For weeks now, the Anglophone Catholic blogosphere has been excited about Pope Francis's announced intention to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary at the next great event in the Year of Faith - Marian Days to be observed on October 12-13 in the Vatican. Such a great to-do: "Oh wow! Imagine, not any of the Popes before him, after the apparitions at Fatima, ever thought of doing that!", forgetting that John Paul II did [But ultra-trads say, "Well, Our lady said Russia ought to be consecrated to Mary, not the world, and he pointedly excluded Russia," or some such ridiculous quibble. And Benedict XVI? "Not a Marian Pope at all, compared to John Paul II and Francis!" (Yes, that Benedict-who-could-do-nothing-right-dearLord-what-a-disastrous-clueless-Pope!, as if he had no Marian creds at all, and yet, to begin with, he wrote three books about Mary before he even became Pope, and grew up venerating the Madonna of Altoetting, and we could go on and on... "Who cares? He did not venerate 'Maria salus popoli Romani' the way this Pope does" (How do we know? Perhaps he did it in private without benefit of full multimedia coverage. Why even argue?)... And yet, this Vatican Radio news report does credit him for something...
Marian Days at the Vatican
during the Year of Faith
August 23, 2013
"Blessed are you for believing!" That is the theme of the Marian Day which will be held in the Vatican on 12 and 13 October next, in the presence of the Holy Father Pope Francis and all the associations of Marian spirituality.
Organized by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, the event is part of the celebrations of the Year of Faith organized by the then Pope Benedict XVI to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council - and coincides with the anniversary of the last apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima.
It was, in fact, on October 13, 1917, when at Cova da Iria, Portugal, Our Lady appeared for the sixth and final time to the three shepherd children, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta. Soon after, there was the so-called "miracle of the sun" the solar disc changed colour, size and position for about ten minutes.
In memory of this date, therefore, the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be brought to St. Peter's Square and exposed to the veneration of the faithful.
This is the program of the day in detail: Saturday, October 12, at 8:00 am, there will be a pilgrimage to the tomb of Peter. An hour later, Eucharistic Adoration will begin with the celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation in some churches adjacent to St. Peter's Square.
In the afternoon, at 17.00, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima will be welcomed by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square and then the Pope will hold a Marian catechesis.
At 19.00, the statue of the Virgin will be brought to the Santuario del Divino Amore, where the Rosary will be recited with a link up to all the Marian shrines in the world. A prayer vigil at Divino Amore will begin at 22.00.
The next day, Sunday, October 13, the statue will return to St. Peter's Square at 10.00 am, there will be a recitation of the Holy Rosary, and at 10.30 the Pope will preside at Mass.
I was pleasantly surprised, almost shocked, that Vatican Radio reported this event as an initiative of Benedict XVI, contrary to almost all Vatican publicity about the Year of Faith events that have taken place after Benedict XVI stepped down as Pope. That was A decision by the Vatican media bigwigs that is consistent with their determination to ignore, as much as possible, the existence of Benedict XVI or his Pontificate. And specifically, in this case, given that Mons. Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, which is the Church's lead agency in the Year of Faith, has appeared to have totally erased Benedict XVI from his consciousness in his rather obvious pandering to his new boss.
I can give no better example of such pandering than what he said as one of the three official presenters of Lumen Fidei when it was released last July 5:
“Lumen Fidei, while recovering some insights and some content of the teaching of Benedict XVI, is totally a text of Pope Francis,” the archbishop said at the Holy See’s press office during the encyclical’s release on July 5.
“Here we find his style, and the peculiarity of the content to which we have become accustomed in the first months of his pontificate, especially with his daily homilies,” he added.
Archbishop Fisichella stressed that “the usage of expressions, the wealth of images to which he makes reference, and the peculiarity of some quotations from ancient and modern authors make this text a true introduction to his teaching and allow a better understanding of the pastoral style that makes him unique.”
As I remarked at the time, the stark untruthfulness in all of that must have been embarassing to Pope Francis himself (when even L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio appeared to have been so embarassed by the outright falsehood of Fisichella's statements they decided not to report his presentation at all). But we have here someone trying to make sure Pope Francis does not forget to name him when he decides to create the first cardinals of his Pontificate.
And yet, as far as the Year of Faith itself is concerned, it was Mons. Fisichella himself who announced the full calendar of the planned events - especially those with the participation of the Pope - ack in 2012, months before Benedict XVI's shock announcement that he was renouncing the Papacy. In short, no new events for the Year of Faith were added on by the new Pope that had not already been programmed and approved by his predecessor. Which is certainly not the impression that the Vatican media as a whole have been fostering in their reportage of the YOF events.
But on the Year of Faith website run by Mons. Fisichella's Council, there is a glaring discrepancy that no one has noticed enough to correct. The announcement for the YOF calendar poster still advertises "Poster for the Great Events of the Year of Faith with Benedict XVI', as it was when the YOF began in 2012, whereas the poster itself has since been edited to say "The great events in the Year of Faith with Pope Francis":
And yet the 2013 calendar includes events in January and February when Benedict XVI was still Pope, so why couldn't the poster read "...with Popes Benedict XVI and Francis"? And whose idea was it again to celebrate a Year of Faith? In the eyes of Mons. Fischella, after March 13, 2013, it would seem Benedict XVI gets no points at all for decreeing the Year of Faith.
Perhaps Mons. Fisichella is too busy polishing apples for the boss he has not checked his Council's website lately. I do bear him a big big grudge for his evidently self-willed Benedict amnesia. And as petty as it may seem, IMHO, he has it in for B16 because he was not made a cardinal in his last consistory, the mini-consistory with six new cardinals - but neither was Mons. Gerhard Mueller of the CDF, and surely, the CDF Prefect is more senior in terms of the importance of his dicastery than the head of the Vatican's youngest pontifical office! If you want a signal example of careerism in the Vatican, look no further than Mons. Fisichella.]
I could have found any number of news reports and commentaries during the nearly eight years of Benedict XVI's Pontificate to 'attest' to his Marian devotion in his own way, but the following best illustrates it, I think. From the coverage of his apostolic trip to Portugal in 2010, one of the most satisfying of his visits:
It was particularly difficult to keep up with the coverage of the Portugal visit not only because of its wealth of events - the two days in Fatima were intense - but because the entire visit fell during the week, when one does not have the relative leisure of a weekend to try to be prompt and comprehensive in posting reports, let alone commentary on the events.
One of the immediately memorable commentaries I saw thanks to Beatrice on her site
benoit-et-moi.fr/2010-II/
was a blog entry by Jean Marie Guenois, religion editor of Le Figaro. A commentary that brings back all the emotion of watching the event - Benedict XVI praying to Our Lady of Fatima upon arriving at the Shrine on Wednesday, May 12... This is a most unexpected spiritual reflection from a secular journalist, a reflection that I have been swirling around in my palate like a sip of a rare wine that must be shared... Fortunately, the moments he describes were rather well documented on photographs.
A rose for Our Lady:
The Pope becomes a child
Translated from the blog
by JEAN MARIE GUENOIS
Religion Editor
May 12, 2010
In the Marian shrine of Fatima, I had the chance on Wednesday afternoon to be a few meters away from Benedict XVI and to see him in contemplation before the venerated statue of the Virgin.
Surely there could be nothing more common than to see a Pope pray. He's merely doing his job, some would say.
It so happens I have already observed several similar situations but I have rarely noted such a '
recueillement' in anyone.
[The one-word English translation is reverence or meditation, but the sense conveyed by the French word, and its cognates in the other Romance languages, is much more active, literally, a 'gathering in' of one's entire being.]
It is impressive and difficult to describe. Is this because of too much emotion or lack of objectivity [on the part of the observer]? I don't think so.
There are instances like this of 'extreme' human situations which may be signs of suffering, or of intense joy, a mythical exteriority - or a unique interiorness. Though intimate, they are nonetheless 'fact'.
What had happened? Benedict XVI went towards the image to offer it a gift - a rose in gold and silver - a symbol of thanksgiving. He had just read a prayer in which he evoked his predecessor, John Paul II, the assassination attempt on him, and the sufferings of the Church. He was the Pope and being so.
Then, he seemed to be transformed the moment his aide handed him the rose to lay at the foot of the image. Now, he was no longer a Pope but a child. He walked forward with the smile of a child on Mother's Day - at once very happy with the gift he was going to present, too moved by the knowledge of it, and rather timorous of the gesture he is making in a sort of role reversal since a child is used to receiving gifts rather than giving them.
Benedict XVI placed his present at the feet of the Virgin, then he began to pray with his whole being, it seemed - eyes closed, almost physically 'sucked in' by the image. Long minutes, paradoxical ones, made up of absence, a stunning presence, and silence.
Around him, on the esplanade, some 300,000 faithful seemed to vibrate in diapason. Now and then, the man in white regarded the image with a look of both tenderness and distress. A look that implored even as it gave thanks.
Then, his master of ceremonies came to take him by the arm gently. The child became the Pope again.
Some may scoff at this as mystical ecstasy, or mystical delirium, they would say. But I would pay my respects to a man's prayer - whoever he is. This secret dialog of the soul, in which each individual works his own alchemy. But in which one grasps, precisely from facial expressions, the 'truth' of such moments.
In the same way that, not long after, I was struck by the tears in the eyes of an old Portuguese peasant, his skin leathery from a life of work, after his eyes met the Pope's. The old man was overwhelmed. He clearly did not wish to weep but with tears in his eyes, he was an example of dignity.
This is pure emotion. In this respect, religion is very human, and shrines like Fatima are alive with high spiritual tensions.
It made me think how difficult it is to write of spiritual phenomena. As a journalist. But other professions, too, are similarly challenged. Without any doubt, there is an objectivity to religious expression. Just because it has been 'described' as subjective does not mean that it is not objective per se. And precisely as a 'factual fact', I would dare say.
I also reflected on what one calls 'spiritual struggle' which seems palpable in a place like Fatima, when thousands of persons are praying with one heart.
I then thought back to what I had written in the past regarding Benedict XVI's supposed 'distance' from Marian questions - which is his reputation at the Vatican.
[I have always found this strange, but I suppose such Vatican 'doubters' are probably judging him by the standards of his predecessor's open and total devotion to Mary - 'Totus tuus' was his motto - forgetting not just that Benedict XVI is Bavarian but that he grew up in a family and an environment that was specially and actively devoted to Our Lady of Altoetting.]
I then realized that I had mixed up two things: his extremely rational approach to supernatural facts and his personal devotion. John Paul II was a Polish Pope who was a passionate lover of the Virgin Mary and never hid it.
Benedict XVI has the same passion but this famously modest man does not 'display' it.
As for his rationalist approach to the phenomenon of apparitions from heaven, the Pope spoke of it on his inflight news conference en route to Lisbon.
He explained the importance for the Church of distinguishing the psychological, cultural and historic conditioning of persons who feel, see or hear supernatural manifestations, from the essence of the message for which they serve as the vehicle for communication.
Because then, faith which is stripped of its human conditionings (thus, time is needed for the right discernment) deploys its most profound sense which has universal importance and traverses history.
Guenois joined Le Figaro in 2008 after 10 years as religion editor for La Croix, a Catholic newspaper. As a correspondent, he lived in Rome from 1989-1998, during he founded I-Media, an international news agency that has distinguished itself for its reliable 'insider' reporting from the Vatican. In 2005, he wrote a book about Benedict XVI
(The sense of the title is roughly 'The Pope who was not supposed to be electable').
A rose from the Pope
Editorial
by Giovanni Maria Vian
Translated from
the 5/14-5/15 issue of
The papal visit to Portugal revealed the kind and strong heart of Benedict XVI, who is increasingly perceived more clearly in his apostolic visits as carrying out the mission of the Successor to Peter.
As he did in Lisbon, Fatima and Porto, where the simple and intense affection of the Portuguese - so numerous and so enthusiastic that they surprised the impeccable trip organizers themselves, and even the international media which have not always been benevolent - was manifested passionately and movingly.
Especially in the Shrine of Fatima which is truly the spiritual heart of the nation and evident proof of the modernity of Mary, who was greeted with waving white handkerchiefs and showers of rose petals reserved by tradition for the Blessed Mother and for pilgrims coming back in olden times from Rome.
Indeed, this apostolic visit was made in the name of Our Lady of Fatima, following those of Paul VI and John Paul II, and in sight of the centenary of the apparitions in 2017.
A visit to confirm the message entrusted by the Virgin to the three child visionaries - a message so rooted in the Bible, and a prophecy that is as permanent as it is far from imaginary speculations:
Notwithstanding the selfishness that always threatens human life and peace, notwithstanding the continued suffering of the Church for the sins of her children, the last word, Benedict XVI reiterated, will never be that of evil, which was conquered by the Risen Christ, and which, therefore, Christians can and must fight and defeat through prayer, penitence and witness.
Before the small image of the Virgin and in the presence of about 300,000 pilgrims, the Pope offered her a Golden Rose that he had brought from Rome "as a son who has come to visit his Mother and does so in the company of a multitude of his brothers and sistere".
In the bullet that his predecessor had asked to be embedded in the crown of the image - the bullet that missed killing him - Benedict XVI sees a symbol of the sufferings of the Church and the world.
Thus, as the Year for Priests is coming to a close, Benedict XVI consecrated himself and all priests to the Blessed Mother, with a gesture that is within the tradition of Fatima, but which took on an added significance because of his confident appeal for radical faithfulness which is so necessary in these times.
Once more, 'Peter today', as his Secretary of State has called him, is not alone. Surrounded and sustained by the communion of saints in the affection and growing sympathy of numberless Catholics and non-Catholics, the successor of the first among the apostles called on the Catholics of Porto - but spoke to all Christians - for just one thing:
"Dear brothers and sisters, it is necessary that you become witnesses with me to the resurrection of Jesus". In order to make God present in this world, where only the light of Christ -
lumen Christi - can make the flame of faith burn brightly, a flame which can be extinguished if it is not continually fed.
A flame to illuminate the darkness, like the candles of Fatima which are reflected in the Pope's rose.
Images from the candelight procession and rosary led by the Pope on the vigil of the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
Most newspaper reports on the Pope's first day in Fatima did not report it because of the earlier events - offering the Rose to the image, and the consecration of the clergy to Our Lady.
Yet is was an event as significant as the Mass, if only because virtually all 500,000 who were at the Mass the following morning were already in attendance. As in Lourdes, the candlelight procession and recitation of the Rosary is a signal event, especially when led by the Holy Father.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/08/2013 08:07]