Pope Well After Fall

For all of you who have wondered why the Masters of Ceremonies hold the hem of the Holy Father's alb when he climbs stairs, here is your answer.

It's a long garment which needs to be lifted so one doesn't step on the alb and fall. It's something I have seen many times at Mass and Pope Benedict gave everyone an example of exactly how it can occur last Sunday at the Pentecost Mass.

Rome Reports has the story and video.

The good news: The Holy Father was unhurt and continued his day as planned.

Cardinals Face New Trial in Pollution Case

From USA Today:

Italy's top criminal court overturned the acquittals of a Vatican cardinal and another top churchman accused of environmental pollution involving a Vatican Radio transmission tower near Rome, news reports said Tuesday night.
The Court of Cassation ordered a new appeals trial for Cardinal Roberto Tucci, formerly head of the radio's management committee, and the Rev. Pasquale Borgomeo, its former director general, the ANSA and Apcom news agencies said.

Calls to lawyers and to Vatican Radio were not answered late Tuesday.

The two churchmen were acquitted last year after in an appeal of their 2005 conviction in a lower court, which sided with consumer groups representing people living near the tower who claimed its electromagnetic emissions were a health hazard and violated environmental limits.

The lower court had sentenced the two each to 10 days in jail, but sentences were immediately suspended during their appeals.

It was not known when the new appeals trial would take place, as the Court of Cassation must first publish its reasoning for the decision.

A Vatican-Italian government commission was set up as part of a 2001 agreement between both sides to monitor tower emissions. The Vatican has said that measurements show it has respected limits since signing the agreement.

Convert Baptized by Pope Writes Book

Here are some excerpts which were published in Corriere della Sera from Magdi Christiano Allam's new book “Grazie Gesù. La mia conversione dall'islam al cattolicesimo” [Thank You Jesus. My Conversion from Islam to Christianity] . In the book, Allam, who converted from Islam to Catholicism recounts his road to conversion. In these excerpts he describes his baptism:

It was the best day of my life. Receiving the gift of the Christian faith on the day of Christ’s Resurrection from the hand of the Holy Father is a matchless privilege and inestimable blessing. For me, at the age of almost 56, it was a unique, unforgettable historic event that signalled a radical, definitive change with respect to the past. During the night of 22 March 2008, on the occasion of the Easter Vigil, at the solemn liturgy celebrated in the magnificence of the Basilica of St Peter’s, the cradle of Catholicism, I was reborn in Christ. At the end of a long, protracted struggle, lived out as a Muslim by reason of the legacy inherited from my parents and with a personal history of lacerating doubts and torments, there ignited within me, by divine will and responsible choice, the light of the true Christian faith. My spiritual metamorphosis unfolded from nine o’clock over three hours that seemed as if they would never end. I passed those hours in uncontrollable excitement, outwardly betrayed by my tingling nerves, over the radical nature of the life experience that was taking place inside me and, I admit, in part because of the cold that gripped me and stayed with me from the beginning of the imposing ceremony in the atrium of the Basilica, accompanied by rain and icy temperatures.

Inside the Basilica, the lights had been extinguished. I was outside with six other adult catachumens waiting to receive the sacraments of Christian initiation, seated on the part of the parvis most exposed to the wind. It was in that damp cold, which usually makes me a little agitated and means I have to concentrate more to listen, reflect, assess and elaborate concepts, that I began to relive the film of my inner life. Half a century was reviewed frame by frame and sliced up with the now uncompromising, now compassionate scalpel of religion, calm enough for one last unconscious confirmation of a decision already taken consciously yet at the same time with sufficient urgency to recompose the overall framework of my existence into a harmonious whole, joyfully to register the image of the long-awaited, soon to be accomplished, Event, as I reinterpreted my past while redefining and revolutionising my future. (...) From the atrium, Benedict XVI led the procession towards the altar after the deacon, chanting the Lumen Christi for the third time, had brought the splendour of light back to the Basilica.

Then began the crucial stage of my conversion to Christianity, to which evidently I was called by the grace of God that had accompanied me from my youngest days, bringing into my path a series of “coincidences” that were anything but fortuitous, concealing as they did the will of the Lord that discreetly comes to meet us without making its presence palpable. As I slowly walked down the nave at the rear of the procession, my mind at once went back to the key event that started me on the route of interior spirituality at the age of four, and would more than half a century later culminate in my conversion to Christ. It was September 1956. I still have clear in my mind the day on which my long travails began. I had burst into tears as my mother Safeya, aided and persuaded by the Caccias, the family of wealthy Italian textile magnates resident for generations in my native Cairo, handed me over to Sister Lavinia. She hid me under her habit so I would not see my mother entrusting me to the education and affection of the Combonian sisters and their devotion to St Joseph. Later on, from the last year of primary school to the last year of my scientific secondary school, I studied at the Salesian Don Bosco Institute.

For fourteen years, I lived in boarding schools run by Catholic religious orders (...) I was able to gain first-hand experience of the lives of women and men who had chosen to devote their lives to God in the Church by serving their neighbours, regardless of religion or nationality, and who bore witness to their Christian faith in works for the common good and the interest of the community. There I began to read the Bible and the Gospels with interest and involvement, particularly enthralled by the human and divine figure of Jesus. I was able to attend the church of St Joseph opposite the Combonian sisters’ school and the church of Don Bosco at the Salesian Institute. Every so often, I went to holy mass and once I actually approached the altar and received communion. From the religious point of view, it was an act without significance since I hadn’t been christened but it clearly signalled my attraction for Christianity and my desire to feel myself part of the Catholic community. (...) My conversion did not come about in a flash after some traumatic, joyful or sad event, nor was it merely a rational adherence prompted by reading sacred texts, or a purely intellectual confrontation with supporters or opponents of the Catholic faith.

Instead conversion was the ripe fruit of a long journey through a life of study and direct familiarity with the sources of wisdom but above all, with experiences of otherness that involved me entirely, slowly laying down in my soul and mind ever thicker layers of spiritual and rational adherence to the love and faith of Jesus. (...) Finally came the crucial moment of Baptism. I was being reborn in Christ and was about to take my first steps as an authentic Christian. I stood up and walked to the baptismal font, accompanied by my godfather. For the first time, I stood before Benedict XVI. I knew that at that precise moment, the destiny assigned to me by divine grace fifty-six years earlier, from my birth, was being fulfilled. I bowed with the respect and humility of a believer in the religious primacy of the Pope as Christ’s vicar on earth. I approached the font, stooped and Benedict XVI poured the blessed water over my head. “I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”. (...)

The moments immediately preceding my baptism and the baptism itself I experienced as an authentic liberation. For fifty-six years, I perceived myself as a Muslim and others around me identified me as a Muslim. At the age of fifty-six, I was born again as a Christian, cancelling out the Islamic identity that I have consciously and deliberately rejected. Inside me and outside, everything will change. Nothing will remain as it was before. For those who, like me, consider religious faith and the sphere of absolute, universal, transcendent values to be the foundation of life, thought and action, adherence to Christianity takes the form of a radical change in the whole of personality and existence. Naturally, it will take some time for this adherence to faith in Jesus to grow increasingly full and heartfelt. I feel like a child taking his first hesitant steps in his new Christian life. But I have a great desire to walk and run as a Christian! Thank you, Jesus.

New Sins? Huh?

Sometimes the media makes me laugh, sometimes they make me cry. Today there was a little of both.

Imagine my shock when I found out that the Catholic Church considers abortion, contraception, and drug dealing to be sins. Oh and not just sins, they are NEW sins. Yep, that is what the Fox News headline said.

If you haven't heard of this before, you must be living under a rock because the media is eating it up. In reality, it is sheer foolishness. The things mentioned have always been sins, especially contraception and abortion.

Also, the portrayal of this as being an official Vatican proclamation seems to be the exaggeration of the year. It is not an official proclamation, and it does not come from the Pope. It was a simple interview which for some reason has exploded into a firestorm. The message of the interview is nothing new!

As for the ecological sins, when the world was created God entrusted humanity with the responsibility of caring for it. So yes, abusing and destroying the earth is a sin...and always has been.

Want the real story? CNS has a good article.

Catholic World News has an even better one. Emphasis mine.

When he finished his interview with L'Osservatore Romano, Archishop Gianfranco Girotti probably thought that his main message had been an appeal to Catholics to use the sacrament of Confession. Little did he know that the English-language news media would play the interview as a newly revised list of sins.

Archbishop Girotti, the regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, spoke to the Vatican newspaper about "new forms of social sin" in our era. He mentioned such transgressions as destructive research on human embryos, degradation of the environment, and drug trafficking. Within hours, dozens of media sources were suggesting that the Vatican had radically revised the Ten Commandments, issuing a list of "new sins."

[...]

When a second-tier Vatican official gives a newspaper interview, he is not proclaiming new Church doctrines. Archbishop Girotti was obviously trying to offer a new, provocative perspective on some enduring truths. The effort backfired-- but in a very revealing way.

An ordinary reader, basing his opinion only on the inane Telegraph coverage, might conclude that a "sin," in the Catholic understanding, is nothing more than a violation of rules set down by a group of men in Rome. If these rules are entirely arbitrary, then Vatican officials can change them at will; some sins will cease to exist and other "new sins" will replace them. But that notion of sin is ludicrous.

Sin is an objective wrong: a violation of God's law. What is sinful today will be sinful tomorrow, and a deadly sin will remain deadly, whether or not Telegraph editors recognize the moral danger. The traditional list of deadly sins remains intact; nothing has replaced it. Greed, gluttony, and lust are as wrong today as they were a day or a year or a century ago. If Archbishop Girotti referred to "new" sins, it is because some of the offenses he named (such as genetic manipulation) were impossible in the past, and others (such as international drug trafficking) are much more prevalent today, in a global society. Insofar as people could have engaged in these activities a century ago, they would have been sinful then as well.

A sin is not a sin because simply an archbishop proclaims it so. Sin, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us, "is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience…" The precepts of "reason, truth, and right conscience" do not shift in response to political trends, nor do they change at the whim of Vatican officials.

The fundamental point of the L'Osservatore Romano interview was that Catholics need to recover a sense of sin, make use of the sacrament of Confession, and receive absolution for their offenses. Sin, the archbishop insisted, is a reality that man cannot escape.

Update: Welcome to everyone coming from the CNN link.

Because This is What Really Matters

We all know that Pope Benedict has nothing better to do than ban smoking, right? Thought so. It seems a group of doctors are going to attempt to convince the Holy Father to do just that.

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

From the Fall River Herald News:

Reflecting the gravity and addictiveness of the health problem, two dozen area doctors and nurses are appealing to a higher authority to curtail cigarette use.

When Pope Benedict XVI visits the United States in April, they plan to come armed with a petition with thousands of names asking the pope “to declare the Vatican the world’s first country to ban tobacco in its entirety.”

They are asking the pope to also “condemn the production, distribution and sale” of cigarettes and all tobacco products.

They are citing nicotine’s addictive force and that more than 5 million deaths a year worldwide is traced to smoking.

“We are frustrated over the lack of action on the part of our leaders whose job it is to protect and advocate for the common good,” said Dr. Claude Curran, a city psychiatrist treating addicts and co-founder of Physicians and Nurses Against Tobacco.

Curran said they selected the pope not only for his religious, moral and spiritual leadership but because “he’s the head of a country. … He’s not only the Vicar of Christ. He’s also the defender of man,” Curran said. “Who’s going to protect us if he doesn’t?”

During the past few months, Curran and several others formed PANAT. “Many of us work in addiction medicine and we understand the damage caused by tobacco,” he said.

Their Web site, www.unholysmoke.org, contains a petition saying they’ll “implore” Benedict to join them by declaring the Vatican tobacco-free and support their aims.
The petition effort began a few weeks ago.

They plan to publish the petition in New England newpapers during Pope Benedict’s first visit to the country, to Washington, D.C., and New York City April 15-20.

Curran pointed to the World Health Organization’s report one month ago stating that smoking killed 100 million people worldwide in the 20th century with the prospect of the numbers increasing ten-fold this century.

“We hold in our hands the solution to the global tobacco epidemic that threatens the lives of 1 billion men, women and children during this century,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO director general.

A WHO official that directs its tobacco-free initiative said the estimate of 5.4 million smoking-related deaths a year could rise to more than 8 million annually by 2030 if nothing is done.

While the WHO report advocates dramatic efforts to stop young people from starting smoking, helping others quit and reducing second-hand smoke, the PANAT activists attack the nicotine addiction problem.

“Nicotine causes changes in the way the brain works and nobody wants to admit it,” said Curran, a psychiatrist who has treated drug addicts in the city for the past decade.

“Chemicals that are addictive change the way the brain works,” he said. He said the changes to brain lesions from addictive chemicals are scientifically documented.
“Therefore, it’s neuro-chemical; it’s not a behavioral issue.”

People are dependent daily for the nicotine in tobacco or the caffeine in coffee “because the brain likes it,” Curran said. But he contrasts the daily lines of regular Dunkin’ Donuts coffee drinkers looking for their morning doses with addicted cigarette smokers this way:

“Six million people — the number of Jews that died in the Holocaust — don’t die every year because they drink coffee.” But they do from tobacco use.

The PANAT Web site gives an example of the nicotine implant on the brain and why smokers “don’t just quit” with a contrasting story about the excitement of riding a rollercoaster.

“The accelerations, twists and turns can be so thrilling and exhilarating that a group of friends at an amusement park may spend their whole day riding the rollercoaster,” it says. The next day, when they return to school or work, they might recollect the memories and fun to friends.

“They did not suffer irresistible urges or cravings to get back on the rollercoaster. They did not go back, day after day … to spend their life riding the rollercoaster. They did not overlook their health or responsibilities in order to get the ‘rollercoaster high’. “Not so with drug-induced euphorias,” PANAT says.

“What we want the tobacco industry to do,” said Curran, readily stating his treatment of addicts here has drawn controversy, “is to start reducing the nicotine in tobacco plants; so, within five years no one is inclined to smoke it” – or be addicted.

He said the government removed the cocaine from Coke, but with a world health care crisis won’t follow suit with tobacco products. “The reason,” he said, “is everyone is making so much money.”

“It is an indefensible, moral question that has to be addressed. The American health care system is on the brink of collapse,” said Dr. Roger Boshes, another city psychiatrist and PANAT co-founder.

“Heart disease, pulmonary disorders, lung cancer, these are all directly influenced by smoking,” Boshes said.

About 15 years ago, before Edward Bernays died at 103 years old, several PANAT members said they met the man often credited with being “the creator of public relations as we know it,” who immortalized the bacon and eggs breakfast among other accepted staples.

Working for the American Tobacco Co. in the 1920s, long before the health dangers of cigarette smoking became known and accepted, Bernays used female models and the Easter Day Parade in New York City to sell his product.

On his signal, the models lit Lucky Strike cigarettes in a successful effort to erase the stigma of women smoking, the wikipedia Web site documents.

“Group of Girls Puff at Cigarettes as a Gesture of Freedom,” read the New York Times headline of April 1, 1928.

Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, asked years ago by Curran and a couple others how to reverse the worldwide cigarette curse he helped bolster, planted the idea of petitioning the pope.

“Let us stomp out the ‘torches of freedom’ and bring something else to light: The eradication of tobacco,” PANAT says.

Yes, smoking is harmful and some theologians consider it to be objectively sinful, but...come on. Let's get real. There are bigger issues. The Vatican has already banned indoor smoking. In fact, many cardinals were unhappy during the conclave because they had to go up to the roof to smoke.

Website: Congregation for the Clergy

I have only looked at this briefly. Believe it or not, I am supposed to be writing three essays on the Summa Theologiae. Yeah, that's what I am doing.

Well, that was what I was doing until came across this new website for the Congregation of the Clergy. There are so many gems there that I really might need to turn off my internet access if I am going to get these written in time to turn in tomorrow.

Anyway, here is the link: Clerus.org

Consistory Tomorrow!

At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow, November 24, the Pope will hold an Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of 23 new cardinals.

The consistory for the creation of new cardinals, according to the new rite introduced during the consistory of June 28, 1991, contains the following points:

Following a liturgical greeting, the Pope reads the formula of creation, and solemnly proclaims the names of the new cardinals. The first of the new cardinals then addresses the Holy Father on behalf of everyone.

This is followed by the Liturgy of the Word, the Pope's homily, the Profession of Faith and the taking of the oath by each cardinal.

Each new cardinal then approaches the Holy Father and kneels before him to receive the cardinal's biretta and to be assigned a title or deaconry.

The Pope places the biretta on the cardinal's head and says, in part: "(This is) red as a sign of the dignity of the office of a cardinal, signifying that you are ready to act with fortitude, even to the point of spilling your blood for the increase of the Christian faith, for peace and harmony among the people of God, for freedom and the spread of the Holy Roman Catholic Church".

The Holy Father hands over the Bull of Creation as cardinal, assigns the title or deaconry and exchanges a kiss of peace with the new members of the College of Cardinals. The cardinals also exchange such a sign among themselves.

The rite is concluded with the Prayer of the Faithful, the recitation of the Our Father and the final blessing.

At 10.30 a.m. on Sunday, November 25, Solemnity of Christ the King, the Holy Father will preside at a concelebrated Mass with the new cardinals, during which he will give them the cardinal's ring, "the sign of dignity, pastoral care and the most solid communion with the See of Peter."

As he places the ring on the new cardinal's finger, the Pope says: "Take this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened."

Following the morning's ceremony, the College of Cardinals will have 201 members, of whom 120 are electors. The members of the College, by continent of origin, are divided as follows: 104 from Europe, 20 from North America, 34 from South America, 18 from Africa, 21 from Asia and 4 from Oceania.

As advisors to the Pope, the cardinals act collegially with him through consistories, which meet by order of the Roman Pontiff and under his presidency. Consistories can either be ordinary or extraordinary. In the ordinary consistory, all cardinals present in Rome, other bishops, priests and special guests are convened. These consistories are called by the Pope for consultation on certain important issues or to give special solemnity to some celebrations. An extraordinary consistory is one to which all cardinals are convened, and is celebrated when some special needs or more serious affairs of the Church suggest that it should be held.

VIS

Photo by Domini Sumus

Glendon to be Ambassador to Vatican

The LifeSiteNews.com article is titled "Praise and Criticism of Bush's Mary Ann Glendon Nomination", but I think it should be titled praise and praise. After all, once any faithful Catholic looks at who is giving the criticism and the grounds for that criticism it should be clear that the criticism actually praises her moral character (even if the words were intended to harm her character).

Anyway, here is the article:

President George Bush's nomination Monday of Mary Ann Glendon to be U.S. ambassador to the Vatican has been criticized as reactionary and subversive by US abortion and homosexual advocates. Glendon is a high profile and pro-life member the president's bioethics council.

Glendon, 69, is known at Harvard for her advocacy of Catholic teachings on a number of issues, including abortion and same-sex "marriage." She will succeed Francis Rooney, who served as envoy to the Vatican for the past two years. Glendon's appointment is for a five year term, and requires Senate confirmation.

Father Richard John Neuhaus, on the influential First Things website, today calls the selection of Glendon "a brilliant choice". He also notes a downside to her appointment in that "Prof. Glendon will be resigning from the editorial board of First Things."

Glendon was a member of President Bush's Council on Bioethics, advising the president on moral and ethical issues related to technological developments in bioethics. She has frequently criticized radical feminism and defended the Church's position on life issues. "The challenge of the church is to keep abreast of changes, but not dumb down its doctrine to the spirit of the age," she said in an earlier interview with the AP. "Contrary to popular stereotype, John Paul II has done a great deal to put women in many responsible positions."

In 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed Glendon to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In 2004, Glendon became the highest ranking female advisor to the Church when she was named president of the Academy. She also headed the delegation of the Holy See to the international 1995 Beijing Conference on Women sponsored by the United Nations, where she came under fire for her uncompromising statements against contraception.

US abortion and homosexual advocates have criticized Glendon's nomination. Jon O'Brien, president of the pro-abortion organization Catholics For a Free Choice, stated, "Dr. Glendon's stance on many matters of importance is not representative of Americans' views on these issues, let alone those of American Catholics". He added, "Her appointment comes at a time when the global community needs more critics of the Vatican's policies on sexual and reproductive rights."

Fr. Neuhaus reports that the Boston Globe is also not happy about Glendon's appointment. He quotes the Globe, "Glendon, 69, is an antiabortion scholar and an opponent of gay marriage who has written about the effects of divorce and increased litigation on society. Her 1987 book, "Abortion and Divorce in Western Law," was critical of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion."

The Globe also reports that Rev. Richard P. McBrien, a University of Notre Dame theologian and leading US dissident Catholic is not happy about the Glendon appointment. McBrien told the Globe, "She has also been an outspoken critic of feminism, tending to write it off as a relic of the 1970s, all of which endears her to conservative Catholics and makes her an ideal choice for President Bush."

Cardinal Sean O'Malley, however, praised Glendon in an interview with the Boston Globe. "Dr. Glendon's career is marked with numerous achievements in law, education, and international affairs that provide her exemplary credentials for this post," he said.

In her capacity as a legal specialist in the field of bioethics, Glendon has been a leader in the Catholic opposition to same-sex "marriage," and has acted as an advisor to Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Pope Names 23 New Cardinals

Following today's general audience, the Holy Father announced the names of 23 prelates who will be created cardinals in a consistory due to be held on November 24, the eve of the Feast of Christ the King. The consistory will be the second of his pontificate.

Following the November 24 consistory, the College of Cardinals will number 202 members of whom 121, under the age of 80, will be electors.

Given below is a list of the new cardinal electors:

- Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

- Archbishop John Patrick Foley, pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

- Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

- Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum."

- Archbishop Angelo Comastri, archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Peter's in the Vatican, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City and president of the Fabric of St. Peter's.

- Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

- Archbishop Raffaele Farina S.D.B., archivist and librarian of Holy Roman Church.

- Archbishop Agustin Garcia-Gasco Vicente of Valencia, Spain.

- Archbishop Sean Baptist Brady of Armagh, Ireland.

- Archbishop Lluis Martinez Sistach of Barcelona, Spain.

- Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris, France.

- Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, Italy.

- Archbishop Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal.

- Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Bombay, India.

- Archbishop Francisco Robles Ortega of Monterrey, Mexico.

- Archbishop Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, U.S.A.

- Archbishop Odilio Pedro Scherer of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

- Archbishop John Njue of Nairobi, Kenya.

Having pronounced the names of the new cardinal electors, the Pope then indicated that he had also decided to elevate to the dignity of cardinal "three venerable prelates and two worthy priests," all over the age of 80 and hence non-electors, for their "commitment and service to the Church." Their names are:

- His Beatitude Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Iraq.

- Archbishop Giovanni Coppa, apostolic nuncio.

- Archbishop Estanislao Esteban Karlic, emeritus of Parana, Argentina.

- Fr. Urbano Navarrete S.J., former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University.

- Fr. Umberto Betti O.F.M., former rector of the Pontifical Lateran University.

He added: "Among these, I had also intended to confer the dignity of cardinal upon the elderly Bishop Ignacy Jez of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg, Poland, a worthy prelate who died suddenly yesterday. We offer a prayer for the repose of his soul."

"The new cardinals come from various parts of the world," said the Holy Father. "And the universality of the Church, with the multiplicity of her ministries, is clearly reflected in them. Alongside deserving prelates who work for the Holy See are pastors who dedicate their energies to direct contact with the faithful."

He went on: "There are other persons, very dear to me who, for their dedication to the service of the Church, well deserve promotion to the dignity of cardinal. In the future I hope to have the opportunity to express, also in this way, my esteem and affection to them and to their countries of origin."

Benedict entrusted the future cardinals "to the protection of Mary Most Holy asking her to help each of them in their new tasks, that they may know how to bear courageous witness in all circumstances to their love for Christ and for the Church."

VIS

Marini Replaces Marini

I had my doubts that it would actually happen, but it is now official.

This morning Pope Benedict XVI

- Appointed Archbishop Piero Marini, master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, as president of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.

- Appointed Fr. Guido Marini of the clergy of the archdiocese of Genoa, Italy, as master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations.

To get used to the new change, click on Piero's picture.

This may rile some in the blogosphere, but I am disappointed in Archbishop Marini's new assignment. I think he deserves something much better.

Photo credits: Piero Marini photo by Domini Sumus

Guido Marini Photo from Andrea Tornielli

The Truth of Pope John Paul's Death

In an article published in MicroMega, an Italian periodical, Dr. Lina Pavanelli claims that Pope John Paul II and his doctors disregarded Church teaching by using a form of euthanasia to accelerate the pontiff’s death. This shocking claim reached the mainstream American media though an article in Time magazine, under the sensational title “Was John Paul II Euthanized?”. These articles are inaccurate because of Dr. Pavanelli’s, method of diagnosis, dismissal of the reported cause of death, misunderstanding of the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding life support, and intentions.

Dr. Pavanelli, a professor of intensive care medicine, claims that Pope John Paul II should have received a feeding tube weeks before his death. She has published this claim even though she never had access to either Pope John Paul II or his medical records. She openly admits that her claims are based on information she gained though media reports, watching the pope on television, and from a book written by the Pope’s doctor. Although doctors are not allowed to diagnose through these methods, Dr. Pavanelli not only makes a diagnosis, she accuses the pope of suicide. According to the article in Time, Dr. Pavanelli believes that the pope’s doctors recommended a feeding tube, but he refused the procedure, which she claims amounts to suicide in the opinion of the Church. On May 30, 2005, a Vatican press release stated that the pope had been given a feeding tube, but she claims that it was inserted too late. It has been argued that if Pope John Paul II intended suicide, a feeding tube would not have been inserted at any point. Furthermore, in a press conference given on September 26, 2007, the Vatican announced that the feeding tube had been inserted much earlier, but it was not reported to the media until later. In response, Dr. Pavanelli revised her accusations and now claims that the feeding tube provided was the wrong type. Because she was not present and does not have access to the pope’s medical records, these claims do not have any basis in fact.

Nonetheless, Dr. Pavanelli also claims that Pope John Paul “died for reasons that were clearly not mentioned. […] the incapacity to swallow.” All official reports state that Pope John Paul II died from septic shock and cardiovascular collapse. This was not the result of either starvation or dehydration. The incapacity to swallow and the difficulty breathing which he suffered are both symptoms of his advanced Parkinson’s disease. Difficulty breathing creates a greater risk of infection and physically weakens the patient. A tracheotomy was performed to help the pontiff breathe easier. If suicide had been his intention, he would have refused the tracheotomy.

The most disturbing aspect of the articles are the misrepresentations of the teaching of the Catholic Church. The article in Time claims that “Catholics are enjoined to pursue all means to prolong life.” This statement is false and does not appear in any document of the Catholic Church. On the contrary, article 2278 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

“Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted.”

Despite that, the dying can be allowed to suffer from starvation or dehydration. Just weeks before the publication of the MicroMega article, the Vatican released a document entitled Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration. The document states:

"The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life. It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient. In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented."

While some may interpret that passage to mean that Catholics are obliged to provide feeding tubes at all costs, the Declaration on Euthanasia which was approved by Pope John Paul II in 1980 states:

“When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the means used, it is permitted in conscience to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted”

The Catholic Church teaches that feeding tubes only need to be used when they are necessary and useful. In the case of a dying person, they are to be used to ensure the comfort of the patient. That seems to be exactly what the pope’s doctors did.

Despite appearances, the pope is not the real center of this controversy. He is simply the target which Dr. Pavanelli and MicroMega have chosen. This article is really about Piergiorgio Welby, an Italian man with muscular dystrophy who died after being taken off life support. Mr. Welby was not allowed to have a Catholic funeral because his death was seen by Church law as an act of suicide. The difference between Pope John Paul II and Piergiorgio Welby is that Pope John Paul II was actively dying. Earlier insertion of a feeding tube would not have prevented the pope’s death, but Mr. Welby could have lived for some time if his life support had not been removed. In that way, Mr. Welby’s death was directly caused by the removal of the life support system. Dr. Pavanelli and MicroMega have been vocal supporters of Mr. Welby’s decision. This is simply an attempt to promote their cause.

Through her unsubstantiated accusations and gross misinformation, Dr. Pavanelli has broken the physician’s credo of “First, do no harm”. She has harmed the integrity of the medical profession, the reputation of Pope John Paul II, and the knowledge of all those who do not have expertise in Catholic teaching on end of life issues. Her arguments are not cogent because they are not based on knowledge of the patient, they ignore many disclosed facts, and present an inaccurate view of Church teaching. Moreover, she does not openly disclose her true intentions. I am disappointed that Time has given Dr. Pavanelli a means to promote her message without questioning its factuality.

Read more on this topic here:
Fr. Jonathan Morris
LifeSite News

Shooting in Vatican City

VATICAN CITY, SEP 3, 2007 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. released the following declaration at midday today:

"At around 7.30 a.m. today Alessandro Benedetti, aged 26 and a member of the Corps of the Gendarmerie of Vatican City State, was found in a bathroom of the Gendarmerie's barracks in a very grave condition with a gunshot wound. The young man was taken immediately to Santo Spirito Hospital where he died at around 9 a.m.

"Initial evidence would seem to suggest that the young man committed suicide. A note found on the scene is currently being studied by Vatican magistrates who are following the case and who will examine the information that emerges from the autopsy which has been requested by the Italian coroner.

"Alessandro Benedetti was recruited into the Corps of the Gendarmerie last April as a 'gendarme cadet' following the usual psychological aptitude selection process, also concerning the handling of weapons

"His behavior had not, until now, given cause for concern.

"The Holy Father learnt the news with great sadness. He entrusts young Alessandro to the mercy of God, and remains spiritually close to the Benedetti family and to the members of the Gendarmerie."

Interview with Msgr Gaenswein

Gerald has gone through the hard work of translating Peter Seewald's fascinating interview of Msgr. Georg Gaenswein, which appeared in Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Here are a few tidbits:

Peter Seewald (PS): Herr Praelat, how is the Pope ?

Msgr. Gaenswein (MG): He's well, feels very good, works a lot and is in "high gear".

PS: Does he use the exercise bike that his physician, Dr. Buzzonetti, told him to

MG: The bike is in our Appartamento Privato.

PS: What does that mean ?

MG: It's being a good bike, ready to be used.

(...)

PS: Some criticize that he is in a kind of splendid isolation, a golden cage, that it's impossible to get near him.

MG: That's nonsense. Every morning there are private audiences, in the afternoon the work meetings with his closest aides - and that six days a week. In addition, there are many meetings within and without the walls of the Vatican. Golden cage? Hah! I guess it might be criticism of me, that I shield the Pope too much. Entirely exaggerated.

PS: He is basically a shy man. But at the same time he's always had something "inconvient" about him, a resistance against everything that's too common, against stupidity.

MG: That the Holy Father isn't an impetuous but a more reserved person is plain to see for everyone.

PS: The Pope writes all important texts himself, including the speech in Regensburg with the controversial quote from a historical book on a dispute with Muslims. Why did nobody edit the text?

MG: I find the Regensburg speech, as it was given, to be prophetic.

PS: Was the shock great when the angry attacks from the Islamic world became known ?

MG: We only heard of the crude reactions after we'd gotten back to Rome from Bavaria. It was a big surprise, to the Pope as well. The mighty trouble had started due to newspaper reports which had taken one quote out of context and presented it as the Pope's personal opinion.

(...)

PS: Growing up, you were five children, the father a blacksmith, the mother a Hausfrau (housewife).

MG: My father ran a smithy in the seventh generation, later he haded a store for agricultural equipment, but it wasn't a whole lot of money. Until I was six, we also had a little farm going. Sometimes we had to make the money last. My father was also very active in local politics, in many clubs and associations. Because of that, he was rarely home at night. Our mother had to do all the more, bear the burden and duty of bringing up the children. Us five had a childhood without worries, but of course we also fought.

PS: Because everything didn't always go the way the firstborn wanted it?

MG: As the oldest, you're supposed to be the wisest and give in - but giving in isn't exactly my strength.

PS: Born to be wild - was that you ?

MG: At times maybe, between 15 and 18. I listened to Cat Stevens, Pink Floyd and some others, among them the Beatles. I had pretty long curly hair then, which my father didn't like, so there were fights at times about going to the barber. But that phase came to an end pretty unspectacularly.

(...)

MG: Inititally, I was, as the oldest, supposed to take over my father's agricultural appliances business but the happenings at the stock exchange interested me more. My idea was that there was a lot of money being made and that you had to be bright and fast. Later, a bit more mature, when I thought about it more intensively, I thought, ok if I can do all that and have money, what happens then ? Suddenly, existential questions took center stage. So I started to search and ended up, completely unplanned, coming across philosophy and theology.

PS: A long process.

MG: And a difficult one. At first, the world of theology drew me close very strongly, the priesthood was added as a second step. Of course celibacy was also a question. At some point I felt that I couldn't drive at half speed, either I'd do it completely or I'd quit. A little theology, that's not possible. So, step by step, I approached the priesthood.

PS: A quote from one of your homilies, on the occasion of some ordinations: "You are granted to know that you have a dignity that distinguishes you from all who aren't priests. You are allowed to have the consciousness that you are doing something great, that you are allowed to do something great." Pretty aloof.

MG: I'd say that again without ifs ands or buts.

PS: You take it seriously.

MG: Yes, I do.

PS: It also sounds a bit romantic.

MG: I don't think so. They are words that were made true by life, and life wasn't romantic. The sentences quoted by you may sound a bit ceremonious on paper but behind them there is a lot of personal experience and I did not want to keep it from the new priests that there is something grand ahead of him, that it costs something and that he has to be willing to pay that price.

PS: In 1984 you were ordained a priest, then you spent two years in the Black Forest. In 1993, you wrote your dissertation in Munich, about "Ecclesiology according to the Second Vatican Council." Did you have moments of great doubt ?

MG: After two years as Kaplan (assistant pastor), I was sent back to Munich for more studying - of something that's not really my preference - Canon Law. After half a year I was so fed up I said to myself, now I'm going to the archbishop and ask him to take me back into the diocese because I can't stand it anymore.

PS: That bad ?

MG: I'd always studied gladly and easily, but studying Canon Law I felt to be as dry as work in a quarry where there's no beer - you die of dryness. I was saved by my professor, Winfried Ayman who later made me his assistant. He helped me greatly to get out of this situation by showing me new perspectives. That helped me a lot and kept me from quitting. I am very grateful to him.

PS: Time and again these "verdicts" surface: dutiful, pious, conservative; a man of form and strictness.

MG: In the sense of "mild in form, strict in content" I can't let that stand. When I think something to be right, I stick to it. Admittedly, patience is not my strength. Sometimes I get pretty "in your face" (literally "I drive up pretty close"), which can irritate people.

PS: What abilities does the private secretary of the head of a Church with 1.1 billion members have to have ?

MG: In a way, he has to be a jack of all trades ("generalist"), but he also has to acknowledge that he can't do everything, and he shouldn't demand it from himself. He has to do what the Pope tells him to do, and that with all his force, heart and mind.

PS: Was there some kind of introductory training, like a school for Papal etiquette ?

MG: Not at all. The only thing there was was a private conversation with my predecessor, Monsignore Stanislaus Dziwisz, the current Cardinal-Archbishop of Krakow. That was about two weeks after the Conclave and the move into the Appartamento. He handed me an envelope containing some papers and a key for a safe. An ancient safe, German precision work. He only said, "You now have a very important, very beautiful but also a very, very difficult task. The only thing I can tell you is that the Pope must not be "suffocated" by nothing and no one. How to go about that, you have to find out for yourself." Period, the end. More he didn't say. That was the entire school for Papal etiquette.

PS: And what was in the envelope?

MG: That I won't tell you. They are things that are given from Papal Secretary to Papal Secretary.

PS: Your initial mistakes?

MG: I realized soon that the speed I demanded of myself was too high. To start in the pole position is one thing, to get through the laps and arrive at the finish line quite another. Starting at full speed, so to speak. So I had to find out the right speed. Another difficult point was the handling of the countless requests for private audiences and other encounters which were all tied to noble motivations. Requests without end - "just for a minute", "just once, as an exception", "the Pope has known me for a long time, he'd be very happy". Here, the right "filter system" was needed. I had to put in a stronger filter.

PS: What do you keep from the Pope?

MG: Nothing important. All important official letters and documents, everything coming from bishops and cardinals, from the world of politics and diplomacy, I present to the Holy Father in the daily briefing. Apart from that there is a huge pile of letters, pleas, requests, proposals that he doesn't get to see, because he simply doesn't have the time. There, the Pope has given me room for my own judgment.

PS: Do people try to instrumentalize you?

MG: It happens, but I know how to defend myself.

PS: Does one "take off" in your position at times ?

MG: The opposite is more the case, that you're being suffocated, pressed down. If there is a danger, it's isolation. At one point friends said that I wasn't around anymore and was withdrawing. That was an alarm signal, and I immediately tried to make free time to better take care of personal relationships and existing friendships. It's important for one's psychological health.

(...)

PS: It's plain to see that so many priests of the new generation discover the spiritual, cultural and aesthetical treasures of the handed-down liturgy. With the new Motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum", an Apostolic letter of the Pope it has been stated that every priest may celebrate the Holy Mass also according to the earlier, Tridentine Rite. Will this bring new conflicts ?

MG: The opposite is the purpose and goal. Conflicts are supposed to be ended, existing fractions and schisms overcome. With the Motu proprio a spiritual home has been opened to a lot of the faithful. I am convinced that the letter of the Holy Father to the bishops which was released together with the Motu proprio and in which the Pope explains the goals and motivations of the document at length is the right key to its proper understanding.

PS: The French philosopher Rene Girard, member of the Academie francaise, is predicting a decisive Christian Renaissance. According to him, we are at the "eve of a revolution of our culture." This change is supposed to make the Renaissance of the 15th century pale by comparison.

MG: The religious element enjoys an attention it hasn't had in years. After a phase of indifferentism, people once more concern themselves with religion, questions of faith. I see that especially young people who have everything or could have everything, realize: One can do anything, one can even destroy the world - but one can't win the soul, when the essential is missing. The Catholic Church has treasures to offer that no one else can offer. Greater and more enduring than all politicial offers of "salvation." But, that doesn't happen automatically. Faith comes from being heard, as Saint Paul says, it has to be proclaimed.

If you want to know what the pope wears while watching tv, or how Msgr. Gaenswein feels about being a sex idol, you'll have to check out the full translation.

Saint Patrick's Day is March What?

From Ireland.com

Church celebrations of St Patrick's Day next year are being transferred to March 15th as it falls in Holy Week.

The Vatican had intended transferring the celebrations to early April, after Easter week, but at the request of the Irish bishops it agreed to the March 15th date as this would be closer to the civic celebrations of St Patrick's Day.

These will go ahead as normal on March 17th, which will also be a bank holiday. The St Patrick's Festival and parade will take place as normal in Dublin, as will events elsewhere.

In Ireland the feast of St Joseph next year will be celebrated on March 14th as his feast day, March 18th, also falls in Holy Week 2008.

The reason for these liturgical changes is that Easter Sunday next year is on March 23rd, the second earliest date it could be.

The earliest date is March 22nd, as Easter Sunday - since the Council of Nicea in AD365 - always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox.

It means that Holy Week 2008, as reported in the current edition of the Irish Catholic, begins on March 17th, the Monday after Palm Sunday. For the first time since 1913, and the last time until 2160, St Patrick's (and St Joseph's) Day will fall in Holy Week next year.

As Fr Paddy Jones, of the Catholic Church's National Centre for Liturgy at Maynooth, put it, "the days of Holy Week and Easter Week rank above all others" and so St Patrick (and St Joseph) must be transferred.

In such circumstances St Patrick's Day should be celebrated then after the Second Sunday of Easter. But "in order to keep a link with the civic celebrations, the feast of St Patrick will be Saturday, March 15th, next year," Fr Jones said.

As a transferred feast it will not be a holy day of obligation.

The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Most Rev John Neill said that where his church was concerned liturgical celebrations of St Patrick's Day 2008 would also be on March 15th, though there may be some local celebrations on the 17th.

New Vatican Website

The Vatican has launched a great new website featuring new webcams, photo galleries, and a wealth of information.

Here is the VIS bulletin:

The Governorate of Vatican City State today opened a new Internet portal (www.vaticanstate.va) in order to meet the needs of the ever increasing numbers of pilgrims and tourists in the Vatican, and to respond to the continuous requests for information reaching the various offices of Vatican State though the traditional channels.

A communique made public yesterday afternoon explains that the new website, which will run alongside the official Holy See website (www.vatican.va), has been implemented in five languages (Italian, English, French, Spanish and German) with Portuguese soon to be added. Through its five sections (State and Government, Services, Other Institutions, Monuments and Shop) the portal "presents the State's bodies, the key monuments with descriptions and images, and useful time schedules for the public" reads the English-language communique.

The site also offers a photo tour of the Vatican Gardens, as well as giving real time access via five webcams to some of the most famous sights: the dome of St. Peter's, St. Peter's Square, a panoramic view of Rome, the tomb of John Paul II and the palace of the Governorate.

Via the new portal, the communique concludes, "visitors will soon be able to purchase Vatican coins, stamps and other articles available from the Vatican Museum's publications and reproductions sales office."

No, Not That Marini

It has been reported on another blog that Archbishop Piero Marini, the papal Master of Ceremonies was going to become Adjunct Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. It seems there has been a bit of confusion about which Marini is getting the job. It's Mario Marini, not Piero Marini.

Here is the official announcement.

NOMINA DEL SEGRETARIO AGGIUNTO DELLA PONTIFICIA COMMISSIONE "ECCLESIA DEI"
Per mandato del Santo Padre, l’Em.mo Card. Darío Cástrillón Hoyos, Presidente della Pontificia Commissione "Ecclesia Dei" ha nominato Segretario Aggiunto della medesima Pontificia Commissione il Rev.do Mons. Mario Marini.

Holy See Ends Year With 2.4 million Euro Surplus

Money might not make the world go 'round, but it sure is important.
The financial statement of the Holy See was released at 11:30 this morning.

Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, announced this morning in a press conference on the Holy See consolidated financial statements for 2006 that the year closed with a surplus of 2.4 million euro. This, he said, "represents a lower value following the results of 2005 (9.7 million euro) and of 2004 (3.08 million euro)."

In terms of the institutional activity of the Holy See (Secretariat of State, congregations, councils, tribunals, the Synod of Bishops and various other offices), the president indicated that this sector closed the year with a deficit of 31 million euro, a decrease with respect to 2005 which had closed with a deficit of 36.9 million euro.

Cardinal Sebastiani pointed out that the sector of financial activities (seven consolidated administrations, the most important of which is the Extraordinary Section of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, APSA) showed a surplus of 13.7 million euro, as compared with last year's surplus of 43.4 million euro. This decrease of about 29 million euro, the cardinal explained, "is due above all to a sudden very strong reversal of trend in fluctuations of the rate of exchange, especially of the US dollar."

The real estate sector, he continued, "closed with a net gain of 32.3 million euro, higher than that of 2005 which stood at roughly 22.4 million. ... Total costs amounted to about 27 million euro, whereas revenues reached 59.3 million euro."

The activity of the five media institutions connected with the Holy See (Vatican Radio, the Vatican Printing Office, L'Osservatore Romano newspaper, the Vatican Publishing House and the Vatican Television Center), closed with a deficit of 12.8 million euro, "substantially due to the negative results of Vatican Radio (about 23.8 million euro) and of L'Osservatore Romano (4.4 million euro)," said Cardinal Sebastiani. Nonetheless, the Vatican Printing Office and the Vatican Television Center closed the year with a surplus of 1.3 million euro and 421,000 euro respectively. The Vatican Publishing House also closed its 2006 financial statement with a surplus of 1.3 million euro, and in this context the cardinal recalled how it has been entrusted with the exercise and the guardianship of the copyright of "all the documents by means of which the Supreme Pontiff exercises his teaching."

The final part of the economic report, concerning other income and expenditure, closed with a positive result of 184,000 euro, as against the seven million euro deficit of 2005 which had reflected the costs incurred during the period of vacant see in April 2005.

In closing, the president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See indicated that in the Vatican on July 2, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. had presided at the 41st meeting of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See. On that occasion, said Cardinal Sebastiani, as well as the consolidated financial statement of the Holy See for 2006, the cardinals also examined that of the Governorate of Vatican City State, which closed with a surplus of 21.8 million euro, down on the 29.6 million euro of 2005.

Offers from the faithful to Peter's Pence, the fund which goes to the Holy Father's works of evangelical solidarity, grew considerably with respect to the preceding year, coming to 74.6 million euro in 2006, as against the 2005 total of 46.7 million.

VIS

Here is the transcript from the press conference.

On Monday, July 2, 2007 the 41st meeting of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See took place in the Vatican City State. His Eminence Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone chaired it.

The Cardinals examined the 2006 Consolidated Financial Statement of the Holy See and that of the S.C.V. Governorate, both closed with a profit.

As usual, I have the honor of presenting the Consolidated Financial Statement of the Holy See for the fiscal year 2006 with my staff. As a consolidated financial statement, it contains the income and the expenses of the various pontifical administrations that are within the area of consolidation. It includes the 2 Sections of the Secretariat of State, 9 Congregations, 3 Tribunals, 11 Pontifical Councils, the Apostolic Camera, the Prefecture of the Papal Household, the Office for liturgical celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, the Press Room of the Holy See, the Central Office of Statistics of the Church, 5 Pontifical Commissions and 2 Pontifical Committees, 3 Pontifical Academies and the Institutions connected with the Holy See: the Vatican Secret Archives, the Vatican Library, the Apostolic Almonery, the Synod of Bishops, the Vatican Publishing House, the Vatican Printing Press - L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Center. Moreover, 118 Pontifical Embassies and 9 delegations at International Organizations must be added.

The good news for the current operating statement is that, after three consecutive years, it has closed with a surplus of 2.4 million euro, which represents the less significant value, after the results registered both in 2005 (equal to 9.7 million euro) and in 2004 (equal to 3.1 million euro).


I turn now to the analysis of the principal entries of the operating statement, which as usual are expressed in the following four categories:


1) Institutional Activity. This sector encompasses all the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia: the Secretariat of State, the Papal Embassies, the Roman Congregations, the Pontifical Councils, the Synod of Bishops and other Offices. As these assist the Holy Father more closely in his mission as Universal Pastor at the service of the Local Churches and also for the benefit of humanity as promoter of peace in today’s world, they do not produce income. This is the significance of the Canon 1271 C.J.C. prescriptions, which invite the Bishops to come freely to the aid of the necessities of the Holy See by supporting its activity, in the same way that Canon 1263 C.J.C. prescribes that the parishes support the activity of the diocesan curia. In 2006 the volume of donations that came from Episcopal Conferences, dioceses, religious Institutes, faithful and various Entities increased from 73.9 million euro in 2005 to 86 million euro in 2006. Within this sector, the most positive results were both in the income from Canon 1271 c.j.c. which rose from 21.5 million euro to more than 24 million euro in one year, for an increase of about 12%, and above all in the volume of contributions from institutions, foundations and other entities which shows significant revenues, equal to 61.2 million euro (against 51.7 million euro in 2005).

As for costs of the entire sector, which are directly connected with the activity of the Roman Curia to assist S. Peter’s Successor in his ministry, we can note a rise slightly higher than 5 million euro: from 121.3 million in 2005 to 126.2 million. This variation was due above all to the cost incurred for personnel for the adjustment both of remunerations to the inflation rate and of the compulsory contributions to the pension funds. Also general and administrative costs increased from 13.4 million in 2005 to 15.3 million in 2006, as did those for Papal Embassies and for the maintenance of the Apostolic Nunciatures (from 19.6 million to 20.6 million euro).

Costs for "maintenance and repairs" decreased slightly from 10.4 million euro in 2005 to 9.8 million euro. Also in 2006 the works to consolidate the foundations, the floors and the vertical walls of the building in Piazza di Spagna (seat of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) continued. Moreover, other expenses for extraordinary maintenance related to the buildings of Sant’Uffizio (for systems replacement), Propilei (for lifts replacement and fronts finishing) and Palazzo Convertendi must be considered.

Therefore, this important sector of the Institutional Activity closed with a deficit of 31 million euro, a decrease compared to the 2005 institutional deficit which stood at 36.9 million euro.

2) Financial Activity. In this sector are included the financial activities of the consolidated administrations, especially those of APSA Extraordinary Section (Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See).


The above-mentioned increase in contributions partially counterbalanced the serious fall in the net balance profit of the financial sector which closed with a gain of 13.7 million against 43.3 million in 2005. Therefore, a decrease by about 29 million euro occurred, due above all to a sudden, very strong reversal of trend in fluctuations of the rate of exchange, especially of the US Dollar.

Indeed, a net positive fluctuation of 21.7 million euro was registered in 2005 while a net loss of roughly 7 million euro occurred in 2006 due to fluctuations in the rates of exchange. In this sector the results seesaw by nature; I remember that in 2004 a net loss of 11 million euro occurred whereas in 2005, as already said, the fluctuations were positive, equal to 21.7 million euro.

The revenues from coupons and dividends increased slightly, rising from 25.5 million euro to 28.5 million euro in the two fiscal years. Also interest payable increased in comparison with 2005, rising from an amount of 8.1 million to 9.4 million euro.

3) The Real Estate sector closed with a net gain of 32.3 million euro, higher than that of 2005 which stood at roughly 22.4 million. This positive result can be attributed mostly to appreciated values from the sale of some real estate, whereas in 2005 increased values were equal to only 1.3 million euro. In the financial year under examination total costs amounted to about 27 million euro, whereas revenues reached 59.3 million euro.


4) In the activity of the Four Institutions connected with the Holy See the following media concerns are included: Vatican Radio, the Vatican Printing Press - L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Television Center and the Vatican Publishing House.

These activities as a whole strongly support the ministry of the Peter’s Successor by broadcasting the Pope’s voice and image.

The result of this sector is a net deficit of 12.8 million euro; it is substantially due to the negative results of Vatican Radio (about 23.8 million euro) and of "L’Osservatore Romano" (4.4 million euro).

On the contrary, the Vatican Printing Press closed its financial statement with a surplus of 1.3 million euro, as well as the Vatican Television Centre which closed with a profit of 421 thousand euro, against 650 thousand euro in 2005.

Also the Vatican Publishing House closed its 2006 financial statement with a surplus of 1.3 million euro and with a rise of 10 million euro in the volume of the activity. As everybody knows, the exercise and the guardianship of all copyrights (perpetually and all over the world) have been entrusted to the Vatican Publishing House over all the documents by means of which the Supreme Pontiff exercises His teaching.

The last entry of the operating statement pertains to Other Income and Expense. This presents a positive result of 184 thousand euro due to contingent assets from nearly all the consolidated Administrations.


The financial statement was submitted to the examination of the Council of International Auditors and then to the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See. On 5 July 2007, I had the privilege of presenting it to the Holy Father. It will now be translated into various languages and sent to the Bishops and the Superiors General of Religious Institutes of Men and Women.


We are now at your disposal to reply to your questions.

Motu Watch

It's official! The Motu is coming! The Motu is coming!

From this morning's Bollettino!

COMUNICATO DELLA SALA STAMPA DELLA SANTA SEDE

Si è svolta ieri pomeriggio in Vaticano una riunione, presieduta dal Cardinale Segretario di Stato, in cui è stato illustrato ai rappresentanti di diverse conferenze episcopali il contenuto e lo spirito dell’annunciato "Motu proprio" del Santo Padre sull’uso del Messale promulgato da Giovanni XXIII nel 1962. Il Santo Padre si è recato a salutare i presenti e si è intrattenuto con loro in un’approfondita conversazione per circa un’ora. La pubblicazione del documento – che sarà accompagnato da un’ampia lettera personale del Santo Padre ai singoli Vescovi - è prevista entro alcuni giorni, quando il documento stesso sarà stato inviato a tutti i Vescovi con la indicazione della sua successiva entrata in vigore.

I don't have time to translate this, but you know what it is about. I will have the official English announcement as soon as it hits my inbox. Also, one technical note. The Motu Proprio will release the Missal which was promulgated in 1962 by Pope John XXIII, not the missal which was used before 1962.

Update: Here is the official English announcement.

Given below is the text of a communique released today by the Holy See Press Office concerning Benedict XVI's forthcoming "Motu Proprio" on the use of the Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962.

"Yesterday afternoon in the Vatican, a meeting was held under the presidency of the Cardinal Secretary of State in which the content and spirit of the Holy Father's forthcoming 'Motu Proprio' on the use of the Missal promulgated by John XXIII in 1962 was explained to representatives from various episcopal conferences. The Holy Father also arrived to greet those present, spending nearly an hour in deep conversation with them.

"The publication of the document - which will be accompanied by an extensive personal letter from the Holy Father to individual bishops - is expected within a few days, once the document itself has been sent to all the bishops with an indication of when it will come into effect."

Moto Proprio

Not the one on restoring the traditional Mass, but the one restoring the traditional conclave.

Made public today was a "Motu Proprio," written in Latin, with which the Holy Father Benedict XVI restores the traditional norm concerning the majority required for the election of the Supreme Pontiff. According to this norm, in order for the election of a new Pope to be considered valid it is always necessary to reach a majority of two thirds of the cardinals present.

With this document, Benedict XVI substitutes the norm established by John Paul II who, in his 1996 Apostolic Constitution "Universi Dominici gregis," laid down that the valid quorum for electing a new Pope was initially two thirds but that, after three days of voting without an election, there would be a day dedicated to reflection and prayer, without voting. Thereafter, voting would resume for seven additional ballots, another pause for reflection, another seven ballots, another pause and yet another seven ballots. After which an absolute majority was to decide how to proceed, either for a vote by absolute majority or with balloting between two candidates. This was to happen only in the event that the cardinals arrived at the 33rd or 34th ballot without a positive result.

VIS

However, all you Moto Proprio watchers, don't lose hope. Rumors abound. Gerald has translated an article from Kath.net which says the Moto Proprio for the Tridentine Mass was handed to the bishops today and will be released on July 7th.

Fr. Z has more here and here.

The Pope and the President

Pope Benedict and President Bush met this morning in Vatican City. The Vatican has released the following statement regarding the meeting:

This morning, Saturday June 9 2007, President George W. Bush of the United States of America was received in audience by His Holiness Benedict XVI. The president subsequently went on to meet Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

In the course of the cordial discussions, the main themes of the international political situation were considered. On the question of the Middle East, particular attention was given to the Israeli-Palestinian question, to Lebanon, to the worrying situation in Iraq, and to the critical conditions being experienced by the Christian communities. On the part of the Holy See, hope was once again expressed in a "regional" and "negotiated" solution to the conflicts and crises afflicting the region. Discussions also turned to the question of Africa and its development, also with reference to Darfur, and there was an exchange of opinions on Latin America.

Finally contemporary moral and religious issues were examined, among them those concerning human rights and religious freedom, the defense and promotion of life, marriage and the family, the education of the young and sustainable development.

VIS

Catholic News Service has the best article on the meeting that I have come across so far. Here are some excerpts:

The pope and president looked relaxed as they greeted each other and spoke briefly before reporters before their 35-minute private encounter June 9. Bush later held a separate 40-minute meeting with the Vatican’s top foreign policy officials.

[...]

Before the president’s visit, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, went out of his way to praise Bush for his position on abortion and for “positive initiatives in favor of the defense of life from conception.”

Bush arrived at the Vatican under very heavy security. His motorcade entered St. Peter’s Square from a side street instead of along Via della Conciliazione, the wide avenue leading to the Vatican, which had been cleared of cars and was lined with curious onlookers.

In the sunny St. Damasus Courtyard, the president was greeted by U.S. Archbishop James Harvey, one of the pope’s private secretaries, who escorted him past a picket of Swiss Guards and up an elevator to the fourth floor of the Apostolic Palace for the papal audience.

The pope smiled broadly as he greeted Bush just outside his private library. The two men shook hands, and the pope ushered the president to a large desk. Reporters and photographers were allowed to stay for the first minute of the encounter.

“It’s good to be with you sir,” Bush said as he sat down opposite the pope, crossing his legs and leaning back in a white chair.

“You come from the conference in Heiligendamm?” the pope said, referring to the G8 meeting in Germany.

“I did, your old country. And it was successful,” the president replied.

“Successful? You had some decisions? It’s not so easy,” the pope said. He said it was important for humanity that conferences like this produce decisions.

“It was, you know, a lot of different opinions. But it was good. It was good,” Bush said.

Read the complete article here.