Yes, I'm still a Benedict groupie in spite of having given over the weekly Potpourri for some months. There is too much I've missed, so lemme sum up.Old Popery:
Benedict in France: laicite.
Election of Kyrill as Patriarch of Moscow & All Russia Hopeful news.
For the year of St. Paul, Benedict took us through twenty Audiences on the great apostle. They're all collected at the end of this post.
Did the Pope rehabilitate a holocaust denier? No, he did not, as even a preliminary investigation would have made clear. Catholic bloggers have been denouncing the Vatican for botching this --the Vatican even seems to blame itself. I truly don't. Were I a religion reporter hearing that a holocaust denier was being un-excommunicated, rather than assuming bad faith and running with it, I might have called someone authoritative and tried to understand what the Church thought it was doing and reported that. Then I might have discovered the lifting had nothing to do with one dude's nutter opinions. But hey, that's just me.
The best round-up of what really happened and why is here. The Pope's heroic effort to bring home the SSPX may not be working however. Further developments here.
Popery
- The Pope's Message for Lent reminds us what fasting's about, in case you've forgotten what giving up sweets has to do with being a better person. He cites an intriguing observation from St. Basil about there being fasting even in paradise --from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
- Beautiful Ash Wednesday homily not yet in English because he departed from his text a great deal. As we might expect, it's about conversion and the battle against sin from the teaching of St. Paul.
- Having completed his Pauline audiences, B16 returned to his series on great figures of the Church. Here's St. Bede.
- February 15 Angelus on sin and forgiveness.
- Last Sunday's Angelus on the role of the angels.
- This week the Pope's on retreat with all the curia and papal household. Card. Arinze is preaching. Luckies!
Potpourri:
- Vatican: Worldwide vocations on the uptick this decade. Bishop Fellay making SSPX reconciliation more difficult. Legion of Christ's founder fathered at least one child, at least some uglier charges seem true, too. Catholic blogosphere filled with opinions, most of them heavily Oprahfied IMHO. Seems clear the Legion & Vatican are in the midst of some process unknown to anyone else. Stay tuned. Good pieces for understanding what a charism is: in Communio this month (if that doesn't make you want to be in a "new movement"....); and from pre-PapaRatzi.
- China: new bishop accused of betraying Vatican.
- Great Britain: Card. Cormac Murphy-O'Conner nears retirement, will be offered a seat in the House of Lords.
- India: Converts from Islam to pray for B16; Cardinal urges people to vote to defend religious freedom in April election.
- Iraq: Tariq Aziz aquitted. Yes, you read that right.
- Korea: Mourning the first native cardinal, Stephen Kim, who lead the Church for 30 years and grew it 6-fold. Great pictures of the crowd and moving account of his funeral here.
- Oz: Anglican movement towards union w/ Rome.
- Turkey: International pilgrimage to lands of St. Paul starts tomorrow.
- U.S.: New York got a good 'un for its next bishop. Grey Lady finds reason to bitch, however. Biggest news hardly covered: Vatican visitation of women religious is underway. Yay! Some not too happy. Bishops "gravely concerned" over Obama administration's rescinding of conscience protections for pro-life healthcare providers. Obama nominates radical pro-abort "Catholic" to be Sec. of HHS. Bishop Martino chastises Sen. Casey. Twice. Cardinal Mahoney not with the program.
- Vietnam: also just lost a cardinal. (That makes 19 recent episcopal deaths worldwide if you're counting.)
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