Pope Benedict

Letter #139, 2022 Sat Dec 31: Farewell, Benedict XVI

Portrait of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (Vatican Media) The late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (Vatican Media)     "With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican," the Vatican spokesman, Dr. Matteo Bruni, said a few minutes ago [...]

Letter #56, 2021, Friday, July 16: Guardians

    In this Thursday, April 1, 2021 file photo, Pope Francis celebrates a Chrism Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican. During the Mass the Pontiff blesses a token amount of oil that will be used to administer the sacraments for the year. Pope Francis cracked down on the spread of the old Latin Mass on [...]

Letter #1, 2020: The Controversy over the Book

"O Salutaris Hostia, Quae caeli pandis ostium!" ("O Saving Victim, opening wide The gate of heaven to man below!") —A hymn in praise of Jesus Christ, composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, writing in the 1200s. Aquinas says the work of Jesus Christ was, through his sacrificial death, to open the gates of Heaven (eternity) to man. [...]

Letter #54, 2019: Newman, Giani, Scalfari, Viganò

CNS photo/Paul Haring Sunday, October 13, 2019 Today is the 102nd anniversary of the mysterious "Miracle of the Sun" which occurred in and near Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, as a conclusion to the six apparitions of Our Lady to the three shepherd children, Lucia, 10, Francisco, 9, and Jacinta, 7. So much is happening [...]

Letter #3, 2017: Trump? Francis Waits

January 22, 2017, Sunday -- On Trump, Francis Waits On the dangers -- and need for -- populist movements Pope Francis has granted another long interview, this time to two Spanish journalists writing for the daily El Pais of Madrid, Spain. The interview was conducted on Friday, January 20, in the Domus Santa Marta, where the [...]

Letter #64, 2016: Vatican Pravda?

October 18, 2016, Tuesday - Vatican Pravda? "With an article worthy of Pravda, the Vatican Insider website today presents its readers the equation 'traditionalist Catholic' = 'enemy of Bergoglio' = 'lover of Putin.'" —Francesco Colafemmina, an Italian Catholic philologist with a love for sacred art and architecture (link). In a new article entitled "Vatikan Pravda," Colafemmina [...]

Letter #58, 2016: The Bells of Rome, Last Conversations, #4

September 17, 2016, Saturday -- The Bells of Rome, Last Conversations #4 "Peter Seewald: When you left the Vatican in a helicopter, this also was part in some way of the entire screenplay, as it were, at least as seen from the outside. One could say that up until that moment no Pope had ascended into [...]

Letter #56, 2016: Dark Night, Last Conversations #3

September 15, 2016, Thursday -- Dark Night, Last Conversations with Pope Benedict, Letter #3 "Peter Seewald: Have you also experienced any of those 'dark nights' of which many saints speak? Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI: Such powerful experiences, no. Perhaps I am not holy enough to have plumbed the depths of that obscurity. However sometimes, things happen [...]

Letter #55, 2016: "Seek His Face Always," Last Conversations #2

September 14, 2016, Wednesday -- "Seek His Face Always," Last Conversations with Pope Benedict, Letter #2 "Peter Seewald: When you find yourself before the Almighty, what will you say to Him? Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI: I will ask Him to be indulgent with my wretchedness." —Passage in the first chapter of Ultime Conversazioni ("Last Conversations"), by [...]

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