Benedict XVI’s efforts to have dialogue with other religions and to reunite all Christians were among his priorities. Nobody can deny that liturgy and ecumenism were two key aspects of Benedict XVI’s pontificate. In fact, they can be regarded as the two sides of the same coin, in the sense that a correct liturgical approach bolsters [...]
From the shock in the US in the years after 2000 to the “guidelines” for bishops’ conferences all over the world, the Pope placed the victims first. Malta, Australia, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom — Pope Benedict XVI in these countries embraced and listened to the victims of sexual abuse by clergy, seeking to [...]
The trips of a Pope who surprised us with his clarity, says his secretary, Msgr. Georg Gänswein. When Benedict XVI traveled to Mexico and Cuba in March 2012 he set a record: he was the oldest Pope to make an international voyage. This explains much of the meaning of travel in the pontificate of the theologian [...]
Almost every September, Pope Benedict delivered a profound, dramatic address to the political and academic world. His cry: “The windows must be flung open again.” Pope Benedict. (Galazka photo) We can call them Benedict’s “September speeches.” Pope Benedict pronounced them during the trips he took each year, after the summer vacation, to different [...]
The Mater Ecclesiae Monastery. John Paul II attached great importance to prayer, hence his decision to establish in the Vatican a monastic group of nuns to support his papal ministry and the work of the Roman Curia with their prayers. A building once used by the Vatican police was chosen as the nuns’ residence. [...]
This map, from the book Sede Apostolica Vacante (Vatican Press, 2005) shows: (A) Domus St. Marthae;(B) Apostolic Palaces; (C) cardinals’ walk to the Sistine Chapel. In the February 22, 1996 Apostolic Constitution Universi Domini Gregis on the vacancy of the Apostolic See and the election of the supreme pontiff, John Paul II wrote: “By [...]
The Sistine Chapel prepared for a conclave (Galazka photo) The Sistine Chapel will become the center of attention when it is time to elect a new Pope. In fact, the conclave for the election of a new pontiff takes place in front of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment fresco in the famous Sistine Chapel. The cardinals [...]
Here is a book which might help reporters — and the faithful coming to Rome from all over the world for the Conclave and the first period of the new Pope this spring — to understand the political and juridical realities of the Holy See in greater detail. The book is the General Guide to Vatican [...]
An interview with Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, head of the Central Statistics Office of the Church, and with Professor Enrico Nenna, on the publication of the new Pontifical Yearbook. Every year in mid-February, a simple but significant ceremony takes place in the Holy Father’s private library: Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of state, and Archbishop Giovanni Angelo [...]
On April 19, the second day of the voting, German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 78, was elected the 265th Pope and took the name Benedict XVI. The newly-elected Pope appeared at the central window of St. Peter’s Basilica smiled as he was greeted by the crowd gathered below in the square. “After the great John Paul II, [...]