BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Sunday, January 13
SOLEMNITY OF THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD

Illustrations, from left: Medieval Russian icon; Bellini, 1426; Fra Angelico, 1441; Verrochio/Da Vinci, 1472; El Greco, 1608; Murillo, 1655.
The observance of this feast is of recent date in the Roman Catholic Church. Originally, it had been one of the three events commemorated in the Epiphany (as it still is in the Orthodox Churches, where the feast is known by the more specific term Theophany, 'manifestation of God'). Hence, there was no Feast of the Lord's Baptism in the Tridentine calendar. Only in 1955 did Pius XII establish a separate feast for the Baptism, celebrated one week after the Epiphany, as the Adoration of the Magi had come to be the dominant aspect of the Feast of the Epiphany. Fifteen years later, in 1969, Paul VI designated its observance on the first Sunday after the Epiphany, and in countries which celebrate the Epiphany on the first Sunday after the first day of the year, on the Monday after that Sunday. Pope John Paul II initiated a custom whereby on this feast the Pope baptizes babies in the Sistine Chapel. The feast marks the, end of the liturgical season of Christmastide. On the following day the season of ordinary time begins.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011313.cfm

January 13 is also the feast day of one of the early Doctors of the Church.

ST. HILAIRE (HILARY) OF POITIERS (France, 315-368), Bishop, Writer, Doctor of the Church
Benedict XVI, in October 2007, synthesized the saint's life this way: "Born around the year 310, baptized when he was about thirty-five,
he became Bishop of Poitiers some eight years later. In opposition to the Arians, who believed Jesus was a created being, Hilary dedicated
his life to defending our faith in the divinity of Christ. While exiled to Frigia, because of the stance he took against the Arians at the Synod
of Béziers, he began his most important work, De Trinitate. In this text he demonstrates how both the old and new testaments clearly
attest to the divinity of the Son and his equality ith the Father with whom he shares one nature. In his De Synodis Hilary maintained
a conciliatory spirit with those who used deficient theological formulations, while leading them to accept fully the Nicean creed. In 360.
he returned home, took up his pastoral duties, and continued to write. The influence of his teaching spread and many were strengthened
in their resistance to Arian thought, realising that Christ is our Saviour precisely because he is true God and true man. Fundamental to
Hilary’s insight was the importance of our Trinitarian baptismal faith. Let us join him in praying to the Lord that we remain faithful to this
confession, and always bear joyful witness to our baptismal call!" St. Hilary has been called 'Hammer of the Arians' and the 'Athanasius of the West'.


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

The Holy Father celebrated the Eucharist in the Sistine Chapel, during which he baptized twenty infant children
of Vatican City employees. Afterwards, he led the Angelus for the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.


@Pontifex 1/13/13

MASS AND BAPTISM RITE
Feast of the Baptism of our Lord


Libretto cover: Baptism of Jesus, Raphael, ca. 1520, 13th vault, Loggia di Raffaele, Vatican Apostolic Palace.




At 9:45 on Sunday morning, the Holy Father presided at Holy Mass in the Sistine Chape, during which he administered Baptism to 20 babies born recently to the families of Vatican employees.

In his homily, Benedict XVI said that “The joy arising from the celebration of Christmas finds its completion today in the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord” which marks the end of the liturgical season of Christmas.

“To this joy is added another reason for those of us who are gathered here: in the Sacrament of Baptism, which will soon be administered to these infants, the living and active presence of the Holy Spirit is manifested, enriching the Church with new children, enlivening and making them grow, and we cannot help but rejoice.”

The ceremony, which took place in the Sistine Chapel, follows a tradition begun by Blessed John Paul II to mark the Feast of the Lord's Baptism.

Here is a translation of the Pope's homily:

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Dear brothers and sisters:

The joy deriving from the celebration of the Holy Nativity finds its completion today in the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. To this joy is added the other reason for us to be gathered here today: in the Sacrament of Baptism which I will administer shortly to these newborn babies, the living and working presence of the Holy Spirit is manifested. who. by enriching the Church with new children, enlivens her and makes her grow, for which we can only rejoice.

I wish to extend a special greeting to you, dear parents and godparents, who will testify to your faith today by asking Baptism for these babies, so that they may be generated into a new life in Christ and become part of the community of believers.

The Gospel account of the baptism of Jesus. that we heard today in the version of St. Luke, shows the life of abasement and humility that the Son of God freely chose in order to keep to the plan of the Father, obedient in everything to his will of love towards man, up to his sacrifice on the Cross.

Now an adult, Jesus began his public ministry by going to the river Jordan to receive from John a baptism of penitence and conversion. And what happens can seem paradoxical to our eyes. Does Jesus need penitence and conversion? Of course not.

But he who is without sin showed up among sinners to be baptized, to fulfill that gesture of penitence. God's Son joined those who knew that they needed forgiveness and asked God for the gift of conversion - namely, the grace to return to him with all their heart, in order to be totally his.

Jesus wanted to be among sinners, to be one with them, to express the nearness of God. Jesus showed his solidarity with us, with our efforts to be converted, to leave behind our selfishness, to detach ourselves from our sins, in order to tell us that if we accept him in our lives, he can lift us up and lead us to the height of God the Father.

And this gesture of solidarity by Jesus was not, so to say, a mere exercise of mind and will. Jesus truly immersed himself in our human condition - except in sin, he lived it in full to the very end, except in sin, and was able to understand its weakness and fragility.

That is why he was moved to compassion, he chose to 'suffer with' men, to be a penitent among us. This was the work of God that Jesus would fulfill: the divine mission to heal those who are wounded and to cure those who are sick, by taking upon himself the sins of the world.

What happened when Jesus asked to be baptized by John? In the face of this act of love by the Son of God, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit manifested visibly in the form of a dove, while a voice from on high expressed the pleasure of the Father who acknowledged his only begotten Son, the beloved one.

It was a true manifestation of the Holy Trinity which testified to the divinity of Jesus, that he was the promised Messiah, he whom God had sent to liberate his people so that they may be saved (cfr Is 40,2).

Thus was realized the prophecy of Isaiah that we heard in the First Reading: the Lord God comes with the power to destroy the works of sin, and his arm would exercise dominion to disarm Evil. But let us keep in mind that his arms were also extended on the Cross and that Jesus's power is the power of he who suffered for us. This is the power of God, different from worldly power. This is how God came to destroy sin.

Indeed, Jesus acts as the Good Shepherd who pastures his flock and gathers them together so they may not be dispersed (cfr Is 40,10-11), and offers his own life so that they may have life.

It is through his redemptive death that man is liberated from the dominion of sin and is reconciled with the Father, It is through his Resurrection that man is saved from eternal death and triumphs over evil.

Dear brothers and sisters, what will happen at the Baptism that I will shortly administer to your children? They will become united profoundly and for always to Jesus, immersed in the mystery of his strength and of his power, the mystery of his death which is the source of life, in order to take part in his resurrection, to be reborn to a new life.

This is the miracle that repeats itself today. This is the miracle that repeats itself for your babies: Receiving Baptism, they are reborn as children of God, participants in the filial relationship that Jesus has with the Father, able to address God and call him with full confidence and trust 'Abba, Father'. To your babies, the heavens open, and God says: These are my children, children in whom I am well pleased.

Placed into this relationship and freed from original sin, they become living members of the one body that is the Church, to be able to live fully their calling to holiness, and thus be able to inherit eternal life which is obtained for us by the resurrection of Jesus.

Dear parents, in asking Baptism for your children, you are manifesting and bearing witness to your faith, to the joy of being Christians and of belonging to the Church. It is the joy that comes from the consciousness of having received a great gift from God - the faith - a gift that none of us could earn but which is given to us freely and to which we have responded with a Yes.

It is the joy of knowing we are children of God, of finding ourselves in his hands, of feeling ourselves welcomed in an embrace of love, the same way a mother supports and embraces her baby.

This joy, that orients the journey of every Christian, is based on a personal relationship with Jesus, a relationship that orients the entire human existence. He is, in fact, the sense of our life, he on whom it is worthwhile keeping our gaze to be illuminated by his Truth and be able to live fully.

The journey of faith that begins today for these children is therefore founded on a certainty, on the experience that there is nothing greater than to know Christ and to communicate to others this friendship with him.

It is in only this friendship that the great potentialities of the human condition are disclosed and we can experience all that is beautiful and free (cfr Homily at the Holy Mass for the beginning of the Pontificate, April 24, 2005). Whoever has experienced this will not renounce his faith for anything in this world.

You, dear godmothers and godfathers, have the important task of supporting and helping the educational work of the parents, alongside them in the transmission of the truths of the faith and in bearing witness to the values of the Gospel, so that these children can grow up having an ever more profound friendship with the Lord.

You must offer them your good example through the exercise of the Christian virtues. It is not easy to manifest openly and without compromises that in which we believe, especially in the context in which we live today, in a society that often considers those who live in the faith of Jesus as being outmoded and anachronistic.

Caught up in the wave of this mentality, there is even the risk that Christians themselves will think a relationship with Jesus is limiting, as something that can frustrate our self-fulfillment: "God is seen as a limit to our freedom, a limit to be eliminated so that man can be totally himself" (L’infanzia di Gesù, 101). But it is not so!

Such a view shows that nothing has been understood about the relationship with God, because one can proceed along the journey of faith only hand in hand, understanding how Jesus exercises over us the liberating action of God's love that makes us emerge from our selfishness, from being closed in on ourselves, in order to lead us to a full life, in communion with God and open to others.

“'God is love, and he 'ho abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him' (1 Jn 4:16). These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the resulting image of mankind and its destiny." (Deus caritas est, 1).

The water with which these babies will be blessed, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, will immerse them in that fountain of life that is God himself and which will make them truly his children.

And the seeds of the theological virtues infused by God - faith, love and charity - seeds that are now placed into their hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, must always be nourished by the Word of God and the Sacraments, so that these Christian virtues may grow and reach full maturation to make each of them a true witness to the Lord.

As we invoke upon these little ones an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we entrust them to the protection of the Blessed Virgin - may she always guard them with her maternal presence and accompany them in every moment of their life. Amen.

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NB: As Mons. Marini did not post a photo for this Mass libretto but identifies the cover, I had to go online to find a photo of Raphael's 'Baptism of Jesus'. This is the only color photo I could find - the two B&W photos available have the faces of Jesus and John the Baptist too dark. The color photo itself shows a near-monochrome palette in red-browns that is unlike the more familiar Raphaels..

SUNDAY ANGELUS
'In Baptism, Christians
are reborn in God'




In his reflection before the Angelus prayers today, Pope Benedict XVI noted that the end of the Christmas season is also the occasion for the Church to recall the opening act of the public life of Jesus - his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist.

He said being Christian means to be reborn in God, which is symbolized by baptism. In English, he said:

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Today, in the Baptism of the Lord, we contemplate our share in the divine life through the gift of the Holy Spirit in the waters of Baptism. May we be renewed in our own Baptism and strengthened in witness to the Gospel and its promises! Upon you and your families I invoke the Lord’s blessings of joy and peace.

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After the prayers, he recalled that the Church today observes the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. In his message for this day, the Pope had characterized migrations as 'a pilgtrimage of faith and hope', because 'those who leave their homeland do so in the hope of a better future and because they trust in God who guides men's steps'.



Here is a translation of the Holy Father's remarks:

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Dear brothers and sisters:

The liturgical season of Christmas ends with this Sunday after the Epiphany - a season of light, the light of Christ who, like a new sun on the horizon of man, disperses the shadows of evil and ignorance.

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus: that Baby, Son of the Virgin, whom we have contemplated in the mystery of his birth we see today as an adult immersing himself in the waters of the river Jordan, thus sanctifying all water and the entire cosmos - as Oriental tradition says.

But why did Jesus, who did not have the slightest shadow of sin, come to be baptized by John? Why did he want to carry out that gesture of penitence and conversion along with so many persons who wished to prepare themselves for the coming of the Messiah?

That gesture, which marked the start of Christ's public life, is along the same line as the Incarnation" the descent of God from the highest heavens to the abyss of hell. The sense of this divine abasement can be summed up in one word: love, which is the name of God himself.

The apostle John wrote: "In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins" (1Jn 4,9-10).

That is why the first public act of Jesus was to receive baptism from John, who, seeing him arrive, said: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1,29).

The evangelist Luke recounts that while Jesus, after having received Baptism, "was praying, heaven was opened and the holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased' (3,21-22).

This Jesus is the Son of God who is totally immersed in the Father's will of love. This Jesus is he who will die on the cross and will resurrect through the power of the same Spirit that is now hovering over him and consecrates him.

This Jesus is the new man who wishes to live as a son of God, namely, in love, the man who, in the face of the evil of the world, chooses the way of humility and responsibility, who chooses not to save himself but to offer his own life for truth and justice.

To be Christian means to live in that way, but this requires a rebirth: to be reborn from on high, from God, from grace. This rebirth is Baptism, that Christ gave to the Church so it may regenerate men to a new life.

An ancient text attributed to St. Hippolyte says: "Whoever comes in faith to this 'wash' of regeneration, renounces the devil and joins ranks with Christ, rejects the enemy and recognizes that Christ is God, rids himself of slavery and clothes himself anew in filial adoption" (Discourse on the Epiphany, 10: PG 10,862).

Following tradition, this morning, I had the joy of baptizing a group of babies born in the past 3-4 months. At this time, I wish to extend my prayers and my blessings to all newborn babies, but above all, I call on everyone to remember their own Baptism, that spiritual rebirth which opens for us the way to eternal life.

May every Christian, in this Year of Faith, rediscover the beauty of being reborn from on high, from the love of God, and to live as a child of God.

After the prayers, he said:
Today we also mark the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. In the Message for this year's observance, I compared migrations to a 'pilgrimage of faith and hope'. Whoever lives his own homeland does so because he hopes for a better future, but he also does so because he trusts in God who guides man's steps, as Abraham did.

Thus migrants are bearers of faith and hope in the world. To each of them I extend a greeting with a special prayer and blessing.

I particularly greet the Catholic communities of migrants in Rome, and entrust them to the protection of St. (Frances) Cabrini* and Blessed (Giovanni Battista) Scalabrini*.

*Both are patron saints of immigrants. St Frances Cabrini (1853-1917) went to the United States from her native Italy, established the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart dedicated to helping Italian immigrants adopt to their new life in the United States. Blessed Scalabrini (1839-1905) became Bishop of Piacenza and established the Missionary Order of St Charles (and sister orders for women)dedicated to helping migrants, seafarers, refugees and displaced persons.

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Thanks to Gloria for the Angelus photos from Profimedia. Only the last photo comes from Yahoo's newsphoto roundup.

Not a nice sideshow

Rome, Jan 14 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Four activists of Ukrainian feminist group Femen were held for staging a topless protest for gay rights at the Vatican Sunday. They protested when Pope Benedict XVI was reciting his prayer.

The activists with slogans "In Gay We Trust" painted on their backs, staged the protest by the Christmas tree in the centre of St. Peter's Square, media reports said. The women were briefly detained by Vatican police.

Ukraine's radical feminist movement Femen was established in 2008. It is devoted mainly to protests on women's issues. The group has earlier made headlines for pro-democracy and anti-corruption protests in Russia, Ukraine and London.


These may be crazies, but there is method in their madness. On Sunday, they hung out their topless presence not just at the Vatican, but in Paris, Kiev, Moscow, and Prague - in which even if there are only four of them in each location (more in Paris) for various causes, they were sure they would attract attention by simply hanging their boobs out. Also, whoever coined the group's name FEMEN (as in female men, but it also rhymes with 'semen' as well as with 'women', and evokes 'feminine') was cunning... And sure, they will get headlines and newsphotos galore (the newsphoto agencies took more pictures of them at the Vatican than they did of the Pope leading the Angelus (I've seen exactly one online - with a couple showing him in the remote background, a pinpoint in his window, with the FEMEN crazies in the foreground) - but after the headlines and the photos, will people necessarily flock to whatever cause they happen to be advocating, or even remember their cause(s)? There's surely a tasteless mix here of narcissism and, giving them the benefit of the doubt, a sincere belief in the 'causes' they demonstrate for.

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Dear Brothers and Sisters!

The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, recalled that “the Church goes forward together with humanity” (No. 40); therefore “the joys and the hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well.

Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts” (ibid., 1). The Servant of God Paul VI echoed these words when he called the Church an “expert in humanity” (Populorum Progressio, 13), as did Blessed John Paul II when he stated that the human person is “the primary route that the Church must travel in fulfilling her mission... the way traced out by Christ himself” (Centesimus Annus, 53).

In the footsteps of my predecessors, I sought to emphasize in my Encyclical Caritas in Veritate that “the whole Church, in all her being and acting – when she proclaims, when she celebrates, when she performs works of charity – is engaged in promoting integral human development” (No. 11).

I was thinking also of the millions of men and women who, for various reasons, have known the experience of migration. Migration is in fact “a striking phenomenon because of the sheer numbers of people involved, the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems it raises, and the dramatic challenges it poses to nations and the international community” (ibid., 62), for “every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance” (ibid.).

For this reason, I have chosen to dedicate the 2013 World Day of Migrants and Refugees to the theme “Migrations: pilgrimage of faith and hope”, in conjunction with the celebrations marking the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and the sixtieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution Exsul Familia, and at a time when the whole Church is celebrating the Year of Faith, taking up with enthusiasm the challenge of the new evangelization.

Faith and hope are inseparable in the hearts of many migrants, who deeply desire a better life and not infrequently try to leave behind the “hopelessness” of an unpromising future. During their journey many of them are sustained by the deep trust that God never abandons his children; this certainty makes the pain of their uprooting and separation more tolerable and even gives them the hope of eventually returning to their country of origin.

Faith and hope are often among the possessions which emigrants carry with them, knowing that with them, “we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey” (Spe Salvi, 1).

In the vast sector of migration, the Church shows her maternal concern in a variety of ways. On the one hand, she witnesses the immense poverty and suffering entailed in migration, leading often to painful and tragic situations. This inspires the creation of programmes aimed at meeting emergencies through the generous help of individuals and groups, volunteer associations and movements, parochial and diocesan organizations in cooperation with all people of good will.

The Church also works to highlight the positive aspects, the potential and the resources which migrations offer. Along these lines, programmes and centres of welcome have been established to help and sustain the full integration of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees into a new social and cultural context, without neglecting the religious dimension, fundamental for every person’s life.

Indeed, it is to this dimension that the Church, by virtue of the mission entrusted to her by Christ, must devote special attention and care: this is her most important and specific task. For Christians coming from various parts of the world, attention to the religious dimension also entails ecumenical dialogue and the care of new communities, while for the Catholic faithful it involves, among other things, establishing new pastoral structures and showing esteem for the various rites, so as to foster full participation in the life of the local ecclesial community. Human promotion goes side by side with spiritual communion, which opens the way “to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the only Saviour of the world” (Porta Fidei, 6).

The Church always offers a precious gift when she guides people to an encounter with Christ, which opens the way to a stable and trustworthy hope.

Where migrants and refugees are concerned, the Church and her various agencies ought to avoid offering charitable services alone; they are also called to promote real integration in a society where all are active members and responsible for one another’s welfare, generously offering a creative contribution and rightfully sharing in the same rights and duties.

Emigrants bring with them a sense of trust and hope which has inspired and sustained their search for better opportunities in life. Yet they do not seek simply to improve their financial, social and political condition.

It is true that the experience of migration often begins in fear, especially when persecutions and violence are its cause, and in the trauma of having to leave behind family and possessions which had in some way ensured survival.

But suffering, great losses and at times a sense of disorientation before an uncertain future do not destroy the dream of being able to build, with hope and courage, a new life in a new country.

Indeed, migrants trust that they will encounter acceptance, solidarity and help, that they will meet people who sympathize with the distress and tragedy experienced by others, recognize the values and resources the latter have to offer, and are open to sharing humanly and materially with the needy and disadvantaged.

It is important to realize that “the reality of human solidarity, which is a benefit for us, also imposes a duty” (Caritas in Veritate, 43). Migrants and refugees can experience, along with difficulties, new, welcoming relationships which enable them to enrich their new countries with their professional skills, their social and cultural heritage and, not infrequently, their witness of faith, which can bring new energy and life to communities of ancient Christian tradition, and invite others to encounter Christ and to come to know the Church.

Certainly every state has the right to regulate migration and to enact policies dictated by the general requirements of the common good, albeit always in safeguarding respect for the dignity of each human person.

The right of persons to migrate – as the Council’s Constitution Gaudium et Spes, No. 65, recalled – is numbered among the fundamental human rights, allowing persons to settle wherever they consider best for the realization of their abilities, aspirations and plans.

In the current social and political context, however, even before the right to migrate, there is need to reaffirm the right not to emigrate, that is, to remain in one’s homeland; as Blessed John Paul II stated: “It is a basic human right to live in one’s own country. However this rights become effective only if the factors that urge people to emigrate are constantly kept under control” (Address to the Fourth World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees, 9 October 1998).

Today in fact we can see that many migrations are the result of economic instability, the lack of essential goods, natural disasters, wars and social unrest. Instead of a pilgrimage filled with trust, faith and hope, migration then becomes an ordeal undertaken for the sake of survival, where men and women appear more as victims than as agents responsible for the decision to migrate.

As a result, while some migrants attain a satisfactory social status and a dignified level of life through proper integration into their new social setting, many others are living at the margins, frequently exploited and deprived of their fundamental rights, or engaged in forms of behaviour harmful to their host society.

The process of integration entails rights and duties, attention and concern for the dignified existence of migrants; it also calls for attention on the part of migrants to the values offered by the society to which they now belong.

In this regard, we must not overlook the question of irregular migration, an issue all the more pressing when it takes the form of human trafficking and exploitation, particularly of women and children.

These crimes must be clearly condemned and prosecuted, while an orderly migration policy which does not end up in a hermetic sealing of borders, more severe sanctions against irregular migrants and the adoption of measures meant to discourage new entries, could at least limit for many migrants the danger of falling prey to such forms of human trafficking.

There is an urgent need for structured multilateral interventions for the development of the countries of departure, effective countermeasures aimed at eliminating human trafficking, comprehensive programmes regulating legal entry, and a greater openness to considering individual cases calling for humanitarian protection more than political asylum.

In addition to suitable legislation, there is a need for a patient and persevering effort to form minds and consciences. In all this, it is important to strengthen and develop understanding and cooperation between ecclesial and other institutions devoted to promoting the integral development of the human person. In the Christian vision, social and humanitarian commitment draws its strength from fidelity to the Gospel, in the knowledge that “to follow Christ, the perfect man, is to become more human oneself” (Gaudium et Spes, 41).

Dear brothers and sisters who yourselves are migrants, may this World Day help you renew your trust and hope in the Lord who is always at our side! Take every opportunity to encounter him and to see his face in the acts of kindness you receive during your pilgrimage of migration.

Rejoice, for the Lord is near, and with him you will be able to overcome obstacles and difficulties, treasuring the experiences of openness and acceptance that many people offer you.

For “life is like a voyage on the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are lights of hope.

Certainly, Jesus Christ is the true light, the sun that has risen above all the shadows of history. But to reach him we also need lights close by – people who shine with his light and so guide us along our way” (Spe Salvi, 49).

I entrust each of you to the Blessed Virgin Mary, sign of sure hope and consolation, our “guiding star”, who with her maternal presence is close to us at every moment of our life. To all I affectionately impart my Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican
12 October 2012

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Continuing with my making up for lost time yesterday, Jan. 13, this item, which struck me as a reaction that came one week late. Of course, the fact that it is made by a Vatican official makes it far stronger than the immediate common-sense reaction at the time the credit-card block was announced last week that it is outrageous for the Italian central bank to sanctimoniously dismiss the Vatican's financial transparency measures which had substantially passed the criteria of the European Council's Moneyval last July. And why the delayed action by Italy? There is obviously more here than we know so far, but in many ways, this reaction by Mr. Bruelhart on behalf of the Vatican is, to say the least, underwhelming, and begs the question of whether and how the Vatican is dealing with this on a bilateral basis with the Bank of Italy...

Vatican financial oversight chief
says Bancitalia's block on credit-card
transactions is 'surprising'


VATICAN CITY, January 13 (AP) — A senior Vatican official says he is "truly surprised" by the Bank of Italy's decision to enforce the suspension of credit card payments in the tiny city-state and insists the Vatican has taken adequate measures to fight money laundering.

The Vatican has been cash-only since Jan. 1 after Italy's central bank compelled Deutsche Bank Italia to stop providing electronic payment services. That has meant visitors to the Vatican Museums and the Vatican post office have had to pay cash for any transactions.

Bankitalia said it had no choice but to act because the Vatican has no banking regulatory framework or EU-recognized alternative for anti-money-laundering purposes.

Rene Bruelhart, director of the Vatican's financial watchdog agency, noted in comments published Sunday that the Vatican passed a key European financial transparency test last year.


1/15/13
P.S. I must apologize for more or less dissing Bruelhart's statements based only on what the AP reported of what he said. After reading the full interview on RV - which I posted farther down on this page today - one sees he actually used arguments that a spokesman for the Council of Europe/Moneyval would confirm in a statement afterwards to Corriere della Sera on the 'authentic interpretation' of the Moneyval Evaluation Report on the measures taken by the Vatican and the Holy See against money-laundering....

In his preliminary story on this protest demonstration, Reuters's Tom Heneghan did not rule out the possibility that the planned 'manif' would prove to be a 'damp squib' with far less participants than the organizers expected. Who's the damp squib now? And more power to those among the French people who felt strongly enough about their core belief in the family and traditional marriage to make themselves seen and heard, and the others whom they represent but who could not be there in person...

Far from a 'damp squib':
More than 300,000 join Paris protest
against SSM in near-freezing temperatures
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor



A photo from the top of the Eiffel Tower shows the crowd stretching as far back as the eye can see.


'We are all born from a man and a woman'


The delegation from Charente (department in southwestern France, most important cities Angouleme and Cognac). "NO TO MARRIAGE FOR ALL'.

PARIS, January 13 (Reuters) - Several hundred thousand people massed at the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Sunday to protest against President Francois Hollande's plan to legalise gay marriage and adoption by June.

Three columns of protesters, waving pink and blue flags showing a father, mother and two children, converged on the landmark from different meeting points in Paris. Many came after long train and bus rides from the provinces.

Hollande has pledged to push through the law with his Socialists' parliamentary majority but the opponents' campaign has dented public support and forced deputies to put off a plan to allow lesbian couples access to artificial insemination.

Champ de Mars park at the Eiffel Tower was packed, but turnout estimates varied widely. Organisers claimed a million people had protested, while police put the number at 340,000, high even in protest-prone France.

"Nobody expected this two or three months ago," said Frigide Barjot, a flamboyant comedian leading the "Demo for All". At the rally, she read out a letter to Hollande asking him to withdraw the draft bill and hold an extended public debate on the issue.

Strongly backed by the Catholic Church hierarchy, Barjot and groups working with her mobilised church-going families and political conservatives as well as some Muslims, evangelicals and even homosexuals opposed to gay marriage to protest.

Hollande's office said the turnout was "substantial" but would not change his determination to pass the reform.

"The French are tolerant, but they are deeply attached to the family and the defence of children," said Daniel Liechti, vice-president of the National Council of French Evangelicals, which urged its members to join the march.

Opponents of gay marriage and adoption, including most faith leaders in France, have argued that the reform would create psychological and social problems for children, which they believe should trump the desire for equal rights for gay adults.


Upper right photo: Signs read 'Marriagephile, not homophobe', 'A father and a mothher - that's basic", and 'We are for sex, not gender'. Bottomphoto, left: Adopted children with a sign "We adopted children also demand a father and a mother"; right, a group with the large streamer of 'A father and a mother - that's basic".

Hollande has angered those opposed to same-sex marriage by trying to avoid public debate on the reform, which Justice Minister Christiane Taubira described as "a change of civilisation", and then wavering about some of its details.

His clumsy handling of other promises, such as a 75 percent tax on the rich that was ruled unconstitutional, and a faltering struggle against rising unemployment have dented his popularity in recent opinion polls.

Same-sex weddings are legal in 11 countries including Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway and South Africa, as well as nine U.S. states and Washington D.C.

Over 1,000 Catholic clerics in Britain issued a protest letter on Saturday against plans to legalise gay marriage there.

In Italy, the Vatican daily L'Osservatore Roman on Sunday condemned an Italian court ruling against a father who sought custody of his son because the mother now lives with a female partner.

The Paris marchers, in near-freezing temperatures, included young and old protesters, many of them couples with children in tow, in strollers or on their fathers' shoulders.

"I am perfectly happy that homosexual couples have rights and are recognised from a civil point of view," said protester Vianney Gremmel. "But I have questions regarding adoption."

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, a Catholic leader who launched the opposition with a critical sermon in August, greeted protesters in southern Paris but did not march with them.

Support for gay marriage in France has slipped by about 10 percentage points to under 55 percent since opponents began speaking out, according to surveys, and fewer than half of those polled recently wanted gays to win adoption rights.

Under this pressure, legislators dropped a plan to also allow lesbians access to artificial insemination.

Organisers insist they are not against gays and lesbians but for the rights of children to have a father and mother.

Slogans on the posters and banners approved by the organisers included "marriagephile, not homophobe," "all born of a father and mother" and "paternity, maternity, equality."

Civitas, a far-right Catholic group that sees homosexuality as a sin, staged a much smaller march along another route.


The Civitas banner cites Section 2357 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered'."

In the interests of truth and clarity, here exactly are the statements in the Catechism about homosexuality - nowhere is the word 'sin' to be found, not out of 'political correctness', but out of the compunction to show that the Church means no discrimination in its application of natural law:

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2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained.

Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.

These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

---

Of course, that sets a high bar for homosexuals (that laymen would particularly find unacceptable) but the examples of the saints and devoted priests and nuns through the centuries shows it is not impossible. The Church of England, in announcing recently that it will ordain homosexual bishops who are in a relationship as long as they keep celibate is setting that standard. Why does the MSM apparently not find anything wrong with that, and if they find nothing wrong there, why should the Catholic Church be faulted for demanding chastity of homosexuals?

Not surprisingly, the BBC report on the Paris 'manif' decidedly sought to dampen any enthusiasm, as in, "OK already, so you had a big march - but a new survey of 1000 French persons still shows 52% of them support SSM"...

Mass Paris rally against
gay marriage in France

January 13, 2013

Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Paris over plans to give gay couples in France the right to marry and adopt children.

Three big marches converged on the Champs de Mars, a large park next to the Eiffel Tower.

France's Socialist government is planning to change the law this year.

But the demonstrators, backed by the Catholic Church and the right-wing opposition, argue it would undermine an essential building block of society.

The organisers put the number of marchers at 800,000, with demonstrators pouring into Paris by train and bus, carrying placards that read, "We don't want your law, Francois" and "Don't touch my civil code".

Police said the figure was closer to 340,000 and one government minister said the turnout was lower than the organisers had predicted. A similar march in November attracted around 100,000 people.

The "Demo for all" event was being led by a charismatic comedian known as Frigide Barjot, who tweeted that the "crowd is immense" and told French TV that gay marriage "makes no sense" because a child should be born to a man and woman. [I don't know what Barjot's exact words may have been, but the way it is reported omits the logical transition - that same-sex union will never result in children, who can only be born (naturally, and not artificially) through the union of a man and a woman.]

Although France allows civil unions between same-sex couples, Francois Hollande made a pledge to extend their rights part of his presidential campaign.

Centre-right UMP President Jean-Francois Cope said the rally would be a "test" for the President because there were "clearly millions of French people who are probably concerned by this reform".

The far-right National Front is also opposed to the change, although its leader Marine Le Pen stayed away from the march, arguing the issue was a diversion by politicians from France's real problems.

Despite the support of the Church and political right, the organisers are keen to stress their movement is non-political and non-religious, and in no way directed against homosexuals, BBC Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield reports.

An opinion poll of almost 1,000 people published by Le Nouvel Observateur newspaper at the weekend suggested that 56% supported gay marriage, while 50% disapproved of gay adoption.

The poll also said that 52% of those questioned disapproved of the Church's stand against the legislation.

Earlier polls had indicated stronger support for the legalisation of gay marriage.

Anyway, whether the actual participation in the January 13 'manif' was 340,000, half a million, 800,000, or approaching a million, it was a great manifestation by any criterion. I have to research what other recent events in France - other than the Mass with Benedict XVI in September 2008 - mobilized so many people... As a 'Hispanic' by historical association and an unabashed lover of Hispanic and Italian culture, I must express my great disappointment = and chagrin - that the Spaniards and the Italians have not shown the engagement demonstrated by those among the French people who still conserve traditional values on marriage and the family.

Monday, January 14, First Week in Ordinary Time
Servant of God JOHN THE GARDENER (b Portugal 15th-cent, d Spain 1501), Priest and Confessor
Another saintly example from the Franciscan garden, John was born to a family in Portugal so poor
that he had to beg for his daily meals. He moved across the border to Spain where he found work
as a shepherd, during which he met two Franciscans who appreciated his simple spirituality. They
took him back to their monastery in Salamanca to tend the gardens, and he joined the order shortly,
where he became known for his life of prayer and helping the poor. He was called The Gardener
because of his work and the flowers he raised for the churches. He had the gift of prophecy and was
consulted by great men and princes of his day. It is said he predicted the day of his death.
NB: I cannot find any images online for today's saint.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011413.cfm


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

The Holy Father met with

- Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (weekly meeting)

- Six Italian bishops (Abruzzo and Molise regions) on ad-limina visit

- Officials and personnel of the Italian Inspectorate of Public Security assigned to the Vatican.
Address in Italian.


Two years ago today...

The Vatican announced that John Paul II would be beatified on May 1, the Sunday of Divine Mercy. Ten days earlier,
the Vatican had announced certification of the miracle that was the sign needed for the beatification to proceed.


What is wrong with the persons in charge of the Vatican website? Today, their 'seasonal heading' on the home page of the Holy See still is that for CHRISTMAS 2012, a season which ended yesterday! Elsewhere, the CTV homepage is still in November 2012, and I am sure if one took the trouble to check out other web pages on the site, similar intsnaces of flagrant failure to update will be seen. One would think the persons in charge of these pages would start their day by checking out basics like this. But this all feeds into the general laxity of supervision of the personnel who work in the Vatican communications media, best exemplified by the apparent lack of editorial supervision at all in the English service of Vatican Radio, which appears to be running on autopilot, and a bad one at that, because it is sloppy and arbitrary!

It is inexcusable, because the work load for this personnel cannot be more onerous and demanding - and is in fact probably less so = than the work load of their counterparts in say, a private corporation of the same 'size' as and far less importance than the Vatican... The rule always holds that if you can't be trusted to do the small things right, how can you be trusted with the things that really matter?

Fr. Schall has taken the logical next step to go beyond just considering The Infancy Narratives but the entirety of Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI's JESUS OF NAZARETH in the context of what it means for the faith. One should perhaps expect more commentary and reviews along the same line to follow...

Benedict XVI has completed
his magnum opus on Jesus
The Pope's unique trilogy about Jesus Christ, true God and true man, has,
in a sense, bypassed the whole world of academia by going right through it
by James V. Schall, S.J.

January 13, 2013

---

“Jesus’s teaching is not the product of human learning, of whatever kind. It originated from immediate contact with the Father, from ‘face-to-face’ dialogue—from the one who rests close to the Father’s heart. It is the Son’s word. Without this inner grounding, his teaching would be pure presumption.”
— Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus of Nazareth, Volume I (New York: Doubleday, 2007), 7.

“The mystery, which has been hidden through all ages and from all generations, is now revealed to us.”
— Post-Epiphany Antiphon, Breviary, Mid-morning Prayer.

“The two chapters of Matthew’s Gospel devoted to the infancy narrative are not a meditation presented under the guise of stories, but the converse. Matthew is recounting real history, theologically thought through and interpreted. And thus he helps us to understand the mystery of Jesus more deeply.”
— Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. III (New York: Image, 2012), 119.

---

With the 2012 publication of The Infancy Narratives, the Holy Father’s account of Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, is complete.

The slim third volume of the trilogy covers the Gospel accounts of the birth of Christ in Matthew and Luke. The Birth of Christ is placed within the historical setting of His time, but also within the Jewish background, as well as within the philosophical and cosmological significance of what such a birth means.

No one could grasp the full scope of the incarnational event without averring to all the elements that serve to explain the meaning of its reality.

Much of the world is desperately trying to maintain that the evidence for the fact that Christ is God incarnate in this world is not true or intelligible. This dogmatic assumption of the “un-truth” of who Jesus is occurs in order to justify its rejection of Him.

This rationalization allows the world to live as it wishes with a clear conscience, or so it thinks. It need not take seriously the cogency of the truth of Christ’s claim. The pope calmly follows the evidence and the reasoning. The fact is, as he shows, that Christ is who He said He was.

In a recent address to the International Theological Commission (December 7, 2012), Benedict spoke of the “prejudice” that argues that “religions — and in particular the monotheistic religions — are intrinsically vehicles of violence, especially because they claim the existence of a universal truth. Some consider that this ‘polytheism of values’ alone would guarantee tolerance and civil peace and would and would be in conformity with the spirit of pluralistic democratic society.”

The net effect of such a view, of course, necessarily means that religion cannot be true and therefore has no place in any public order. This view usually leaves the state in charge with no limit on itself caused by any truth or anything outside its own control.

To this self-enclosed view, Benedict responds that “faith in the one God, Creator of heaven and earth, encounters the rational needs for metaphysical reflection, which is not weakened but strengthened and deepened by the Revelation of the mystery of the God-Trinity. …The form that the definitive Revelation of the mystery of the one God assumes (lies) in the life and death of Jesus Christ….”

Two things are said here that cast light on the whole thesis of Jesus of Nazareth. The first element is, to recall what is likewise found in the Regensburg lecture, that revelation of the Trinity is itself directed to metaphysics, in its efforts to know what it can by man’s own powers.

The second point is that this Revelation that is addressed to reason is not just any old religion but a specific one, the one that revolves around the life and death of Christ. Every religion may contain some aspect of truth, but no other one reveals Christ, the actual Son of God, to us.

It is because of the nature and understanding of who Christ is in His complete being, man and God, that Revelation addresses itself to reason and does not bypass it.

The dogmatic modern (and ancient) view that all religions are false cannot account for the one revelation that is true. Indeed, it seeks to avoid ever having to deal with the evidence that it is. And this truth is what Christianity says it is designed to maintain in the world. It is not presented in any arrogant or haughty fashion. It reports what it has heard and understood from Christ about the Father within the Trinity.

II.

Here, I do not propose to “review” this last book of the trilogy. Previously I have commented on the first two volumes. But I would like to reflect on the significance of the Pope’s whole presentation of the life of Christ. It is a remarkable achievement. The work, no doubt, represents a lifetime of study and reflection, as well as of controversy and dialogue.

This whole text was written by a man with the busiest kind of life. It attests to the results that can accrue when a disciplined man sets aside time to do a work that he considers important over and beyond what might be considered his “normal” business, though surely a Pope telling us who Christ is must be the “normal” purpose of the Petrine office that he holds.

Had Benedict not bothered to write these volumes on Christ, no one would have noticed or thought that he was neglecting his duties either as Prefect of a Roman Congregation or as Pope. The volumes represent the product of scholarly abundance and of the love of a wisdom that needs to be expressed.

First of all, these three volumes are eminently scholarly, yet readable and intelligible. Any one, believer or not, should certainly have them in his library. One does not have to be an academic to understand them.

Indeed, one suspects that academics may be the last to grasp what the Pope is doing here. He is, in a sense, bypassing the whole world of academia by going right through it. Academics lose much of their aura of autonomy when one of the greatest of academics of any time is also the pope who explains how things fit together, things that the same academics often wrote and taught did not so fit together.

III.

If we can say that there was such a thing as a “John Paul II Revolution,” it would be that for a quarter of a century one of the most dynamic, manly, intelligent, well-loved, and noble of men was in the Chair of Peter. John Paul II was seen perhaps by more human beings than any man who ever existed. He died in public, as if to say that it was all right to die, something that his successor, Benedict, well explained in Spe Salvi.

John Paul was a figure transcending his office by clearly revealing what it was. No one could be indifferent to him; few wanted to be. He could be classified as a unique personality the likes of which would not come again.

Benedict is a different sort. John Paul himself was a major intellect, though that did not seem the most important thing about him. It does seem to be the most important thing about Benedict.][With all due respect to Fr. Schall, I would say it is only 'the most obviously important thing' about Benedict XVI - and the one most easily appreciated even by his critics. But equally important, and perhaps more - though hardly pointed out, even by his admirers - is his deep spirituality and saintliness, in which I daresay he cannot be inferior to Blessed John Paul II or previously sainted Popes, and yet for which only those who have known him best and longest have openly and explicitly credited him.]

Cardinal Schönborn once remarked that Aquinas was the only man in the history of the Church who was canonized only for thinking. [While that statement makes a good sound bite, it, too, betrays the apparent bias that great intellect and great spirituality cannot both be weighted equally in the right persons. All too often ignored in the universal genuflection to Aquinas's mind is his extraordinary spiritual life and saintliness. So no, Cardinal Schoenborn, as great a scholar as you are yourself, IMHO, you do St. Thomas a great disservice by your quip.] Benedict falls in this tradition, along with Newman, whom Benedict beatified. [QED - Newman was not beatified for his mind alone. Nor will any posthumous honorifics from the Church for Benedict XVI be limited to his intellectual achievements, even if they already merit him future consideration as a Doctor of the Church.]

Any claim that Catholicism cannot be “true” must stand the test of Benedict’s mind. And when anyone avoids it, he discovers that Benedict has already thought through the veracity of the claim that Catholicism is not true. We see this irony worked out again and again in the volumes of JESUS OF NAZARETH.

We underestimate the importance of mind to Catholicism. Catholicism is not just another “religion.” It is not, in fact, a natural religion at all. It is a religion, if we want to call it that, the content and origins of which are not human, though, through the Incarnation, it is fully human and stands for what the human, at its best, ought to be.

Benedict did not write these volumes as official Catholic doctrine. He had something else in mind. He did publish them under both his name, Joseph Ratzinger, and as Pope Benedict XVI. He wanted to answer the question of what does a Pope himself really hold and believe — and why. His answer was that he does hold and believe that Christ was the Son of God incarnate who did dwell among us in Palestine during the time of the early Roman empire.

Now, why would Benedict hold this position? The answer is because this is what is handed down and what the faith teaches. But also it corresponds with the historical and philosophical evidence and facts. These volumes spell out this evidence. Benedict is aware of the long history of scholarship that has tried to argue for a view of Christ that would doubt His existence or that he was nothing but a man or that he was the product of the imagination of the early disciples.

What Benedict shows, I think, is that the arguments against the veracity of revelation as it is presented in Catholicism are intelligible and subject to examination. He reveals that Thomistic side of him that first seeks to state accurately the position against his view.

He is not trying to hide, but to find, any argument that Catholics refuse to consider against their view. In every case, he presents a plausible and cogent position about incidents in the life of Christ, about what His teaching meant, and about how the Church understood these matters over the ages.

He concludes by affirming that what the Church teaches now is what was taught by the Apostles. But we now see many things drawn out and developed that are implicit in the original Revelation and were in fact intended to be drawn out by the Church in its actual living throughout the centuries.

Thus, if there is anything “scandalous” about Benedict’s JESUS OF NAZARETH, it is, in this world of skeptical democratic pluralism and diversity, the firm claim that what Christ said of Himself is true and that this truth and the living that accords with it is, in fact, what is the purpose of the Church in our or any time and what is most needed by men even for their own temporal good.

But Benedict is also most insistent that men are given free will and that God’s plan for men includes the possibility of God’s revelation being freely rejected with all the consequences for the individual person and for society that the rejection of truth implies.

Looked at from this angle, Benedict’s book is presented as something to be calmly read and reflected upon. We have here no “threats” of hell or condemnations, but we do have a faithful presentation of what Christ Himself implied about those who did freely reject Him.

We also have, as it were, a “feast of intellect,” a magisterial presentation of how things do fit together about the most important issue in any person’s life — “Was Christ who He said He was?”

When we put down the last of these volumes, we suspect that since He was who He said He was, our lives and our world are disordered to the extent that they reject the truth that is also the way and the life.

I can't seem to get current statistics, but back in March 2011, the following was reported about a campaign in the United Staes called 'Catholics Come Home', whose ads I occasionally see on Fox News Channel (being the only new channel I watch). At that time, the report said:

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In an effort to offer unwavering hope and peace to families during these troubled economic and conflict-driven times, nine Catholic dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Boston, are partnering with CatholicsComeHome.org to use television and the Internet to share the life-giving power of faith in God by inviting inactive Catholics home to the Church during the Lenten season.

This initiative marks the 30th market launching the Catholics Come Home® evangelization initiative. These ads and interactive website have reached 40 million viewers across the US and 1.5 million viewers worldwide through CatholicsComeHome.org in the past three years. According to census statistics published by participating dioceses, Catholics Come Home® ads have helped more than 200,000 fallen away Catholics come home to the Church.

---

CCH, a non-profit organization, was founded by a Catholic convert Tom Peterson, who has written a book about this apostolate. It is a very encouraging initiative that one hopes could be replicated everywhere as another tool for the New Evangelization.

Why scandal can’t 'bring down'
the Catholic Church
By Katie Peterson Warner

January 14, 2013

There are perhaps few critical emails I field more frequently in my work with Catholics Come Home than those which reference abuse or scandal as one’s reason for not coming home to the Catholic Church.

“I would never come ‘home’ to the catholic church. I have seen too many pedophiles, which seem to be epidemic in the Church,” they say.

“I have become disillusioned by the sex scandals,” they admit.

“I hope the scandals ‘bring down’ the Catholic Church,” one gentleman declared, wishing collapse on an institution which, he believed, only brought harm to the world.

I have come to believe that many of the individuals who cite scandal as their primary reason for leaving — or not returning to — the Catholic Church do not actually espouse it in their deep-down hearts as the impetus for abandoning the Faith. [No, but it is obviously the easiest and most convenient pretext to give - because it can only gain them applause from the legion of secularists and anti-Catholics who shape and 'validate' the dominant mentality, and what could be more gratifying to some people than such acceptance and acclaim, than to to be n league with the 'right people', to be very 'in'!]

Nonetheless, I do believe that it is something that they genuinely need an answer to. Often times, it is my experience that an honest, heartfelt answer to this particular problem of evil opens the gates, even if just a crack, allowing them to peer into the doors of the Catholic Church again.

If they can’t justifiably and rationally argue scandal as a legitimate reason for leaving, they’re going to have to face their real reasons for drifting or marching away… and that’s where the journey home begins.

(Now, those personally impacted by scandalous situations require a much gentler, more involved approach. They need our empathy, our heartfelt concern and genuine sorrow. But again, it seems that a great number of people who mention Church scandal have never been personally victimized. These are the people I wish to address in this article.)

So the question i: Can scandal ‘bring down’ (or ‘bring destruction to’) the Catholic Church? If it can, it’s only a matter of time before the Church collapses, because scandal of some fashion and some degree will always be present in her, that is, until all of her members are saints. Sinful people make sinful decisions and breed sinful situations. And sin is not private. It always affects others. This is how scandal spreads like a nasty viral infection.

But if we believe in the words of Christ, than we know that He promised to always remain with His Church — until the end of time. So scandal can’t bring down the Church, because Christ said that not even the gates of hell could bring down the Church!

So if scandal doesn’t blemish the Church beyond repair, than why should we encourage people to be a part of the blemished Church?

I suggest a few of the following reasons, each of which I have found helpful in my discussions with those who have questioned the legitimacy of belonging to a Church in which scandal has made its ugly presence known:

1. Sometimes God’s chosen people and closest friends betray Him. Jesus chose twelve apostles. One of them betrayed him. Does that make the other apostles any less holy or make their apostolic mission illegitimate? What if the early Church just threw in the towel because of the scandal Judas caused?

We didn’t evaluate the merits of the early Church according to its worst members, according to the ones who didn’t follow Christ’s teachings, but according to the ones who did. The countless holy, faithful priests in the world are the argument for authentic Catholicism — not the priests who don’t live a truly Catholic life. You can’t judge a whole book by one soiled splice.

2. ‘Facts’ surrounding scandal in the Church are often of a mythical proportion or nature. There are so many myths to tackle regarding this issue that even secular news outlets like the Washington Post have been willing to publish some of them.

We’ll just take one for example here: the notion that sexual abuse is more pervasive in the Catholic Church than other institutions. A number of studies and reputable (non-Catholic) professionals have reported that there is no more scandal in the Catholic Church than in other religious denominations, institutions, educational setting, etc.

So if this is the case, why do we hear about the scandals in the Catholic Church so much more than the scandals in other institutions? I offer just two reasons here: first, that the Catholic Church is far more organized and centralized than practically any institution in comparison, making it easier to obtain reports and heap up news against one gigantic institution.

Secondly, and this one obviously won’t be reported by the press, Satan hates the Catholic Church and will stop at nothing to attack her members specifically. The Catholic Church (and the saints which comprise her) is the biggest and most direct threat to his evil and determined mission.

Ultimately, however, none of this changes the fact that the Catholic Church should always live up to a higher standard, and that we all must increase our prayer for the holiness of the members of the Church—most especially ourselves — so that we may truly be a city set on a hill, living witnesses to charity and truth, and a light to all nations.

(I actually choose to briefly address one other myth — that the Catholic Church hemorrhaged members as a result of the reporting of the abuse crisis. Not so. A vast majority of active Catholics reportedly were unshaken in their adherence to the Faith. And, among those surveyed who left the Church, studies showed that the abuse crisis ranked extremely low on their reasons for leaving.

The Church isn’t ignorant of the scandal issue. Many fallaciously claim that the Church is hesitant to admit that scandal exists within her. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “The Church . . . clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal. All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners” (CCC, no. 827).

In Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter Tertio Millenio Adviente, he affirmed that “…the Church should become more fully conscious of the sinfulness of her children, recalling all those times in history when they departed from the spirit of Christ and his Gospel and, instead of offering to the world the witness of a life inspired by the values of faith, indulged in ways of thinking and acting which were truly forms of counter-witness and scandal.”

He went on to say, “Before God and man she always acknowledges as her own her sinful sons and daughters. As Lumen Gentium affirms: 'The Church, embracing sinners to her bosom, is at the same time holy'…."

The Church is not only aware of the scandal of her members, she admits that there is no excuse for it and she feels deeply for the victims. For some reason, I am still always shocked when someone tells me that the Church in effect could “care less” about those who have been hurt by her members.

After a meeting with victims of sexual abuse in Malta, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI admitted “shame and sorrow” over their suffering, and even physically shed tears over the pain that they expressed to him.

He showed genuine empathy to them—as we all should to victims abused at the hands of anyone—and then offered his hopes for their well-being, reconciliation, and healing. These are not the words or actions of a man or Church who don’t care about the victimized.

Scandal does not change the fact that the Catholic Church is the one, true Church, established by Christ, endowed with the fullness of the gifts that God desires to give all of His people. This is, to me, the most important point to drive home with someone who cites scandal as his reason for not coming home.

A thousand uneducated individuals adding up two and two to get five doesn’t change the fact that two plus two equals four. The very horrific acts committed by some members of the Church do not change or alter the identity of the Church herself, just as a bunch of kids wrongly adding numbers doesn’t change the truthful equation.

Christ gave us the priesthood; He gave us the sacraments. He gave us the Eucharist - and we need to be at home in the Catholic Church to receive Him in the way that He calls us to and to benefit from these amazing gifts and graces He bestows on us. Catholicism is true. Nothing can or ever will change that.

A final note: there is nothing more important that you can impart in a conversation with someone you are trying to invite home or evangelize than charity. You are not to argue, but to love. That is our mission as evangelists: to teach the truth in charity.

Those who raise their fists in protest over scandal, claiming that as reason to abandon the Catholic Church, are souls whom God loves, and we need to love them too. But to love them, we also can enlighten them - and invite them back home.

Right photo: Mons. Mueller at his book presentation last week.*CNS Photo)

Mons. Mueller on Benedict XVI and
his 70 years of reflecting on the faith
Translated from the Italian service of

January 14, 2013

"I know of few persons who have his breadth of vision and intellectual preparation". The Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Ludwig Mueller, speaks in these terms of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI and his teaching - before and after being elected Pope.

The Prefect, who as President of the Regensburg-based Institut Papst Benedikt XVI, has overseen the compilation and publication of The Collected Writings of Joseph Ratzinger [He is the nominal publisher], last week presented his latest book, published by the Vatican publishing house LEV, entitled Ampliare l’orizzonte della ragione (Widening the horizon of reason) as a key to reading the writings of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Alessandro De Carolis spoke to Mueller:

MUELLER: He [the Pope] has led a long life of reflection, which started when he was 15, and now he is 85. That makes at least 70 years of profound reflection and meditation. And he has had so many experiences in his life. As a boy and young man, he experienced Nazism, war, the whole spectrum of situations in the life of men...

If only for that, he has never been an intellectual who lives in his ivory tower - he has been very much 'present' in the life of the men of his time, profoundly part of the history of the 20th century, and now of the 21st.

He is one of the few men today who has had such a wide horizon: He knows the development of Western philosophy, starting with the Greeks and Romans, to the contemporary philosophers. And he knows the history of the Church, as well as the questions and challenges posed by progress in the natural sciences. I am aware of few persons who has his depth and breadth of thinking that is so necessary today.

During these years of service as the Pontiff, Benedict XVI has also shown that even a great theologian can speak the language of the common man, and also find new expressions for the ancient truths of the faith. What strikes you about this aspect of the Pope?
Let us put it this way. Jesus Christ is the Word of God, but when he came to the world, he spoke very simply, addressing the heart of all men. He spoke to Pharisees, to the great intellectuals in his world and in his time, but always showed the great respect that God has for all men.

That is why it is necessary and very important that all theologians should also be pastors, that they address themselves to all men, because God does not love only the intellectuals and brilliant pastors, but all men.

In your new book, you comment on the language of the new media. What have they been able to grasp of the essential in the Magisterium of Benedict XVI?
Faith and Revelation are two ways God uses to communicate with us. Through these means of communication, we can talk to each other - not ideologically as a way to influence men against reason - but to have a dialog that is open to the truth, because only truth can save man, not propaganda.

Not to forget the battle against SSM across the Channel from France. Thanks to Fr. Finigan at his blog for providing the text of the letter (reproduced below) signed by over 1000 priests of England and Wales sent to the Daily Telegraph which published it. Brief and to the point - much of it was quoted in the original stories about it - it is always good to see the full text as is... One notes that the priests go beyond the implications of SSM for marriage and the family, but how its imposition in the UK could not just threaten the religious freedom of anti-SSM faiths but even produce a new age of persecution against Catholics similar ti their post-Reformation fate.

The UK priests' letter

January 12. 2013

---

After centuries of persecution, Catholics have, in recent times, been able to be members of the professions and participate fully in the life of this country.

Legislation for same-sex marriage, should it be enacted, will have many legal consequences, severely restricting the ability of Catholics to teach the truth about marriage in their schools, charitable institutions or places of worship.

It is meaningless to argue that Catholics and others may still teach their beliefs about marriage in schools and other arenas if they are also expected to uphold the opposite view at the same time.

The natural complementarity between a man and a woman leads to marriage, seen as a lifelong partnership. This loving union – because of their physical complementarity – is open to bringing forth and nurturing children.

This is what marriage is. That is why marriage is only possible between a man and a woman. Marriage - and the home, children and family life it generates - is the foundation and basic building block of our society.

We urge Members of Parliament not to be afraid to reject this legislation now that its consequences are more clear.

---

The list of signatories is given on the Telegraph Letters page.

Here's the rest of Fr. Finigan's post:

Now would be a good time for
PM Cameron to start listening

January 12, 2013

...The third sentence makes an important point when it says that it is meaningless to say that we are free to teach our beliefs if we are also expected to teach the opposite view at the same time.

The question of teaching something as true is at the heart of the debate over the freedom of the Church to teach. The metropolitan elite want to pretend that they do not teach anything as objectively true but that they respect everyone's views. Any first year Philosophy undergraduate could see that this is incoherent, since the principle of relativism is itself taught as an absolute truth which nobody may deny.

As Damian Thompson observes, this is not just a letter from traditionalists, but from priests across a wide spectrum of views within the Church. I found it very encouraging that priests who I thought might have just ignored the letter (that's all they had to do) took the trouble to sign it and post it in to the organisers. I am proud to stand beside them. This issue, and the firm and clear witness of our Bishops in the matter, has united the Catholic Church in our country. Congratulations to the young and dynamic priests who organised this highly significant act of witness.

Now would be a good time for Mr Cameron to start listening to the strength of opposition to his foolish and dangerous proposal. If he doesn't, those who hold influence in his party would be well-advised to bring him in for an "Interview Without Coffee."


With the letter in the Telegraph,
the Catholic Church really is
at war with the Government

January 12, 2013

More than a thousand Catholic priests signed the letter to The Daily Telegraph arguing that the Government's gay marriage plans will "severely restrict the ability of Catholics to teach the truth about marriage in their schools" and rejecting promised safeguards as "meaningless".

I'll be honest: When I read the news story about the letter, I thought: gosh, a thousand conservative/traditionalist priests are standing up to be counted. But that just goes to show the folly of assuming that the Catholic Church is as factional as the Church of England.

Because when I worked my way down the names, I kept coming across priests who are poles apart liturgically and even differ in the way they interpret Catholic teaching on homosexuality. The list includes members of the "Magic Circle" of well-connected liberals, Latin Mass traditionalists, moderate conservatives and the leaders of the newly formed Ordinariate. As for the political leanings of the signatories, I can assure you that Labour supporters are well represented. So, too, are celibate gay priests.

All of which brings home the extent to which the "conservative" David Cameron is at war not just with fundamentalists, but also with middle-of-the-road clergy and lay people from Britain's largest and, arguably, best-integrated religious minority.

By redefining marriage without even the fig leaf of a manifesto commitment, he has forced Catholics and other Christians who thought of themselves as gay-friendly to take a stance which, in the lexicon of hashtag politics, renders them homophobic opponents of "equal marriage". They won't quickly forgive him for that.


Cameron, like Henry VIII,
will have to face the martyrs
By Cristina Odone

January 14, 2013

The pink complexion of the sportsman, the jowls of the bon viveur, and an inscrutable gaze that only Hilary Mantel could decipher: Henry VIII and David Cameron have much in common.

More than 1,000 Catholic clerics – bishops, priests, abbots – agree. They wrote to this newspaper on Saturday to warn the Prime Minister that he risked copying Henry’s example: by tampering with marriage he would open the door to the persecution of Catholics.

Once gay marriage is legal, secularists can rely on a host of equality laws to prosecute a conscientious objector who fails to promote it. The Government has offered guarantees to the Churches; but the gay rights lobby will target these, chipping away at the fringes of such measures.

Cameron may pledge that a Catholic priest will not be forced to celebrate a gay marriage; but what about his church hall being used for a same-sex wedding party?

Catholic professionals, too, will be challenged: a Catholic who teaches in a state school that marriage between a man and a woman is the ideal model will be barred from the classroom.

And what of Catholic marriage counsellors? Will they be allowed to practise what their priests have preached for millennia? Catholics will be prosecuted and persecuted. So will other Christians.

But, just as was true in Henry’s time, plenty of them are willing to be martyred for their conscience. This is bad news for the Prime Minister: martyrdom (so long as it doesn’t cost innocent lives) earns grudging respect.

Gay rights campaigners knew this in 1987, when Marshall Kirk and Erastes Pill wrote The Overhauling of Straight America. To win the sympathy vote, they said, a few activists would have to accept martyrdom. The abuse and prejudice they suffered would make even their most ardent foes cry: “Enough is enough – let these people be!”

Kirk and Pill succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Already, there are many Christians willing to play Thomas More to David Cameron’s Henry VIII. The Prime Minister knows all too well that although More lost his head, Henry lost his reputation.


In the euphoria of having hundreds of thousands of citizens stand up in France against SSM, and of the UK priests' singularly jnsightful stand on the freedom to teach Catholic doctrine, it is easy to overlook that after all is said and done, both Hollande in France and Cameron in the UK will most likely have their way. What is their frenzy to pass a law that would overthrow millennia of human civilization to pander to a tiny minority except as a temporary sop to take the sting - and attention - away from economic difficulties that for now appear unsolvable?

Pope thanks Italian state police
for helping keep the Vatican safe
Adapted from

January 14, 2013



At 12:15 p.m. Monday, January 14, the Holy Father met at the Sala Clementina of the Apostolic Palace with the officials and agents of the Italian Inspectorate of Public Security assigned to the Vatican, for a traditional exchange of good wishes for the New Year.

The Inspectorate is tasked with cooperating in security operations and maintaining order in St Peter’s Square and around the Vatican, a mission provided under the 1929 Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy.

The officers and agents of the Inspectorate screen pilgrims and tourists on their way into St Peter’s Basilica, patrol the area around Vatican City, direct traffic and offer assistance to visitors. They also provide support and special services during the Holy Father’s travels within Italy.

In his meeting with them, Pope Benedict XVI offered his thanks for their dedicated service and professionalism.



Here is a translation of the Pope's remarks:

---

Distinguished Gentlemen,
Dear Officials and Agents:

I am very happy to renew this encounter which has now become a tradition, for a reciprocal exchange of greetings at the start of a new year.

My greetings and wishes go first to Dott. Enrico Avola, who was recently named your Director-General - I thank him for the words he addressed to me - as well as Prefect Salvatore Festa.

With equal affection, I greet the other components and workers of the Inspectorate of Public Security at the Vatican.

I wish first of all to express my acknowledgment of the service that you carry out with dedication and proven competence in St. Peter's Square and the zones adjacent to the Vatican for the necessary maintenance of public order.

In especially think of the work you do during assemblies by the faithful and pilgrims who come from all over the world to encounter the Successor of Peter and to visit the tomb of the Prince of Apostles, as well as to pray at the tombs of my venerated predecessors, especially that of Blessed John Paul II.

Your commitment also extends to my pastoral visits in Rome and apostolic trips inside Italy. In these circumstances, I wish to express once more my esteem and underscore my heartfelt appreciation for the way and the spirit that animate your ever watchful and competent service.

While this does honor to your standing as functionaries of the Italian State and members of the Church, it also attests to the good relations that exist between Italy and the Apostolic See.

I listened with interest to the words of your Director who, in your name, spoke of the sentiments, ideals and propositions that inspire your actions in your daily routine. I wish from the heart that your efforts, not rarely carried out with sacrifices and risks, may always be inspired by a firm Christian faith, which is undoubtedly the most precious treasure and spiritual value that your families passed on to you and that you are called on to transmit in turn to your children.

The Year of Faith, which the entire Church is experiencing, is an opportunity for you to go back to the message of the Gospel and make it enter more profoundly into your consciences and daily life, in order to courageously bear witness to the love of God in every field, including your work.

In my message for the recent World Day of Peace, I underscored how "the multiple works of peace, of which the world is rich, testify to the innate calling of mankind to peace. In every person, the desire for peace is an essential aspiration which coincides, in a way, with the desire for a human life that is happy and well realized".

May your presence, dear friends, be an ever more valid guarantee of that good order and tranquillity that is fundamental for building a peaceful and composed society, and which, besides being taught by the evangelical message, are signs of authentic civilization.

I want to extend my best wishes for the new year to your families as well, whom I entrust to the maternal protection of the Most Blessed Virgin, so that she may intercede to her divine Son to obtain prosperity, peace and concord for you, and to protect you from all dangers. This goes with the Apostolic Blessing that I impart from the heart to all of you.

---

Dear Teresa

I was there. It was just huge certainly near 800 000.
I left from Denfert Rochereau only at 16 (it started at 13)

Many of us never reached Champ de Mars but we were counted just before. I left the march at 18h30.



Dear Flo...
I envy you for taking part in what even I consider to be a historic occasion. Let us pray that all the good wishes and intentions of persons like you and all others who respect natural law - which is God's law - will change enough minds in your National Assembly to keep Hollande's government from getting its way.

On Beatrice's website, I just read Jeanne Smits's account of 'manif' in PRESENT, where she says the actual number present was 1,300,000. It was a most impressive event, in any case. Congratulations and well done!

TERESA

Tuesday, January 15, First Week in Ordinary Time

Center illustration: St. Anthony Abbot burying St Paul the Hermit.
ST. PAUL THE HERMIT (Paul of Thebes) (Egypt, 228-345)
Considered to be the first Christian hermit, Paul was in his 20s when he escaped the Christian
persecution under Emperor Dacian by fleeing to a cave in the desert outside Thebes. He found
the solitude and opportunity for prayer so right for him that he stayed for the next 90 years.
He subsisted on a nearby spring and palm tree, though it was said that when he was 43, a raven
started bringing him half a loaf of bread every day. When he was 112, he received a visit from
St. Anthony Abbot (Anthony the Great), already renowned as a pioneer of ascetic monasticism
and who had himself lived as a desert anchorite. It is said they spent a day and a night talking
to each other. Paul lived another year and died at age 113. St. Jerome wrote a biography which
has become the standard source about him.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011513.cfm


No events announced today for the Holy Father.


A VERY HAPPY AND MOST BLESSED 89TH BIRTHDAY

TO MONS. GEORG RATZINGER

May God grant you

many more years of grace

in loving companionship and support

of your beloved brother!

The following news today underscores the reality of the protesting UK priests' fear that a same-sex 'marriage' law in the UK will be used as a pretext for all kinds of discrimination against Christians or other believers who refuse to take part in enforcing such a law or who will insist on teaching Cahtolic doctrine against SSM. The discrimination is already happening in relation to the enforcement of far more minor laws, and there is no lack of ultra-libs in the European court who will uphold such discrimination...

European court of human rights rules on four
UK cases alleging religious discrimination -
only one is successful, the others may appeal
By Peter Smith

15 January 2013


The European Court of Human Rights has today given its judgment in the cases of four Britons who alleged they suffered discrimination as a result of their Christian faith.

Only one of the four was successful in their claims.

Nadia Eweida, a worker for British Airways, and Shirley Chaplin, an NHS nurse, both complained when their employers ordered them to cover up crosses worn around their necks.

Ms Eweida was initially told by BA that crosses were prohibited as they undermined the professional presentation of staff – despite hijabs, turbans and skull caps being acceptable. BA subsequently changed their policy, and today she has won her case for discrimination.

Ms Chaplin, along with Lillian Ladele and Gary McFarlane, lost their appeals before a panel of seven judges. [Unfortunately, the reporter gives us no further details about Ms Chaplin. Why did she lose her case if, like Eweida, she was forced to cover her cross-pendant? And what does it mean that Chaplin, Ladele and McFarlane 'lost their appeals' - did they already get and lose earlier court rulings?]

Ms Ladele was a marriage registrar for Islington Borough Council who asked not to perform same-sex civil partnerships when these were introduced. She requested to do other work instead, but was told this was against the council’s equality and diversity policy.

Mr McFarlane, a relationship counsellor for Relate, did not want to participate in sex therapy with homosexual couples. Both cited Christian teaching in defence of their objections.

All four are Christians who claim that their actions are aspects of their faith which are protected under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This defends the right to “manifest religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance”, subject to proportionate limitations, “prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society for the protect!ion of the rights and freedoms of others”. [There's the rub! That's the provision that can be used to claim there is no religious discrimination when a person is forced to do something that violates his/her religious belief. In the two cases cited, someone else in the Registrar's office could have been asked to perform the 'marriage', and isn't it stupid to even think of appointing a counselor who does not approve of SSM to take part in sex therapy with homosexual couples?

The three who lost their appeals are believed to be considering a final appeal to the Grand Chamber of the European Court, where their cases could be heard before seventeen judges. [This was the larger body that overturned the first ECHR ruling in 2010 saying the crucifix could not be displayed in Italian schoolrooms. It could indicate that the full court (Grand Chamber) is less liberal or more adherent to the law than the smaller groups who get the first chance to rule on cases.]

John Duddington, editor of the Christian Law Review, said: “I expected this. The decision of the UK courts that a Christian could be prevented from wearing a cross at work was plainly wrong and thank goodness that the European Court of Human Rights has seen sense here. However, the courts have a very poor record of upholding the rights of Christians when other rights are involved, such as those of homosexuals, and so the other decisions, although very disappointing, come as no surprise.

“All is not lost. however. The UK Government is looking at the whole area of human rights, and now is the time for Christians – and those of other faiths – to make a strong case for the reasonable accommodation of religious beliefs to be protected in law.”

European court upholds
right to wear a cross


Strasbourg, January 15 (AFP) - A British Airways employee suffered discrimination at work over the wearing of a cross, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday.

Nadia Eweida, a 60-year-old Christian, took the airline to the European court after British courts upheld BA's decision to ban her from wearing a crucifix.

The Strasbourg-based court ruled that the British courts had given "too much weight" to BA's desire to "project a certain corporate image" and her right to manifest her religious beliefs had been violated.

Eweida had worked since 1999 as a flight attendant for BA, whose uniform code stipulated that women must wear a high-necked shirt and a cravat, without any visible jewellery.

When the wearing of the cross provoked a dispute in 2006, she was offered an alternative job within the company, which she refused.

She eventually returned to work in February 2007 when BA's policy was changed to permit the display of religious symbols, with the cross and the star of David permitted. [This is pertinent information. It shows that BA changed its policy as a result of this case, even if the British courts upheld BA over the complainant. Also pertinent is that BA did have a rule at the time against their flight attendants wearing any visible jewelry [Really? No rings, earrings, bracelets or watches???] so BA may have been protected by that regulation in the eyes of the British courts, even if apparently, common sense and fairness did finally prevail at the BA eight years after the fact.]

A more detailed story about the 4 cases can be found on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2013/jan/15/ba-rights-cross-european-court
It explains why Chaplin lost her case. She worked in a hospital, and hospital authorities had asked her to remove her necklace for the protection of health and safety and to prevent infections spreading on a ward. The Strasbourg judges thought this consideration "was inherently more important" than her religious belief. Technically right, perhaps, but not in the practical sense. If, in discharging her duties, Chaplin was not required to wear a cap fully covering her hair - in hospitals, only persons working inside an operating room or a sterile laboratory are required to do so - then hair is just as much an agent of infection as a necklace! Not to mention that hands not washed often enough are the most common agents of infection anywhere and by anyone!]

Lord have mercy! But this was bound to happen... No, the magazine says GG had no part in this independent initiative by Italian Vanity Fair to exploit him for a cover story. I just hope the accompanying story isn't tasteless. The other thing to remember is that the German Vanity Fair did use Benedict XVI himself for a cover story in April 2007 for a lengthy article by Peter Seewald on the Pope's 80th birthday.

I don't know if John Paul II ever appeared on a Vanity Fair cover - if not, then B16 would be the first Pope to be on the cover of any glamour-and-style magazine, in this case, the grandaddy of all such mags. In 2007, it did strike me as unusual, to say the least, for the German VF to feature the Pope, but then, he is the first German Pope in modern times and he was marking his 80th birthday still looking very well, and Seewald's article was magnificent. The photo was taken in the garden of the Pope's Pentling home when he visited there in September 2006.

Pope's secretary 'Gorgeous George'
on Italian Vanity Fair cover
By Philip Pullella


ROME, January 15 (Reuters) - Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, Pope Benedict's private secretary, who has been dubbed "Gorgeous George" by the Italian media, is now a real-life cover boy. e

The prelate has landed on the cover of Vanity Fair. The cover on the Italian edition of the magazine shows the 56-year-old archbishop smiling, his blue eyes beaming, above a headline that reads "Father Georg - It's not a sin to be beautiful." [What an awful choice for a quotation! Taken out of the context when it was said, it sounds so self-centered and vain, and I doubt he used the world 'bello' to describe himself. But that's why the magazine is called Vanity Fair. I must look up that original quotation, though!... It may not be a sin to be good-looking - or Joseph Ratzinger would be a lifelong sinner - but the media focus on his looks certainly adds a cross for GG to bear. Forza, Mons. Georg! It's a small sacrifice to make...]

The magazine calls Ganswein "The George Clooney of St Peter's" and says it dedicated a cover story to honor his recent promotion to the rank of archbishop and as recognition of his growing power in the Roman Catholic Church. [The subttitle on the cover is actually hyperbolic: "From being the George Clooney of St. Peter's to being the #2 man at the Vatican: After his ordination as Archbishop, a portrait of a special monsignor".]*

A spokeswoman for the magazine said Gaenswein was not interviewed for the article and did not pose for the cover photo, which she said was a close-up of an existing picture.

Gaenswein, who has been Benedict's personal secretary since the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Roman Catholic leader in 2005, was elevated to the rank of archbishop earlier this month.

A German like the Pope, he was also promoted to the job of Prefect of the Pontifical Household, a position that will significantly increase his power as the Pope gets older and frailer.

As prefect, Gaenswein - already one of the most recognizable and powerful figures in the papal court - will arrange all the Pope's private and public audiences and his daily schedule.

And, because he will be keeping his job as chief private secretary, he will have even more power in deciding who has access to the 85-year-old Pope.

Vanity Fair said the article about Gaenswein was a "close up profile of a particular monsignor". The magazine goes on sale on Wednesday.

The MSM see Gaenswein's promotion purely in terms of his 'gaining power', rather than in terms of helping the Holy Father more efficiently. But he's hardly the #2 man at the Vatican, or even #3! In the Vatican protocol order, the Dean of the College of Cardinals takes precedence over the Secretary of State (who is still the #2 man in terms of administration), and Prefect of the Pontifical Household has never been considered a major Curial position. It has gained importance now, only because GG also happens to be the Pope's private secretary. I don't think the MSM ever called Mons. Dsiwisz the #2 man at the Vatican, not even during the final years of John Paul II's life. Cardinals Sodano, Sandri and Re were powerful counterweights.

In Benedict XVI's case, he is far from incapacitated, physically or mentally, and he meets regularly with Cardinals Bertone, Ouellet and Filoni (the latter may not exactly be a Benedict-ian, though Benedict made him cardinal), and Mons. Mueller; he gets regular input on the Italian bishops/dioceses and on the diocese of Rome from Cardinals Bagnasco and Vallini; there are Cardinals Koch, Amato, Canizares and Piacenza in the Curia, not to mention his African proteges, Cardinals Sarah and Turkson; and he probably consults Cardinals Ruini, Scola and even Schoenborn, as well as the octogenerian cardinals he trusts, every so often. If he wants to talk to any of them, GG has to get them for him. So it's not as if the Pope is screened off from anyone but GG! Nor can one imagine the Pope suddenly deciding not to consult anyone]

P.S. Here's a photo - thanks to Beatrice = taken of Archbishop Georg when he first performed the duty of the Prefect of the Pontifical Household to personally welcome heads of state visiting the Pope, at the Cortile di San Damaso, where the main entrance to the Apostolic Palace is located. The occasion was the visit of Monaco's Prince Albert II and his wife Charlene. Obviously, the photo was taken before the guests arrived.


And now, some quibbles about the Vanity Fair cover. It's hardly the best picture one could use of GG; it was obviously taken before he was promoted, and so, it does not show him in the vestments appropriate to his new rank. About the title, Padre Georg, I like it because it sounds warm and familiar (Arcivescovo Georg is clunky), and I don't know about informal Vatican protocol, but probably those who called him 'don Georg' before would hardly start calling him 'Excellenza' now, which is the proper spoken address to a bishop. (BTW, I've always wondered how the Heilige Vater addresses him.)

Corriere della Sera has been pursuing the Italian central bank's blockage since two weekends ago of any credit card transactions at teh Vatican. In recent days, it called attention to a document on the Banca d'Italia website explaining the reasons for the blockage. Citing a 2012 report by Moneyval, the bank claims that the Vatican has so far failed to demonstrate that it has an effective system in place against money laundering. [Leaving aside the obvious and deliberate decision of Banca d'Italia to misread the Moneyval report negatively, why did they wait till now to do anything, considering that the Moneyval report came online back in July 2012?]... Anyway, CDS took the laudable step of consulting Moneyval about the Italian bank's imputations (although it should have done this last July - get an explicit straightforward interpretaiton of the 200+-page report - as soon as the report came online), and here is what the newspaper was told:

Moneyval spokesman says the Vatican
is not under special surveillance and
has undergone a positive evaluation
for its measures against money-laundering
So why is the Italian central bank citing Moneyval
as the reason behind its most recent anti-Vatican move?
by m. Antonietta Calabro
Translated from

January 15, 2013

Regarding international standards for combatting money laundering, the Moneyval Committee of the Council of Europe has made clear tyhat the Vatican is not under special surveillance but has been undergoing the same evaluation procedures used for every state.

Nor has the evaluation of the Vatican been suspended or postponed. And that in fact, the progress report to be presented by the Vatican next July is not a measure to 'repair' any defects in its system, nor is it a 'sanctionary measure' but the standard practice followed for all states who have reached the so-called Third Round of evaluation by Moneyval.

In short, "Moneyval does not have the Holy See or Vatican City in its list of states that require 'procedures to improve conformity' [to Moneyval standards]".

Moreover, the Vatican is "not being monitored by any other international financial organization" (as for instance, GAFI (Groupe d'Action Financiere International, an international task force against financial crimes by states).

This would have happened if the Holy See had been voted negative or partially negative on 10 out of 16 criteria considered crucial by Money val in combatting money laundering. In fact the Vatican scored 9 positives to 7 negatives.

The above points emerged from a statement obtained by Corriere della Sera which requested Moneyval for an authentic interpretation of the evaluation report approved by the plenary session of Moneyval on July 4, 2012 from Jaime Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Council of Europe.

"In July 2012," Rodriguez said, "the Holy See and Vatican City State were the subject of a normal evaluation report in the so-called Third Round of evaluation, which also requires that the subject state present its own progress report one year after the evaluation report".

He explained further: "Moneyval does not say a state has 'passed' the evaluation, as if it were a test, but only because it does not use that system of terminology".

The important thing, he said, is that Moneyval has not placed the Holy See and the Vatican within its circuit of states requiring 'more procedures to increase conformity'"

But this could happen, according to Rodriguez, any time that Moneyval considers any state which is under its continuing evaluation "as having failed to implement basic reference documents, or for failing to implement recommendations made in the evaluation report".

Finally, he said that the procedures being followed with regard to the Vatican are all SOP, and "neither the Holy See nor the Vatican are being monitored by any other international entity".

But Rodriguez would not comment on the statement in Banca d'Italia's website explaining its blockage of credit-card transactions within the Vatican. [The fact that he denies the Vatican has been found deficient in its anti-moneylaundering measures is comment enough! For protocol reasons, he obviously cannot say explicitly "They are wrong" or "They shouldn't cite Moneyval falsely for their own purposes" about Banca d'Italia.]

The question is: Why has Corriere not sought an interview from Banca d'Italia officials on why they have misleadingly cited the Moneyval report as the basis for their action? Another story yesterday by the Justice reporter of the newspaper claimed that Banca d'Italia's action was due to its continuing dissatisfaction with the IOR's explanation about the 23 million euros of IOR funds that the Italian bank seized in November 2010 and released several months later after IOR officials (then still under Ettori Gotti Tedeschi) provided an explanation. According to this supposed background story, the Italian central bank now claims additionally, that some 40 million euros annually that are paid at the Vatican through credit card transactions all go to the IOR without a clear accounting of what funds go to which clients. But apparently, none of this 'background info' is found on the Banca d'Italia site... Meanwhile IOR is still technically 'leaderless'...

Vatican Radio has gone out of its way to provide an English translation of the interview given to Corriere last weekend by the Vatican's new lay AIF boss, Rene Bruelhart, reported briefly by AP and posted earlier on this page. Bruelhart actually anticipates much of what the Council of Europe spokesman confirmed afterwards:

Interview with AIF chief before
Moneyval clarification already says
Vatican is not under special surveillance

January 13, 2012

In an interview published by the Italian daily Corriere della sera on Sunday, the new Director of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF), Rene Bruelhart, spoke about the recent moves by the Bank of Italy blocking POS (Point of Sales) transactions in Vatican City State. [He was not asked about the other claims made by Banca d'Italia which do not appear on its website.]

BRUELHART: I’m surprised by the measures taken by the Bank of Italy blocking all the credit card services of Deutsche Bank in the Vatican. In July, the Holy See passed the third round evaluation of the Moneyval Committee of the Council of Europe with a ‘good’ report card, passing 9 of 16 ‘core and key’ recommendations. So the Vatican was not subject to any special measures for monitoring money laundering, neither by Moneyval nor by any other international body. We don’t have problems with other European countries.

On the contrary, we have close collaboration. No other country in the world has adopted similar measures. I repeat, therefore, that I’m truly surprised.

Bruelhart, a 40-year old from Switzerland, and one of the top experts in the world in anti-money laundering, since November the director of AIF (Financial Information Authority) for the Holy See, responded to an official note which appeared prominently last Thursday on the website of the Bank of Italy under the headline “Information and Explanations,” in which the reasons for blocking the POS (Point of Sales) transactions are given. The note, citing the Moneyval report, maintains that “the presence of an effective anti-money-laundering regime had still not been proven.”

“The year 2012 was one of verifying and adjusting the Vatican legislation to international and European Community norms, in terms of money laundering and financing terrorism,” the Adjunct Promoter of Justice Pierfrancesco Grossi said during the opening of the judicial year in the Vatican, in front of the Minister of Justice, Paola Severino and the First President of the Court of Cassation, Ernesto Lupo. Is that true?
Absolutely. The result of the evaluation – carried out in the course of about a year – that is, the Report on Vatican City, was put before the Plenary Assembly of Moneyval on July 4, which approved it in all of its parts, deeming the process of adjusting to international standards satisfactory and credible: the Holy See was not subjected to any special monitoring measure, neither by Moneyval nor by any other international body.

A jurisdiction is subject to a “special” monitoring measure when it fails to pass 10 or more of the essential recommendations, known as “core and key” recommendations. On this basis, with the Holy See having passed 9 of the “core and key” recommendations, Moneyval affirmed that the Holy See has a system of preventing and fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism, equivalent to and recognized at the international level.

Why doesn’t this seem sufficient for the Bank of Italy?
Maybe I’m not the person you should ask. I would ask the Bank of Italy. What I can say is that the Holy See has implemented the “Third EU Directive” relating to anti-money-laundering and terrorist financing in the same way as all other member states of the European Union.

I also point out that, for the Moneyval evaluators, in some cases the Holy See adopted a superior and more severe standard than the one requested by the directive.

Do you have problems with other European countries?
There are no problems; on the contrary, there’s close collaboration with European countries. In this context I’d like to mention that in 2012, AIF entered into Memoranda of Understanding with two European countries (Belgium and Spain) for international exchange of financial information and has begun negotiations with more than 20 countries.

We’ve also started the process of entering the “Egmont Group” (the international network for the exchange of confidential financial information) in which more than 130 countries participate, precisely with the goal of further developing that work, and strengthening international cooperation.

AIF also has close collaboration with similar Authorities in various countries in the European Union. So I’m truly surprised by the measures taken by the Bank of Italy. No other country in the world has adopted similar measures.

Outside Europe, what are your relations, for example, like with the United States and with the financial authorities there?
Excellent. I can confirm that AIF has started close and direct relations with the competent authorities in the United States.

The Bank of Italy claims the credit card services were blocked in relation to anti-money-laundering norms, but that this is not the only problem. They say the simplified controls with “equivalent” countries can take place “only under the condition that the non-EU country has adequate banking regulations systems of vigilance that allow for exchange of information between the respective authorities.” How do you respond?
At the present time in the Vatican City State there is a relevant financial institution, that is, the IOR, a public and not a private or banking institution. So it doesn’t seem right to talk about a “banking sector,” because that’s not what it is.

The reality is that, considering the particular nature of Vatican City State, adequate measures have been adopted for vigilance, prevention, and fighting money laundering and financing terrorism.

AIF is also a supervisory Authority and is fully committed in international cooperation also in this area, including the exchange of information with other states, among them those in Europe. For its part, the Holy See is committed to adopting further measures in the coming months, because as you know, fighting money laundering is always a “work in progress.”

Thanks to Beatrice and her site

for this first-hand account of the Paris march last Sunday...

1.3 million march to say NO
to 'marriage for everyone'
by Jeanne Smits
Translated from

January 14, 2013

Yes, there were about 1.3 million of us on Sunday on the streets of Paris for one of the most spectacular demonstrations that the capital has ever seen, organized in less than two months, with transport being rented up to the very eve of the event.

The brave people and the good people who endured the biting cold, who had to stand for hours before being able to leave their starting point for the march, many of them coming from quite a distance from Paris, with their children, baby carriages and sandwiches, in order to walk four to six kilometers in closed ranks, had put into it their time, their modest means, and above all, their heart.

They - or rather, we - were not there to claim any rights or to seek any material advantage. We were there to defend good sense, natural law, the common good.

And that is something rather incomprehensible to those in power, though perhaps not something to disconcert them, much less cause them to panic at the phenomenon.

The night before, I was told, the influx of cars into the gates of Paris already led the police to expect a participation that would be far greater than earlier anticipated - 700,000 to 1.5 million people.

The next day, the same influx. At 5 p.m. on Sunday, there were still waves of people along the three march routes of the 'Manif pour tous' towards the Eiffel Tower - not to mention the separate march of the traditionalist Catholic group Civitas. And by this time, the police count had reached 700,000. The order was given to divide that figure in half, which was why the 'official' crowd number of 340,000 was announced.

And to the great wrath of some, the real figures would be given by police officers later in the evening. Even the organizers of the Manif, who broke with the usual practice of multiplying the actual crowd estimate by two, did not dare believe the figure they were given. But yes, there were 1,300,000 of us, with 50-60,000 from Civitas, which is a considerable number, considering the long wait they had until the Place d'Italie was vacated [by the main march]. where a regrettable 'cordon sanitaire' had been set up to keep the trads away.

Having covered quite a number of demonstrations in my career, I can testify to the exceptional attitude of the forces of law and order. I had never before seen this - policemen and their supplementary security agents, watching the immense but peaceful crowds stream by with near-paternal goodwill, even answering questions (unheard of!) and even wishing the participants with a smiling "Bonne marche!' [Beatrice notes that she observed the same benevolence from the Paris police during Benedict XVI's visit and the great Mass at the Place des Invalides.]

My impressions of this incredible human tidal wave, which needed four hours to vacate the Place d'Italie once the march started (and this was just one of the three starting points)? It was an encounter with real people, who were peaceful but determined, people whom the media never acknowledge, whose voices are never heard, and if one is to believe President Hollande and his ministers, will never be heard.

They are bluffing! Even if, with tight mouths, the powers-that-be of this Republic seemed to minimize the importance of this demonstration - 'substantial' as Hollande dared describe it, in the face of what seemed to be the interminable turnout of those who do not agree with his social plans - I do believe that they must have trembled with fear and wrath.

But we all need to be prepared. The anti-Christian attitude of Hollande and his ministers will provoke reactions. Let us not waver!

You must watch this 4-minute time lapse video, entitled 'The truth about the numbers' showing one of the three marches towards the Eiffel Tower - from Place d'Italie - group after group streaming through, from 2 pm to 5:30 pm! Incroyable!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozjsyvc8eRE

Here's an eyewitness account from an English student in Paris who wrote to Deacon Nick Donnelly (who gave it the title). Refer back to the post where I used the BBC report which clearly sought to underplay and 'dismiss' the Manif in terms of "So what? More Frenchmen still support SSM than those who oppose it!"....

What the BBC doesn’t want you to know
about the Paris rally in defence of marriage

January 14th, 2013

I am studying in Paris at the moment and was fortunate enough to witness (and participate in) yesterday’s demonstration. I can tell you that it was an incredible sight; you are sadly right that the B.B.C. has conveyed neither the size nor the spirit of the event.

There were three marches across the city, each covering sizeable distances, and the first marchers arrived at the Champ de Mars (below the Eiffel Tower) before the tails of any of the processions had left. I joined one of the marches near what I thought must be its end, but was actually still within the first quarter.

The demonstration has been very well-organised. I have seen leaflets in churches and handed out at stations. Each of the three marches had flags of different colours, so that when they all converged on the Champ de Mars they would create the effect of the Tricolore. All along the march there were floats with speakers playing music and slogans, and at the Champ de Mars a concert was held on a large stage with big screens.

The mood was uplifting and joyful, and I saw people of all ages (the elderly, families, students) who had come from all over France in hundreds of coaches and even in special trains. The police have remarked that there were no unseemly incidents and that they have never seen Paris so clean after a demonstration of this size. I have read that for many (including me) this was their first demonstration.

I think the success of the march can be put down to its unflinching attention to the plight of the child, which is after all the most important objection to these proposals. The slogans, the placards and the letter to the President read out at the end all upheld the importance of family: the right of children to be brought up by the man and woman who brought them into the world.

The march also succeeded by its independence, by the breadth of opinion of its three organisers and by the joyful mood which they encouraged.

Very embarrassing, but I missed this milestone two days ago!... What a paradox! When Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope in 2005, the last thing anyone expected - him included, I would think - was that he would set any longevity record of any sort, but as Providence would have it...

Benedict XVI is now
'the fourth oldest Pontiff'
By Phil Lawler

January 14, 2013

As of today, Pope Benedict XVI is the 4th-oldest Pope to lead the Church in the past 7+ centuries—that is, in the years since reliable records have been available.

Pope Benedict is now 85 years and 270 days old: exactly the same age that Blessed Pius IX had reached when he died in 1878.

The current Pontiff was fairly old when he was elected: 78 years and 3 days. Only 4 Popes of the modern era were older when elected, and two of those — Popes Clement X and Clement XII — remained in office when they were older than Pope Benedict is today.

If the Holy Father’s good health continues, he will surpass Clement X, and become the 3rd-oldest Pope on record, in April (after he turns 86; Clement X died the day after his 86th birthday). He would overtake Clement XII and move into 2nd place late in 2014. But he would still have a long way to go to match the longevity of Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903 at the age of 93.

Historical footnote: Leo XII, who ruled the Church for 25 years, was the immediate successor to Pius IX, who reigned for 31 years. Conclaves were not a major expense for the Holy See in the late 19th century.

I was able to watch the GA this morning, and our beloved Pope was in fine form, speaking about one of his favorite themes, 'the face of God in Jesus'...

Another item I missed from January 14 came to my attention because an Indian newspaper carried a story that Vatican Radio had reported on the start of the event, arguably the world's largest religious festival - or any kind of festival, for that matter, that requires physical presence at a specific time and place....

Millions of Hindus plunge into Ganges
at world's largest religious festival



Pontoons built across a narrow stretch of the Ganges provide more take-off points for pilgrims to get into the water than if they all took off only from the riverbanks.

January 14, 2013 - More than a million Hindu holy men and pilgrims took a bracing plunge in India's sacred Ganges river to wash away lifetimes of sins on Monday, in a raucous start to an ever-growing religious gathering that is already the world's largest.

Once every 12 years, tens of millions of pilgrims stream to the small northern city of Allahabad from across India for the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Grand Pitcher Festival, at the point where the Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet with a third, mythical river.

Officials believe that over the next two months as many as 100 million people will pass through the temporary city on a wide sandy river bank. That would make it larger even than previous festivals.

After a slow start, police chief Alok Sharma said 1.5 million people had gathered by 8 a.m. local time on Monday, with more on their way. [Kumbh Mela lasts for 55 days, so it is not surprising that the total number of piilgrims can approach 100 million annually. India's 1.2 billion population is 81% Hindu. In comparison, the 5-day annual hajj to Mecca currently draws about 3 million pilgrims yearly.]

The ritual "Royal Bath" is timed to match an auspicious planetary alignment, when believers say spiritual energy flows to earth. The festival has its roots in a Hindu tradition that says the god Vishnu wrested from demons a golden pot containing the nectar of immortality.

In a 12-day fight for possession, four drops fell to earth, in the cities of Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujain and Nasik. Every three years a Kumbh Mela is held at one of these spots, with the festival at Allahabad the holiest of them all.

More than 2,000 years old, the festival is a meeting point for the Hindu sadhus (holy men), some who live in forests or Himalayan caves, and who belong to dozens of inter-related congregations.