In the simplicity of prayer:
A birthday greeting
to the Holy Father
Translated from the 4/15/12 issue of
Benedict XVI returned to the Vatican Friday evening, April 13, after beign in Castel Gandolfo since the afternoon of Easter Sunday.
The Pope advanced his return to Rome by 48 hours to welcome his brother, Mons. Georg Ratzinger, who arrived from Regensburg to celebrate two significant milestones with him: his 85th birthday on Monday, April 16; the seventh anniversary of his election to be the Successor of Peter on Thursday. April 19; and the anniversary of the inauguration of his Petrine ministry on April 24.
The pictures shown here were taken as the brothers prayed Lauds together Saturday morning in the Pontiff's private chapel, after morning Mass.
It is in the simplicity of prayer that
L'Osservatore Romano joins its readers and many other persons throughout the world - men and women, beyond religious distinctions - who wish Benedict XVI a happy birthday.
He who believes is never alone, the Pope likes to repeat,expressing with this statement the mysterious and invisible reality - but not less real for this - of the communion of saints.
Benedict XVI is never alone because he is surrounded by the affection of perspons near and far, and by the friendship of the saints.
Ad multos annos, beatissimi pater! Ad multos et felicissimos annos!
Italian bishops' conference (CEI):
Telegram of greeting and support
MOST HOLY FATHER,
In the Paschal light of the Resurrected Lord, the Church in Italy embrace you on the occasion of the happy observance of your 85th birthday and the seventh anniversary of your Pontifical election.
Our best wishes come with our prayers, with which we ask the Lord, who called you to life and who chose you to the episcopal order, to conserve you for the entire Church as the leader and pastor of the people of God.
Sustained by your enlightened Magisterium and your irreproachable witness, we wish to face with renewed conviction our pilgrimage in the footsteps of Christ, welcoming with special disposition and unanimous commitment the year of Faith.
Your decision to honor in this way the 50th anniversary of the opening the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church finds us vigilant to intensify our reflection on the faith, on adherence to the Gospel, and on the social responsibility of announcing it with courage and directness.
Holiness, may everyone know the esteem and gratitude with which we are one with you, as we involve your paternal blessing on our ecclesial communities and on the entire Italian people.
For the Italian bishops' conference:
CARDINAL ANGELO BAGNASCO
President
MONS. MARIANO CROCIATA
Secretary
Cardinal Bagnasco wrote a separate tribute for Avvenire, teh newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference.
The Pope's 85 years:
A family celebration
by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco
President, Italian bishops' conference
Translated from
The splendid colonnade in St. Peter's Square expresses the grand embrace that the Catholic Church has for Benedict XVI on his 85th birthday.
That ideal and strong embrace also includes the world that recognizes in him a light for all of mankind: a gentle and clear light which shows us, with the words of Jesus and of universal reason, the true and the good.
It is therefore a family celebration, with gratitude to the Lord who chose him as his Vicar on earth; to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who accepted the will of Christ, knowing that one is close to Jesus only in the obedience of love; to the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, who, with prayer and thought, by word and by governance, leads the People of God.
From the beginning of his supreme ministry, Benedict XVI began his humble and joyous 'reform' of the Church, knowing full well that the urgent problem for the Church today is that of faith.
The joy of faith is the golden thread that inspires and unifies each of his discourses. And this is the most imporatnt response that the world needs in general: not organizational changes, as much as a reform of hearts, because it is hearts that animate and make fruitful all programs and structures.
Holiness - center of Pope Benedict's joyful reform - is not an abstraction nor a retreat from modernity, but on the contrary, it aims at the core of contemporary man's problems.
It means to live the faith with that joyous awareness that changes the life of individuals and generates a new humanity, new relationships, vital organisms. If faith irradiates the way we think and act, then the Lord is rendered present, and societies, cultures and States will benefit. Then, wherever there is a lump of humanity, hope will sprout.
It is along this road of renewal that the Pope is leading the Church, knowing that the world expects somehow to see the Invisible through the joy of redeemed souls. He does this very gently, almost on tiptoes, even knowing that he must serve, as he does, with the tenacity of the helmsman beset by winds that are often contrary.
By virtue of his original 'Yes' to Christ, he does not promote himself nor seek 'success'. A shy man, he hesitates from demonstrating anything personal to the Church or to the world. His only desire is to proclaim Jesus, light of the world. Herein lies his disarming freedom, and therefore, his personal peace.
His Magisterium reminds us of the beauty of faith, a beauty to be rediscovered as fresh and functional, embracing the lively and generous world of young people as well as the witness of Christians marked with misery and persecution, sometimes to a bloody end.
He reminds us that freedom rests on truth. He does not fear to tackle the most sensitive issues, not entering them with violence, and always recognizing the least bit of light. But without failing to make the truth shine forth - the truth about Christ and about man who finds in Christ his own true face.
I think that it is here where Benedict XVI's gift of 'prophecy' lies - in consistently showing the way of truth and of life. In his apostolic travels, he often reminds the faithful that mankind is in danger of losing the 'human' way, by going against himself. The Gospel is God's revelation, the offering of his life, freedom from illusions, true happiness.
His coat of arms reveals something of this man, whom Christ chose unexpectedly as his obedient instrument, and who, with the pilgrim's scallop, shows the way of the universal Church towards God's high pastures.
Thank you, Holy Father. The Church in Italy, along with all her bishops, surrounds you in her embrace, wishing to be the first and the nearest to say to you:
Ad multos annos, Santita!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/04/2012 19:21]