The pope’s words
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- March
- 26
Have some time on your hands and want to know more about what’s on the pope’s mind?
This website has the texts of all six of Benedict XVI’s Holy Week homilies.
As Sandro Magister, who operates www.chiesa, notes:
Of the six homilies delivered by Benedict XVI during the Holy Week ceremonies this year, only two had wide reverberations and reached the ears of millions of people.The first was the one read at the end of the Via Crucis on Holy Friday, and the other is the “Urbi et Orbi” message of Easter Sunday. Both of these were broadcast live on radio and television, in many countries around the world.
But not the other four. They reached few – only the few thousands of the faithful who were present at the ceremonies celebrated by the pope, and who understood the Italian language (many of them were foreigners). To these should be added the few people who read the pope’s words in the Catholic media during the following days.
If one considers that Catholics in the world number well over one billion, the number of those who heard or read the pope’s homilies last Holy Week appears even more microscopic.
And yet these homilies are among the most revealing characteristics of Joseph Ratzinger’s pontificate. They are a culmination of the magisterium of this pope, theologian and pastor.
They are unmistakably written by the pope himself. And they are inseparably connected to the liturgical celebration in which they were pronounced. In their genre, they are masterpieces.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 2:39 pm by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
Here is part of the message to the pope which Votf will place in many newspapers:
How can our Church be a
moral beacon when so many
bishops who repeatedly
transferred known predators
remain in office?
Without justice for the abused and
accountability from the bishops, this
crisis will continues to plague our
Church.
Our Church Faces Many Other
Serious Challenges As Well
The declining number of clergy
jeopardizes the availability of Eucharist.
The laity continue to be excluded from
meaningful participation in decisionmaking.
Catholics—particularly the
youth—are leaving our Church to join
other religions, or no religion at all.
The hopeful vision of Vatican II remains
largely unfulfilled, and deep polarization
exists in our Church about how best to
fulfill our sacred mission.
We seek a lasting, transformed
Body of Christ that serves all
people with compassion, collegiality
and cooperation. We believe in
collaboration among all members of
our Church in order to achieve this
transformation.