BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Wednesday, April 21

ST. ANSELM OF CANTEBRURY (ANSELMO D'AOSTA) (b Italy 1033, d England 1109)
Benedictine monk, Abbot, Archbishop of Aosta, Archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor of the Church
Anselm first wanted to be a priest at 15 but his rich father opposed him, and so he spent the next 12 years of his life enjoying life to the full. During a trip to France, he came to the Benedictine monastery of Bec in Normandy, and joined the order at age 27. Within 15 years, he became its abbot, succeeding Lanfranc, who had been his mentor, quickly transforming Bec into a famous monastic school. He also started publishing his philosophical and theological works which were likened to St. Augustine's, in which he sought to analyze and illumine the faith through reason. Meanwhile, Lanfranc had been sent to England to help the English clergy in a much-needed renewal. As Archbishop of Canterbury, he asked Anselm to help him, and when Lanfranc died, Anselm was named to succeed him. It was 1093 and he was 60 years old. He spent the rest of his life fighting to defend Church freedom in England. Twice he was exiled by two kings for his opposition to them. Finally in 1106, King Henry I renounced his right to the conferral of ecclesiastical offices, the collection of taxes and the confiscation of Church properties. Anselm returned to England in triumph, devoting himself to moral formation of the clergy and carrying on his own theological studies. He is considered the father of Christian scholasticism. He died in 1109. He was canonized in 1492 and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1720. Benedict XVI devoted a catechesis to him on Sept. 23, 2009
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20090923...
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/042110.shtml


OR today.


Papal news in this issue includes the Pope's homily at the funeral Mass for Cardinal Spidlik, a front-page commentary by American
Jesuit Robert Imbeli on how Pope Benedict XVI teaches the faithful with the aid of images and the Holy Father's way of looking at
sacred images, and Mons. Georg Gaenswein's introduction to the book Benedetto XVI urbi et orbi, a collection of photographs
selected and captioned by him to illustrate the past five years of the Pontificate through the Pope's encounters with the faithful
in Rome, in Italy and the countries he has travelled to. The book has been published in German and Italian in time for the papal
anniversary last Monday. Page 1 international news: Greece needs 80-billion euros to begin dealing with its debt crisis; Iraqi and
American forces kill Al Qaeda's top two men in Iraq; and a British scientific study shows that scare water resources in developing
countries, especially Africa, are being used up by local industries manufacturing consumer goods for the developed world.


THE POPE'S DAY

General Audience at St. Peter's Square - The Holy Father reports on his weekend visit to Malta.