November 2012

Opening the “Year of Faith”

On October 11, a single ceremony opened the “Year of Faith” and recalled the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Benedict urged Catholics to go back to the Council’s documents...   Pope Benedict XVI Green, fuchsia and red, then lots of white and gold along with the most varied [...]

The Butler is Found Guilty

The verdict: Paolo Gabriele, Benedict XVI’s former valet, judged guilty of stealing documents from the Pope by a Vatican tribunal. But mysteries about this case remain. And the investigation continues...   The Pope’s butler has been found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in jail (he could have received 6 years). The trial of the Pope’s [...]

Bernini: The Popes’ Artist in Baroque Rome

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was the most famous and important sculptor in 17th century Europe, but he was also a recognized architect, painter, events organizer, poet and playwright. He was born in Naples, Italy, on December 7, 1598, to a Mannerist sculptor, Pietro Bernini, originally from near Florence, and his wife, Angelica Galante, a Neapolitan. He was [...]

People – November 2012

IN DEFENSE OF FISHERMEN During a press conference at the Cardinal Cooray Educational Centre in Negombo, Sri Lanka, Cardinal MALCOLM RANJITH, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka, called on the government to review its tax policies, slamming choices that favor multinationals at the expense of people and nature, especially in Negombo Lagoon (Central Province), [...]

Vatican Watch – November 2012

September Friday 7 “SHARE THE GOSPEL TO TRANSFORM LIVES” Christians must trust in the power of the Gospel to awaken people’s consciences and promote reconciliation, but that can happen only if they hear the Gospel first, Benedict XVI said during a meeting with 92 bishops ordained in the past year and named to dioceses in the [...]

Meditation – November 2012

November 2 and indeed the whole of November focus on the Holy Souls. There are actually two names for the day: “All Souls’ Day” and “The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.” In around 998 A.D., All Souls’ Day was formally fixed on November 2 by St. Odilo, Ab­bot of Cluny; the influence of the monks [...]

The Judgment Explained

One trial in the “Vatileaks” case is over, and judgment rendered. The butler was found guilty, and he will serve time. But another trial opens November 5. And many questions remain... The Vatican court which found papal butler Paolo Gabriele guilty of stealing sensitive papal documents released the reasons for its decision on October 23. Meanwhile, [...]

Scicluna “Not Kicked Upstairs”

Msgr. Charles Scicluna returns to Malta from Rome where he has been the Vatican’s chief prosecutor of clerical abuse cases since 2002. He will be auxiliary bishop of Malta.   Reports in the media suggesting that Monsignor Charles Scicluna’s recent appointment as Malta’s auxiliary bishop was an effort to sideline a vociferous voice in the Vatican [...]

Metropolitan Hilarion Spoke to the Catholic Bishops’ Synod in Rome

One who spoke Russian came to Rome in October to address the Synod of Bishops — a high-ranking official of the Russian Orthodox Church. When a Russian visits Rome, one has to pay attention and watch es­pecially for any sign of “warming” in the relations between the Holy See and the Orthodox of Russia, for such [...]

The Spirit of New Evangelization

What a sight the Church is! What a sight this institution is, at once so human as to have a traitor in the apartments of Christ’s vicar and so holy as to have missionaries at the four corners of the earth. But the time has come, says the Pope, to realize that the land of mission [...]

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