Monthly Archives: March 2013
Pope Francis told cardinals, “May God forgive you for what you’ve done.” – NYPOST.com
Pope Francis told cardinals, ‘May God forgive you for what you’ve done’
By ANDY SOLTIS
From With AP, Reuters
Last Updated: 5:34 AM, March 15, 2013
Posted: 2:37 AM, March 15, 2013
Pope Francis toasted the cardinals who had just elected him by joking, “May God forgive you for what you’ve done.”
New details from inside the secretive Vatican enclave revealed that the humble Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina was overwhelmed by his elevation to the leadership of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.
Bergoglio, who was considered a very dark horse in a large field of candidates when the conclave began Tuesday, was surprisingly in third place on the first ballot, with the backing of South American cardinals.
He ran slightly behind the front-runners, Angelo Scola of Milan and Marc Ouellet of Canada, according to Carlo Marroni, respected Vatican correspondent for the Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore.
But overnight, Scola’s supporters began to defect to Bergoglio. Local media reported that resentment of the way the Italian-packed Vatican Curia administration had handled the “Vati-leaks” scandal hurt Scola.
The Bergoglio bandwagon began to form in Wednesday’s two morning votes inside the Sistine Chapel. The realization he could become pope apparently unnerved him.
When Boston’s Sean Cardinal O’Malley sat beside Bergoglio at lunch, he said the future pope was uncharacteristically somber.
Entering the fifth ballot, Bergoglio was close to the 77 votes needed to become pope.
“It was very moving as the names were sounding out,” said Sean Cardinal Brady of Ireland. “Bergoglio, Bergoglio, and suddenly the magic number of 77 was reached.”
The “Princes of the Church” burst into tears.
“I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house,” said New York’s Timothy Cardinal Dolan.
Following tradition, Bergoglio was asked if he’d accept the awesome responsibility.
“I am a sinner,” he said. “But as this office has been given to me, I accept.”
After announcing that he would be called Francis, aides placed a throne-like chair on a platform for him to sit on so that the cardinals could pledge their obedience one at a time.
But instead, he came down from the platform and remained standing while they each greeted him.
“He met us on our own level,” Dolan said.
Later, the papal sedan arrived to take him to dinner at a Vatican residence, while cardinals packed into minibuses to join him.
The sedan returned empty. Dolan was among those who wondered where was the pope was.
“And the last bus pulls up, guess who gets off. It’s Pope Francis,” said Dolan. “I guess he told the driver, ‘That’s OK. I’ll just go with the boys.’ ”
Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters
via Pope Francis told cardinals, “May God forgive you for what you’ve done.” – NYPOST.com.
Your Presence
Your presence is all around me,
And Your glory shines forth
From even the smallest of Your creation.
If I were to feel Your effects all day long
I would live in tears,
Rejoicing with tearful gladness,
And weeping, conscious of my desert.
So I avert my gaze from these flowers of love
That I may carry on
Keeping my feet anchored on earth,
Though my soul would have me take flight
And keep company with the angels.
My spirit strains upward
As over and above all
I reach for You in humility of heart,
Worn out by Your mercies,
Never tiring in Your consolation.
Come Holy Spirit!
Make Your home in me
With customary gentleness.
Copyright 2013 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved
Pope Francis – His Life Before the Papacy- slide show
I Can’t Help It |Blogs | NCRegister.com
NPR did a pretty even-handed job yesterday of discussing the complaints that Pope Francis, when he was Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina, was somehow involved in atrocities during the Dirty War, or that he didn’t do enough. Host Audie Cornish says (emphasis mine):
Some human rights activists argue that his silence hurt investigations in the Dirty War’s aftermath, while other accounts reveal that the Pope took major risks to save the persecuted.
A few things that NPR didn’t mention: One activist who has “argued” (not proven) that his silence hurt investigation is one Horacio Verbitsky, author of the book El Silencio. Verbistky was a leftist guerrilla commander who shot people, so, yeah, he should know about atrocities.
They also didn’t mention that other accounts that “reveal” that he took major risks include Amnesty International, who, according to a source in this CNN report, cleared Bergoglio of any wrongdoing. NPR did interview Michael Warren, Buenos Aires bureau chief for the Associated Press, who said that
Adolfo Perez Esquivel … won the Nobel Peace Prize for his Argentine human rights work. And he said Bergoglio was no accomplice of the dictatorship.
So, a B-minus job, NPR. You had to listen closely to hear how shaky are the accusations against Bergoglio, but it was a reassuring story in general.
VIS news – Holy See Press Office: POPE FRANCIS TO CARDINALS: LIKE GOOD WINE THAT IMPROVES WITH AGE, LET US OLD FOLKS GIVE YOUTH THE WISDOM OF LIFE
Friday, March 15, 2013
POPE FRANCIS TO CARDINALS: LIKE GOOD WINE THAT IMPROVES WITH AGE, LET US OLD FOLKS GIVE YOUTH THE WISDOM OF LIFE
Vatican City, 15 March 2013 (VIS) – “Courage, dear brothers! Probably half of us are in our old age. Old age, they say, is the seat of wisdom. The old ones have the wisdom that they have earned from walking through life. Like old Simeon and Anna at the temple whose wisdom allowed them to recognize Jesus. Let us give with wisdom to the youth: like good wine that improves with age, let us give the youth the wisdom of our lives.”……
“Let us never give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day. Do not give in to pessimism and discouragement. We have the firm certainty that the Holy Spirit gives the Church with His mighty breath, the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization, to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. The Christian truth is attractive and persuasive because it responds to the deep needs of human existence, convincingly announcing that Chirst is the only Saviour of the whole person and of all persons. This announcement is as valid today as it was at the beginning of Christianity when there was a great missionary expansion of the Gospel.
“Now,” he finished, “return to your Sees to continue your ministry enriched by the experience of these days that have been so full of faith and ecclesial communion. This unique and incomparable experience has allowed us to understand in depth the beauty of ecclesial reality, which is a reflection of the splendour of the Risen Christ. One day we’ll look upon that beautiful face of the Risen Christ.”
Be Holy! 