Apocalyptic Predictions From Novelists Notwithstanding ...

Bishop Anthony Fisher (an Australian Dominican who Tim Drake interviewed here) vigorously defended World Youth Day this week (he is the co-ordinator of the day).

He was replying to Australian Alan Gold, who wrote a scathing piece about WYD called "God's Day Out a Shambles."

"Novelist Alan Gold demonstrates his skill as a fiction writer in his recent opinion piece about World Youth Day 2008," begins the good bishop. He continues:

"While the Sydney Olympics ran like a well-oiled machine, he says, insecurity, top-level resignations and a growing 'sense of doom' have turned the organisation of WYD into a potential nightmare.

"Now let's be clear. There have been no top-level resignations from WYD, which is unusual given the size of the staff and the mammoth task involved.

"The reason for the extraordinary sticking power of our staff is that, far from a sense of doom, there are such good spirits and excitement among the leaders and staff, as there are among other Australians. The same cannot be said for some of those campaigning against World Youth Day with their dire predictions and constant carping about costs."

"Apocalyptic predictions from novelists notwithstanding ... it will be a magical time for all Sydney, and for all Australia, not just the Catholics, not just the youth. Ordinary people will join the pilgrims in big numbers and will have an emotionally and spiritually uplifting time. At least, that's been the experience in every previous host city."

Asks the bishop: "So what's going on here? Why the constant negativity in some quarters?"

Read the whole thing to find out Bishop Fisher's answer.

Vatican Lining Up Saints Against Abuse

Father Michael J. McGivney (1852-1890) is a saint for America today, particularly regarding immigration and the renewal of the priesthood after the abuse crisis.

So says Msgr. Robert Sarno, an official at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in an interview with the Register's Edward Pentin.

See the whole  interview next week at www.ncRegister.com, but this part  has some interesting news in it (and it wouldn't fit in the print edition).

Asks Pentin:

In a recent interview, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone made the connection between Father McGivney and the sexual abuse crisis. Do you think his cause is very timely, to elevate his example in light of these circumstances?

The answer:

Yes indeed — combining what Cardinal Bertone said together with what the Holy Father said about the holiness of the priest, that holiness is really what we’re all about.

We’re all called to be holy. That is a lifelong project, a whole life that we look at.

Holiness is not something you achieve and you have it in a box and you keep it there forever. It’s something that has to be constantly worked at, and so at this particular moment in the history of the American Church, Father McGivney offers to us an example of a holy priest who dedicated himself to the ministry and to service of God’s people and to its complete fullness and in dedication to Our Lord.

There are other figures, too, in the American Church who are also under study at the congregation that have given this kind of example.

I think, for example, of Father Nelson Baker (1842-1936) from the Diocese of Buffalo who is a Servant of God, or Archbishop Fulton Sheen, who dedicated his entire life in full and complete service to the Lord and the ministry, or Bishop [Alphonse] Gallegos (1931-1991), the auxiliary Bishop of Sacramento.

So there are other figures in the American Church who are now just coming to the fore.

Father McGivney is certainly the first and stands out because we are talking about someone who was active in the 19th century. He’s the first of a line and hopefully there will be many more coming.

 

Pope Benedict to Thank WYD Volunteers

World Youth Day Organizers say:

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will hold a special audience with the 8,000 people who volunteer for World Youth Day (WYD08) to thank them for their hard work and dedication. (It's not too late to volunteer. They're still looking for about 3,000 volunteers.)

Instead of holding a tickertape parade, all WYD08 volunteers will be invited to an exclusive event with Pope Benedict before he boards his return flight to Rome.

“This will be a wonderful way to thank the 8,000 people who will have devoted their time to become the face of World Youth Day,” said WYD08 Chief Operating Officer, Danny Casey.

“We are still remembered for the generosity and altruism that around 47,000 volunteers displayed during the Sydney 2000 Olympics,” Mr Hollway said.

WYD08 only has around 8,000 volunteer roles on offer and organisers have already received applications from 5,000 people.

Roles are available in:

• operations and crowd management
• customer service
• language and translations
• staffing,
• hospitality & catering
• accommodation
• production
• communications
• liturgy and evangelisation

“Volunteers will take away more than just unforgettable experiences and fond memories of their participation, but also the knowledge that they were part of something huge - a significant page in Australia’s history,” said WYD08 Chief Operating Officer Danny Casey.

Volunteers must be over the age of 18 and be able to work during the event week 15 – 20 July, and will receive a uniform, backpack and assistance with public transport costs and meals.

WYD08 is taking applications now. For more information and to apply, visit www.wyd2008.org/volunteer

-- Tim Drake

You Know You've Got Their Attention When ...

... every little thing you do is headlined.

Pro: An attentive audience is, generally speaking, a receptive audience. This even applies to the section reserved for the press. Maybe they'll receive the Gospel while they're salivating for a scoop.

Con: Those who see you primarily as a celebrity — and their numbers are legion today — will see your very humanness as fair game for silly sport ... and report on you accordingly.  

DP

Can Tim Drake Keep Up?

This weekend the Pope's jetting off to the Liguori region of Italy for a pastoral visit to Savona & Genoa. While there, he'll celebrate mass of course. He'll also meet with sick children and their families, youth, consecrated men and women, and the bishops of the region. Also scheduled: visits to two Marian shrines: Our Lady of Mercy in Savona and Our Lady of the Watch in Genoa. The former commemorates the appearance of Our Lady to a Shepherd, Bl. Antonio Botta, in 1536. At the time, the cities of Savona & Genoa were at war, and Our Lady urged both sides to practice "mercy, not justice." You can read the entire program for the weekend here.

The Vatican also recently confirmed the Pope will travel to Paris in September, followed by a visit  to Lourdes in honor of the 150th anniversary of the apparitions there. For someone who says he's too old to travel much and must conserve his energy, the Holy Father gets around.

    -Rebecca Teti

Make Like the Pope's Secretary, and ...

Pray the rosary with him!

Benedict XVI has a “profound Marian devotion," says his spokesman. "He prays the Rosary every day with his secretaries while walking, and thus he invites us to us this prayer: simple, humble, daily, which everyone can pray with devotion and which helps us also to meditate on the mysteries of the life of Christ together with Mary, who is obviously the person closest to Christ.”

Catholics will soon be able to pray the Rosary with Pope Benedict XVI thanks to Vatican Radio, which will release a 4-CD set with all 20 mysteries, reports Catholic News Agency.

Papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See’s Press Office, said on Vatican Radio that the idea for the Rosary CDs came as a response to interest from listeners who were accustomed to praying the Rosary with the Servant of God Pope John Paul II.

“During his last years,” he continued, “Pope John Paul II was not able to pray the Rosary live, but since there were various recordings, the listeners, the faithful, could use their cassettes of the Rosary led by the Pope, thus facilitating their prayer and devotion.”

Father Lombardi said that “with the new pontificate, there was renewed interest in praying the Rosary with the Holy Father,” and the CDs are an effort to respond to that interest.

The Pope recorded the CDs in Latin because “we have received requests not only from Italy but from places such as Germany and other countries.  So we have used this language for the Rosary which everyone understands easily and because it is the universal language of the Church.”

Unity Is A Fruit Of Discipleship

Here's the text of the Holy Father's homily for Pentecost that Tom Hoopes promised a few posts ago.Of course read it in its entirety to grasp the fullness of his message, but I absolutely loved this:

At Pentecost the Church is not constituted by a human will, but by the power of the Spirit of God. And it immediately appears how this Spirit gives life to a community that is at the same time one and universal, thus overcoming the curse of Babel (cf. John 11:7-9). Only the Spirit, in fact, which creates unity in love and in the reciprocal acceptance of diversity, can liberate humanity from the constant tension of an earthly will-to-power that wants to dominate and make everything uniform.

Remember the ancient maxim, often attributed to Benedict’s patron, St. Augustine: “In essential things, unity; in doubtful things, liberty; in all things, charity”? Benedict teaches that only the Holy Spirit is capable of bringing that ideal about. Left to ourselves, we have a tendency to fly off in one of two directions. Either we try to elevate our personal preferences into questions of morality (as if there were only one "Catholic" way to load a dishwasher); or, fed up, we break off into factions, unable to live with one another. It’s the Holy Spirit who is the author of true unity within diversity, allowing for the beautiful multiplicity of charisms and authentic Christian discipleship within the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. It is not our place to establish this unity so much as to allow it to take shape in us through union with the Holy Spirit. And this we achieve through prayer, which the Holy Father says,

is the principal activity of the nascent Church.

Beautiful! And speaking of multiplicity of charisms, this weekend the Pontifical Council on the Laity is bringing 100 or so of the world's bishops together with representatives of 20 of the so-called "new movements" within the Church for a four-day seminar on the new movements as gifts of the Holy Spirit.

     -Rebecca Teti

Remembering May 13, 1981

We all remember the pictures of Pope John Paul II embracing Ali Agca in 1982, a few months after his assassination attempt. But remember when he embraced Agca's mother, in 1998?

Today is the anniversary of the Fatima-Day assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square. A few years ago, we ran a first-person account of the day by Bishop Stanislaw Dziwisz. Here's Part ONE and here's Part TWO

And here's a picture of the statue that now has the assassin's bullet affixed on its crown. Here the statue is being brought to the scene of the crime in 2006:

Benedict Channels the Fathers

Our publisher, Father Owen Kearns, and I once had a conversation about the difficulty of writing headlines to Benedict stories. Something about the way Benedict writes and speaks is extraordinary. But it's a subtle thing. He speaks of Christian mysteries in  a straightforward way that seems very ordinary. But his insights are penetrating and deep.

He will say something like: "Christianity is friendship with Jesus," then give that phrase a depth and breadth that you never noticed was there, and you'll read it and grasp something new for the first time. But then you slap a headline on it like "Christianity is friendship with Jesus," and it looks like a We Gather workbook chapter head.

In an interview with the Catholic organization “Early Christians,” Giovanni Maria Vian, editor of L’Osservatore Romano, got at this problem a little bit in discussing Benedict's audiences about the Christian Fathers:

Benedict is “so imbued with Christian tradition that he does not need to include many quotes; rather, he himself is so immersed that he speaks as a Father of the Church, what he says is understood, even though they are profound discourses. It is a way of drawing close to the Christian experience in a very lofty but understandable way.”

That's a nice way of putting it.

-- Tom Hoopes

Benedict on Humanae Vitae

Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday praised the teaching against artificial contraception in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's 1968 "Humanae vitae" ("On Human Life"). Here are some quotes from the AP version.

"The teaching laid out in the 'Humanae vitae' encyclical isn't easy," Benedict said.

"What was true yesterday remains true even today. 'The truth expressed in 'Humane vitae' doesn't change; on the contrary, in the light of new scientific discoveries it is ever more up to date," the Pope added.

He also spoke about the Church's teaching against vitro fertilization:

"No mechanical technique can substitute the act of love that two married people exchange as a sign of a greater mystery," Benedict said in his speech.

Benedict expressed concern that human life risks losing its value in today's culture and worried that sex could "transform itself into a drug" that one partner had to have even against the will of the other.

(Update: Here's what he said, according to Zenit ... The Pontiff affirmed that "in a culture suffering from the prevalence of having over being, human life risks losing its value. If the practice of sexuality becomes a drug that seeks to enslave the partner to one's own desires and interests, without respecting the times of the beloved, then what must be defended is no longer just the concept of love but, primarily, the dignity of the person. As believers we could never allow the power of technology to invalidate the quality of love and the sacredness of life.")

Paul VI was said to have agonized over whether to allow artificial conception in preparing the encyclical. Benedict described Paul's decision as the fruit of much suffering and the document as "a significant gesture of courage."

"Forty years after its publication, that teaching not only shows itself to be unchanged in its truth, but it reveals the farsightedness with which the problem was tackled," Benedict said.

Rose Petals For Pentecost

Rebecca Teti here: I write the Faith & Culture column for the Register's sister publication, Faith & Family magazine. You owe yourself a look at Fr.John Zuhlsdorf's pictures of one of the coolest Roman Pentecost traditions --the dropping of millions of rose petals through the oculus of the Pantheon (which has been the Catholic church of St. Mary of the Martyrs for some time now). Fr. Z, as he's affectionately known to Catholic bloggers, has some photos of how it's done (firefighters, huge ladders), but best of all, some terrific photos too of the petals being released. They really look like tongues of fire.

Update: And here while it lasts is video of the same ceremony at the Benedictine Abbey in Padua. What riches we have in the Church! The Abbey's website (in Italian) speculates on the custom's origin and says "this simple gesture inserted into the solemn liturgy of Pentecost creates an extraordinary atmosphere of prayer and contemplation." Or anyway, I think that's what it says.

Benedict's Pentecost

Pope Benedict has been pushing Pentecost, hard, particularly praying for a new Pentecost in America, as we point out here.

The Vatican is supporting the boss with this collection of Pentecost texts. The Pope has been calling for a new Pentecost for the whole Church and explained what he means by it, here, to clergy:

it is Jesus himself who promises that he will ask the Father to send his Spirit, defined as "another Paraclete" (Jn 14: 16), a Greek word that is equivalent to the Latin "ad-vocatus", an advocate-defender. The first Paraclete is in fact the Incarnate Son who came to defend man from the accuser by antonomasia, who is Satan. At the moment when Christ, his mission fulfilled, returns to the Father, he sends the Spirit as Defender and Consoler to remain with believers for ever, dwelling within them. Thus, through the mediation of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, an intimate relationship of reciprocity is established between God the Father and the disciples: "I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you", Jesus says (Jn 14: 20).

As Hartford's Archdiocese's New Haven auxiliary Bishop Peter Rosazza put it yesterday to the confirmation class at St. Mary's in New Haven, "if you had the spirit of John Paul, you'd do the things John Paul did. If you had the spirit of Nelson Mandela, you would do the things he did. But you have the spirit of Christ."

We'll post Benedict's homily from yesterday once it's in English.

-- Tom Hoopes

High-Tech Benedict

Speaking of the Vatican going high-tech, as we do below, here's a look at a Pope Benedict XVI text message on a GSM cell phone. The pope will send daily text messages directly to pilgrims with GSM cell phones during World Youth Day July 15-20 in Sydney, Australia. (This hasn't happened yet, so this is a CNS illustration credited to Emily Thompson and Paul Haring.)

Surfer Cross

Surfers welcomed the World Youth Day cross and icon on Bell's Beach near Melbourne, Australia, May 8. The cross and icon have been carried thousands of miles through Australia in advance of World Youth Day in July.

 

Catholic News Service offered this Fiona Ba sile, Reuters photo. And this one, of the young people carrying the cross up the beach steps ...

New Vatican Latin Site

The Vatican's website, http://www.vatican.va, has a new Latin section. On the opening screen, it's listed right there beside German, Italia, English and the rest. Go direct to it here.

It looks like this:

The Vatican is getting more high-tech every day. In December, the Congregation for the Clergy unveiled a Web site offering the Bible in nine languages, the Code of Canon Law and commentary on Sunday liturgy.

The congregation's new site, www.bibliaclerus.org, is part of its www.clerus.org Web site geared toward serving the world's priests, deacons and catechists.

People accessing the new site will be able to read Scripture along with its interpretation in light of tradition, the teachings of the church and papal commentaries.

Biblical texts are available in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, Italian, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese.

Oceanic Sea Change?

John Allen has an excellent commentary piece in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning called (did it appear elsewhere? Google only mentions Australian papers, with this title anyway) "Chance to recast relations with Rome." He describes what Denver (the smallest World Youth Day to date, by the way) did for the U.S.:

"Denver was a runaway triumph. Measured against modest expectations, turnout was impressive. More to the point, the 500,000 youth who showed up were wildly enthusiastic. The city rolled out the red carpet, and American media coverage was both extensive and overwhelmingly positive.

"One can date a sea change in Vatican attitudes towards the US from that moment. Most importantly, the 1993 World Youth Day helped Rome to grasp that America's traditions of pluralism and church-state separation do not inhibit religion, but rather allow the faith to flourish. That is a theme Benedict XVI repeatedly stressed on his recent visit to Washington and New York.

He suggests the same will happen in Australia:

"As was once the case with the US, there is concern in Rome that Australia's egalitarian culture, with its emphasis on tolerance rather than truth, is not the best soil for Catholicism to flower. Lacking little direct contact with Australia, the perceptions of many Vatican officials are sometimes disproportionately shaped by media reports of conflict and the complaints that reach their offices from a handful of well-organised activists.

"Sydney's World Youth Day thus represents a chance for Australia to recast itself in a positive light. If all goes well, the event could not only showcase the best of Catholicism for the Australian public, but it could also usher in a new 'era of good feelings' with Rome."

Which raises the question: What will the 2008 U.S. visit do?

-- Tom Hoopes

Cooking for the Pope

Tom Hoopes here. There is still plenty to talk about in the Pope's visit to the United States. People will be quoting it and "unpacking" it for years.

But the Register will pause for a moment next week to look at it from this woman's point of view:

She is Lidia Bastianich, the PBS cooking personality of the show  "Lidia's Italy." She's a New York Catholic who, in mid April, could have renamed her show "Lidia's Vatican." She was in charge of cooking for the Pope, and she delighted in the experience, which she found profoundly moving.

More coming up in the Register (subscribe!), but for now, we'll whet yor appetite with this picture of the "motherly" Lidia guiding the Holy Father's hand as he cut his own papal anniversary cake at the U.N. observer's residence in Rome ... (click on it to make it larger)

Gus Lloyd XVI Again

Gus Lloyd is still recording the papal messages in his easy-to-understand accent. Here's the latest from his great new redesigned website:

 

 

How to Pray a Holy Hour

As we once put it in Faith & Family: To pray a holy hour, all you need is a tabernacle with a lit sanctuary lamp, a Bible (or Magnificat ), and a Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (available online  or through Amazon or any Catholic bookseller).

Three Rules
1. Be attentive: Don't rattle prayers or silently review stresses. Be silent exteriorly and interiorly.
2. Be alert: It's not a reading hour — readings should be brief intervals to jump-start your prayer.
3. Be awake: Sit, stand, or kneel respectfully. Draping your body, or resting your head in your arms on the pew can put you to sleep!

Minute by Minute
(Vary any or all of this to suit your needs!)

:00-:05
(5 Minutes)
Pray to the Holy Spirit to help you (perhaps the "Come Holy Spirit" in the Compendium's prayers section).
Make acts of faith, hope and charity. Tell God how much and why you believe in him, trust in him and love him. Or meditatively use the Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity in the Compendium's prayers section.
Ask for more faith, hope and charity.

:05-:15
(10 minutes)
Adore God (imagine sitting with Christ)
Pray: "Oh my God, I adore your divine greatness from the depths of my littleness, you are so great, and I am so small." or "Glory Be ..." Repeat as long as necessary.
Or use the Te Deum (in the Compendium prayers)
Or read Scripture (try John 1:1-18; Colossians 1:15-20; Philippians 2:6-11)

:15-:25
(10 minutes)
Contrition (imagine embracing Christ on the cross)
Pray: "Oh my Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Examine your conscience using 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Colossians 3:5-10, or any examination of conscience.
Or pray one of the Penitential Psalms: 6, 32, 38,  51, 102

:25-:40
(15 minutes)
Meditate.
Pray: The Rosary or the Stations of the Cross.
Or read the Gospel of the day in your Magnificat, or a brief passage from Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.
Or meditate on a doctrine in the compendium (Perhaps: Sun., Resurrection; Mon., Incarnation; Tues., Mercy/confession; Wed., Holy Spirit; Thurs, Eucharist; Fri., Passion; Sat., Mary).
Or meditate on one of the Formulas of Christian Doctrine (or one of the prayers) in the Compendium.

:40-:50
(10 minutes)
Give Thanks
Pray: "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his mercy endures forever."
Thank him for (be specific): food, shelter, clothing, health, family, friends, coworkers, your job, car, material things, and most of all your spiritual gifts -- faith, hope, love, this time of prayer, the Catholic faith, and the "apostles" who reached you.
Thank God for answers to prayer and favorable circumstances. Thank him for crosses. Thank him for creating you and caring so much for you.

:50-:55
(5 minutes)
Pray: "Our Father ..."
Ask him for: the Church, the pope's intentions, for those who are suffering, for priests and bishops, for religious, for vocations, for your country, your family, for what you need most in the spiritual life.
Pray for peace and the protection of the institution of the family.
Pray for those who have asked for prayers.

:55-1:00
(5 minutes)
Make a resolution to act on a light of the Holy Spirit you received. Be specific and concrete.
Ask the Blessed Mother to help you, perhaps with Marian prayers from the Compendium.

Good luck!
-- Tom Hoopes

Adoration

At the National Shrine, the Pope recommended Eucharistic adoration to the bishops. the bishops:

"Time spent in prayer is never wasted, however urgent the duties that press upon us from every side. Adoration of Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament prolongs and intensifies the union with him that is established through the Eucharistic celebration."

Today, via his address to the general audience the religious sisters of the Order of Sisters of the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, in Rome for the beatification of their founder.

He was celebrating the beatification of Blessed Maria Maddalena dell'Incarnazione (born Caterina Sordini) was beatified Saturday in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. He said:

"I encourage the increasing promotion of love for the Eucharist so that, alongside each of the order's convents, groups of 'adorers' spring up.

"In this way, the longing of your beloved founder will be fulfilled, [she] who loved to repeat, 'May Jesus be known, loved and adored by all, and be in every moment the receiver of thanksgiving in the most holy and most divine sacrament.'"

...

"Fascinated by the Eucharistic mystery," he continued, "her mission -- received from the Lord himself -- was that of proposing […] to the whole Church the experience of an adoration that is 'perpetual.' Just as Jesus stays in the sacrament after the [Eucharistic] celebration too, it is necessary for us to stay with him, [in an] adoration that is prolonged through time."

When was your last Holy Hour?

Media Badmouthing Revisited

Another topic that came up during last night's talk to the deacons was the mainstream media's coverage of the Pope's visit. They wanted to know what I thought of it, in general. That discussion bounced around pretty good. Then I shared the anecdote about the young reporter whose editor gave him the St. Patrick's Cathedral assignment even though he'd never seen a Catholic Mass before. Suggested this sort of halfhearted effort was emblematic of the superficial coverage we've come to expect from Big Media on all things Catholic.

Well and good, my point, but an elderly and wise deacon proposed another way to look at that episode.

"You can never tell what being exposed to the beauty of the Mass for the first time is going to do to someone," he gently pointed out before adding, in so many words, that beauty is truth. And truth attracts.

Touché, Deacon. The last word on the story is yours.

— DP

No Hard Feelings, Baran

CNS posted a photo of the Ukranian photographer whose spot on the railing I stole as the Pope landed at Andrews Air Force Base.

"Baran Oleksandr of Lviv, Ukraine, shows his media credential for the U.S. pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI in Washington April 15," says the Catholic News Service caption. "Oleksandr, a photographer with Itar Tass news agency, is among the thousands of journlists covering the pope's visit to Washington and New York." (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

In my defense, or as a salve to my conscience, it looks like he got some pretty good shots, including this one from that event:

How Do You Say 'Bravo' in Chinese?

Here's how Pope Benedict XVI translates it after enjoying a performance just for him by the China Philharmonic Orchestra.

"Music, and art in general, can serve as a privileged instrument for encounter and reciprocal knowledge and esteem between different populations and cultures. ...

In greeting you this evening, dear Chinese artists, the pope intends to reach out to your entire people, with a special thought for those of your fellow citizens who share faith in Jesus and are united through a particular spiritual bond with the Successor of Peter."

There's more to those last five words than meets the eye, of course. To Catholics in China loyal to the Holy Father, as opposed to the state-run "Catholic" church in China, there's a lot more. Here's hoping many members of the underground Church hear those words — and understand the phrase to signal that the Pope is praying for them. Probably with some real urgency.   

Meanwhile "one Vatican source familiar with the situation" is neither optimistic nor pessimistic. He's hopeful. The thinking is that warmer relations between the Pope and Beijing  might ease the Chinese persecution. 

"I don't think they (the communist government) are doing it out of love for the pope or love of the Holy See but it will be positive in the end."

Hope, of course, is one of the theological virtues. Realpolitik, not so much.

-- DP

'A Pope We Can Understand'

Last Tuesday a deacon at my parish asked me to speak to the deacons of his deanery and their wives. Last night I gave the talk. I wanted to recommend the Register. This I did but, at the Q&A session afterward, the group, 30 or so strong, seemed more interested in getting me to unpack the inner doings of the Legionaries of Christ. The latter is, of course, the publisher not only of the Register but also of Faith & Family magazine, Catholic.net, Circle Press and this blog.

I obliged. In a nutshell: Sorry to disappoint, folks, but I don't know much about the order's internal workings. I only know they've been a good employer to me these nearly nine years. They provide an ideal environment for reaping the rewards to be had doing real journalism, fair and balanced, in the service of the Church. They set direction but they don't micromanage. Ideal.

Next most-pressing question: What impact did I think the Pope's U.S. visit would have on ecumenism? (One deacon, evidently assuming the Register enjoys total, "Inside the Popemobile"-level access, asked for my impressions of Benedict's approach to ecumenism "based on your meetings with him." Hehe. I guess a little media mystique goes a long way.)

I said I thought the Holy Father does ecumenism right. He invites all our separated brothers and sisters in non-Catholic Christian communities to compare notes with us. Seems to me he's quietly confident that, if they're earnest seekers after the full truth of the Gospel, they'll convert.

Of course, we have quite a ways to go before that happens on a mass scale — as I'm reminded today. But there's hope. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says Protestants

should appreciate the fact that Benedict stands for some theological absolutes in a world that often capitulates to secularism and postmodernism. "The divide between evangelical Christians and the Roman Catholic Church remains — as this Pope well understands. And, in so many ways, this is a Pope we can understand. In this strange world, that is no small achievement."

Those are encouraging words. You would not have heard them from a Southern Baptist leader a generation ago. (Fun fact: With more than 16 million members, the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the country.) 

Not sure how persuasive I was on Question #2 to the deacons. I woulda coulda shoulda read them Dr. Mohler's quote.

Next time.

-- David Pearson

Ahem ...

Below, I linked to our sample of the National Catholic Register's Guide to the Rosary, but I didn't make it free first. Now it's free.

Free Stuff

Find Msgr. Georg Ratzinger's interview, part 2, for free at www.ncregister.com  ...

The Pentecost Sunday issue of the Register is up (May 11-17). If you’re a subscriber, log in and click on stories at will …

If you're not, read our editorial about Pope Benedict’s Pentecost preview and Legionary Father Thomas Williams’ series on atheism. Both our opinion and commentary sections are always free ...

Throughout the week, check out each of these free features:

TUE — “The Pope’s Brother” is the second part of our interview with Msgr. Georg Ratzinger.

WED — “Rebuking Rudy” reports on Cardinal Edward Egan’s words to Rudy Giuliani.

THU — “McCain Courts Catholics” reports on John McCain’s busy week when Pope Benedict gathered Catholics together.

FRI — “Strong Language” is our interview with Michael Novak about Pope Benedict XVI and dissent on Catholic U.S. college campuses.

Weekend — “Mary and Me” is our Culture of Life feature that asks prominent Catholics: What’s your favorite title of Mary? 

Enjoy!

-- Tom Hoopes

Lourdes2008.com Merger Plans

Pope2008.com has no firm plans to merge with Lourdes2008.com, but we love the way they think when picking names for URLs, and after last week's announcement that the Pope will visit Paris and Lourdes in September, it seems our missions, at least, will merge.

A veteran Lourdes pilgrimage leader tells us that a papal visit during the 150th anniversary of Bernadette's apparitions has been in the works for months ... and even the dates were fairly certain: The Triumph of the Cross and Our Lady, Mother of Sorrows. But it was made official last week.

The planned schedule, from Lourdes2008.com:

Saturday, Sept. 13
Late afternoon: The Pope will start doing the Jubilee Way from the parish church, then to the Cachot and the Grotto.
Evening: The Pope will speak to the pilgrims at the end of the Torchlight Procession

Sunday, Sept. 14
At 10:00 am : Mass of the Triumph of the Cross
Late afternoon: Conclusion of the Blessed Sacrament Procession

Monday, Sept. 15
Morning: The Pope will conclude the Jubilee Way At the old hospital.
He will celebrate the Mass of Our Lady of Sorrows.
There will be an anointing of the sick

Another reason to appreciate the Pope's visit there: It means that Pope2008.com can justify its URL name throughout September, and not just through July's World Youth Day. We just need to find some way of getting a blogger to Paris and Lourdes to see the Pope ...

They'll Make Beautiful Music Together?

Well, we now know whose idea it was to set up the China Philharmonic's concert for the Pope.

It's not hard to understand Beijing's motive for the, uh, overture. Any communist leader worth his worker's card knows a PR op when he sees one. And if ever China needed to "re-educate" the world about its goals and methods, it's ... NOW.

But that doesn't mean China's new chumminess deserves to be met with nothing but cynicism. Even relationships born of convenience or necessity can bear good fruit. Execution, so to speak, is everything.

[T]he Vatican realized that China is trying to improve its international image but that Church officials hope the performance could be a seed for eventual diplomatic relations.

Benedict's interest, of course, is gaining greater freedom for Chinese Catholics in the underground Church -- brave folk who, because of their fidelity to the Pope, live much like early Christians: persecuted. Sometimes severely.

In Beijing, conductor Yu Long saw parallels between the performance and the New York Philharmonic's ice-breaking concert in Pyongyang, North Korea in February. In both cases, orchestras were being used to set the mood music for diplomatic warming. "You can make that comparison. If music as a universal language can make a contribution to diplomacy or world peace, I will be very happy," Yu told Reuters in an interview.

Strike up the band, Maestro.

-- DP

The Rosary Pope

As we continue our Novena, joining in Pope Benedict’s prayers for a new Pentecost in America, here are a few words from Pope Benedict on the Rosary.

On May 3, at St. Mary Major Basilica, Pope Benedict praised the rosary:

The Rosary is "not a pious practice relegated to the past, like a prayer of former times to be remembered with nostalgia."

"The rosary, on the contrary, is experiencing almost a new springtime. This is undoubtedly one of the most eloquent signs of the love that younger generations have for Jesus and for his mother, Mary.”

"When it is prayed in an authentic way, not mechanically or superficially but in a profound way, it can in fact bring peace and reconciliation.”

In God and the World, he said this:

The prayers of the rosary: “Touch you in a meditative way, so that the repetition allows the soul to settle into tranquility and, holding fast to the Word, above all to the figure of Mary and to the images of Christ that pass you by, make your soul calm and free and grant it a vision of God.”

Want to pray it better? Order a National Catholic Register Guide to the Rosary . The link gives you a sample decade from the booklet and the number to call to order (the web ordering function is being updated.)

— Tom Hoopes

Pope Benedict to Embrace Text Messaging for WYD

 

World Youth Day has moved into the new millennium. They've launched a social networking site and Pope Benedict is embracing text messaging. Here's an interview with Cardinal Pell, as well as the press release from World Youth Day.

In a World Youth Day first, Pope Benedict XVI will send text messages of hope and inspiration directly to pilgrims, reaching young people in their social space.

The service will be made possible by Telstra, announced today as the official telecommunications partner of World Youth Day 2008 (WYD08).

“We wanted to make WYD08 a unique experience by using new ways to connect with today’s tech-savvy youth,” said WYD08 Coordinator, Bishop Anthony Fisher OP. “Our partnership with Telstra will help us do that.”

Telstra will provide voice, data, mobile, broadband and broadcast services to WYD08, connecting 8000 volunteers, 2000 clergy, 3000 media and an anticipated 225,000 pilgrims to more than 700 locations around the greater Sydney area.

“Telstra’s involvement will ensure that WYD08 will be the most innovative World Youth Day to date,” Bishop Fisher said.

One-of-a-kind Telstra services planned for WYD08 include:

• Daily inspirational text messages from Pope Benedict XVI
• Digital Prayer Walls at event sites
• Hosting the official WYD08 online social networking site, XT3.com
• Telstra precincts - on the ground interactive centre’s including wireless internet, green screen studios, commemorative WYD08 photo messaging and music downloads.
• Next G™ Regional Catechesis webcasting

Mr. Michael Rocca, Telstra Group Managing Director Telstra Networks and Services, said Telstra was the only provider in Australia with the proven size, scale and innovation to deliver these services to WYD08.

“Just as we did for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, 2003 Rugby World Cup and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, Telstra will bring participants closer to the event through new media and telecommunications services, allowing youth to interact with WYD08 events,” he said.

“We are thrilled to be a part of this major global event and we are happy to be providing world class telecommunications to WYD08 participants and organisers,” he said.

— Tim Drake