasts according to the Julian calendar.



ST. RAMON PENYAFORT (Raymond Penafort) (Catalonia, 1175-1275)
Dominican, Bishop and Confessor
One of the most brilliant in the great constellation of saints who lived in the 12th and 13th
centuries, Ramon was born into a noble family related to the royal family of Aragon. He
was educated in Bologna where by age 20, he was teaching theology and philosophy, while
earning doctorates in canon and civil law. He was called back to Spain to tutor the man
who would become King James I of Aragon. In 1222, having met St. Dominic, he joined the
Dominican order and became well-known for his preaching against the Moors. His reputation
in the law drew the attention of Pope Gregory IX who called him to Rome to be his chaplain
and confessor, and to compile all the decrees of previous Popes and Councils, resulting in
the monumental Gregorian Decretals, published in 1231, which remained the basic
reference on canon law until the present Code of Canon Law was promulgated in 1917. He
returned to Spain in 1236. At age 60, he was named Archbishop of Tarragona but he resigned
after two years to return to working within the Dominican Order. Shortly after that, he was
elected Superior General of the order, to succeed St. Dominic. He reformed the order and
then resigned, devoting the remaining 35 years of his life to preaching against heresy and
the Moors, and seeking to convert Jews and Muslims. It is said he convinced Thomas Aquinas
to write the Summa contra Gentiles, often called a missionary manual on the truths of the
Catholic faith and the errors of the infidels. Raymond died peacefully in Barcelona at the age
of 100, and is buried in the Cathedral there.
Readings for today's Mass:http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/010711.shtml



No OR today.


No Papal events announced so far for today.




- At least two Catholic journalists so far - Michael Sean Winters in National Catholic Reporter yesterday, and Tablet editor Catherine Pepinster writing in the Guardian today - have written rather harshly 'warning' the Vatican against 'unseemly haste' in beatifying John Paul II. They cite the same reason: that his closest aides were 'complicit' for years in covering up for the Legionaries disgraced founder Fr. Marcial Maciel, and that therefore, this could raise questions in the future about John Paul II himself.

While I understand the concept of command responsibility in any administration, John Paul II is not being considered for sainthood because of his administration of the Church, but because of his own personal holiness. This does not exclude human failings like refusing to see objective facts because they do not fit into one's world view, And I don't think there is anyone at all who thibnk that, in the Maciel case, the Pope was willfully condoning flagrant immorality by one of his friends. I would like to think that John Paul II sincerely - and naively - believed Maciel was simply being slandered.

Also, I am sure that the experts and consultants at the Congregation for the Causes of Sainthood,, with a 2000-year-old record of precedents to draw from, are confident they are not doing a disservice to the Church by advancing the cause of John Paul II to the point of imminent beatification. I would trust the Church - and Benedict XVI's exquisite judgment - to act properly and prudently in this respect. Surely they do not need warnings from such as Winters and Pepinster.

How gratifying and appropriate that the Apostolic Nuncio in Egypt had the following statement published in the Egyptian press today! It presents the exact words that the Pope has said in public about recent anti-Christian violence and tactfully belies the statements attributed to him by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo.


Nuncio to Egypt replies to
Imam's statements on Benedict XVI


7 JAN 2011 (RV) - Today, the Egyptian press published a statement written by the Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, at the request of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Cairo, clarifying Pope Benedict’s words on the attacks against the Christian faithful of Alexandria, in his January 2nd Angelus address.

In the statement Archbishop Fitzgerald stresses first, the Pope’s “recognition that the attack on Christians has an effect on the whole population”, and then his “appeal to respond to the attack in a non-violent way”.

The Nuncio also refers to the Holy Father’s message for the 44th World Day for Peace; “Religious freedom, the path to peace”. He says, “although Christians are held to be the “religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith”, the Message extends its reflection to all believers. The Pope speaks about defending religion as “the ideal way to consolidate the spirit of good will, openness and reciprocity which can ensure the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in all areas and regions of the world.”

From these statements of the Pope, he says, “it is surely clear that he is not encouraging interference in the internal matters of any particular State, but that he is appealing to all, both individuals and governments, to respect the religious beliefs and practices of different communities and thus promote harmonious and peaceful societies”.

Archbishop Fitzgeralds statement concludes with the Pope’s invitations to the leaders of the world’s religions to join him in Assisi in October this year to pray for peace.

The statement in full:

---

Pope Benedict XVI and the Way to Peace
by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald
Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt and
Vatican Observer to the Arab League

The statement of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI with regard to the tragic attack on the Church of the Saints in Alexandria has met with some criticism. It may therefore be helpful to give an account of what the Pope actually said and of his recent teaching on the way to peace.

As is well know, the Pope recites a prayer with people in St Peter’s Square every Sunday. On Sunday 2 January, after reciting the prayer, he said: “Yesterday morning I received with sorrow the news of the serious attack against the Coptic Christian community in Alexandria, Egypt. This despicable act of death, similar to that of placing bombs near the houses of Christians in Iraq in order to force them to leave, offends God and the whole of humanity.”

He continued: “In the face of this strategy of violence aimed at Christians, but with consequences for the whole of the population, I pray for the victims and their families, and encourage church communities to persevere in faith and the witness to non-violence that has its source in the Gospel.”

Two things are worth noting here: first the recognition that the attack on Christians has an effect on the whole population, and then the appeal to respond to the attack in a non-violent way.

On the previous day, 1 January, while celebrating Mass in St Peter’s Church, Benedict XVI recalled the tradition of offering prayers for peace on the first day of the year. He said: “For this reason, especially by means of our prayer, we wish to help every person and all peoples, and in particular those who are responsible for government, to walk ever more decisively along the road to peace.”

He called upon people not to give way to discouragement or resignation in the face of the negative forces of egoism and violence, going on to point out: “Words are not enough; there needs to be concrete and constant action on the part of those responsible for Nations”, while adding that every person needs to be imbued with the spirit of peace.

He referred on this occasion to the Message for the Day of Peace which he had issued and which is entitled Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace.

It is true that this Message starts with a reference to the attack on the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Baghdad which caused the death of many Christians. Yet the Message speaks also of “more subtle and sophisticated forms of prejudice and hostility towards believers and religious symbols.”

Although Christians are held to be the “religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith”, the Message extends its reflection to all believers.

The Pope speaks about defending religion: “Religion is defended by defending the rights and freedoms of religious communities. The leaders of the great world religions and the leaders of nations should therefore renew their commitment to promoting and protecting religious freedom, and in particular to defending religious minorities; these do not represent a threat to the identity of the majority but rather an opportunity for dialogue and mutual cultural enrichment. Defending them is the ideal way to consolidate the spirit of good will, openness and reciprocity which can ensure the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in all areas and regions of the world.” It should be noted that these words are not concerned with Christians only, but apply to all religions.

Finally, after the mid-day prayer on 1 January, Pope Benedict recalled that October of this year would see the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Day of Prayer for Peace held in Assisi at the initiative of Pope John Paul II.

Benedict announced that he would make a pilgrimage to Assisi and that he intended to invite Christians of different traditions, the followers of other religious traditions, and, ideally, all people of good will to renew the commitment to live their religious faith in such a way as to serve peace.

From these statements of the Pope it is surely clear that he is not encouraging interference in the internal matters of any particular State, but that he is appealing to all, both individuals and governments, to respect the religious beliefs and practices of different communities and thus promote harmonious and peaceful societies.

Mons. Michael L. Fitzgerald

---

Copts celebrate Orthodox Christmas


7 JAN 2011 (RV) - The Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt celebrated Christmas Friday amid tightened security in the wake of threats by Islamic extremists to carry out more attacks against the minority community.

Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces monitored Christian places of worship throughout the country.



In Abbassiya Cathedral in Cairo, Coptic Patriarch Shenouda III (left) presided over Mass Thursday night in which he recalled "the martyrdom of many innocent people" in Alexandria. Mass was attended by several members of government and the two sons of President Mubarak, and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Egypt.

In the Church of Saints in Alexandria, where 23 people died and 80 others were seriously wounded in a New Year's Day bomb attack, the Christian community turned out in large numbers for Christmas eve mass.

Outside the building, in a sign of solidarity, a group of Muslims held vigil, carrying banners that read “no to terrorism, yes to citizenship” and “Long live the cross and the crescent”.

On Thursday, marking the Feast of the Epiphany, Pope Benedict XVI offered special greetings to all the faithful of the Eastern Churches, which celebrate Christmas Friday, praying that the goodness of God might give comfort to those communities, which are at present facing trials.


More detailed updates and commentary on the Egypt situation have been posted in the CHURCH&VATICAN thread.

Here's one of the best capsule commentaries I've seen so far on LOTW:

Fr. D. Vincent Twomey's
'Best Books' picks for 2010

January 7, 2011


Father Twomey was busy travelling at the end of 2010, so just sent in his books picks, which I've added to the "The Best Books I Read in 2010..." compilation on Ignatius Insight and am also posting below:

---

The Pope's interview with Peter Seewald, Light of the World (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010) tops my list of best books read in 2010. Like his previous two interview-books with the then-Cardinal Ratzinger, Seewald shows his skill as a superb journalist by the way he gets the Pope to discuss in some depth many of the controversial issues affecting Church and society.

In addition, Seewald coaxes from his interviewee various insights into the Pope's personal life, which reveal the real man I've had the privilege to knowing for some forty years.

Reading the book reminded me of the relaxed and stimulating colloquia and seminars our former professor held with us, his doctoral and postdoctoral students, when he would enter into a discussion with great openness to the opinions of others and then lead the discussion to a yet higher level, always seeking the truth, always attempting to be fair to the opinions of others.

Every intervention of his was noted for its clarity, its depth and its eloquence. The same applies to every page of this book that is so easy to read and has a superb forward by George Weigel.

---

Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D. holds both a Ph.D. in Theology and is Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, Ireland. A formal doctoral student under Joseph Ratzinger, Twomey is the author of several books, including Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (A Theological Portrait), and his acclaimed study, The End of Irish Catholicism?

Bloody Christmas
between the Nile and the Indus
Islamist violence is increasingly taking aim at Christians and their defenders.
The latest deadly attacks in Baghdad, Alexandria, and Lahore.
The "rational" proposal of the Pope to Muslims continues to go unheeded


ROME, January 7, 2011 – That in many regions of the world Christians are today "the most oppressed and tormented minority" is a matter of fact that has entered forcefully and in new terms into the language of the supreme authority of the Catholic Church.

In the pre-Christmas address to the Roman curia last December 20 – the yearly speech in which the pope frames the main issues facing the Church – Benedict XVI used, for the first time, the word "Christianophobia."

As the theme for the World Day of Peace that was celebrated last New Year's Day, the Pope had earlier chosen "Religious freedom, a path to peace" - a theme seen as necessary after a year that was "marked by persecution, by discrimination, by terrible acts of violence and intolerance."

After the Angelus on Sunday, January 2, the Pope said the "strategy of violence" aimed at Christians "offends God and the whole of mankind".

And he will certainly return to these issues in the traditional New Year speech that he will give next Monday, January 10, to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.

The recent attacks that shocked Church authorities most were those of October 31 against the Syriac Catholic cathedral of Baghdad, and the one on December 31 against the Coptic Saints Church in Alexandria, with dozens killed and injured.

In both cases, the attacks took place when the churches were crowded with faithful attending Mass.

And in both cases, the reasons for the attack had traits in common. Typically religious, for a "pure" Islam against infidels and apostates.

In claiming responsibility for the attack on the church in Baghdad, the authors of the massacre included among their reasons revenge for the presumed captivity, on the part of the Copts, of two female Egyptian converts from Christianity to Islam.

The Coptic Church has always said that these conversions never took place, and that the two women, who are married to priests, are under protection out of fear that they could be abducted.

But this accusation has been harped on constantly for four years, in a campaign similar to the one in the West to save the Iranian Sakineh from the gallows.

Last December 31, immediately after the Friday preaching at the mosque in Alexandria 200 meters from the Coptic church that would be attacked a few hours later, a Muslim procession set out to demand the liberation of the two women.

The Christians and their churches have become the main deliberate targets of the Islamist cells. It is an easy and productive target, which immediately conquers the front pages of the media all over the world, with much greater visibility than the massacre of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, which nonetheless continue, and with much greater effects on populations and states. In Iraq, in Egypt, in the entire Middle East, in Asia, in Africa and even in Europe.

Even in Nigeria, for example, where the bloody aggression between Christians and Muslims was until recently seen by the Church as essentially "political," the judgment has changed.

On Christmas Eve, a series of explosions against churches in Jos, the capital of the Nigerian state of Plateau, killed 86 and injured hundreds. In the following days, various Christian places of worship were attacked by armed men in the area of Maiduguri, in the northeast of Nigeria, claiming more victims.

Responsibility for the attacks was claimed by the Islamist sect Boko Haram. Last January 4, the archbishop of Jos, Ignatius Ayau Kaigama, told the Vatican agency "Fides":

"As I have explained on other occasions, the riots in and around Jos had a religious component that was mixed with other motives, i.e., the frustrations of unemployed youth, the rivalry between pastoralists and farmers, and ethnic tensions between the indigenous and immigrants from other regions of the Country.

"The attacks at Christmas, rather, have a clear religious significance because they wanted to hit these important symbols of Christianity during the most sacred celebrations, along with Easter. Secondly, in past clashes, bladed weapons and some rifles were used. In this case, explosives were used. The bombs were probably made on site, but I wonder who taught the terrorists how to produce them. So I think that recent events go beyond Nigeria."

The latest shocking case, which has convinced Church authorities even more to see a general anti-Christian "strategy of violence" at work in the Islamic world, was the killing in Pakistan on January 4, of Salman Taseer, governor of Pubjab and potential future prime minister.

Taseer was Muslim. But his offense – as stated by his killer, one of his bodyguards – was that he wanted to abolish the law that punishes blasphemy in Pakistan and is exploited to sentence individual Christians to death on trumped-up charges.

What's more, Taseer fought to save from execution, on account of this law, a Pakistani Christian named Asia Bibi.

The campaign in favor of Asia Bibi has been underway for some time, in various countries. In Italy, appeals to spare her life have been issued very vigorously by the two media outlets of the episcopal conference, the newspaper Avvenire and the television channel TV 2000.

On Christmas Eve, Taseer had met with the archbishop of Lahore, the capital of Punjab, Lawrence John Saldanha, who, after the assassination murder, told the correspondent for "Avvenire":

"In Pakistan there is a clash between orthodox Islam and liberal Islam. It is a fight that has been dragging on since the birth of the country, and today it has arrived at a critical threshold. Where violence and attacks have the upper hand. Where the Taliban and terrorist groups connected to al-Qaeda threaten not only the religious minorities, but all citizens. We Christians, in this situation, are a 'soft target'."

Last October, the bishops of the Middle East held a special synod in Rome dedicated to their region, the birthplace of Jesus, where the three monotehistic faiths were born, but from which Christians are in danger of disappearing from some areas, driven into exile by the constant violence.

Each country has its own features. And so does the resistance of the Christians. In Lebanon, during the years of the civil war, the Christians fought with their own armed militias. In Egypt, the Copts protest vigorously in the streets, and clash with the police. In Nigeria, it sometimes happens that they attack mosques.

But almost everywhere the Christian resistance is peaceful. Iraq is today the most glaring example of massacres carried out against innocent and unarmed victims, killed only because they are Christian.

And to think that it was precisely from Iraq that the word "genocide" came. It was coined in 1943 by a Jewish lawyer from Poland, Raphael Lemkin, a great supporter of humanitarian causes, after studying the systematic extermination of Assyrian Christians carried out ten years before by the Muslim governors of the new Iraqi nation that had emerged from the dissolution of the Ottoman empire.

In short, recent events confirm the basic judgments of Pope Benedict XVI on Islam - its failure to reconcile faith with reason, thus leading to indiscriminate violence against non-Muslims, consodered infidels and apostates.

In the same year as the lecture in Regensburg, 2006, Benedict XVI also went to Turkey. And before Christmas, in the speech to the Curia, he made this revolutionary proposal to the Muslim world:

---

In the dialogue with Islam that should be intensified, we must keep in mind the fact that the Muslim world today finds itself facing an extremely urgent task that is very similar to the one that was imposed upon Christians beginning in the age of the Enlightenment, and that Vatican Council II, through long and painstaking effort, resolved concretely for the Catholic Church. [...]

On the one hand, we must oppose a dictatorship of positivist reasoning that excludes God from the life of the community and from the public order, thus depriving man of his specific criteria of judgment.

On the other hand, it is necessary to welcome the real achievements of Enlightenment thinking – human rights, and especially the freedom of faith and its exercise, recognizing these as elements that are also essential for the authenticity of religion.

Just as in the Christian community there has been lengthy inquiry into the right attitude of faith toward these convictions – an inquiry that certainly will never be concluded definitively – so also the Islamic world, with its own tradition, stands before the great task of finding the appropriate solutions in this regard.

The content of the dialogue between Christians and Muslims at the moment is above all that of encountering each other in this effort to find the right solutions.

We Christians feel ourselves to be united with all those who, precisely on the basis of their religious convictions as Muslims, struggle against violence and in favor of synergy between faith and reason, between religion and freedom. In this sense, the two dialogues of which I have spoken intersect with each other.

The current anti-Christian "strategy of violence" is the proof that when it comes to this illuminist revolution called for by Pope Benedict, the Islamic world has a very long way to go.

---

Magister then addresses the statements made by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar :

For Grand Imam Al-Tayyeb,
the blame still lies with the Pope

To the statements of Benedict XVI at the Angelus on January 2 – of condemnation of the "vile act of death" carried out in Alexandria, of prayer for the victims, and of support for the Christian communities hit by the violence – the grand imam of the al-Azhar mosque, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, has reacted by accusing the Pope of "interference," of "an unacceptable intervention in the affairs of Egypt," and later in a January 6 interview with Corriere della Sera, of "creating a negative political reaction in the East in general and in Egypt in particular."

He then challenged Benedict XVI to repair the damage he is believed to have caused:

"I hope that His Holiness Benedict XVI will decide to send a message to the Islamic world. A message that might reestablish the points of trust, and dispel the origins of the misunderstandings."

He adds a comentary by a Catholic journalist that I was planning to translate, but here's the gist:

Corriere dutifully accompanied the interview with this critical observation by Luigi Ippolito:

---

The grand imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb is a man of faith who deserves attention and respect.

But in his words – the ones he spoke the day after the massacre in Alexandria, and the ones now published by 'Corriere' – there is something that jars.

It is his basic intellectual disposition, one might say, that raises perplexity: on the day after the most serious massacre of Christians carried out in Egypt in recent times, he felt the need to respond to the Pope, who was asking for protection for the faithful in the East; and even now he continues to ask the Vatican for a conciliatory gesture toward the Muslims.

[Ippolito fails to point out that the Pope never specifically asked for Christians in Egypt to be protected - it was the Coptic Patriarch who said that, and he had every right to say so to his own government. Especially in view of accounts that Egyptian security guards had deliberately left the area where Saints church is located one hour before the bomb went off.]

As if on the other shore of the Mediterranean, it were the followers of the Qur'an who were in danger. As if the reality were not that of a Christian community that has become the privileged target of the slaughter campaign of Bin Laden's minions, from Iraq to the banks of the Nile.

The grand imam seems to be the prisoner of a mental framework belied by the facts: to him it seems that the Arab-Muslim community is perennially the victim of 'crusades' and of the West, and should somehow be compensated always and in every case.

While instead al-Tayyeb should address his exhortations to those on his side who do not guarantee the security and freedom of Christians in the East, or to those, and there are still many, who see Christians as a foreign body to be expunged violently from those lands, as is happening in Mesopotamia.

---

It must be pointed out that al-Tayyeb is a well-known figure in the Vatican. He is one of the signers of the famous "letter of the 138 Muslim scholars" to Benedict XVI, in response to his lecture in Regensburg. He is one of the most revered guests of the inter-religious meeting for peace organized each year by the Community of Sant'Egidio (where moreover, in 2004, he publicly condoned the terrorist acts against civilians in Iraq and the Holy Land). He is, in short, held to be a champion of so-called "moderate" Islam.

In Egypt, he was first Grand Mufti (supreme legal authority of Egypt), then rector of Al-Azhar University, the most important of the Sunni Muslim world, and finally grand imam of its associated mosque ehich dates to the 10th century - always by government appointment. He is therefore a highly authoritative voice of Islam, not only in Egypt.





For Tibetan prime minister,
Pope shows the path to peace
by Nirmala Carvalho



DHARAMSALA, India, January 7 (AsiaNews) – The people of Tibet and the Tibetan Government-in-exile “entirely agree with His Holiness the Pope that religious freedom is the path of peace,” said Samdhong Rinpoche, the exiled Tibetan prime minister (kalon tripa) as he spoke to AsiaNews about the papal message for World Peace Day, traditionally marked on 1 January.

The Rinpoche is the political head of the Tibetan diaspora, many of them living in this Indian city, where the Dalai Lama fled to when he left Tibet in 1959.

In the message, titled ‘Religious freedom, path to peace,’ the Pontiff said, “Sadly, the year now ending has again been marked by persecution, discrimination, terrible acts of violence and religious intolerance.”

According to Prof Rinpoche, it is particularly appropriate “that His Holiness the Pope has announced the 2nd Congregation of religious heads at Assisi to discuss how they can promote world peace. This positive approach will herald peace among religions, hence among nations.”

The Tibetan people, the prime minister added, is deeply “anguished at the violence and suffering unleashed on Christians in the Middle East during the holy season of Christmas. All violence is bad, but violence on the basis of religious domination is most deplorable.”

The purpose of religion, he concluded, “is to lift up humanity from the evils of greed, anger, deceit, power, [and] violence. [. . .] It is most dehumanising when humanity uses religion for division and violence.”


It is puzzling - and disappointing - that the Dalai Lama has not raised his voice more often against all the violence committed in the name of religion, indeed, everytime some egregious act of violence takes place such as those in recent days in Baghdad, Jolo (Philippines), Jos (Nigeria) and Alexandria (Egypt).

I tried to Google first 'Dalai Lama statements against terrorism', then 'against religious violence'. For the first, I found a brief report on a January 2009 speech on terrorism he made in India,
www.indianexpress.com/news/nonviolence-cannot-tackle-terrorism-dalai-l......
in which, surprisingly, he says that non-violence will not work against terrorists because their minds are closed; and for the second, an Op-Ed piece he wrote for the New York Times in May 2010,
www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/opinion/25gyatso.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Many%20Faiths%20one%20trut...
which, not surprisngly, emphasizes dialog and getting to know other religions, while stressing that compassion, as expressed in 'Love your neighbor as yourself' is a common concept to all the great religions. Both are worth reading. His language is direct and simple.

A caress for Benedetta
by Mario Ponzi
Translated from the 1/7-1/8 issue of



"Tu sarai benedetta per sempre" - You will always be blessed!

Benedict XVI murmured the words as he tenderly caressed the face of baby Benedetta, who has spent the first year of her life entirely in a hospital crib.

The Pope's secretary stroked the little inert hands, murmuring, "Sei bella, Benedetta, sei bella!' (You are beautiful Benedetta, you are beautiful!) and could not bring himself to leave.

Room 22 of the Pediatric Ward at the Gemelli university hospital of Rome - perhaps the most beautiful and touching moments during this Christmas season took place here.

On the eve of the Epiphany, Benedict XVI was visiting the children being treated at the hospital. The occasion was blessing the new center for care and assistance to children born with spina bifida.

He arrived shortly after 5 p.m. and was taken directly to the fifth-floor pediatric wards . He was bringing a gift for each of the patients and would visit each bed to greet the children.

He started with Suami, a Peruvian, to whom he gave a teddy bear which was larger than she.

For Andres, a Filipino, and Paolo, Italian, a train set and a pretend phone that 'speaks'. Edoardo was in the midst of a crying tantrum when the Pope came by. The Pope looked uncertain what to do, then took a stuffed Mickey Mouse decked in many colors and gave it to the boy. He stopped crying, and the Pope kissed him.

In Samuele's room, it was his mother Chiara who welcomed the Pope. The boy is attached to a life support machine and lay immobile on his bed. Chiara said to the Pope, "Grazie infinite, Padre". She may not ve used to dealing with church hierarchy, but she recognized the gesture of affection for her and her child, and received the Pope's caress as that of a father.



Next, Evelina, trying to embrace the enormous plush bunny rabbit the Pope had given her. telling her mother: "Mamma, I can tell my friends in school that I kissed the Pope!"

Then the Pope came to Room 22. Benedetta was born a year ago with a severe brain malformation. Her parents, seeing her so congenitally malformed, decided to abandon her. The nurses in the ward took over, named her Benedetta, and have cared for her like she was their own daughter.

"It is a miracle that she is still alive," said Claudia - or it could have been Santina, or Maria, or any of the other nurses who are Benedetta's 'mothers'.

The Pope was obviously moved as she listened to the baby's story, caressing her all the while. Before leaving her, he traced the sign of the cross on her forehead, and murmured, 'Tu sarai sempre benedetta!"

Then he had to visit the other rooms. His eyes were veiled with sadness. He lit up again when he descended to the social hall where children who were not bed-ridden were waiting with their parents to welcome him.

He had sweets and toys and books for all of them. In turn, they gave him three figurines representing the Three Kings, as well as drawings by the children, which the Pope particularly enjoyed looking at.

Then Francesca, a 19-year-old with spina bifida, greeted him in behalf of all the rest. They had just learned, she said, that myrrh represented suffering.

[In another story, Francesca's parents recount that she has had 25 surgeries since she was born, but even wheelchair-bound, she now attends university.]

"Here is our myrrh," she said. "We place them into your hands, Holy Father, so you may bring them to Jesus. We pray for you. For your health, and so that our prayers may help you to bear the weight of the problems that you must face every day".

The Pope addressed them then. And then he took his leave.



Massimo Introvigne in La Bussola Quotidiana has a very helpful commentary on the Pope's visit to the spina bifida center at Gemelli.

Just a brief note about spina bifida. It is one of the more common birth defects (1 in 1000 births) caused by a developmental failure of the embryonic neural tube in the 4th week of pregnancy. This results in a spinal column that is not properly 'closed'. In its most common form, the spinal cord is exposed (not covered by bone) at the point of failure, usually in the lower back, resulting in paralysis or motor impairment below the defect, neurological handicaps and extreme susceptibility to infections. Even if the defect is closed, the patient's functions remain impaired. Advances in management of the disease, including surgery performed on the fetus while it is still in the mother's womb, have improved life expectancy dramatically for these patients. Many have gone on to become successful paralympics athletes, and one of the most famous British conductors today, Jeffrey Tate, is a patient.


The Pope visits children
with spina bifida: A reminder that
no child should be unwanted
by Massimo Introvigne
Translated from

January 6, 2011



On the afternoon of January 5, the Pope visited the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, well known because this was the hospital to which John Paul II was admitted several times (from the May 1981 assassination attempt to his last hospitalization in March 2005).

The Pope, who visited the children in the pediatric wards and gave them gifts, also visited two of the hospital's centers: the Paul VI International Scientific Institute for research, diagnosis and treatment of infertility, and the center for children afflicted with spina bifida.

The choice indicates what the Pope called 'the commitment to serving life' by Catholic hospitals and the Church itself that the Pope has been encouraging.


Left, the Pope was presented with a T-shirt that says 'BORN TO LIVE' in five languages including German; right, with a spina bifida child.

The visit to the center for spina bifida children was particularly significant. Along with Downs children, these are generally the first victims of abortion after pre-natal diagnosis of the condition.

According to the International Federation for Spina Bifida, 80% of fetuses diagnosed with the defect in Europe are immediately aborted. Pierre Martens, president of the federation and father of an afflicted daughter who died at age 11 after surgery, said in an interview that the underlying cultural problem to these abortions is a false idea of 'quality of life'. And that usually after diagnosis, doctors tell the parents, "There's a problem with the fetus - you can decide to terminate the pregnancy".

But the medical data provided to parents about the handicap are all negative and often false. For instance, that a conceptus with spina bifida is not a viable pregnancy, or that if the baby is born, it is destined to suffer all the time and may not even recognize its parents.

I know of octogenarians who went to university and had successful careers, and many university professors. An Italian government minister has it. English conductor Jeffrey Tate lives with it and it did not stop him from reaching the peak of his profession.
The problem is with the wrong idea about 'quality of life'.

In fact, the usual 'answer' to spina bifida is not limited to early abortion. The Netherlands' infamous Groeningen Protocol on euthanasia allows terminating the life of children with spina bifida whose 'quality of life' is judged to be 'extremely poor' because of various health disabilities.

But who decides about 'quality of life'? Parents are often simply terrorized by all the inaccurate information about spina bifida.

Martens says that in countries where correct information is provided, the number of aborted spina bifida fetuses is much lower. "We have a project with doctors in Australia, where after prenatal diagnosis shows the fetus is afflicted, doctors counsel the parents to understand the disease and what they can do about it. There are local associations who will be with them for support. Since the program began, most parents have welcomed the handicapped babies instead of aborting them".

Correct medical information is very important. The Pope, by visiting the afflicted children at Gemelli hospital has once again recalled everyone to the essential: Every human creature is willed and loved by God, and no one can claim to decide that a life would be 'second class' and therefore can be suppressed.

"God became a baby", Benedict XVI told the children at Gemelli, "a child like you to tell you that he is always with you and to tell each of us that every child has the face of God".

Of the many interviews that Mons. Marini has given on the liturgy, I think this one with a Madrid-based Spanish Catholic magazine, is the best so far, comprehesive as well as systematic. He expresses the abstract principles of liturgy very well and simply, and concretizes them in examples from the papal liturgies.

The Pope's master of liturgical ceremonies:
'Liturgy is a glimpse of heaven on earth'
by Giovanni Tridente
Translated from the January 2011 issue of


Mons. Guido Marini, whom Benedict XVI named Master of Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies in October 2007, explains in this interview the importance of liturgy, the need for adequate liturgical formation, and the meaning of some changes introduced in the Pope's liturgical celebrations.



Why is the liturgy important?
Liturgy makes sacramentally present the mystery of salvation. He who resurrected from the dead, the Living Christ, renews the redemptive sacrifice through the Holy Spirit. In this way, through the liturgy, the here and now of our life and our history begin to be inhabited by the eternity of God and his saving love.

Liturgy is like a glimpse of heaven on earth - in that earth, the world of men, is touched somehow by heaven, the world of God, who is Truth and Love.

What needs to be done, in your opinion, to stimulate participation at Mass?
We must help the faithful to understand that participation in liturgy is, above all, the entrance into our life of divine life. We celebrate an action that precedes us and which is given to us so that it becomes our action.

The action is that of Jesus Christ who offered his life to the Father to save the world. One participates actively in the Mass if one gets involved in this sacred action, by opening up to the gift of new Life, which is Love, and which makes us more Christian, that is, children of God in his Son, conforming to the will of God.

In this sense, participation means progressive conformation to the Lord, an assimilation that is increasingly more faithful to what St. Paul calls 'the thinking of Christ'.

This participation also requires activity within the liturgical rite, following the precise instructions of the Church in this respect. This participation is also important as an expression of the diversity and complementarity of the the members of the Body of Christ.

But all this mean nothing if it does not lead to that level of participation which transforms our life into an imitation of Christ, as a result of the encounter with the mystery that we celebrate.

Since you became master of papal liturgies, some changes have been obvious in the liturgies celebrated by the Pope...
As soon as I learned I was named to this position, I vowed to be a faithful servant of the Holy Father and his liturgical mission, and that I would try to collaborate so that the papal liturgies would be as much as possible an expression of his orientations and instructions.

The papal liturgy is an example for the liturgy of the entire Church - a true liturgical Magisterium that is offered to everyone. And so, it must always be a faithful expression of the Pope's liturgical thinking.

Benedict XVI has been using ritual vestments of great variety and, in a way, eye-catching, especially those that were used by his predecessors. Why is this?
I would not call them 'eye-catching'. The Holy Father does use liturgical vestments that vary in style, depending on the liturgical season and the specific celebration. Sometimes, he wears contemporary vestments, other times, traditional ones.

The criterion is beauty, because liturgy is supposed to express - even through the human language of external signs - the beauty of the mystery of God. Minimalism is not appropriate for the liturgy. As the saints have taught us, the worship of God deserves only the best that we can offer. Which is also the same principle of true charity and brotherly love.

As for the fact that occasionally, he wears vestments or accessories that belonged to his predecessors, it is simply and eloquently a sign of continuity with what went before, a sort of appreciation for 'family heirlooms' which are the liturgical patrimony of the Church.

He has also replaced the silver pastoral cross of Paul VL with a golden staff...
In his liturgical celebrations, the Pope does not use a bishop's staff, in the sense of what bishops carry. In the past, Popes carried the ferula, which is a staff in the form of a cross. Paul VI introduced the use of a papal staff that had a crucifix instead of a cross, and this continued with John Paul II. Benedict XVI decided to revert to the ferula as more appropriate for papal liturgies.

How can we think of beauty in the liturgy without falling into mere aestheticism?
By keeping in mind that if it is authentic, beauty cannot be separated from the true and the good. Beauty in liturgy points to the Divine Beauty in which God's Truth and Love shine forth. To allow ourselves to aspire to that Beauty means our radical readiness to submit our own lives to Truth and Love, the willingness to cast off worldly mentality, in the sense that it is inhabited by sin and rebellion against God, in order to embrace God's call to holiness.

Do you think that a more adequate liturgical formation is needed at this time?
Without a doubt! What was already felt as an urgent need at the time of the Second Vatican Council continues to be urgent today, perhaps even more urgent.

It is only through an authentic liturgical formation that the rites and prayers of the liturgy can become a beautiful and extraordinarily rich vehicle to enter into the mystery that is being celebrated. Otherwise, we risk remaining in the shadows separated from an inaccessible reality.

And new evangelization also requires a particular effort for the proper liturgical formation of priests.

Let us talk about the significance of silences in the Mass...
Church documents through the centuries speak of a 'sacred silence'. They make it clear that silences observed during the Eucharistic celebration are an integral part of the mystery that is being celebrated.

Prayer in the Church has different aspects which correspond to the entire complex of the human condition and to all the kinds of languages that man is capable of. And so we pray with words, with song, with our body positions. We also pray in silence which is sacred because it lets us allow the extraordinary experience of the sacramental encounter with the Eucharist, the love of the Word made flesh, who was crucified and resurrected for our salvation - to resonate in the depths of the heart.

And what is the proper liturgical orientation?
The only authentic orientation in liturgy is towards God. The practical question is how this orientation is concretely realized in the physical layout of the church, of the altar, of the Crucifix.

I think one fact is essential, which must be made clear: Everything in the liturgy should serve to help so that the orientation towards God is never lost, that it helps us to experience the exhortation at the beginning of the Preface, "Lift up your hearts! - We have lifted them to the Lord".

In the Pope's liturgies, the Crucifix has been returned to the altar...
Regarding this, the best way to explain it is to refer to what Benedict XVI wrote in the Preface to the volume on liturgy in the Complete Works of Joseph Ratzinger, which recently came out in Italian: "The idea that the priest and the faithful should face each other in prayer was born only with modern Christianity and is completely alien to Christian tradition. Because certainly, the priest and the faithful do not pray to each other but to the Lord. Therefore, in prayer, they should look in the same direction; towards the East as the cosmic symbol for the Lord who comes, or where this is not (physically) possible, towards an image of Christ in the apse, or a Crucifix, or towards heaven, as the Lord did in his priestly prayer on the eve of his Passion (Jn 16,1). Meanwhile, however, luckily, there is increasingly an opening to the proposal I made in the chapter on this issue in my book Introduction to the spirit of Liturgy (pp. 70-80): Do not proceed to more church renovations, but simply place the Crucifix in the center of the altar, so that both the priest and the faithful face it, thus being both oriented towards the Lord to whom together they all pray".

The fact that the Holy Father gives communion on the tongue to kneeling persons - is this an example for the whole Church? is it the preferred way?
In this case, I would cite what the Holy Father said in his interview book, Light of the World: "The idea behind my current practice of having people kneel to receive communion on the tongue was to send a signal and to underscore the Real Presence with an exclamation point. One very important reason is that there is a great danger of superficiality precisely in the kind of mass events we hold at St. Peter's, both in the Basilica and in the Square... I wanted to send a clear signal. I wanted it to be clear: Something special is going on here! He is here, the One before whom we fall on our knees! Pay attention1 This is not just some social ritual in which we can take part if we want to!"

What place do sacred song and music have in liturgy? And what type of music should it be?
Song and music are an integral part of liturgical celebration, not just mere decoration. That is why song and music in liturgy, when they are authentically part of it, come from the heart that seeks the mystery of God, and serve as an exegesis for that mystery.

And that is why there is an intrinsic link between word, music and song in liturgy. Music and song cannot be detached from the word, in this case, the Word of God, of which they must be both a faithful interpretation and an 'unveiling'. That is also why music and song in liturgy should never be the object of superficial extemporaneousness expressing fleeting sentiments and emotions that do not correspond to the grandeur of the mystery being celebrated.

The history of the Church has handed down to us, as the documents of teh Magisterium repeatedly remind us, two musical forms that are exemplary in this respect: I refer to Gregorian chant and classic Roman polyphony. They are musical forms at the service of liturgy without making the liturgy serve them, and therefore, they should be conserved. They continue to be good starting points to animate and enrich the patrimony of liturgical music in our time.

What about Latin?
First, let me point out that Latin is intrinsically linked to Gregorian chant and classical Roman polyphony, and if only for that, it has to be conserved in the liturgical patrimony.

Then I must add that there are other aspects to Latin which cannot be renounced - it is an expression of the Church's universality and true catholicity.

For instance, how can one not feel the extraordinary experience of catholicity during a liturgy in St. Peter's, when men and women from all parts of the world, from different cultures and with different languages, pray and sing together in the same language?

And who has not experienced the warm welcome to a 'common home' when one enters a church in a foreign land in which one can join with brothers in the faith praying together in a language one can share?

In order that this can continue to be concretely possible, it is necessary that our churches and parishes conserve the use of Latin in the liturgy and employed with the necessary pastoral wisdom.

You mentioned that the volume dedicated to liturgy in Joseph Ratzinger's Complete Works was recently published in Italian. Can we say that this is one of the fundamental themes of this Pontificate?
I think there can be no doubt about that. Just think of the many interventions he has made on the liturgy since he became Pope, and the importance and extreme care he gives to all the liturgies he celebrates - in Rome, in other parts of Italy, wherever he goes.

Moreover, the dominant motif in the thinking of the theologian Joseph Ratzinger and in the Magisterium of Benedict XVI is the primacy of God - the absolutely priority of God in the world and in Christian life, and therefore, of liturgy, so that this orientation towards God is not lost from sight in the life of the faithful and in the life of the Church.