"Violence & War Are Never The Way To Peace"~Pope Francis

Blonde Reflection

Via Daylife:

A woman looks on as Pope Benedict XVI leads the Sunday angelus prayer from the window of his private apartment in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican July 3, 2011.

Piazza San Pietro

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St. Peter's Square Wiki entry

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A child seen, during a youth gathering with Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's square, at the Vatican, Thursday, March 25, 2010. (Daylife-AP)





Pictures courtesy of Daylife

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The Angelus Prayer:



Why be Catholic by Tim Staples:



VATICAN CITY, 25 MAR 2010 (VIS) - Given below is the complete text of the English-language declaration made yesterday, 24 March, by Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. to the New York Times:

"The tragic case of Fr. Lawrence Murphy, a priest of the archdiocese of Milwaukee, involved particularly vulnerable victims who suffered terribly from what he did. By sexually abusing children who were hearing-impaired, Fr. Murphy violated the law and, more importantly, the sacred trust that his victims had placed in him.

"During the mid-1970s, some of Fr. Murphy's victims reported his abuse to civil authorities, who investigated him at that time; however, according to news reports, that investigation was dropped. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was not informed of the matter until some twenty years later.

"It has been suggested that a relationship exists between the application of 'Crimen sollicitationis' and the non-reporting of child abuse to civil authorities in this case. In fact, there is no such relationship. Indeed, contrary to some statements that have circulated in the press, neither 'Crimen' nor the Code of Canon Law ever prohibited the reporting of child abuse to law enforcement authorities.

"In the late 1990s, after over two decades had passed since the abuse had been reported to diocesan officials and the police, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was presented for the first time with the question of how to treat the Murphy case canonically. The Congregation was informed of the matter because it involved solicitation in the confessional, which is a violation of the Sacrament of Penance. It is important to note that the canonical question presented to the Congregation was unrelated to any potential civil or criminal proceedings against Fr. Murphy.

"In such cases, the Code of Canon Law does not envision automatic penalties, but recommends that a judgment be made not excluding even the greatest ecclesiastical penalty of dismissal from the clerical state. In light of the facts that Fr. Murphy was elderly and in very poor health, and that he was living in seclusion and no allegations of abuse had been reported in over 20 years, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith suggested that the archbishop of Milwaukee give consideration to addressing the situation by, for example, restricting Fr. Murphy's public ministry and requiring that Fr. Murphy accept full responsibility for the gravity of his acts. Fr. Murphy died approximately four months later, without further incident".

Also on 24 March, Bishop John Magee S.P.S. of Cloyne, Ireland, released the following English-language statement following the Holy Father's acceptance of his resignation from the pastoral care of his diocese:

"On 9 March 2010 I tendered my resignation as bishop of Cloyne to the Holy Father. I have been informed today that it has been accepted, and as I depart, I want to offer once again my sincere apologies to any person who has been abused by any priest of the diocese of Cloyne during my time as bishop or at any time. To those whom I have failed in any way, or through any omission of mine have made suffer, I beg forgiveness and pardon. As I said on Christmas Eve 2008 after the publication report of the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland, I take full responsibility for the criticism of our management of issues contained in that report.

"On 7 March 2009 the Holy See appointed Fr. Dermot Clifford as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Cloyne. This was in response to a request I had made to be relieved of the burden of administering the diocese so that I could concentrate on co-operating with the Government Commission of Investigation into child protection procedures in the diocese in my capacity as bishop of Cloyne. I will of course continue to be available to the Commission of Investigation at any time.

"I also sincerely hope that the work and the findings of the Commission of Investigation will be of some help towards healing for those who have been abused.

"I welcome the fact that my offer of resignation has been accepted, and I thank the priests, religious and faithful of the diocese for their support during my time as bishop of Cloyne, and assure them of a place in my prayers always".

Scandinavian Bishops:



Pope Pius XII:



Related Links:

The official "Acts of the Holy See" from 1865 to 2007, taken from the Actae Sanctae Sedis and Acta Apostolicae Sedis collections are accessible in Adobe Acrobat format (pdf), as well as the twelve-volume set of the Acts and Documents of the Holy See Relative to the Second World War, ordered by Pope Paul VI and edited by four Jesuit historians

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The president of the Italian bishops´ conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, remarked this week that in the Holy Father's pastoral letter to Irish Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI teaches the faithful to not fear the truth about the sexual abuse of minors by priests. Likewise the Pontiff underscores his firm decision to confront this issue without excuses or cover-ups

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Update 1:

Antonio Margheriti Mastino:

LAICIST LOBBY AGAINST THE POPE. The New York Time's big HOAX.

by Massimo Introvigne
(Sociologist; expert on new religious movements)

We apologize in advance for any mistake in grammar and/or syntax you may find. Let us know, should you find any, and we will proceed to a correction as soon as possible.
Thank you.

A Newspaper, if any, whose name springs to our mind as soon as we talk about laicist and anti-Catholic lobbies, that is New York Times. March the 25th 2010, New York's newspaper has confirmed this "vocation" of his by putting the Pope on the opening page alongside an incredible hoax about Benedict XVI and Card. Tarcisio Bertone, State's Secretary.

According to the newspaper, Card. Ratzinger and Bertone would have covered up a case about a pedophile priest, signaled by the Arch-diocese of Milwaukee to the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith in 1996. Oddly enough – after years of clarifications and after the document had been publicized and thoroughly commented, unveiling falsifications and translation errors due to laicis lobbies – New York Times still blames the Crimen Solicitationis instruction from 1962 (actually the second edition of a text dating back to 1922) to have operated in order to ensure that don Murphy's case could never be brought to the attention of civil authorities.

Facts are a bit different. Don Murphy was accused of particularly serious and unsetting abuses performed on deaf minors, hosted in a college, around 1975. The case was promptly brought to the attention of civil authorities, who could not find sufficient charges in order to proceed against don Murphy. The Church, in this case being more strict than the State, kept on investigating don Murphy and, since it suspected him being guilty, limiting his practice of the ministry, even though all charges against him were already archived by civil investigators.

Twenty years later, in 1995 – while a lot of polemics were being thrown out on "pedophile priests" cases – Milwaukee Arch-Dioceses thought it would be convenient to signal the case to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The signaling was about some violations of the discipline about Confession, a matter that falls under the Congregation's jurisdiction, and had nothing to share with the civil inquiry, discussed and closed twenty years before. The lack of any new case, or new charge against don Murphy before 1995 should also be noted. The only facts being discussed were still those from 1975. The Arch-diocese also signaled to Rome that don Murphy was about to die. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith obviously didn't publish documents and declarations twenty years after the events but insisted that pastoral activities from don Murphy kept on being restricted, and that a public admission of guilt was performed by the priest. Four months after the intervention from Rome, don Murphy died.

This shiny new example of garbage journalism, pretty much confirms how do "moral panics" work. In order to soil the Holy Father's reputation, a notorious and well discussed by local news back in mid '70s case is brought up after 35 years, even tho it was handled – although under it's jurisdiction, and a quarter of century after the events – in a canonically and morally flawless way by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who was even stricter than American civil law.

How many more "discoveries" like this do we need in order to understand that the attack against the Pope has nothing to do with defending the victims of pedophilia – certainly serious, unacceptable and criminal just like Benedict XVI has reminded us so severely – and only aims to decry a Pontiff and a Church that annoy lobbies because of their hard-hitting actions in defense of life and family?

B16 Praises Saint Albert The Great, Science & Faith Are Harmonius

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - MARCH 24: Pope Benedict XVI waves to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square during his weekly audience on March 24, 2010 in Vatican City, Vatican. Pontiff will open the Holy week next Sunday with the celebration of the Palm Sunday. (Daylife-Getty Images)



Pictures courtesy of Daylife

VATICAN CITY, 24 MAR 2010 (VIS) - In today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, the Pope turned his attention to St. Albert the Great, whom he described as "one of the greatest masters of scholastic theology".

The saint, who was born in Germany at the beginning of the thirteenth century, "studied what were known as the 'liberal arts': grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music; in other words, general culture, and he diplayed that typical interest for the natural sciences which would soon become his chosen field of specialisation".

He entered the Order of Preachers and, following his ordination as a priest, had the opportunity to complete his theological studies at the most famous university of his age, Paris. From there he went to Cologne, taking Thomas Aquinas with him, his own "outstanding student".

Pope Alexander IV made use of Albert's theological counsel, and subsequently appointed him as bishop of Regensburg.

Albert, recalled the Holy Father, "contributed to the 1274 Council of Lyon, called by Pope Gregory X to favour the unification of the Latin and Greek Churches following their separation in the great Eastern Schism of 1054. He clarified the ideas of Thomas Aquinas, who had been the subject of entirely unjustified objections and even condemnations".

The German saint died in Cologne in the year 1280, and was canonised and proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931, "undoubtedly an appropriate recognition for this great man of God" who was also "an outstanding scholar, not only of the truth of faith but in many other fields of knowledge". For this reason too, "Pope Pius XII named him as patron of the natural sciences, also giving him the title of 'Doctor universalis' because of the vastness of his interests and knowledge".

"Above all, St. Albert shows that there is no opposition between faith and science. ... He reminds us that there is friendship between science and faith, and that scientists can, through their vocation to study nature, follow an authentic and absorbing path of sanctity", said the Holy Father.

"St. Albert the Great opened the door to the complete acceptance of the thought of Aristotle into the philosophy and theology of the Middle Ages, an acceptance that was later definitively elaborated by St. Thomas Aquinas. This acceptance of what we may call pagan or pre-Christian philosophy was an authentic cultural revolution for the time. Yet many Christian thinkers feared Aristotle's philosophy", especially as it had been interpreted in such a was as to appear "entire irreconcilable with Christian faith. Thus a dilemma arose: are faith and reason in contrast with one another or not?

"Here lies one of the great merits of St. Albert: he rigorously studied the works of Aristotle, convinced that anything that is truly reasonable is compatible with faith as revealed in Sacred Scripture", the Pope added.

"St. Albert was able to communicate these concepts in a simple and understandable way. A true son of St. Dominic, he readily preached to the people of God who were won over by his words and the example of his life".

The Pope concluded his catechesis by asking God "that the holy Church may never lack learned, pious and wise theologians like St. Albert the Great, and that He may help each of us to accept the 'formula for sanctity' which Albert followed in his own life: 'Wanting everything I want for the glory of God just as, for His glory, God wants everything He wants'. In other words, we must always conform ourselves to the will of God in order to want and do everything always and only for His glory".

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Urbi Et Orbi Videos

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - DECEMBER 25: Pope Benedict XVI delivers his 'urbi et orbi' blessing (to the city and to the world) from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica on December 25, 2009 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Daylife-Getty Images)

St. Peter's Square & Greccio Remembrance

Pictures courtesy of Daylife





Update 1:

Via Chiesa:

Dear brothers and sisters, with the Christmas novena, which we are celebrating in these days, the Church is inviting us to live in an intense and profound way the preparation for the Nativity of the Savior, which is now imminent. The desire that we all hold in our hearts is that the upcoming feast of Christmas may give us, in the midst of the frenetic activity of our days, the serene and profound joy that allows us to touch with our hands the goodness of our God, and fills us with new courage.

In order to understand better the significance of the Nativity of the Lord, I would like to make some brief remarks on the historical origin of this solemnity. In fact, the Church's liturgical year did not initially develop beginning from the birth of Christ, but from faith in his resurrection. For this reason, the most ancient feast of Christianity is not Christmas, it is Easter; the resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith, it is at the basis of the proclamation of the Gospel, and gives birth to the Church. Therefore being Christian means living in a Paschal manner, participating in the dynamism that arises from baptism and leads us to die to sin in order to live with God (cf. Romans 6:4).

The first to state clearly that Jesus was born on December 25 was Hippolytus of Rome, in his commentary on the book of the prophet Daniel, written about the year 204. Some exegetes later noted that the feast of the dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem, instituted by Judas Maccabeus in 164 B.C., was celebrated on that day. The coinciding of these dates would therefore mean that with Jesus, who appeared as the light of God in the darkness, there is the true realization of the consecration of the Temple, the Advent of God upon this earth.

The feast of Christmas took on definitive form in Christianity in the fourth century, when it replaced the Roman feast of the "Sol Invictus," the invincible sun; this highlighted the fact that the birth of Christ is the victory of the true light over the darkness of evil and sin.

However, the special and intense spiritual atmosphere that surrounds Christmas developed in the Middle Ages, thanks to St. Francis of Assisi, who was deeply in love with the man Jesus, with God-with-us. His first biographer, Thomas of Celano, recounts in the book "Second Life" that Saint Francis "above all of the other solemnities celebrated with indescribable fervor the Nativity of the Child Jesus, and called a 'feast of feasts' the day on which God, having become a little infant, suckled at a human breast" (Fonti Francescane, 199, p. 492).

This special devotion to the mystery of the incarnation gave rise to the famous celebration of Christmas in Greccio. St. Francis probably got his inspiration for this from his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and from the crèche at Saint Mary Major in Rome. What drove the Little Poor Man of Assisi was the desire to experience in a concrete, living, and present way the greatness of the event of the birth of the Child Jesus, and to communicate its joy to everyone.

In his first biography, Thomas of Celano talks about the night of the crèche in Greccio in a living and touching way, making a decisive contribution to the spread of the most beautiful Christmas tradition, that of the crèche. Christmas Eve in Greccio, in fact, restored to Christianity the intensity and beauty of the feast of Christmas, and taught the people of God to grasp its most authentic message, its unique warmth, and to love and adore the humanity of Christ.

This unique approach to Christmas brought a new dimension to the Christian faith. Easter had focused attention on the power of God who conquers death, inaugurates the new life, and teaches hope in the world to come. St. Francis and his crèche highlighted the defenseless love of God, his humility and kindness, which in the incarnation of the Word are manifested to man in order to teach a new way of living and loving.

Celano recounts that, on that Christmas Eve, Francis was granted the grace of a wonderful vision. He saw lying motionless in the manger a little baby, who was awakened from his sleep by the presence of Francis. And he adds: "Nor was this vision at odds with the facts, because, through the work of his grace acting by means of his holy servant Francis, the Child Jesus was reawakened in the hearts of many who had forgotten him, and was profoundly impressed in their loving memory" (Vita prima, Fonti Francescane, 86, p. 307).

This backdrop describes with great precision how much Francis' living faith in and love for the humanity of Christ transmitted to the Christian feast of Christmas: the discovery that God reveals himself in the tender members of the Child Jesus. Thanks to St. Francis, the Christian people have been able to perceive that at Christmas, God truly became "Emmanuel," God-with-us, who is not separated from us by any barrier or distance. In that Child, God became so close to each one of us, so near, that we are able to talk to him as a friend and establish a familiar relationship of profound affection with him, as we do with a newborn.

In that Child, in fact, is manifested God-Love: God comes without weapons, without power, because he does not intend to conquer, so to speak, from the outside, but instead intends to be welcomed by man in freedom; God becomes a defenseless Child in order to overcome man's arrogance, violence, and desire for possession. In Jesus, God has taken on this poor and unarmed condition in order to conquer us with love, and lead us to our true identity. We must not forget that the greatest title of Jesus Christ is precisely that of "Son," Son of God; the divine dignity is indicated with a term that extends the reference to the humble condition of the manger in Bethlehem, although it still corresponds in a unique way to his divinity, which is the divinity of the "Son."

Moreover, his condition as a Child shows us how we can encounter God and enjoy his presence. It is in the light of Christmas that we can understand the words of Jesus: "If you do not convert and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). Those who have not understood the mystery of Christmas have not understood the decisive element of Christian existence. Those who do not welcome Jesus with the heart of a child cannot enter the kingdom of heaven: this is what Francis wanted to remind the Christianity of this time and of all times, up until today.

Let us pray to the Father that he grant our hearts that simplicity which recognizes the Child as Lord, just as Francis did in Greccio. Then we too may experience what Thomas of Celano - referring to the experience of the shepherds on Christmas Eve (cf. Luke 2:20) - recounts about those who were present at the event in Greccio: "Everyone went home full of inexpressible joy" (Vita prima, Fonti Francescane, 86, p. 479).

This is the wish that I extend with affection to all of you, to your families and loved ones. Merry Christmas to you all!

(Catechesis given by Benedict XVI at the general audience on Wednesday, December 23, 2009).

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Pope Benedict XVI kisses a young bagpipe player at the end of his weekly audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican December 23, 2009. (Daylife)

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Pictures courtesy of Daylife-Getty Images & Reuters

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