Pope Francis~"Not Possible To Find Jesus Outside The Church"

Pope Francis quoted Pope Paul VI, yesterday:

"Wanting to live with Jesus without the Church...is an absurd dichotomy."

B16 Vacation Footage

Pope Forgives Attacker, Sends Rosary With Secretary

Papal Secretary Visits Maiolo:

Pope Benedict XVI's personal secretary has visited the mentally disturbed woman who assaulted the pontiff at Mass on Christmas Eve.

Monsignor Georg Gaenswein saw Susanna Maiolo at a psychiatric clinic near Rome at the pontiff's request.

The Vatican confirmed the visit after Italy's Il Giornale newspaper said it had taken place on New Year's Day.

It added that a judicial case opened against Ms Maiolo by the Vatican authorities would "run its course".

The Roman Catholic world was shocked by the attack, in which Ms Maiolo leapt over a barrier at St Peter's Basilica and brought the 82-year-old Pope to the ground at the beginning of the Mass.

She was quickly overpowered and Benedict, who was not injured, proceeded with the service.

Attacker 'forgiven'

Ms Maiolo, 25, attempted an identical lunge at the Pope during the same Mass in 2008, but was restrained by security guards.

Monsignor Gaenswein made the visit to convey Pope Benedict's concern for the woman's situation, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told the Associated Press news agency.

Handout picture released by police on 25 December 2009 shows Pope's alleged assailant, Susanna Maiolo.

He saw Ms Maiolo at a hostel for people with psychiatric problems in the town of Subiaco.

According to Il Giornale, the papal aide brought her a rosary and told her the Pope believed in her good intentions and had pardoned her.

The paper added that an elderly French cardinal, Roger Etchegaray, who suffered a broken hip during the incident in St Peter's, had also passed on his forgiveness.

Fr Lombardi said he did not want to comment on what was said at the meeting but added: "Every Christian pardons."

Asked about the judicial proceedings, he said it had still to be determined if the woman, who has a history of psychiatric problems, could be held legally responsible for what she did.

Vatican Gets A Tree, Holy Father Gets a Concert

Pope Benedict XVI admires a gift he received from German President Horst Koehler, left, at the end of a private audience in the pontiff's library at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009. (Daylife Photos)

Papal Audience Pictures-B16

Pictures courtesy of Daylife

Red Saturno

Pictures courtesy of Daylife-AP, Reuters and Getty Images

Pope Recalls WW2, Cites Poland

Pope Benedict XVI blesses at the end of his weekly audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican September 2, 2009. (Daylife-Top Photo AP, Bottom 3 Reuters)

True Power is Mercy and Forgiveness

Pope Benedict XVI leads Vespers prayers at the cathedral in Aosta July 24, 2009. The pontiff is on his annual holidays in the Italian Alps. (Daylife-Reuters)

Photos courtesy of Daylife

Benedict XVI Holiday Pics

A handout photo provided by the Osservatore Romano shows Pope Benedict XVI greeting a mother and her child during his vacation in Les Combes on July 23, 2009. The 82-year-old pontiff fell last week and broke his wrist. (Daylife-Getty Images)

Photos courtesy of Daylife

Pope Visits Cardinal Bertone's Hometown

"Providence always helps those who do good and are committed to justice, it helps those who think not only themselves but also of those who are worse off."

Irrepresible Pope Back to Duty

Benedict XVI taking a walk with personal secretary Monsignor Georg Gaenswein.

The Holy Father celebrates mass with broken wrist:

Pope Benedict XVI slept well and celebrated his regular daily mass Saturday with his wrist in plaster, the day after his operation on the fracture, his spokesman said.
"He is learning to live with a right wrist in plaster," Federico Lombardi told AFP. "The most difficult thing for him is having to give up writing."

Lombardi said the 82-year-old pontiff, who is on a two-week holiday in northern Italy, would fly by helicopter on Sunday as planned to Romano Canavese, in the neighbouring Piedmont region, to recite the evening Angelus prayer.

Some 10,000 people are expected at the ceremony in the town, the birthplace of Vatican number two Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Lombardi said the rest of the pope's programme during his vacation, which is due to end on July 29, was also unchanged.

The German-born pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church since April 2005, had two metal pins inserted into the broken bone in a "routine" operation under local anaesthetic at Aosta hospital on Friday.

He had slipped and fallen in his bedroom during the night, a Vatican statement said.

Benedict's personal physician, cardiologist Patrizio Polisca, said routine tests found that the pontiff's general health was good.

Further details regarding the actual fall:

The Pope's accident took place around 1 a.m. He got up from bed to go the bathroom without turning on the lights. He stumbled and broke his fall with his right hand. He felt pain in it but he did not wish to wake up anyone. In the morning, he got up and came down a few minutes late to celebrate his daily Mass. He told his household - private secretary, two Memores housekeepers and valet - what had happened in the night, saying he thought he might have broken his wrist. But he wanted to say Mass first before calling his private physician, Dr. Patrizio Polisca, who is lodged in another cottage in the Salesian vacation colony at Les Combes.

Dr. Polisca saw him after breakfast. (This was his first travel with the Pope since he took over from Dr. Renato Buzzonetti in the spring.) He confirmed the fracture and urged that the Pope be seen at the hospital in Aosta (the nearest major hospital, only 20 kms. from Les Combes). So the incident was not due to an illness, but to a stumble in the dark.

The Pope got up by himself, did not want to wake up his household, and went back to sleep. Arriving in the emergency room in Aosta, he was subjected to a complete medical check-up, considering his age. He was given a private room to facilitate security arrangements. The check-up tests were normal and confirmed that the fall could not be attributed to any physiological malfunction.

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi thus proceeded to inform the media and assure them that it was just a slight fracture and there was nothing to be concerned about. After seeing the X-rays of the broken wrist, orthopedist Manuel Mancini explained the options to the Pope. The first was simply to place the entire right forearm in a cast while the fracture healed - apart from the inconvenience, there is a risk that the fracture would not be perfectly recomposed.

The better management, which the Pope chose [described in the story is posted in the preceding page] was a simple 'closed' surgical intervention that would involve no cuts and allow a smaller cast covering only the wrist and the forehand. Healing would be faster and there would be much more freedom of movement. ...

Hat Tip: Opinionated Catholic