The Last Secret

I am halfway through reading the Last Secret of Fatima and I hate to have to put it down. I suspect I will finish it today if nothing interrupts me.

It's an easy read and written in a very interesting style. The book is an conversation/interview between Dr. Giuseppe DeCaril and Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State.

I am not a great lover of apparitions, but since I am of Portuguese descent, Fatima gets a special acceptance. Still, I read the writings of most Fatimists with much suspicion. Not so with this book.

The book tells the story of the Revelation of the 3rd secret of Fatima and provides a great deal of credible evidence to the non-existence of a 4th secret. (That is if you aren't a conspiricist). If you are convinced that the Vatican is hiding a 4th secret or has released a falsified 3rd secret, this book will do little to change your mind.

The book contains fascinating anecdotes and personal insights about Sr. Lucia and her personality.

Towards the end of the book. Cardinal Bertone takes on such issues as Medjugorje and Pope Benedict's now infamous Regensburg address. Even personal issues, such as his transfer from the Archdiocese of Genoa to Rome are mentioned. In essence, there is something for everyone in this book.

I have already underlined and taken notes on many pages. So far, my favorite quote is from the Cardinal Albino Luciani's (the future Pope John Paul I) account of his meeting with Sister Lucia.

We should pray the Holy Rosary. Naaman the great Syrian general, disdained the simple bath in the Jordan suggested to him by Elisha. Some people act like Naaman: "I am a great theologian, a mature Christian, who breathes the Bible with both lungs and sweats liturgy from every pore - and the tell me to pray the Rosary?" And yet the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary are biblical; the Pater, the Ave Maria, and the Gloria are Bible passages transformed into prayer, and they are good for the soul. Bible study solely for the sake of scholarship could puff up the soul and leave it in a state of sterile aridity. Bible scholars who have lost their faith are hardly a rare breed.

Perhaps my chosen quote is not the deepest or most Fatima based passage that I could have chosen, but see! There is something for everyone.

Place your order today. The book will be released on May 6th, just in time for the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

Back to reading... check back tomorrow for more.

Two Popes, One Cardinal, and a Book

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is just one of the latest Vatican officials to have a book waiting to roll off the presses. The former bishop of Genoa, and current Secretary of State was the undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith when the last secret of Fatima was revealed. In his role with the CDF, Bertone assisted in the release of the secret.

For those hoping for a shocking revelation, you will be disappointed. It supports what has been previously revealed: the secret foretold of the May 31, 1981 assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II. Don't get disappointed, however, there are supposedly other revelations in this book, including the reasons why the secret was kept a secret.

So, what is different about this book? The introduction is written by Pope Benedict. A rare honor to be sure.


Time magazine also published an article about the book. You can read it here.

Rooting for "The Episcopate"?

Ok, so that's not really their name, but it could be.
The Italian Catholic bishops have bought an 80% stake in a soccer team.
It seems Bertone's dream is coming true

Read more about it here and here.

Update: as of October 9th Fr. Lombardi announced that the story is not true. The details can be found here.

Then Again Maybe Not

The Vatican secretary of state was just kidding when he said the Holy See might one day have a football team to rival the top formations in Italy's powerful Serie A, a report has said

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone created a buzz on Sunday when he told reporters: "I do not preclude the possibility that the Vatican, in the future, could put together a football team of great value, that could play on the same level as Roma, Inter Milan and Sampdoria," all first division teams.
But on Monday Bertone, Pope Benedict XVI's righthand man, ate his words. "After a joke, ... everyone started hypothesizing about a great Vatican football team," I-media reported.

"I don't think it's possible, so let's stop fantasizing," he told the Vatican-watching news agency.
Italian media seized on the subject, contacting the head of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), William Gaillard, in Brussels.

"Why not?" he said. "We already have San Marino, Liechtenstein and Andorra."
The idea also got the backing of Portugal's Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, a self-described football fan who heads the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints which considers candidates for sainthood.

"It's a very interesting and fascinating possibility. Sports is a school of values. The Vatican is always open to cultivating human values -- including healthy rivalry, the culture of victory and defeat," he told daily Portuguese newspaper 24Horas.

Bertone backed away from his remarks when approached by reporters at a football game between the Vatican's Swiss Guards and a team made up of Vatican museum and publishing employees.

The Vatican does have a "state" team belonging to the New Federation Board of teams not recognized by FIFA. Its players wear a yellow jersey with white sleeves.

Source: Yahoo

Cheering for the Vatican Team?

I came across two interesting articles today.
The first is from the AP via Fox Sports:

The inaugural Clericus Cup will kick off in February 2007 with the Vatican one of 16 teams taking part.

The final will take place in the Italian capital at the end of June, organizers said Friday.

"The Clericus Cup (is) an occasion for all those enthusiasts, and some former players - who are in seminaries today, attending university, studying to be a priest - to put themselves back in the game, dribbling, making saves and headers," the Italian Sports Center (CSI), which is organizing the event, said in a statement on its Web site.
CSI is a Christian organization that promotes education through sport.
"The purpose is really to reinvigorate the tradition (of sport) inside the Christian community," CSI president Edio Costantini told Gazzetta dello Sport on Friday, crediting Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state and an ardent Juventus fan, with the idea.
"Sport is a magnificent tool for bringing the young together ... Aside from physical training, a soccer match can serve as a (means to) personal, social and spiritual growth," Costantini said.

Costantini hopes that many priests who have hung up their boots "to prioritize other aspects of the Christian mission" will start to play soccer again.

"A priest that can get together with kids to play soccer is the best advertisement for sporting culture inside the Church," Costantini added.

The teams are likely to be made up of trainee priests [seminarians], who are studying at the various pontifical universities in Rome. Games are limited to one hour - rather than the normal 90 minutes - which may tempt some of the older generation to play.

The coaching staff will also be exclusively clerical, Gazzetta reported. It did not say who the referees will be.

The first edition of the Clericus Cup will be limited to teams from Rome, but the format could be extended to other regions throughout Italy, according to Gazzetta.

The late Pope John Paul II was a keen sportsman and played soccer in his youth, mostly as a goalkeeper.

Here is the second article. From the Australian:

The Vatican may one day field a football team that could rival the top formations in Italy's powerful Serie A, the Holy See's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said today.

"I do not preclude the possibility that the Vatican, in the future, could put together a football team of great value, that could play on the same level as Roma, Inter Milan and Sampdoria,'' all first division teams, the cardinal said, according to the Ansa agency.

Cardinal Bertone has never hidden his passion for football, and has commented on matches in the past when he was archbishop of Genoa. He has mentioned on several occasions the possibility of the Vatican fielding a team.

Bertone Wastes No Time

Less than one day on the job and Cardinal Bertone has already performed his first official public function. He has released an official statement regarding the Holy Father's lecture in Regensburg.

Given the reaction in Muslim quarters to certain passages of the Holy Father's address at the University of Regensburg, and the clarifications and explanations already presented through the Director of the Holy See Press Office, I would like to add the following:

- The position of the Pope concerning Islam is unequivocally that expressed by the conciliar document Nostra Aetate: "The Church regards with esteem also the Muslims. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, Who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting" (no. 3).

- The Pope's option in favor of inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue is equally unequivocal. In his meeting with representatives of Muslim communities in Cologne, Germany, on 20 August 2005, he said that such dialogue between Christians and Muslims "cannot be reduced to an optional extra," adding: "The lessons of the past must help us to avoid repeating the same mistakes. We must seek paths of reconciliation and learn to live with respect for each other's identity".

- As for the opinion of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus which he quoted during his Regensburg talk, the Holy Father did not mean, nor does he mean, to make that opinion his own in any way. He simply used it as a means to undertake - in an academic context, and as is evident from a complete and attentive reading of the text - certain reflections on the theme of the relationship between religion and violence in general, and to conclude with a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence, from whatever side it may come. On this point, it is worth recalling what Benedict XVI himself recently affirmed in his commemorative Message for the 20th anniversary of the Inter-religious Meeting of Prayer for Peace, initiated by his predecessor John Paul II at Assisi in October 1986: " ... demonstrations of violence cannot be attributed to religion as such but to the cultural limitations with which it is lived and develops in time. ... In fact, attestations of the close bond that exists between the relationship with God and the ethics of love are recorded in all great religious traditions".

- The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful, and should have been interpreted in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions. Indeed it was he who, before the religious fervor of Muslim believers, warned secularized Western culture to guard against "the contempt for God and the cynicism that considers mockery of the sacred to be an exercise of freedom".

- In reiterating his respect and esteem for those who profess Islam, he hopes they will be helped to understand the correct meaning of his words so that, quickly surmounting this present uneasy moment, witness to the "Creator of heaven and earth, Who has spoken to men" may be reinforced, and collaboration may intensify "to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom" (Nostra Aetate no. 3).