Tag Archives: church

Admonitory words just before the Conclave

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Sodano conjures up the unity of the Church

With a solemn mass in the St. Peter’s Basilica, the Cardinals geared up for the Conclave to elect a new Pope. In the “Missa pro eligendo Romano Pontefice” the Church dignitaries prayed for the assistance of the Holy Spirit for the decision on the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

In the afternoon they then will adjourn to the Sistine Chapel, where the election Benedict XVI’s successor will take place in a closed session. The 85-year-old German had resigned in late February as the first Pope in nearly 600 years.

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Dean of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, called on God to help them make the right choice: “We implore the Lord, that through the pastoral solicitude of the cardinal fathers, He may soon grant another good shepherd to his Holy Church. In this hour, faith in the promise of Christ sustains us in the indefectible character of the Church.” He also called up for the unity of the Church, which has been shaken by numerous scandals in recent years.

The last Mass before the Conclave in 2005 April, was led by the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger, who came out of the Conclave as the new Pope. Ratzinger’s sermon was like a preview to the theological orientation of his pontificate.

“Unity of the Church” is in demand

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The most promising Pope candidates part IX: Gianfranco Ravasi

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Cardinal Ravasi: The Sophisticated

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and considered an intellectual like Benedict XVI. The 70 year-old Bible expert has also a reputation as an expert on media and youth culture.

Ravasi has published vast numbers of books on Bible topics and writes for Italian newspapers. Since 2007, the internationally renowned Biblical scholar heads the Pontifical Council of culture. Through his Office and also with his initiative “Court of the Gentiles” he tries to push the conversation between Church and contemporary art, culture and, in the tradition of Cardinal Konig – Agnostics and Atheists. However, he lacks the pastoral experience. This résumé might limit his chances, in case the voting Cardinals should decide they want an experienced priest as new Pope, and not again a Professor.

Gianfranco-Ravasi

Ravasi was born in 1942 in the Lombardy. He was ordained a priest in 1966. The appointment as an Archbishop was connected with his appointment as the President of the Culture Council, and became Cardinal in November 2010. Prior to his appointment at the Vatican, Ravasi was prefect of the Milan Ambrosiana library. Benedict XVI. entrusted him with the management of the two Pontifical Commissions for the cultural assets and the Christian archeology.

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Church in Europe: Benedict’s problem child

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At heart, most Catholics are Protestants, and even in Poland religion has become less important: Does the Vatican still stand a chance in Europe?

Until the 15th century, the Catholic Church practically existed only in Europe. So how to measure today’s faith in the most secularized of all continents, the problem child of the resigning Pope? (To take an extreme example: In an international survey in 2012, almost 60 percent East Germans stated, to have never believed in God, in the U.S. only four percent.)

According to the statistical yearbook of the Vatican, Europe is currently home to nearly a quarter of all Catholics in the world, and its share on the total European population has changed only slightly in recent decades. But what is a “Catholic”?

According to the Statistical Yearbook of the Vatican, Europe is currently home to nearly a quarter of all Catholics in the world, and its share on the total European population has only changed slightly in recent decades. But how to define a “Catholic”?

Baptized equals Catholic?

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, there is the so-called Church-tax, i.e. a federally registered membership, including the option to leave the Church. Which is reflected in the declining number of members (of which by the way, Protestants are affected equally or even more, despite missing celibacy and woman priests).

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Pope Benedict XVI’s Farewell Speech Transcript

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Pope Benedict XVI. gave his final General audience address in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, just a day before his voluntary resignation.

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Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood!
Distinguished Authorities!
Dear brothers and sisters!
Thank you for coming in such large numbers to this last General Audience of my pontificate.

Like the Apostle Paul in the Biblical text that we have heard, I feel in my heart that I have to especially thank God who guides and builds up the Church, who plants His Word and thus nourishes the faith in His People. At this moment my heart expands and embraces the whole Church throughout the world and I thank God for the ‘news’ that, in these years of my Petrine ministry, I have received about the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for the love that truly circulates in the Body of the Church, making it to live in the love and the hope that opens us to and guides us towards the fullness of life, towards our heavenly homeland.

I feel I ought to carry everyone in prayer, in a present that is God’s, where I recall every meeting, every voyage, every pastoral visit. I gather everyone and every thing in prayerful recollection, in order to entrust them to the Lord: in order that we might have full knowledge of His will, with every wisdom and spiritual understanding, and in order that we might comport ourselves in a manner that is worthy of Him, of His, bearing fruit in every good work (cf. Col 1:9-10).

At this moment I have great confidence because I know, we all know, that the Gospel’s Word of truth is the strength of the Church; it is her life. The Gospel purifies and renews, bearing fruit, wherever the community of believers hears it and welcomes God’s grace in truth and in love. This is my confidence, this is my joy.

When, on 19 April almost eight years ago I accepted to take on the Petrine ministry, I had the firm certainty that has always accompanied me: this certainty for the life of the Church from the Word of God. At that moment, as I have already expressed many times, the words that resounded in my heart were: Lord, what do You ask of me? It is a great weight that You are placing on my shoulders but, if You ask it of me, I will cast my nets at your command, confident that You will guide me, even with all my weaknesses. And eight years later I can say that the Lord has guided me. He has been close to me. I have felt His presence every day. It has been a stretch of the Church’s path that has had moments of joy and light, but also difficult moments. I felt like St. Peter and the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. The Lord has given us many days of sunshine and light breezes, days when the fishing was plentiful, but also times when the water was rough and the winds against us, just as throughout the whole history of the Church, when the Lord seemed to be sleeping. But I always knew that the Lord is in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, not ours, but is His. And the Lord will not let it sink. He is the one who steers her, of course also through those He has chosen because that is how He wanted it. This was and is a certainty that nothing can tarnish. And that is why my heart today is filled with gratitude to God, because He never left—the whole Church or me—without His consolation, His light, or His love.

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“Will remain in the service of the Church” – Pope Benedict XVI’s last general audience

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 Always perceived the presence of God

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Pope Benedict XVI. said good bye to the faithful in Rome: he held his last general audience in front of 250,000 pilgrims and tourists. The Pope promised to all who came and watched via TV, that he will remain in service for the Church.

“The Lord gave us days of sun and of light breeze, days in which the fishing was good. There were also moments when there were stormy waters and headwinds,” the pope said.
“But I always knew that God was in that boat and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, is not ours, but is his and he will not let it sink,” the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics told the cheering crowd.

Decision after intense reflection

Benedict XVI. said he had taken the decision of his official resignation after deep consideration, after he had felt that he no longer had the strength to fulfill the ministry. He made this decision for the good of the Church. The Pope thanked the faithful who had received his resignation with respect and understanding.

“I will continue to accompany the Church with prayer and reflection.”

Benedict XVI also asked for prayers for the Church and for his successor. “Often we speak of a demise of the Church, but she proves that she is alive,” assured the Pope. Several times, his words were interrupted by applause of the crowd.

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Moved to St. Peter’s square

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Open questions after “Vatileaks” and Pope’s resignation

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Vatican insiders wonder whether the scandal surrounding the unfaithful butler Paolo Gabriele has moved Benedict XVI. to resign. Many questions remain unanswered after the “Vatileaks” affair.

According to journalists and Pope biographer Peter Seewald, the “Vatileaks” affair was not the reason for Benedict XVI’s resignation. The betrayal of his long-time servant Paolo Gabriele had neither thrown the Pope off track, nor tired of office, Seewald reported after a conversation with Benedict XVI. at the summer residence in Castel Gandolfo last August. BBut the case of the stolen papal documents that have partly publicly accessible, is one of the most spectacular scandals in the entire history of the Vatican.

Rumours about reasons for Pope resignation

So far, there has never been faced a that close collaborator of the Pope with such serious allegations. Therefore it cannot be ruled out, that the bitterness in consequence of the scandal, as well as the factional infighting among the Cardinals in the Curia have encouraged the Pope in his decision to resign. On Thursday the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica” wrote, that some Cardinals might be susceptible to blackmail, referring to a secret report regarding the “Vatileaks” affair, that three Cardinals had presented to the Pope on December 17 2012.

The report of the three-member Cardinal Commission about the scandal continues to be officially kept secret. Therefore it is still not known through which of the many duplicate letters and reports the Pope might have been susceptible to blackmail. Further there are circulating speculations, that the Italian intelligence service had obtained the material.

Open questions

After the imposition of a mild 18-month prison sentence against Gabriele and his pardon before Christmas, there remain many unanswered  questions about possible accomplices and the motives that may have led the 46-year-olds to the systematic theft of confidential documents of the Pope.

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Tens of thousands celebrate Pope Benedict XVI.

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Emotional finale of Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate

Endless joy and cheering by tens of thousands of faithfull as the outgoing Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his farewell in his last Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s square in Rome. With his retirement from Office, he is complying with Gods wish, said the head of the Roman Catholic Church.general-audienceThe people celebrated the Pope during the Angelus prayer as in the week before with “Viva il papa”-calls and long applause. Benedict’s voice faltered again and again during his speech, and he was interrupted by cheers of the faithful. “Thank you, in prayer we are always close to each other”, Benedict called out. He thanked the pilgrims for their love and sympathy in this “special moment for me and the Church”.

“Continue to serve the Church”

God had called him to devote himself more to meditation and prayer, which did not mean that he was leaving the church, said the 85-year-old. “On the contrary, if God is calling me, it is because I can continue to serve the church with the same dedication and love as before, but in a more appropriate way for my age and my strength,” he said in his speech. With a view to the daily Gospel of the transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor, the Pope said that God had called him to “climb that mountain”.

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