HOMILY OF POPE BENEDICT XVI

MASS TO OPEN THE YEAR OF FAITH

St. Peter's Square

11 October 2012

Dear Brother Bishops,

Dear brothers and sisters!

Today, fifty years from the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, we begin with great joy the Year of Faith. I am delighted to greet all of you, particularly His Holiness Bartholomaois I, Patriarch of Constantinople, and His Grace Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. A special greeting goes to the Patriarchs and Major Archbishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches, and to the Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences. In order to evoke the Council, which some present had the grace to experience for themselves - and I...READ MORE

POPE BENEDICT XVI'S WEEKLY GENERAL AUDIENCE 

St. Peter's Square

10 October 2012

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are on the eve of the day when we will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Ecumenical Council Vatican II and the beginning of the Year of Faith. With this Catechesis I would like to begin to reflect - with some brief thoughts – on the great ecclesial event that was the Council, an event of which I was a direct witness. It, so to speak, appears to us like a giant fresco, painted in its great diversity and variety of elements, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And just like before a great work of art, still today we continue to grasp that moment...READ MORE

The need for humility, joy and confidence in spreading the Gospel have been some of the major subjects for discussion during the first session of the first full day of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.

The Church, said various bishops, must be humble and not preoccupied with herself; she cannot pretend to give easy solutions; she must rediscover the newness and richness of Christ’s teaching, and cannot be guided by "our own thoughts," but must constantly reach back into Tradition.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville advocated blessing a child in the womb – approved by the Vatican in 2011 – saying it is the first act of evangelization of a child and his family, and...READ MORE

Rizzoli, the publishers of the Holy Father's new book "The Infancy of Jesus", has today published these three short extracts of the work which is scheduled to go on sale in time for Christmas:

Benedict XVI's Foreword

 

I hope it will help many people

I can at last consign to the reader the long promised little book on the narratives of Jesus' childhood. It is not a third volume but a sort of small “antechamber” to the two preceding volumes on the future and message of Jesus of Nazareth. Here I have sought to interpret, in dialogue with exegetes of the past and of the present, what Matthew and Luke recount at the beginning of their Gospels about the infancy of Jesus.

...READ MORE

Pope Benedict XVI is to grant the faithful a Plenary Indulgence for the occasion of the Year of Faith, the Vatican announced today.

The decree states that the indulgence will come into effect on the 50th anniversary of the solemn opening of Vatican Council II, which marks the beginning of the Year of Faith. It says it is “especially dedicated to the profession of the true faith and its correct interpretation, through the reading of - or better still the pious meditation upon - the Acts of the Council and the articles of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

The decree was signed by Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro and Bishop Krzysztof Nykiel, respectively penitentiary major and...READ MORE

In his weekly general audience catechesis today,  Pope Benedict XVI focussed on the meaning and importance of the liturgy.

Below is his summary of his address in English, followed by the full text of the catechesis delivered in Italian. (Translations courtesy of Vatican Radio): 

“Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Today, I would like to highlight the ecclesial nature of liturgical prayer. The liturgy is a “participation in Christ’s own prayer addressed to the Father in the Holy Spirit” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1073). The Church, as Christ’s Mystical Body and united with him, offers worship to the Father. By identifying ourselves with Christ in his prayer to the...READ MORE

Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, a canon lawyer and member of the Vatican’s Supreme Court, is convinced that Pope Benedict XVI will pardon his former valet, Paolo Gabriele.

Gabriele, who is currently being tried in a Vatican court for the theft of confidential documents from the papal apartments, is to take the witness stand tomorrow.

In an interview with La Repubblica Sept. 30, the Curial cardinal, asked if Gabriele will be jailed or pardoned, stressed that a pardon “is a personal prerogative of the Holy Father” and one that only he, in good conscience, can decide.

He added: “According to my studies of criminal procedure applied to the Church, I feel I can say that, with a full...READ MORE

For some weeks, a rumor has been circulating in Rome that this coming November Pope Benedict XVI will, for the first time during his pontificate, publicly celebrate a Pontifical Mass in the Old Rite.

The speculated date is Nov. 3rd when thousands of pilgrims from all over the world are expected to attend a Tridentine Rite Mass in St. Peter’s basilica.

The pilgrimage and Mass, organized by 'Coetus Internationalis Pro Summorum Pontificum', a group of various traditionalist Catholic organizations, is being held principally in thanksgiving for the promulgation of Pope Benedict’s 2007 Motu Proprio 'Summorum Pontificum' which granted greater freedom for the faithful to celebrate the Old...READ MORE