Pope says ashes symbolize austerity and resurrection
Rome, Italy, Feb 22, 2012 / 01:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Like millions of Catholics around the world, Pope Benedict XVI received ashes on Ash Wednesday. He said that they become a “sacred symbol” of austerity which reflects both the “curse” of sin and the promise of the resurrection in a fallen world.

The Ash Wednesday words from Scripture -- “dust you are and unto dust you shall return” – are “an invitation to penance, humility and an awareness of our mortal state,” the Pope said.
 
“We are not to despair, but to welcome in this mortal state of ours the unthinkable nearness of God who opens the way to Resurrection, to paradise regained, beyond death … The same spirit that resurrected Jesus from the dead can transform our hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh,” he said in his homily at the fifth-century Basilica of Santa Sabina, where he too received ashes.

Lent is thus a journey towards the “Easter of Resurrection.”
 
The Pope spoke after leading the Ash Wednesday evening procession on Rome’s Aventine Hill, a tradition revived by Pope John Paul II in 1979.

The papal homily included a short reflection on the meaning of ashes in Scripture and in Christian thought.

While the ashes are not a sacramental sign, they are linked with “prayer and the sanctification of the Christian people,” he said.

In Genesis, God created man out of dust from the soil and breathed a “breath of life” into him. The Ash Wednesday ashes therefore recall the creation of mankind.

Being human means uniting matter with the “Divine breath.” However, the symbol of dust takes on a negative connotation because of sin.

“Before the fall the soil is totally good,” the Pope said. But after the fall dust produces “only thorns and brambles.” Rather than recalling the “creative hand of God” that is open to life, dust becomes “a sign of death.”

Pope Benedict said that this change shows that the Earth itself participates in man’s destiny. The cursing of the soil helps man recognize his limitations and his own human nature.

This curse comes from sin, not from God, he explained. Even within this punishment, there is “a good intention that comes from God.”

When God says in Genesis “dust you are and unto dust you shall return,” he intends not only a just punishment, but also an announcement of the path to salvation, the Pope preached.

This salvation “will pass through the Earth, through that same dust, that same flesh which will be assumed by the Word Incarnate.”



Live Lent with courage, Pope urges Christians
Vatican City, Feb 22, 2012 / 12:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As he observed Ash Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians to live the 40 days of Lent with faith and patience, aware that God will bring light, truth and joy into the darkness.

“In these 40 days that will lead us to Easter may we find new courage to accept with patience and with faith situations of difficulty, of affliction and trial, knowing that from the darkness the Lord will make a new day dawn,” the Pope said Feb. 22, the first day of Lent.

“And if we are faithful to Jesus and follow him on the way of the Cross, the bright world of God, the world of light, truth and joy will be gifted to us once more.”

The Pope delivered his comments at his weekly general audience, which was held in the Vatican’s Pop Paul VI Hall and was attended by over 7,500 pilgrims.

He explained that in the early Church it was only those preparing to be baptized who would observe the 40 days of Lenten preparation. Subsequently, however, all Christians were invited “to experience this journey of spiritual renewal, to conform themselves and their lives to that of Christ,” including those who had fallen away from the Church.

The Pope said that the “participation of the whole community” emphasizes that “redemption is not available to only a few, but to all, through the death and resurrection of Christ.”

“The time leading up to Easter is a time of ‘metanoia,’ a time of change and penance, a time which identifies our human lives and our entire history as a process of conversion, which begins to move now in order to meet the Lord at the end of time,” he said.

Pope Benedict noted that the Church calls the 40 days leading up to Easter “Quadragesima.” And it does so with a “clear reference to Sacred Scripture,” where the number 40 often symbolically used to express “a time of expectation, purification, and return to the Lord,” he taught.

The Pope said that the “Christian liturgy of Lent” is meant to spur a “journey of spiritual renewal” and time more focused on learning how to imitate Jesus, who showed Christians “how to overcome temptation with the Word of God.”

The Pope asked those at today’s audience to note how God sustained his people, even in the wilderness. After their exodus from Egypt, for example, God preceded the Jewish people “in a cloud or a pillar of fire, ensured their daily nourishment showering manna upon them, and bringing forth water from rock.” It was in many ways a “time of the special election of God” or, added the Pope, “the time of first love,” of a people for their God.

But time spent in the desert can also be “the time of the greatest temptations and dangers,” Pope Benedict observed, pointing out that this happened to Jesus but “without any compromise with sin.” Jesus always sought “moments of solitude to pray to his Father” but it is in those moments he was most assailed by “temptation and the seduction of devil.” It was there, for example, that he was offered “another messianic way, far from God’s plan.”

Just as this dynamic is found in the Old and New Testaments, the Pope said, it can also be found in the “condition of the pilgrim Church” as it makes its way through “the “wilderness’ of the world and history.”

This wilderness is made up of “the aridity and poverty of words, life and values, of secularism” and the “culture of materialism which encloses people within a worldly horizon and detaches them from any reference to the transcendent,” he said.

It is in such an atmosphere that “the sky above us is dark, because it is veiled with clouds of selfishness, misunderstanding and deceit.”

At the same time, “the wilderness can become a period of grace” for the Church, because “we have the certainty that even from the hardest rock God can cause the living water to gush forth, water which quenches thirst and restores strength.”

Pope Benedict finished by saying that this hope in God’s power should sustain the Church and each Christian during the following 40 days.



Cardinal O’Brien meets Cardinal O’Brien
Rome, Italy, Feb 21, 2012 / 01:55 pm (CNA).- You don’t have to be named O’Brien to become a cardinal, but it seems to help. Just after Cardinal Edwin O’Brien became a member of the College of Cardinals on Feb. 18, he was welcomed by a man with the same last name, Cardinal Keith O’Brien from Scotland.

“O’Briens are descendents of the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru, and I’m sure Edwin, like me, can trace his ancestry directly back to him.

“So it is only fitting that the two of us should be Princes of the Church at this present time,” laughed the Scottish Cardinal O’Brien.

The American Cardinal O’Brien was also amused that their family name is currently the only one to appear twice in the 213-member list of the Church’s Sacred College of Cardinals.
 
“I know there have been a lot of O’Brien bishops, but I doubt there have ever been two Cardinal O’Briens. It’s a great distinction, and I thought of that pretty soon after I was appointed,” the American cardinal told CNA.
 
The two men met at the Rome headquarters of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.

Cardinal Edwin O’Brien was appointed their Pro-Grand Master by Pope Benedict in Aug. 2011. The order supports the Church in the Holy Land, particularly the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, through prayer and good works.

Coincidentally, Cardinal Keith O’Brien is also a member of the order.

He explained to CNA that their next Scottish investiture is later this year and will include a pilgrimage to the historic island of Iona, the launching pad from which St. Columba re-evangelized much of Europe in the 6th century.

“Given Americans’ love of history and heritage, I do hope that Cardinal O’Brien, or ‘Cardinal Edwin’ as we will call him to distinguish between us, will be able to join us for that.”

Cardinal Edwin O’Brien said he didn’t know much about his Scottish counterpart, although he had read enough to know “he is a very strong leader” among the bishops of the British Isles in “speaking up for the Church.”
 
In return, the Scottish cardinal said he also knew “a little” of his fellow cardinal’s work in Baltimore, and was “delighted” to have him as a fellow member of the Sacred College where both, being under the age of 80, are eligible to vote for the next Pope.

“I just hope that when there’s a conclave for a new Pope that they get the initials right and don’t mix us up in any way at all, if we are ever considered to be in the running,” joked Cardinal Keith O’Brien.



Vatican gives Easter reform deadline to Pontifical University of Peru
Vatican City, Feb 21, 2012 / 09:48 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican has given the Pontifical University of Peru until Easter 2012 to comply with the Church’s requirements for Catholic colleges, marking the first time the Holy See has set a deadline for a university to reform.
 
“Given the evident importance of safeguarding the Catholic identity of the university, the Cardinal Secretary of State requested that the competent academic authorities present the statutes for approval by Easter Sunday, April 8,” a Feb. 21 communiqué issued by the Holy See Press Office says.
 
The statement followed a meeting in Rome this morning between the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and Marcial Rubio, the rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

Their discussions were largely based upon an investigation of the university carried out Dec. 5 -11, 2011 by Cardinal Peter Erdo of Budapest. He traveled to Peru, where he found the Lima-based institution to be at odds with the Catholic Church in several significant areas of policy.
 
University officials have been refusing to comply with the Church’s guidelines for Catholic universities, which were laid out the papal document “Ex Corde Ecclesiae.” The apostolic constitution was promulgated in 1990 by Pope John Paul II to clarify what is expected of an authentically Catholic university.

The university has also defied a ruling by the Peruvian civil courts to give the Archdiocese of Lima a seat on its board of directors.

While today’s communiqué says Cardinal Bertone praised the “assiduous and generous commitment shown by various members of the university in the formation of students,” it also makes clear that he called for changes to be made.

The Secretary of State told Rubio that the Vatican want the statutes of the university to be “regularized as soon as possible, adapting them to the Apostolic Constitution ‘Ex Corde Ecclesiae.’”

Cardinal Bertone stated that this is being done “for the good of the Pontifical University of Peru itself and of the Church in Peru.”
 
If the university chooses not to comply with today’s Vatican recommendations, it could be stripped of its status as a pontifical university. Furthermore, the original donor who provided the land for the university stipulated that if the pontifical university is closed, the property would pass to the Archdiocese of Lima.

Cardinal Bertone said he hopes that “the academic community would accept these indications” outlined today so that the university “may increasingly dedicate itself to its mission of offering young people a solid formation, rooted in faithfulness to the Magisterium.” He told Rubio that this would guarantee “the great contribution the university is called to make to the country.”

The Pontifical University of Peru was founded in 1917 and was awarded its pontifical status by Pope Pius XII in 1942. It currently has over 16,000 undergraduate students and is regarded as one of the top universities in Peru.

Its alumni include President Ollanta Humala of Peru, as well as his immediate predecessor, Alan García, and the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar.

In 1986 the university gave an honorary doctorate to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.



Pope says new cardinals recall Church’s universal mission
Vatican City, Feb 20, 2012 / 04:40 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI told the family and friends of the Church’s newest batch of cardinals that this weekend’s consistory was “an opportunity to reflect upon the universal mission of the Church in the history of man.”

“In human affairs, which are often agitated and confused, the Church is always alive and present, bringing Christ: light and hope for all humankind,” he told over 4,000 family members, friends and pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Feb. 20.

“Remaining united to the Church and to the message of salvation she bears, means anchoring ourselves in truth, reinforcing a sense of true values, remaining serene whatever happens,” the Pope said.

In total, the Pope created 22 new cardinals this weekend. Among them were Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, Emeritus Archbishop of Baltimore and now the Grand Master of The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York. It’s estimated his diocese alone brought over 1,000 pilgrims to Rome.

“With great joy I meet you, relatives and friends of the newly created cardinals, just days after the solemn celebration of the consistory in which these your beloved pastors were called to the College of Cardinals,” said the Pope.

He said the occasion gave him the opportunity to extend his “cordial greetings more directly and more intimately” to all, and especially to the new cardinals. He hoped that the family and friends present would “gather with affection” around their cardinals so as to feel “ever closer to their hearts and their apostolic worries.”
 
“May you listen with lively hope to their words as fathers and teachers. Be one with them and each other in faith and charity, to be more fervent and courageous witnesses of Christ.”

Turning to the French-speaking pilgrims who accompanied the 91-year-old religious historian Cardinal Julien Ries from Belgium, the Pope said that “our society, which experiences moments of uncertainty and doubt, has need of Christ’s clarity.”

Pope Benedict hoped that each Christian would “bear witness with faith and courage” and that the imminent period of Lent will “favor a return towards God.”

He finished his remarks by exhorting the pilgrims to “always to remain united to your pastors, and to the new cardinals, in order to be in communion with the Church,” as “unity in the Church is a divine gift which must be defended and developed.”
 
The audience ended with the Pope entrusting the pilgrims and his “dear brother cardinals” to “protection of the Mother of God and of the Apostles Peter and Paul.”



Journalist chronicles a day in the life of Pope Benedict
Vatican City, Feb 20, 2012 / 12:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI, at age 84, never goes to sleep before 11:00 p.m., prays the Rosary every day, gets up at 5:00 a.m. and uses a cell phone only accessible by his closest advisers.

In an article published online at Europaquotidiano.it on Feb. 17, Italian journalist Aldo Maria Valli documents a day in life of the Pope, who wakes up when Vatican City “is still immersed in silence.”

Valli says the Bavarian pontiff is a “typical German, a methodic man” who “likes to organize his day down to the last detail, according to a very precise schedule.”

Benedict XVI begins his day by celebrating Mass in the papal chapel at 7:00 a.m., together with his two personal secretaries, Father Georg Ganswein and Father Alfred Xuereb.

Other members of the papal household who also attend the Mass include the Pope’s assistants –  Carmela, Loredana, Cristina and Rosella – who are all consecrated women belonging to the Memores Domini community of the movement Communion and Liberation, as well as his personal valet, 46 year-old Paolo Gabriele, who is married and has three children.

After the Mass, which is always celebrated in Italian, Benedict XVI has breakfast at 8:00 a.m. and then heads to his study, where he remains working until 11:00 a.m. His office always has a crucifix and two phones, one of which is a cell phone with a number only accessible to his closest collaborators. 

Valli says the Pope likes to stay informed of current events around the world and reads news reports in various languages, including German, Italian, English, French and Spanish.  He also devotes some time to answering important correspondence.

Once finished with his morning work, the Pope holds meetings with visiting heads of state, ambassadors and other representatives on the second floor of the Apostolic Palace.

The meetings are usually held in the Papal Library, depending on the number of visitors and the solemnity of the occasion. The visits usually last for around two hours. On Wednesday, they are interrupted by the Pope’s General Audience, which takes place at the Paul VI Hall or at St. Peter’s Square. 

At 1:30 p.m. the Holy Father has lunch with his two secretaries. Rarely do they ever have a guest, and the menu is usually Mediterranean. Benedict XVI never drinks wine, always orange juice, Valli says.

After lunch the Holy Father enjoys a short walk for no longer than 10 minutes together with his secretaries around the balconies of the Apostolic Palace “adorned with lemon and orange trees and that provide a splendid view of Rome.” On these walks there is usually no talking about work.

The Pope rests for one hour and at 3:30 p.m. he returns to his study. He devotes the rest of the afternoon to writing documents, speeches and homilies. He does not use computers but writes everything by hand, and afterwards his texts are transcribed and translated.

Valli says the pontiff is an “extremely careful” writer who enjoys “retreating into his study to write in peace, with personal control over his sources by consulting his vast personal library.”

At 5:30 p.m. he signs documents prepared for his signature by his secretaries and then meets with some of his closest collaborators, such as Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, and others.

The Pope then goes downstairs to take another walk, this time in the Vatican Gardens. He is usually joined by one or both of his secretaries and they pray the rosary before a replica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.

A light dinner is usually served at 7:30 p.m. At 8:00 p.m. the Pope returns to his study and later goes to the chapel for night prayers.

He “never goes to bed before 11:00 p.m.,” Valli writes. “All the proof you need is to just walk through St. Peter’s Square around that time and see what time the light is shut off in the window of the top floor of the Apostolic Palace.”

That’s when the entire Vatican City shuts down for the night, except for the security guards and a few engineers, Valli says.



Cardinal O’Brien: I will serve the Pope with my whole heart
Rome, Italy, Feb 20, 2012 / 11:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien says he will faithfully serve Pope Benedict XVI with his “whole heart.” The emeritus Archbishop of Baltimore made his promise as he knelt to receive his red biretta and cardinal’s ring from the Pope in St. Peter’s Basilica on Feb. 18.
 
“I said to the Pope, ‘I want to serve you as best I can, with my whole heart, and that with the grace that God gives me I will seek to serve you with my whole heart,’” he told journalists at a press conference moments after the consistory.

“So I want the grace and I want those prayers that will prompt that grace from the Good Lord, I hope.”
 
Cardinal O’Brien said he was “humbled and overwhelmed” by the ceremony, which he described as “Very impressive. Very simple, I think, and very solemn.”

The 72-year-old New Yorker is one of 22 new cardinals that were created this weekend by Pope Benedict. Their role is to assist and advise the Pope in the governance of the Church and, when the current Pope passes away, to elect the next pontiff.

“One hopes that it won’t happen too soon,” said Cardinal O’Brien, who pointed out that he “may precede the Pope to that gate of Heaven.” If he is alive when it comes time for a new Pope, the election “will certainly be a weighty responsibility” that will “always be in the back of one’s mind.”

Pope Benedict appointed Cardinal O’Brien as the Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem in Aug. 2011. The order supports the Church in the Holy Land, particularly the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, through prayer and good works. The new job requires Cardinal O’Brien to permanently move to Rome, but he will not do that until his successor as Archbishop of Baltimore is installed, he said.
 
He told the media is particularly looking forward to the upcoming Year of Faith that will begin Oct. 2012. Cardinal O’Brien believes it will “be celebrated on every level of the Church,” and will involve “not just prayer but study and good works.”

“It is going to be a renewal of faith, and only God knows what graces he has in store for us in celebrating that year, but I am convinced it will be a most enriching Year of Faith for us.”

Part of the vision for that year was outlined Feb. 17 by then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York. During a day of prayer and reflection at the Vatican for all cardinal-designates, he outlined a “creative strategy of evangelization” to counter secularism and bring people to Jesus.
 
“Gee, I think it was a home run,” said Cardinal O’Brien when he was asked about the speech, “the Pope certainly referenced it several times in his wrap up talk yesterday.”

So is the Archbishop of New York now a contender for Pope? “His mother thinks so,” said Cardinal O’Brien, causing an outbreak of laughter from the press. “He certainly is going to be given many responsibilities as a cardinal, and from what he said yesterday, it was certainly very profound, great insights, beyond that? Who knows,” he said.

Cardinal O’Brien believes that a return to the documents of the Second Vatican Council, which began 50 years ago, will play a key part in the New Evangelization.

“A lot of people speak of the ‘Spirit of the Council’ without having read the Council, and I think it is important to get back to it and see what the Council did say because there’s some wonderful thoughts there, very applicable to today, very contemporary.”

As a “parish priest of Rome” Cardinal O’Brien has been entrusted with a titular church in Rome, in his case, St. Sebastian on the city’s Palatine Hill.

“I don’t know too much about it. We tried to get in the other day, but it was locked,” he said, again engendering much laughter, “It must be very old and very historic, so we’ll look into that early next week.”

More immediately, he celebrated Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Feb. 19 with his fellow cardinals and Pope Benedict. On Feb. 20 he will have an audience with the Pope, along with the many family members who traveled to Rome for this weekend’s celebrations.

“It’s just so exciting to be here and a great honor for the family,” said his cousin Rory Rosencrans who flew in from Kissimmee, Fla. She and many other family members were sporting cardinal red wool hats.

“He’s been a very disciplined man throughout his life, from the days he was a paratrooper jumping out of planes in the war in Vietnam,” she said.

“He is very genial. We’ve attended several family reunions he’s hosted, and he’s a very humble man.”



Obama’s revised mandate fuels Bishop Rhoades’ reflections
Vatican City, Feb 19, 2012 / 03:53 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades watched from Rome with disappointment as President Barack Obama announced his “accommodation” to the contraception mandate last week. But that news reinforced for him that being a bishop today is about lovingly suffering for and with your flock.
 
Bishops from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin gathered on the evening of Feb. 10 around a television at the Pontifical North America College. Their attention was on President Barack Obama as he announced an “accommodation” to his contraception and sterilization mandate.
 
“I was very disappointed,” said Bishop Rhoades of the Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese, in a Feb. 17 interview with CNA. “My expectations were not high because when I heard the word ‘compromise,’ I thought to myself, ‘Well, how do you compromise on religious freedom?’ But I wanted to see what he had to say, though. I was open-minded.”
 
What resulted “wasn’t even an accommodation,” said the bishop, but another “denial of our rights of conscience and right to religious freedom. So it makes us very sad. I think it is something we need to fight.”

For Bishop Rhoades, being a bishop in the United States is no longer a position of “prestige or honor” but is about “loving service that includes sacrifice.”

He has been in Rome since Feb. 9 on an “ad limina” visit with 27 fellow bishops from Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. As part of these visits, bishops make a pilgrimage to the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul, as well as attend meetings with the Pope and numerous Vatican departments.

“Praying at their tombs was very moving, to recognize that, yeah, to follow Christ and to be a bishop today means we must take up our cross.”

That “requires us to love our enemies, you know,” he said, “and that is the hardest part, I think, of living the Gospel.”

He stressed that the model for all Catholics has to be Jesus Christ, “who said that his disciples would have to suffer and experience persecution. But we look to Jesus, we look to his cross, we look at how he forgave from the cross and, so, there’s a call to bishops today.”

As he returns to the United States, Bishop Rhoades is reassured that in the battle for religious liberty, a united Catholic voice seems to be holding together, despite offers of “compromise” from the White House.
 
“I think it looked like it was starting to fracture, but what I’ve heard in the last day or two is that there have been some clear statements, which I’ve been very happy to see.”

He particularly applauds the statement of support from Catholic Charities USA, “even though it had been reported by the White House that they were supportive of the accommodation,” as well as from major Catholic colleges and universities like Notre Dame, which is based his diocese.

“I am very pleased with Fr. Jenkins statement in solidarity with the position of the bishops. And I guess we’ll have to see with the Catholic Health Association, but hopefully they will also be in solidarity, too.”
 
The bishop also offered his reflections on what was his first ad limina visit to Rome, calling it “an unexpectedly grace filled, peaceful time.”

“I didn’t know what to expect and, really, it’s been almost like a little retreat for me, very spiritually enriching.”

One moment that was a highlight for the bishop came on the first day, when he and the other bishops from Indiana and Illinois met with Pope Benedict XVI, an event he described as “a beautiful experience.”

He also relished being able to offer Mass at the tomb of Blessed Pope John Paul II on Feb. 11.

“That was very moving to me,” he said, “I was a seminarian and served Mass for him. And I was also one of the last bishops he appointed before he died, so that was an emotional moment for me.”

In fact, Bishop Rhoades said he has “thought a lot” in recent days about the example Pope John Paul gave through “his courage and his love.”

“In my own prayer this week, I see that need to be courageous in proclaiming the truth and also to have that spirit of love and charity for all whom we are called to serve.”

The visit concluded on the morning of Feb. 17 with Mass at the tomb of Blessed Pope John XXIII in St. Peter’s Basilica.



Catholic Church only exists to unite God and man, Pope teaches
Vatican City, Feb 19, 2012 / 01:26 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In the presence of 22 cardinals who were elevated yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI said that the Catholic Church only exists for the purpose of bringing people to Jesus and not for her own sake.

 “The Church does not exist for her own sake, she is not the point of arrival, but she has to point upwards, beyond herself, to the realms above,” he said Feb. 19 to a packed St. Peter’s Basilica. 

“The Church is truly herself to the extent that she allows the Other, with a capital ‘O,’ to shine through her – the One from whom she comes and to whom she leads.”

The Pope made his remarks in his homily for the Mass of the Solemnity of the Chair of St. Peter.

Dwelling upon the Gospel passage in which Peter proclaims Jesus to be “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the Pope explored the significance of Christ’s response that Peter would be “the rock” upon which the Church was built.

The Pope explained how the old covenant between God and the Jewish people was first made with Abraham, of whom the Prophet Isaiah writes, “look to the rock from which you were hewn ... look to Abraham your father.”

Therefore, just as Abraham “the father of believers” is seen as “the rock that supports creation,” so too is Peter the basis for a new covenant. He is “the rock that is to prevail against the destructive forces of evil.”

The Pope then turned his gaze towards Bernini’s 17th-century bronze sculpture, the Chair of Peter, which dominates the apse of St. Peter’s Basilica.

He described it as an “enormous bronze throne that seems to hover in mid air, but in reality is supported by the four statues of the great Fathers of the Church from East and West.” Above it, he noted, are “triumphant angles suspended in the air” and the “glory of the Holy Spirit” depicted in the oval window above. Given today’s feast, the sculpture was adorned with 144 burning candles.

Pope Benedict proposed that the statue “represents a vision of the essence of the Church and the place within the Church of the Petrine Magisterium.”

The Church “is like a window, the place where God draws near to us, where he comes towards our world,” where God “reaches” us and where we “set off” towards him, the Pope explained.

The Church “has the task of opening up, beyond itself, a world which tends to become enclosed within itself, the task of bringing to the world the light that comes from above, without which it would be uninhabitable.”
 
Inside the magnificent bronze throne is a wooden chair which was thought for many centuries to have belonged to St. Peter himself but was later discovered to be a 9th century gift to the Pope from the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles the Bald.

“Saint Peter’s chair, we could say, is the throne of truth which takes its origin from Christ’s commission after the confession at Caesarea Philippi,” said Pope Benedict.

He also described it as a visible reminder of the famous expression of the early Church Father, Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who described the Church of Rome as “she that ‘presides in charity’.”

“In truth, presiding in faith is inseparably linked to presiding in love. Faith without love would no longer be an authentic Christian faith,” he said.

To “preside in charity,” the Pope taught, “is to draw men and women into a Eucharistic embrace – the embrace of Christ – which surpasses every barrier and every division, creating communion from all manner of differences.”

Pope Benedict also reflected on the importance of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture for the Petrine ministry. It is Sacred Scripture, interpreted with the authority of the Catholic Church and “in the light” of the Church Fathers, which sheds “light upon the Church’s journey through time, providing her with a stable foundation amid the vicissitudes of history,” he said.

Therefore, he concluded, by considering the Altar of the Chair “in its entirety” we can see “twofold movement” of “ascending and descending” which depicts “the reciprocity between faith and love.”

“Whoever believes in Jesus Christ and enters into the dynamic of love that finds its source in the Eucharist,” he stated, “discovers true joy and becomes capable in turn of living according to the logic of this gift.” 

“True faith is illumined by love and leads towards love,” just as “the altar of the Chair points upwards towards the luminous window, the glory of the Holy Spirit, which constitutes the true focus for the pilgrim’s gaze as he crosses the threshold of the Vatican Basilica.” 

Pope Benedict later returned to similar reflections after Mass as he addressed pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus address, which he delivered from the window of his apartment.

“The Chair of St. Peter,” he told them, “is a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his successors to shepherd the flock of Christ, holding it together in faith and charity.”

Before praying the midday Marian prayer, he entrusted the new cardinals “to the maternal protection of Mary Most Holy, asking that she always assist them in their service to the Church and sustain them in any trials they may face.”



Cardinal Dolan happy with new role but would rather be a saint
Rome, Italy, Feb 19, 2012 / 10:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York says he is happy to be a cardinal but that he is aiming for a higher calling.

“As grateful as I am for being a Cardinal, I really want to be a saint,” Cardinal Dolan said to the media after the Feb. 18 ceremony. “I mean that, and I’ve got a long way to go but it is all about holiness, it is all about friendship with Jesus and it is all about being a saint. And that’s what I want to be.”

Cardinal Dolan said he was particularly moved by the announcement of two new American saints at the conclusion of the consistory.

In total, Pope Benedict announced seven new saints who will be canonized on Oct. 21. The group includes Blesseds Marianne Cope and Kateri Tekakwitha, who will become the first Native American to be declared a saint.

Cardinal Dolan said he recognized this week that his elevation means having to resist the unholy lure of power and prestige.

“I said, ‘Dolan you got temptations.’ I’ve always had them, but now I’ve got one that could go to my head – literally,” he said, pointing to his new red biretta hat. He told himself,” ‘you can’t (let that happen) because it is all about humility and it is all about service and love and staying close to God and his people. That’s what it’s about, it’s not about power and prestige.’”

Standing on the steps of the Pontifical North American College, he recalled being particularly taken aback when he attempted to hang his new soutane in his wardrobe earlier this week. There he found a red cassock belonging to the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, who died this past month.

“And I thought to myself, ‘Dolan, in the future somebody is going to be taking down your stuff because you are going to be gone.’ And that is what it is all about. It is all about eternity. It is not about all these passing things.”

The 62-year-old Archbishop of New York has made headlines in the Italian newspapers for his Feb.17 address to his fellow cardinals-in-waiting, as part of their day of reflection and prayer at the Vatican. While he was referred to as “Papabile” in one paper, and in another he was labeled a “rock star.” 

“Well when you use ‘rock’ in the Vatican you have something else in mind. St. Peter, right? That’s what his name means, ‘rock.’ So if I can be a rock like him, not bad,” he replied. 

“And what about becoming the next Pope?” asked one American journalist. “Non parlo inglese” (I don’t speak English), quipped Cardinal Dolan in Italian to roars of laughter from the press.

His talk to his 21 fellow new cardinals was on the challenge of the new evangelization, with an eye to the upcoming Year of Faith. He explained to the media that he believes “the Gospel has always been well received, in that people read and say, ‘boy, that’s nice’.” But “it is putting it into practice that challenges us, and the same is true of the new evangelization. Now doing that is where the rubber meets the road.”

As a cardinal, the New York archbishop will now take titular possession of a parish in the Diocese of Rome. In his case it is Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the Monte Mario area of the city.

Despite the grandeur and solemnity of the consistory ceremony, it was observed by many that Cardinal Dolan was still his usual cheerful self throughout. Indeed, he was the only cardinal who bounded up the steps of the high altar in St. Peter’s Basilica to receive his red biretta and cardinal’s ring from the Pope.   

“You just got to be yourself,” he told journalists, “why put on airs or try to be somebody different? The Italians say you make the gnocchi with the dough you got – and Lord knows I got a lot of dough,” he laughed pointing to his stomach, “so, you’ve just got to keep at it.”

“It’s a great day for all of New York,” said Cardinal Dolan summing up events in Rome, while holding aloft his new red biretta. 

“This is the hat I want to put on the top of the Empire State Building, the home plate at Yankee Stadium and the Statue of Liberty. So this is for the whole of New York. It’s not for me.”



Pope Benedict to canonize seven saints next October
Vatican City, Feb 18, 2012 / 02:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he will canonize seven new saints, including two related to the U.S., this coming October.

The news that the Church will have seven new saints was officially made public Feb. 18 at St. Peter’s Basilica, following a ceremony in which Pope Benedict created 22 new cardinals.
 
“I think it’s a great day, and to see Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, what a joy for our country and what a great model she is for our people,” Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C. remarked to CNA after the ceremony.

“And then to have two new cardinals as well among the College of Cardinals – it’s a very happy day for the Church in the United States,” he added.

The list of the seven people who will be declared saints ranges from a Filipino layman to European founders of religious orders to the first Native American.

Two of the seven holy men and women are associated with the U.S.

Blessed Marianne Cope, was a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, N.Y., and spent many years caring for the lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, while Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, was a 17th-century Mohawk girl who converted to Catholicism and died at the age of 24.

Their canonization ceremony will take place on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012.

Cardinal Edward Egan, the Emeritus Archbishop of New York, could not keep a smile off his face as he stood in the sun outside of St. Peter’s after the consistory. He eagerly pointed out that “out of the seven saints, two are New Yorkers.”

“Someone asked me last night whether New York was a secular city? I said it was the most religious city in the world, and if you have any doubt, two out of seven isn’t bad for any state!” he told CNA.



Pope creates new cardinals, calls them to sacrifice
Vatican City, Feb 18, 2012 / 01:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI issued a challenge to 22 new cardinals today, calling on them to sacrifice their lives for Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church, even to the point of martyrdom.

“The new cardinals are entrusted with the service of love,” the Pope said in his homily for the Feb. 18 consistory ceremony, which was held in St. Peter’s Basilica.

He then reflected on the significance of the red birettas that he would later place on the heads of the new cardinals. “Love for God, love for his Church, an absolute and unconditional love for his brothers and sisters, even unto shedding their blood, if necessary, as expressed in the words of placing the biretta and as indicated by the color of their robes.”

In total, 22 new cardinals were created this morning, including two from the United States. They are Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, Emeritus Archbishop of Baltimore and now the Grand Master of The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Cardinal Thomas C. Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, was also among those who received the honor of being named a cardinal today.

Pope Benedict explained that as the “parish priests of Rome,” each of the new cardinals was given a titular church within the Pope’s diocese, thereby fully inserting them “in the Church of Rome led by the Successor of Peter.” These positions will also allow the cardinals to “cooperate closely with him in governing the universal Church.”

In particularly, he explained, “the new cardinals will be called to consider and evaluate the events, the problems and the pastoral criteria which concern the mission of the entire Church.”

This is a “delicate task,” but they can look to St. Peter, “who for the love of Christ gave himself even unto the ultimate sacrifice,” the Pope said.

The Pope told the 22 new cardinals that they must “serve the Church with love and vigor, with the transparency and wisdom of teachers, with the energy and strength of shepherds, with the fidelity and courage of martyrs.”

“Dear Brothers who are to be enrolled in the College of Cardinals,” he said, “may Christ’s total gift of self on the cross be for you the foundation, stimulus and strength of a faith operative in charity.”

He counseled them to carry out their mission in the Church and the world always “‘in Christ’ alone, responding to his logic and not that of the world, and may it be illumined by faith and animated by charity which comes to us from the glorious Cross of the Lord.”

After his homily, Pope Benedict called out the name of each new cardinal. In response, they recited the Creed and swore obedience to the Pope and his successors. Then, one by one, they ascended to the high altar of St. Peter’s, where the Pope bestowed the red biretta hat and the cardinal’s ring upon each man.

The Pope explained to them that the ring depicts Saints Peter and Paul with a star in the middle, evoking Mary, the Mother of God.

“Wearing this ring, you are reminded each day to remember the witness which these two apostles gave to Christ even unto martyrdom here in Rome, their blood making the Church fruitful,” he said.

The most significant task awaiting any new cardinal is the election of a new pontiff when the reigning Pope dies. Only those under the age of 80, however, are entitled to vote. After today’s consistory, the College of Cardinals has 213 members, of whom 125 are eligible to vote.

Following the ceremony Pope Benedict XVI also confirmed the canonization of seven new saints, two of whom are related to the United States.
 
The first is Blessed Marianne Cope, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, N.Y., who died in 1918. She spent many years caring for the lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. The other is Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th-century Mohawk girl who converted to Catholicism and died at the age of 24. She will become the first Native American saint.

Their canonization ceremony will take place on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012.



New top officials named for Legion of Christ
Rome, Italy, Feb 18, 2012 / 11:07 am (CNA).- Cardinal Velasio de Paolis has named Fr. Sylvester Heereman as the vicar general of the Legionaries of Christ and Fr. Deomar De Guedes as its general councilor, replacing two officials who resigned in recent months.

Cardinal de Paolis is the pontifical delegate to the Legion of Christ and its lay branch Regnum Christi. He is leading the reform of the troubled congregation, which announced the new appointments on Feb. 16.

Fr. Heereman was born in Bad Neustadt an der Saale, Germany on Sept. 10, 1974. He entered the Legion of Christ in Germany in 1994 and made his first profession in 1996, before his final profession in 1999.

He served as the Legion’s territorial secretary for Italy from 2001 to 2003 and was part of the formation team at the Center for Higher Studies in Rome from 2004 to 2006. He was ordained to the priesthood in December 2006 and was named territorial director of Germany in February 2007.

He became territorial director of Western and Central Europe in June 2011 after the Legion territories of Germany and France were joined.

Fr. Deomar De Guedes Vaz is from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He was born on Nov. 13, 1967 and entered the Legion novitiate in 1992. He made his first profession in March 1994 and his perpetual profession three years later.

He has worked in the formation of diocesan seminarians in the International Pontifical College Maria Mater Ecclesiae in Rome. He has served as rector in the formation center for Regnum Christi’s consecrated men in Mexico City.

He was ordained in January 2000 and worked as a vocation promoter.  He was territorial director of Spain from 2002 to 2005 and superior for the congregation in Buenos Aires from 2005 to 2008. Since 2008, he has been rector of the Brazilian seminary Maria Mater Ecclesiae.

Both priests will continue their current duties until their replacements are named.

In July 2011 Fr. Luis Garza stepped down as the Legion’s vicar general and was named the territorial director for North America.



Cardinal-designate Dolan’s sister thrilled for her big brother
Rome, Italy, Feb 17, 2012 / 04:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Over 1,000 Americans are arriving in Rome for the elevation of Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York to the College of Cardinals. But few know him better or love him more than his sister, Debbie Williams.

Williams described Feb. 17 how “wonderful” it has been to travel to Rome for her brother’s elevation on Saturday.
 
“It’s a little hard to comprehend when it’s your brother, and that’s who he is to us first and foremost, our brother, but we certainly realize the importance of all of this. For us it is just a great family reunion and a chance to share in his honor and his joy.”

“We’re ecstatic. It’s exciting,” Williams told CNA.

She is in Rome this weekend with her husband Fred and another 20 or so immediate Dolan family members. That includes the archbishop’s other sister, his two brothers and their 83-year-old mother Shirley.

“My mom is great. She’s kind of laying low today so she’s ready for the big day tomorrow. She just had a little jet lag yesterday, so she stayed behind today and rested,” Williams said.
 
This morning Cardinal-designate Dolan was addressing his fellow cardinals-in-waiting as part of a day of a day of reflection and prayer at the Vatican, which was presided over by Pope Benedict. Meanwhile, the rest of the Dolan family took to the sunny streets of Rome for a day of sightseeing.

Williams said her brother has always been a “family man first and foremost.” She summed him up as “happy, joyful, just (a) great personality.” She is confident her brother’s elevation to the College of Cardinals means that “there will be someone as a spokesman for the Church who is down to earth and can relate to people and hopefully let everyone see a better face of the Church.”

The Dolan family grew up in Ballwin, Mo. – a western suburb of St. Louis – where they attended Holy Infant parish. Their late father, Robert, was an aircraft engineer with the St. Louis firm McDonnell Douglas.

When she was asked if she ever imagined her big brother would be a Prince of the Church, Williams said, “in some ways, no, because it’s just so big, you know.

“But it doesn’t surprise me either because he is definitely cut out for what he does. So we are not shocked – but it is hard to imagine.”

After being ordained a priest in 1976, Fr. Timothy Dolan spent several years at churches in the St. Louis area. Many of his former parishioners have also made the pilgrimage to Rome for this weekend’s consistory.

“Archbishop Dolan is a friend of the family from his days at Little Flower Church in St. Louis,” 39-year-old attorney Mark Mueller explained to CNA.

“He’s just a big teddy bear, stands by his principles, and is everything good you’d want in a Catholic bishop or cardinal.”




Cardinal-designate Dolan outlines ‘creative strategy’ for evangelization
Vatican City, Feb 17, 2012 / 12:55 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In remarks to the Pope and the College of Cardinals, Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan outlined a seven-point “creative strategy of evangelization” to counter secularism and bring people to Jesus.

“In many of the countries represented in this college, the ambient public culture once transmitted the Gospel, but does so no more. In those circumstances, the proclamation of the Gospel -- the deliberate invitation to enter into friendship with the Lord Jesus -- must be at the very center of the Catholic life of all of our people,” he said on Feb. 17.

The Archbishop of New York’s comments came during the College of Cardinal’s day of prayer and reflection, held at the Vatican’s New Synod Hall one day before the Feb. 18 consistory that will create 22 new cardinals.

New York’s cardinal-to-be delivered his speech in Italian in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the college’s dean. He drew on the words of Pope Benedict, Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, and famous saints, urging the cardinals to remember the potential of all people for conversion.

“(W)e believe with the philosophers and poets of old, who never had the benefit of revelation, that even a person who brags about being secular and is dismissive of religion, has within an undeniable spark of interest in the beyond, and recognizes that humanity and creation is a dismal riddle without the concept of some kind of creator,” he said.

Cardinal-designate Dolan repeated the biblical exhortation “be not afraid,” stressing the need for confidence while also rejecting “triumphalism” in the Church. He said the recognition that the Church herself needs evangelization gives Catholics humility and awareness of the Church’s “deep need” for interior conversion.

“God does not satisfy the thirst of the human heart with a proposition, but with a Person, whose name is Jesus,” he stated. The New Evangelization invites people not to doctrine, but to know, love and serve him.

The cardinal-designate also said that the missionary and the evangelist must be “a person of joy.”

He recounted a story of a man dying of AIDS at the Gift of Peace Hospice in the Archdiocese of Washington who sought baptism because the Missionaries of Charity sisters who cared for him were so “very happy” because of Jesus.

“The New Evangelization is accomplished with a smile, not a frown,” Cardinal-designate Dolan summarized.

This evangelization is also about love incarnated in care for children, the sick, the elderly, the orphaned and the hungry.

“In New York, the heart of the most hardened secularist softens when visiting one of our inner-city Catholic schools,” he said.

“When one of our benefactors, who described himself as an agnostic, asked Sister Michelle why, at her age, with painful arthritic knees, she continued to serve at one of these struggling but excellent poor schools, she answered, ‘Because God loves me, and I love Him, and I want these children to discover this love.’”

The cardinal-designate’s most sobering words came with his seventh strategy for the new evangelization: the blood of the martyrs.

He cited the Pope’s speech for presenting the red biretta to new cardinals: “know that you must be willing to conduct yourselves with fortitude even to the shedding of your blood.”

Though Cardinal-designate Dolan jokingly asked the Pope to omit that passage from his presentation, he also said that cardinals must be aids for Christians called to be “ready to suffer and die for Jesus.”

The “supreme witness” is martyrdom, he noted.

“While we cry for today’s martyrs; while we love them, pray with and for them; while we vigorously advocate on their behalf; we are also very proud of them, brag about them, and trumpet their supreme witness to the world.”

Their stories still have an impact, he told his fellow bishops.

“A young man in New York tells me he returned to the Catholic faith of his childhood, which he had jettisoned as a teenager, because he read The Monks of Tibhirine, about Trappists martyred in Algeria fifteen years ago, and after viewing the drama about them, the French film, ‘Of Gods and Men.’”

“Tertullian would not be surprised,” concluded Cardinal-designate Dolan, citing the Church father who said the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.

As he closed his wide-ranging address to the College of Cardinals, he emphasized the need to communicate simply, as to a catechism class for children.

“We need to speak again as a child the eternal truth, beauty, and simplicity of Jesus and His Church,” he said.