Pope Benedict XVI is planning to make an apostolic visit to Malta next April to commemorate 1,950 years since St. Paul’s shipwreck there, according to a press release issued by Malta’s bishops on Saturday.

The visit would be the third papal trip to the Mediterranean island nation, after Pope John Paul II’s visits in 1990 and 2001.

St. Paul was shipwrecked in the archipelago in the year 60, during his second voyage toward Rome, according to tradition. He remained on the island for three months before setting out for Sicily. Bitten by a viper, he was unaffected, and many islanders who were ill went to him and were healed.

Benedict’s visit there will also draw attention to the...READ MORE

The Catholic Archbishop of Moscow has given a remarkably upbeat assessment of relations with the Orthodox Church, saying unity between Catholics and Orthodox could be achieved “within a few months.”

In an interview today in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi said the miracle of reunification “is possible, indeed it has never been so close.” The archbishop added that Catholic-Orthodox reunification, the end of the historic schism that has divided them for a millennium, and spiritual communion between the two churches “could happen soon, also within a few months.”

“Basically we were united for a thousand years,” Archbishop Pezzi said. “Then for...READ MORE

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, has warned against priests who have an “insufficient and superficial” encounter with Jesus Christ, saying this can turn their ministry into a “kind of clerical profession” in which they carry out their duties “like officials.”

Speaking in Fatima, Portugal, to a four-day conference of more than 800 Portuguese priests, the cardinal asked them “to be missionaries and to nurture their spirituality every day.” For this, it’s necessary to “maintain a constant contact with the Word of God, living a life of prayer that includes the authentic liturgy of the hours, devotion to Mary, celebrating the Eucharist as...READ MORE

The Congregation for Divine Worship is declining to comment further on reports that the Vatican is considering a “reform of the reform” of the liturgy, but a formal statement on the matter is expected soon.

An official told the Register this morning that “everything is under study and is progressing” but added that he could say no more until Cardinal Antonio Llovera Cañizares, prefect of the congregation, or the Holy See Press Office, issues an official statement.

At the end of August, veteran Vatican watcher Andrea Tornielli reported that cardinals and bishops of the CDW voted almost unanimously at their plenary meeting in March “in favor” of 30 proposals aimed at increasing...READ MORE

At Communion and Liberation’s annual Rimini Meeting last week, Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, spoke about why he decided to become a Catholic and of his opposition to those elected officials who think they should keep their faith “in a safety deposit box.”

Bush also indicated he doesn’t think it’s likely his older brother, former President George W. Bush, will convert to Catholicism.

Answering a question put to him after he had delivered a talk strongly critical of big government, Bush said what primarily attracted him to the faith were the “sacraments of the Catholic Church, the timeless nature of the message of the Catholic Church, and the fact that the Catholic...READ MORE

Tony Blair was given star treatment at Communion and Liberation’s 30th annual Rimini Meeting yesterday evening in Italy.

Billed by the organizers as “The Day of Blair,” the speech took place in a packed auditorium of mostly Communion and Liberation members who gave the former British prime minister and recent convert to the Church a rousing welcome.

Several thousand people filled the huge hall and stood up to greet Blair as he walked from the back of the hall to the front amid wild cheers. His press spokesman said it was the largest single gathering the former British politician had ever addressed.

Blair made many commendable points in his speech. He began by explaining how he...READ MORE

An estimated 1,100 guests joined Msgr. Georg Gänswein yesterday in his home town of Riedern in southern Germany to celebrate 25 years since his ordination.

The private secretary of Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass in Latin in the parish church where he was baptized, received First Communion and celebrated his first Mass. His homily focused on “the simple truth of the faith.”

The number of guests more than doubled the population of the small Black Forest town, which has just 450 residents. Among those present were Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela of Madrid, and Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, an old friend of Msgr. Gaenswein. The Pope sent a letter of congratulation in which...READ MORE

Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli, a veteran and well-respected Vatican watcher, reported on Saturday that Rome has initiated a major “reform of the reform” of the post-Second Vatican Council liturgical changes to the Mass.

H/t to the Rorate Caeli blog, which has posted a complete translation of Tornielli’s article, published in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale. It says that several “propositiones” for liturgical reforms of the Mass were approved in March by the plenary session of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

According to Tornielli,

The document was delivered to the hands of Benedict XVI in the morning of last April 4 by Spanish...READ MORE