Departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport

What's Happening Today: Sunday, April 20
8-8:30 p.m. - Departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

Approximately 3,250 guests will bid farewell to the Pope in Hangar 19 of JFK airport.

• 8:00 p.m. - The Pope arrives via motorcade. Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio, bishop of Brooklyn, gives a welcome.

  Dignitaries

  • Cardinal Edward M. Egan, archbishop of New York
  • Bishop William F. Murphy, bishop of Rockville Centre
  • Bishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the U.S.
  • Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations
  • Representative of the president of the United States [VP Richard Cheney]
  • Representatives of state and local governments

  Program

  • Address by President Bush’s representative [VP Richard Cheney]
  • Farewell by Pope Benedict XVI
  • Presentation by Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio and schoolchildren
• 8:30 p.m. - Departure via Shepherd One

The USCCB's blog reports on the Pope's departure:

Pope Benedict XVI concluded his apostolic journey to the United States this evening, departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport aboard Shepherd One at approximately 8:45 p.m. (EDT).

Pope Benedict arrived at the airport by helicopter. More than three thousand people were in attendance to bid farewell to the Holy Father. While waiting for the Holy Father to arrive, the people participated in a program of prayer and music produced by the Diocese of Brooklyn. ...

Vice President Cheney thanked the Holy Father for his visit. He said that, though the nation faces many challenges, it has innumerable blessings. He assured the Holy Father that he will always be welcome in the United States. He thanked him for his message of hope and salvation. He bid him a safe journey and asked him to pray for the United States.

Pope Benedict gave a brief address thanking U.S. Catholics for their hospitality and for their witness of faith and devotion. He thanked all those responsible for planning the visit. The Holy Father concluded his visit with these words: “I ask you to remember me in your prayers, and I assure you of my affection and friendship in the Lord. May God bless America!” The people responded with a standing ovation. .

Several children, accompanied by Bishop DiMarzio, gave the Holy Father bouquets of flowers.

Pope Benedict is scheduled to arrive in Rome late Monday morning. May God grant him a safe journey.

Text of Pope Benedict XVI's address - John Fitzgerald Kennedy International Airport (Departure Ceremony):

The time has come for me to bid farewell to your country. These days that I have spent in the United States have been blessed with many memorable experiences of American hospitality, and I wish to express my deep appreciation to all of you for your kind welcome. It has been a joy for me to witness the faith and devotion of the Catholic community here. It was heart-warming to spend time with leaders and representatives of other Christian communities and other religions, and I renew my assurances of respect and esteem to all of you. I am grateful to President Bush for kindly coming to greet me at the start of my visit, and I thank Vice-President Cheney for his presence here as I depart. The civic authorities, workers and volunteers in Washington and New York have given generously of their time and resources in order to ensure the smooth progress of my visit at every stage, and for this I express my profound thanks and appreciation to Mayor Adrian Fenty of Washington and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York.

Once again I offer prayerful good wishes to the representatives of the see of Baltimore, the first Archdiocese, and those of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville, in this jubilee year. May the Lord continue to bless you in the years ahead. To all my Brother Bishops, to Bishop DiMarzio of this Diocese of Brooklyn, and to the officers and staff of the Episcopal Conference who have contributed in so many ways to the preparation of this visit, I extend my renewed gratitude for their hard work and dedication. With great affection I greet once more the priests and religious, the deacons, the seminarians and young people, and all the faithful in the United States, and I encourage you to continue bearing joyful witness to Christ our Hope, our Risen Lord and Savior, who makes all things new and gives us life in abundance. ... (Read More)

Coverage & Commentary

• Cheney, the Clintons and Others Bid Farewell to Pope at Airport by Sewell Chan. New York Times' "City Room" April 20, 2008.

• Catholic News Service reveals that After all the speeches were over and the VIPs had gone home, Pope Benedict XVI had a final U.S. send-off from 36 grade-schoolers in Virginia:

  Homemade cards from the third- and fourth-graders of St. William of York Catholic School in Stafford, Va., were given to the pope aboard his Alitalia plane after he left New York April 20.

  The cards, made of colorful construction paper, offered a spiritual bouquet and birthday wishes to the pope, who turned 81 during his April 15-20 visit to Washington and New York.

Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowd after celebrating Mass at the Yankee Stadium in New York, April 20, 2008. (Reuters)

Pope Benedict XVI's Mass at Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

What's Happening Today: Sunday, April 20
2:30 p.m. - Mass at Yankee Stadium
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

Pre Mass Concert | Yankee Ministers (Via USCCB - PDF format)

The 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s designation as an archdiocese (the nation’s first), as well as the birth of four other archdioceses: New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Bardstown (now Louisville) will be highlighted during the Mass.

• 9:00 a.m. - Gates open
• 12:00 noon - The pre-Mass concert begins
• 2:15 p.m. - The Pope arrives
• 2:20 p.m. - The Pope travels around the track inside the stadium in the popemobile
• 2:30 p.m. - Mass begins
• 5:00 p.m. - Mass ends

Text of Pope Benedict XVI's homily at Yankee Stadium Papal Mass:

... The first reading also makes clear, as we see from the imposition of hands on the first deacons, that the Church's unity is "apostolic". It is a visible unity, grounded in the Apostles whom Christ chose and appointed as witnesses to his resurrection, and it is born of what the Scriptures call "the obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5; cf. Acts 6:7).

"Authority", "obedience". To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays. Words like these represent a "stumbling stone" for many of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ - "the way and the truth and the life" - we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The Gospel teaches us that true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self-surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves (cf. Lk 17:33). True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. "In his will is our peace".

Real freedom, then, is God's gracious gift, the fruit of conversion to his truth, the truth which makes us free (cf. Jn 8:32). And this freedom in truth brings in its wake a new and liberating way of seeing reality. When we put on "the mind of Christ" (cf. Phil 2:5), new horizons open before us! In the light of faith, within the communion of the Church, we also find the inspiration and strength to become a leaven of the Gospel in the world. We become the light of the world, the salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14), entrusted with the "apostolate" of making our own lives, and the world in which we live, conform ever more fully to God's saving plan.

This magnificent vision of a world being transformed by the liberating truth of the Gospel is reflected in the description of the Church found in today's second reading. The Apostle tells us that Christ, risen from the dead, is the keystone of a great temple which is even now rising in the Spirit. And we, the members of his body, through Baptism have become "living stones" in that temple, sharing in the life of God by grace, blessed with the freedom of the sons of God, and empowered to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to him (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). And what is this offering which we are called to make, if not to direct our every thought, word and action to the truth of the Gospel and to harness all our energies in the service of God's Kingdom? Only in this way can we build with God, on the one foundation which is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:11). Only in this way can we build something that will truly endure. Only in this way can our lives find ultimate meaning and bear lasting fruit. ...

Coverage & Commentary

• Benedict Celebrates Mass at Yankee Stadium, by Sewell Chan. New York Times' "City Room" - continually updated during the course of the Mass.

• Discussion: Open Yankee Stadium Liturgy Thread @ Amy Welborn's.

• New Liturgical Movement provides ongoing images and commentary of the Pope's Mass in New York City.

• Canterbury Tales provides us with The Music for the Papal Mass in New York City -- it appears that Dr. Jennifer Pascual (Director of Music) has been far more attentive in choosing what the Pope would appreciate in accordance with his writings on the liturgy.
• Build on 'impressive legacy' of U.S. church, pope urges at final Mass Catholic News Service. April 20, 2008:

  Honoring the bicentennial of four U.S. archdioceses, Pope Benedict XVI praised the "solid foundations" of the American Catholic Church and said "the future of the church in America" must continue to build on that "impressive legacy."

  But in his homily for the final Mass of his April 15-20 U.S. visit, the pope also said the "impressive growth" of the U.S. church has been "not without its challenges," comparing those challenges to the "linguistic and cultural tensions" found in the early church. ...

  [Benedict] said the bicentennial should be "more than an occasion of gratitude for graces received."

  "It is also a summons to move forward with firm resolve to use wisely the blessings of freedom, in order to build a future of hope for coming generations," he said.

"No hard line" on giving communion to pro-choice pols? - Think again.

John Allen Jr. asserts that "no hard line from pope on communion for pro-choice pols" (National Catholic Reporter's NCRcafe April 20, 2008):

At least three times during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States, a prominent pro-choice Catholic politician has received communion during a papal Mass. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, both Democrats, took communion during the Mass on Thursday at Nationals Park in Washington, and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, received communion in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday.

In none of these cases did the politicians receive communion directly from the pope, but it nonetheless happened during a papal Mass, and it took no one by surprise. Pelosi, for example, announced her intention to take communion in response to a question I asked her during a conference call with reporters the day before the Thursday Mass.

While it would be a stretch to say that Benedict XVI authorized what happened, one can at least infer that the pope did not issue strict instructions to the contrary. The cumulative effect of these events will likely be to weaken the case that the Vatican wants the American bishops to take a stricter stance against communion for pro-choice Catholics in public life.

Several thoughts:

• Pope Benedict XVI made his wishes explicitly known on this matter in 2004 letter, "Worthiness to Receive Communion: General Principles":

  4. Apart from an individuals’s judgement about his worthiness to present himself to receive the Holy Eucharist, the minister of Holy Communion may find himself in the situation where he must refuse to distribute Holy Communion to someone, such as in cases of a declared excommunication, a declared interdict, or an obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin (cf. can. 915).

  5. Regarding the grave sin of abortion or euthanasia, when a person’s formal cooperation becomes manifest (understood, in the case of a Catholic politician, as his consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws), his Pastor should meet with him, instructing him about the Church’s teaching, informing him that he is not to present himself for Holy Communion until he brings to an end the objective situation of sin, and warning him that he will otherwise be denied the Eucharist.

  It simply doesn't get any clearer than that, does it?

• Pope Benedict XVI also took the opportunity to bring attention to the specific matter of Catholics and abortion in his address to U.S. Catholic Bishops, when he lamented:

  a growing separation of faith from life: living “as if God did not exist”. This is aggravated by an individualistic and eclectic approach to faith and religion: far from a Catholic approach to “thinking with the Church”, each person believes he or she has a right to pick and choose, maintaining external social bonds but without an integral, interior conversion to the law of Christ. Consequently, rather than being transformed and renewed in mind, Christians are easily tempted to conform themselves to the spirit of this age (cf. Rom 12:3). We have seen this emerge in an acute way in the scandal given by Catholics who promote an alleged right to abortion.

  To mention this issue explicitly, above numerous others, as an example of the "growing separation of faith from life" is a good indication Benedict takes this seriously.

• According to John Allen, "While it would be a stretch to say that Benedict XVI authorized what happened, one can at least infer that the pope did not issue strict instructions to the contrary." I don't think Allen's "argument from silence" will hold up. After all, one might just as well infer from this that Pope Benedict is expecting the U.S. Bishops to assert some individual authority over "pro-choice" Catholic legislators in their dioceses and make their own decisions on this matter -- the Holy Father has given his recommendation. He doesn't need to hold their hand.

Amy Welborn on Benedict's attachment to "tradition" & Vatican II

Et Cum Spiritu Tuo, by Amy Welborn ("A Papal Discussion") - Amy Welborn gives the New York Times a brief lesson on Benedict's understanding of the liturgy and continuity:

The popular way of characterizing Benedict’s support of these elements in liturgy is some rather undefined attachment to “tradition,” leaving the impression that it’s all about taste, aesthetics or a fear of the new.

But that doesn’t even come close to what Benedict’s program is about.

As a Vatican II Baby (born in 1960, totally post-Vatican II formation), I can tell you that the religious sensibility of the time in which I was catechized was totally about the “new.” The Church had dispensed with all the nonsense of most of the past 2,000 years as culturally bound, confining accretions, and it was time to move on. Wasn’t that what Vatican II was all about?

[...]

Benedict is all about saying: “Wait. Maybe not.”

The best and briefest synthesis of Benedict’s thinking on this can be found in the letter accompanying his “Motu Proprio” loosening restrictions on the pre-Vatican II Mass (not the “Latin Mass” for the root text of even the post-Vatican II missal is Latin).

In it, he wrote: “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.”

There is a lot more to say about this — for example, practical reasons that every Catholic should be familiar with the Latin text of the Mass — why, in a multicultural church, should mixed congregations either have to be subject to the cultural imperialism of one ethnic group’s language (aka. English) or cut at the symbolism of the unity we share by using a number of different languages? Isn’t it more powerful to have all of praying in a shared, ancient language with a sacred resonance?

As Amy goes on to admit, "although I am very supportive of the Pope’s action “freeing” the Extraordinary Form (pre-Vatican II Mass), that form of the Mass is not something I am entirely comfortable with" -- but the more she reads of Pope Benedict's thought on the liturgy, she is "resting less easy with my dismissal of that form." Being a convert and one solely accustomed to the Novus Ordo ("New Mass"), and only recently discovering the riches of centuries prior, I can relate.

"Agent of God" helps a boy meet Benedict

'Agent' of God helps boy meet Benedict April 20, 2008, by Christina Boyle. New York Daily News:

When Beverly Ruiz and her wheelchair-bound son arrived outside St. Patrick's Cathedral early Saturday they had no hope of getting inside.

But all that changed when 9-year-old Aaron, who has muscular dystrophy, caught the eye of one of the Secret Service agents safeguarding Pope Benedict.

Just moments before the historic Mass began, the federal agent singled out the mother and son and whisked them into the house of worship.

"After the Holy Father arrived and went inside, a man came up to us and said, 'We have a special place for you,'" Ruiz told the Daily News. ...

After celebrating Mass, Benedict walked over to Aaron.

"He came over and blessed him, and my son just smiled," Ruiz said. "It's just a miracle in itself, there's no way to describe it. It's just an absolute miracle that this happened in our lives."

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to "Ground Zero" (World Trade Center)

What's Happening Today: Sunday, April 20
9:30 a.m. - Visit to Ground Zero - Site of the Former World Trade Center
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

(World Trade Center Service) |(Ground Zero Participants) - Via USCCB (PDF format).

The Pope will visit the site of the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, offer a blessing and greet representatives of the Port Authority, New York fire and police workers, those who survived the attacks, and family members who lost loved ones in the attack.

• 9:30 a.m. - The Pope arrives via motorcade. A welcome by Cardinal Edward M. Egan.

Program

• The motorcade travels down the ramp. The Pope and Cardinal Edward M. Egan leave the limousine and walk the remaining route alone
• The Pope kneels before a pool of water and candle, offering a silent prayer
• The Pope lights the candle, offers a prayer and blesses the ground and the guests with holy water
• Guests approach the Pope individually for a brief exchange

Here is the text of Pope Benedict XVI's prayer at Ground Zero:

O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.

We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here—
the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.

We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives
with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

Sewell Chan reports from New York Times' "City Room":

Pope Benedict XVI knelt and prayed at ground zero in Lower Manhattan this morning, blessing the site where more than 2,600 people were killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center more than six years ago. The pontiff offered a prayer to God for peace, mentioning the attacks on 9/11 on the Pentagon in Washington and on a jetliner that crashed near Shanksville, Pa. He made only one, indirect, reference to terror: “Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred.” The pope made no other public remarks during his half-hour visit to the site, but offered private words of comfort to survivors who were injured and relatives of victims who were killed in the attacks.

Gov. David A. Paterson and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York were already at ground zero when the pope arrived at 9:31 a.m., as was Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey.

The visit has particular significance for survivors of 9/11, and relatives of victims who died in the World Trade Center, many of them from Roman Catholic backgrounds. The Rev. Mychal F. Judge, a beloved Catholic chaplain for the Fire Department who died from falling debris on 9/11 and was listed as victim No. 1 by the city chief medical examiner’s office, has become a larger-than-life figure for some.

Pope John Paul II, Benedict’s predecessor, condemned the 9/11 attacks as an “unspeakable horror” on the day they occurred.

[...]

The service was held at the bottom of the giant construction ramp that goes into the construction site for the new towers rising at ground zero. (Construction has been suspended for the papal visit.)

At 9:43 a.m., the pope knelt on a prie-dieu before a pool of water and a candle, praying silently for about two minutes. Then, with assistance from two clerical aides, he lighted a candle — apparently with a little bit of difficulty at first, perhaps because of technical problems.

[...]

Following [his] prayer, the pope used an aspergillum to sprinkle holy water in four directions, blessing the site. Then guests approached the pope individually for brief private exchanges; many of them knelt briefly before the pontiff and kissed his ring. One representative each from the families of 16 people who died in the World Trade Center attack were selected — from among more than 1,100 applicants — for a chance to be present and meet him.

217 miles, 7 hour wait -- for a glimpse of the Pope

To Look, Perchance to Glimpse (on Tiptoe), by Manny Fernandez. New York Times April 20, 2008:

Ely Rivera drove 217 miles and waited nearly seven hours to see Pope Benedict XVI. In the end, at 8:56 a.m. on Saturday, when the big moment came, she thought not of herself, or of her church, or even of her four children or 14 grandchildren.

She thought of a woman she had never met: a co-worker’s ailing mother. “For her to get better,” Ms. Rivera said.

She had never seen a pope in person. She stepped up on the railing of a metal police barricade as the crowd roared and snapped a picture with her disposable camera, one of thousands of people lining Fifth Avenue outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral. She saw him, dressed in white, seated in the back seat of a black car, on the passenger side, on his way to celebrate Mass. And just like that, it was over ... (Read More)

Awaiting The Pope

People watch the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI for a prayer service with family members of some of those who were killed on 9/11 at Ground Zero April 20, 2008 in New York City. (Getty Images)

"The Spires of St. Patrick's"

The spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral are dwarfed by the skyscrapers of the Manhattan skyline, yet in the heart of this busy metropolis they are a vivid reminder of the constant yearning of the human spirit to rise to God.

Pope Benedict XVI, April 19, 2008

"No free thought without Truth"

Alenjandro Bermudez ties Pope Benedict's message to Catholic youth with his earlier address to U.S. Catholic educators:

Some of my fellow bloggers have returned to the subject of the Pope’s meeting with the presidents of 200 plus Catholic colleges and universities earlier this week. They justly argue that Benedict was not capable of defining with precision how to reconcile fidelity to the Magisterium with the great value of academic freedom.

It seems that tonight, at the youth rally in Yonkers, the Pope himself found it necessary to go back to the argument too.

Speaking about the duty to expose youth to the truth, Benedict said before the cheering crowd that “the manipulation of truth distorts our perception of reality, and tarnishes our imagination and aspirations,” and that it is no surprise “that numerous individuals and groups vociferously claim their freedom in the public forum. Yet freedom is a delicate value.”

Benedict also called on the young people to notice “how often the call for freedom is made without ever referring to the truth of the human person.”

And then he asked: “What purpose has a ‘freedom’ which, in disregarding truth, pursues what is false or wrong? How many young people have been offered a hand which in the name of freedom or experience has led them to addiction, to moral or intellectual confusion, to hurt, to a loss of self-respect, even to despair and so tragically and sadly to the taking of their own life?”

And he closed the argument: “truth is not an imposition.”

In short, to the Pope’s mind, intellectual freedom is not a value in itself. ... (Read More)

Patrick Reilly strikes a similar note in his explication of Benedict's CUA address ("A Great Day for Catholic Higher Education" InsideCatholic.com April 18, 2008):

Academic freedom must be tied to faith:"[A]ny appeal to the principle of academic freedom in order to justify positions that contradict the faith and the teaching of the Church would obstruct or even betray the university's identity and mission . . . ."

Translation: The "Queer Film Festival" and handing out condoms do not fall under academic freedom.

Students must receive authentic Catholic teachings: Colleges have the duty to "ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church's Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution's life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity . . . ."

Translation: Three credits in Wiccan Studies is not a substitute for a required Catholic Theology course. Oh, and that Catholic Theology course must teach authentic Catholicism (for reference, please see the Catechism).

St. Blog's Parish Roundup on the Papal Visit

• This is a nice birthday present: learning that Pope Benedict XVI is a devout believer in Jesus Christ. The news is provided by The Baltimore Sun, which seems somewhat put out by the revelation ..." - Carl Olson Insight Scoop.

• Pope2008.com reports that a group of Hispanic Catholics were subjected to insults by anti-Catholic fundamentalists (click for video). How did they respond? -- "the Catholics sang "Allelulia," "Be-ne-de-to," and other songs."

• With the Holy Father in Washington D.C. - a nice photo post from Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, MA. (Yes, he's a blogger too).

• New York loves the Pope (Pope2008.com):

  The Neocatechumenal Way crowd across from the United Nations ... were a lively bunch. As some stood at the front of the police pen that had been set up in an area known for U.N. protest rallies (I remember covering one concerning Sudan once), others behind them danced in a big circular motion as guitars and drum kept a lively tempo. The music, the warm spring sun, the buzz of the city streets, the anticipation of the arrival of the Pope seemed to have a kind of hypnotic effect. Banners in front proclaimed people's warm sentiments for the guest who was about to arrive.

  Samuel Gonzalez, who I was interviewing, told me that the empty pen next to them had been set up for those who wished to express opposite sentiments. The pen was empty. "There was a guy there a little while ago, but he just left," Gonzalez said. A policeman confirmed that the empty pen was there for protestors.

• Recalling Benedict's homily at the UN Assembly, and later during the ecumenical service, Amy Welborn is "was very much struck by the Pope’s twice-repeated articulation of his presence among us as “the successor of Peter:

  What is he communicating? It’s pretty clear, and it’s actually, I think, pretty strong.

  We know all about the Catholic identity crisis. We live it, day to day. Every Catholic has a different definition of what they mean when they identify themselves that way. What defines our Catholicism? Our ethnicity? Simply the fact that we were baptized and confirmed? That we belong to a parish?

  Benedict reminds us that our faith as Catholics is faith in Christ but its visible unity is rooted in Peter, the office of Peter’s successor and the faith preserved and taught through that office. In other words, it’s not anything you want, folks. We don’t self-define.

• Papal onlookers beg Pope to ‘offer up’ poor musical selections from Papal visit for them Catholic News.org:

  WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Patti Renfroe said she knows that when the Holy Father hears “One Bread, One Body” played this week during his historical trip to the United States, it has to hurt his aesthetical nature, but she is hoping that the pain it causes him may mean she will spend less time in Purgatory.

  “As he rode by, I yelled out, ‘Pope Benedict, please offer up ‘One Bread, One Body’ for me and my kids, for our salvation!” He kind of gave me a knowing, but pained smiled and nodded. “What that man has to suffer for us,” said Renfroe, a music teacher at Our Lady Queen of Heaven School in Arlington, Virginia. “People just don’t appreciate it.”

Elementary school kids show up CUA Students how it's done

• Catholic Students Seek Papal Connection, y Daniela Deane and William Wan Washington Post April 18, 2008:

  As Pope Benedict delivered a message about academic freedom at American Catholic colleges yesterday, many students said they didn't relate to him as well as they did to his charismatic predecessor but were open to his message and excited to see him. ...

  "I don't think he is connecting too well with American youth, not like JP2. I don't feel a connection with him yet," said Matthew Gittens, 21, a history major from Boston, who said he grew up following John Paul II in a deeply Catholic family.

  "I still feel like I don't completely know what he's all about," agreed Brian Freiberger, 21, a business major from New Jersey.

• Area Catholics reflect on Pope's visit, Mass, by Elaine Gaston and Steve Palisin. Myrtle Beach Online April 18, 2008:

  Students at St. Michael's wished they could experience the pope in person, but seeing him live on the computer was still exciting. Shawn Morris, 11, sat in front of a computer monitor with a few other students.

  "It's pretty cool to get to see in your lifetime, for him to be in the United States where you can see him on TV," he said. "I remember sitting in the old library here at school and watching the pope being elected."

  Eleven-year-old Mary Catherine Merschat said she hoped one day to meet the pope face to face, but watching him on the Internet was something she said she'll never forget.

  "I think he's very interesting and wise," Mary Catherine said.

  "I'd like to see him one day. It will be something I'd share with my children and tell them about."

  Sister Roberta Thoen, principal at St. Michael's Catholic School, said many of the children who tuned in Thursday have followed the pope's rise, beginning with the death of Pope John Paul II in April 2005 and Joseph Ratzinger's election later that month.

  "I think it helps them learn about their own church, that we need good moral leaders," Thoen said. "They learn by watching and hearing the Holy Father. ... The little children are our hope."

It's a sad day when 20 year old college students who "can't relate" or "don't know what [the pope] is all about" are shown up by elementary school kids in their enthusiasm for learning about the Holy Father.

Meanwhile, I know 25,000 Catholic youth and seminarians who might dispute the notion that Benedict "isn't connecting too well."

P.S. The Washington Post article better reveals the prejudices of its authors rather than an accurate reflection of CUA; judging by this report of the Pope's enthusiastic reception by CUA students by Elizabeth Scalia, the majority of them responded well. Leave it to the mainstream press to search out the nay-sayers.

Bill Maher APOLOGIZES for calling Pope Benedict a Nazi

Will wonders never cease? -- Bill Maher apologizes for calling Pope Benedict a Nazi Catholic News Agency April 19, 2008:

New York, Apr 19, 2008 / 09:05 pm (CNA).- Comedian Bill Maher apologized on his HBO show Friday night for accusing Pope Benedict XVI of being a Nazi. After some delay, the Catholic League reports, Maher acknowledged that Joseph Ratzinger as a young man was forced to join the Hitler Youth organization and was not sympathetic to the Nazi ideology.

Maher still insisted that if a CEO were in charge of an institution that housed child molesters, he would be fired.

Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, responded to Maher’s broadcast apology. “We accept Maher's apology for accusing the pope of being a Nazi. Too bad he didn't stop there. For him to suggest that Pope Benedict XVI was in charge of policing molesters, and failed in doing so, is patently absurd,” Donohue said.

Pope Benedict XVI met with Avery Cardinal Dulles!

According to Commmonweal magazine:

Vatican spokesman confirmed reports that Benedict will meet with Cardinal Avery Dulles this afternoon before (I believe) the youth event at St. Joseph’s Seminary. That is close to the Fordham campus where Dulles, whose health has grown precarious in recent months, is living. It is likely to be a poignant moment between two renowned theologians. Dulles has difficulty speaking now, due to complications from childhood polio.

This post to be updated as I find further confirmation -- what a blessing to Cardinal Dulles for his years of service to the Church!

Update!

Pope makes time to pay homage to U.S. theologian Cardinal Dulles, by Chaz Muth. Catholic News Service. April 21, 2008:

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- During his whirlwind April 15-20 U.S. visit, Pope Benedict XVI took a few moments out of his demanding schedule for a private meeting with one of America's pre-eminent theologians, the ailing, 89-year-old Cardinal Avery Dulles.

The wheelchair-bound Jesuit scholar traveled from his residence at Jesuit-run Fordham University's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx to St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., April 19, for a prearranged, 15-minute private meeting with the pope, just after the pontiff met with disabled youths.

"It was a lovely meeting," said Dominican Sister Anne-Marie Kirmse, the cardinal's executive assistant for the past 20 years. She was present to help facilitate the get-together, held in a suite of offices at the seminary.

"The pope literally bounded into the room with a big smile on his face," she told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview April 21. "He went directly to where Cardinal Dulles was sitting, saying, 'Eminenza, Eminenza, Eminenza, I recall the work you did for the International Theological Commission in the 1990s.'"

The pope and cardinal's meeting was also attended by Jesuit Father Thomas R. Marciniak of the Fordham Jesuit community, who served as Cardinal Dulles's priest-chaplain, and Francine Messiah and Oslyn Fergus, health care workers who help the cardinal.

"This meeting is significant because these are two of the leading Catholic theologians who interpreted Vatican II for a generation," said Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. "It was a meeting of two great Catholic intellectuals."

Pope Benedict XVI waves before leaving St. Joseph's Seminary after a meeting with youth in Yonkers, New York April 19, 2008. (Reuters)

Kelly Clarkson sings "Ave Maria" for Pope Benedict XVI

Rally with Seminarians and Youth at St. Joseph's Seminary

What's Happening Today: Saturday, April 19 (3rd Anniversary of Pope Benedict's Pontificate)
5-6:30 p.m. - Rally with Seminarians and Young People at Saint Joseph Seminary
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

5-6:30 p.m. - Rally with Seminarians and Young People at Saint Joseph Seminary Approximately 25,000 young Catholics from throughout the United States, including 5,000 seminarians will be in attendance at Saint Joseph Seminary, 201 Seminary Avenue, Yonkers.

• 12:00 noon - Concert begins. Concert activity ceases when the Pope arrives at seminary for the meeting with youth with disabilities. That meeting inside the chapel will be shown on screens to the rally crowd.
• 5:00 p.m. - Arrival, welcome, and rally
  • The Pope arrives via popemobile at the rally stage
  • Cardinal Edward M. Egan makes opening remarks
  • Three youth speak
  • 10 youth present gifts of dark bread, light bread, rice, unleavened bread and maize, representing the five continents
  • Eight youth present birthday gifts to the Pope. They include the following: a spiritual bouquet; the book “Empire State Catholics: A History of the Catholic Community in New York State”; and images of six individuals who were born in or served in New York and have been declared saints, blessed or venerable by the Catholic Church: Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Saint John Neumann, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Venerable Pierre Toussaint and Padre Felix Varela
  • Address: Pope Benedict XVI
  • Cardinal Edward M. Egan presents 15 young people to the Pope for a personal greeting
  • The Pope blesses the crowd and departs to the popemobile, which takes him back to the motorcade in front of the seminary
• 6:30 p.m. - Rally concludes

Text of Pope Benedict XVI's address to Seminarians at St. Joseph Seminary (Yonkers, NY).

Coverage

• Gary Stern (Blogging Religiously) calls it a "mini-World Youth Day":

  There are people everywhere. I ran into Father Luke Sweeney, head of vocations for the Archdiocese of NY, and he said that it’s like a mini-World Youth Day.

  Hoping for some future priests in that crowd, Father?

  The music is loud, just like at a rock concert. Rappers and rockers praising Jesus and pumping up the pontiff. Kelly Clarkson is supposed to come on in about 15 minutes.

  I’ve talked to a lot of kids from burbs and, almost to a person, they seem kind of stunned to be with so many other Catholic kids, all waiting for the pope. . . .

• Pope cheered at youth rally in Yonkers, By Ernie Garcia, Jorge Fitz-Gibbon and Leah Rae. (The Journal News April 19, 2008):

  YONKERS - Pope Benedict XVI rode around the grounds of St. Joseph’s Seminary in the popemobile to cheers from thousands as a youth rally was getting under way that has drawns tens of thousands of young people and families.

  The pope arrived at the seminary shortly after 4:35 p.m. and blessed 50 disabled children and their caregivers in the seminary’s chapel.

  He glided up the aisle, going back and forth to children lined up on either side of him touched their heads very gently.

  In his blessing, he extended his hands over the crowd and said God had blessed them with life and differing talents and gifts so they could serve him in various ways in a “sign of hope for everyone.”

  He continued: “Sometimes, it is challenging to find a reason for what appears only as a difficulty to be overcome or even pain to be endured. Yet, our faith helps us to break open the horizon beyond our own selves to see life as God does.”

  The pope was seated in the chapel with the Deaf Choir of the New York Archdioces to his left. They expressed a hymn in sign language, and he applauded them.

  Three little girls went up to the altar and gave him a child’s painting. Then, he left the chapel and got into the popemobile for the trip to the great stage set up on the grounds for the youth rally.

  Tens of thousands of young people and families from all over the country were gathered on a field next to seminary building. They filled hours of waiting by watching performers on a large concert stage, with screens at either side and flanked at the left with the seal of the Archdiocese of New York and at the right with the papal seal. ... (Read More)

• Pope urges young people to banish evils of drugs, poverty, racism, by Benedicta Cipolla (Catholic News Service April 19, 2008):

  Addressing a crowd of 25,000 young people and seminarians, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the "monster" that cast a shadow over his own childhood and urged the current generation to banish the darkness that exists today.

  Speaking April 19 at a boisterous rally on the grounds of the Archdiocese of New York's seminary in Yonkers, the pope said that while young people now enjoy democracy's freedom, "the power to destroy does, however, remain."

  Pope Benedict offered a personal reflection on his own youth in Germany, "marred by a sinister regime that thought it had all the answers." Nazism, he said, "banished God and thus became impervious to anything true and good." The pope was forced to enroll in Hitler Youth as a boy but soon stopped going to meetings. Last year he said at a youth meeting in Germany that he decided to become a priest after witnessing the Nazis' brutality.

  At St. Joseph's Seminary, the pope said the evils of substance abuse, homelessness and poverty, racism, violence and the degradation of girls and women result in people being treated as objects and the denial of God-given human dignity.

  Pope Benedict called the manipulation of truth "particularly sinister." When freedom disregards absolute truth, relegating it instead to the private sphere of the individual, relativism takes hold, he said.

  Truth is neither an imposition nor a simple set of rules.

  "Ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ," he said.

  [...]

  During the meeting, young people from schools in the region presented the pope, who celebrated his 81st birthday April 16, with several gifts, including framed photographs of Sts. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Frances Cabrini and John Neumann, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Venerables Pierre Toussaint and Father Felix Varela, all of whom were either born in or served in New York. He also received books on the history of the Catholic Church in New York; bread, rice and maize, which symbolized the varied cultural background of the youth present.

  [...]

  The rally gathered young people and seminarians, and Pope Benedict encouraged those studying for the priesthood to "reject any temptation to ostentation, careerism or conceit. Strive for a pattern of life truly marked by charity, chastity and humility, in imitation of Christ," he said. ... (Read More)

• Benedict and the Young, by Colleen Carroll Campbell:

  It happens every time the pope encounters a young crowd, and it is happening again at the papal youth rally in Yonkers: Young Catholics will turn out in droves to give Pope Benedict a warm, rock-star welcome. And many of their elders will watch and wonder: What do they see in him?

• Musicians play "Papalpalooza" for Benedict, by Deborah Evans Price (Reuters April 19, 2008)

Blessing for Youth with Disabilities at St. Joseph's Seminary

What's Happening Today: Saturday, April 19 (3rd Anniversary of Pope Benedict's Pontificate)
4:30 p.m. - Blessing of Youth with Disabilities at Saint Joseph Seminary
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

On May 17, 1891, Archbishop Michael J. Corrigan laid the cornerstone of the present Saint Joseph Seminary in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers, just a few miles north of New York City. The first scholastic year began September 21, 1896, with 98 students. The institution now serves men in formation for the priesthood; it has programs for those studying to become permanent deacons and a master of arts in religious studies for lay and clergy. Pope John Paul II visited on October 5, 1995.

• 4:30 p.m. - The Pope arrives via motorcade at the front of main seminary building. Cardinal Edward M. Egan and Bishop Gerald T. Walsh, rector of the seminary welcome the Pope. The Pope will enter the seminary and proceed forward to the chapel sanctuary. In the audience approximately 50 young people with disabilities and their caregivers.

Program

• Greeting and presentation
• The Pope blesses those present
• The Archdiocesan Deaf Choir performs
• The Pope departs out the front door of the Seminary to enter the popemobile
• Popemobile route: Popemobile will travel the circle in front of the seminary and proceed west to the “Lower Chidwick” and circle the field

Holy Father calls handicapped to be signs of hope, apostles of prayer Catholic News Agency. April 19, 2008:

New York, Apr 19, 2008 / 04:59 pm (CNA).- This afternoon 50 young people with disabilities had the chance to meet with Pope Benedict, who encouraged them to be a sign of hope and to continue to intercede for others with their prayers.

“God has blessed you with life, and with differing talents and gifts”, the Holy Father told the youngsters. “Through these you are able to serve him and society in various ways. While some people's contributions seem great and others' more modest, the witness value of our efforts is always a sign of hope for everyone,” he said.

The Pope sympathized with the pain that handicapped children endure and called them to see life as God does.

“Sometimes it is challenging to find a reason for what appears only as a difficulty to be overcome or even pain to be endured. Yet our faith helps us to break open the horizon beyond our own selves in order to see life as God does. God's unconditional love, which bathes every human individual, points to a meaning and purpose for all human life. Through his Cross, Jesus in fact draws us into his saving love and in so doing shows us the way ahead - the way of hope which transfigures us all, so that we too, become bearers of that hope and charity for others.”

Full remarks of Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to disabled youth St. Joseph Seminary, Yonkers NY.

Pope Benedict XVI prays at the altar dedicated to Saint Louis IX behind the main altar, before the Blessed Sacrament at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York April 19, 2008. (Reuters)

Mass for Clergy & Religious at Saint Patrick's Cathedral

What's Happening Today: Saturday, April 19 (3rd Anniversary of Pope Benedict's Pontificate)
9-11:15 a.m. - Mass for Clergy and Religious at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is the seat of the archbishop of New York, Cardinal Edward M. Egan. It is the largest decorated gothic-style Catholic cathedral in the United States and has been recognized throughout its history as a center of Catholic life in this country.

• 9:00 a.m. - Arrival and welcome at main entrance of Cathedral. The Pope will be welcomed by Cardinal Edward M. Egan and Msgr. Robert Ritchie, Cathedral rector. Participating in the Mass will be 3,000 deacons, priests and religious men and women from throughout the United States. At least two representatives from each diocese in the country will be present.

Photo credit: Reuters

Text of Pope Benedict XVI's Homily at Holy Mass, St. Patrick's Cathedral, NY:

... Gathered as we are in this historic cathedral, how can we not think of the countless men and women who have gone before us, who labored for the growth of the Church in the United States, and left us a lasting legacy of faith and good works? In today’s first reading we saw how, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles went forth from the Upper Room to proclaim God’s mighty works to people of every nation and tongue. In this country, the Church’s mission has always involved drawing people “from every nation under heaven” (cf. Acts 2:5) into spiritual unity, and enriching the Body of Christ by the variety of their gifts. As we give thanks for past blessings, and look to the challenges of the future, let us implore from God the grace of a new Pentecost for the Church in America. May tongues of fire, combining burning love of God and neighbor with zeal for the spread of Christ’s Kingdom, descend on all present!

In this morning’s second reading, Saint Paul reminds us that spiritual unity – the unity which reconciles and enriches diversity – has its origin and supreme model in the life of the triune God. As a communion of pure love and infinite freedom, the Blessed Trinity constantly brings forth new life in the work of creation and redemption. The Church, as “a people made one by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Spirit” (cf. Lumen Gentium, 4), is called to proclaim the gift of life, to serve life, and to promote a culture of life. Here in this cathedral, our thoughts turn naturally to the heroic witness to the Gospel of life borne by the late Cardinals Cooke and O’Connor. The proclamation of life, life in abundance, must be the heart of the new evangelization. For true life – our salvation – can only be found in the reconciliation, freedom and love which are God’s gracious gift.

This is the message of hope we are called to proclaim and embody in a world where self-centeredness, greed, violence, and cynicism so often seem to choke the fragile growth of grace in people’s hearts. Saint Irenaeus, with great insight, understood that the command which Moses enjoined upon the people of Israel: “Choose life!” (Dt 30:19) was the ultimate reason for our obedience to all God’s commandments (cf. Adv. Haer. IV, 16, 2-5). Perhaps we have lost sight of this: in a society where the Church seems legalistic and “institutional” to many people, our most urgent challenge is to communicate the joy born of faith and the experience of God’s love.

At the end of the Mass, Pope Benedict (speaking with characteristic humility) expressed his personal thanks:

“At this moment I can only thank you for your love of the Church and Our Lord, and for the love which you show to the poor Successor of Saint Peter. I will try to do all that is possible to be a worthy successor of the great Apostle, who also was a man with faults and sins, but remained in the end the rock for the Church. And so I too, with all my spiritual poverty, can be for this time, in virtue of the Lord’s grace, the Successor of Peter.

It is also your prayers and your love which give me the certainty that the Lord will help me in this my ministry. I am therefore deeply grateful for your love and for your prayers. My response now for all that you have given to me during this visit is my blessing, which I impart to you at the conclusion of this beautiful Celebration.”

Coverage

• Ongoing coverage of the St. Patrick's Mass for religious and seminarians courtesy of The New Liturgical Movement. Jeffrey Tucker:

  It brings joy to the heart to see the Pope during the recessional with a look of exuberant happiness, with glorious music, following an exceptionally well-done liturgy, that was mostly sung, with chant from the Graduale in which everyone participated, including the Communion proper and some wonderful presentations of many centuries of sacred music.

  This was the sound of Catholicism, with majesty fitting for the Pope. Nothing on this earth is as powerful a witness to the faith.

• From The Recovering Choir Director the list of music for today’s Votive Mass for the Universal Church at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, "with links, audio, and scriptural sources for illustrative and educational purposes."
• Amy Welborn (New York Times "A Papal Discussion"): Speaking of vintage, the homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral today, to a congregation of priests and religious, was, indeed, classic Benedict. Heaven Touches Earth: Papal Liturgy at Saint Patrick’s, by Deacon Keith Fournier. Catholic Online April 19, 2008:

  In a profound homily, the Holy Father spoke of the essential role of the Holy Spirit. In his unique manner he presented deeply theological truths in an accessible manner.

  The homily was a theological exposition of Ecclesiology, the theology of the Church, Soteriology, the theology of salvation and conversion and Pneumatology, the theology of the work of the Holy Spirit. Yet, it was not academic, it was both understandable and inspiring.

  It is this ability of Pope Benedict XVI which has shone throughout all of his homilies during this apostolic visit to the United States. He is truly gifted with an ability to articulate deep theological truth in a manner which can be easily understood by the faithful. ...

3 Years Ago Today . . .

Happy Anniversary, Pope Benedict XVI!

(That day, the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club was deluged with over 600,000 hits from curious minds and delighted well-wishers. When the website had recooperated from the onslaught, the first Pope Benedict Roundup was published).

Good things come to those who wait.

Several hundred young adults holding a vigil behind the security perimeter around the house where Pope Benedict XVI was staying were rewarded April 18 with a papal handshake, according to the Catholic News Service:

Members of the Sisters of Life, a religious order founded by the late Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York, organized young people from three New York parishes to keep a vigil at the residence where Pope Benedict was staying.

"Some just came out of curiosity," but there also were members of the Legionaries of Christ, playing guitars and beating drums, and members of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal and Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, she said.

Obviously, Osman said, they had let archdiocesan officials know of their plans and at about 8 p.m., the U.S. Secret Service began allowing small groups to pass the traffic blockade and approach the residence.

Pope Benedict came outside "after dinner" at about 9 p.m., said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

The pope spent about 10 minutes shaking hands with the young religious and other young adults who got the Secret Service nod.

(Via ) -- ABC 7 has video footage of the Pope's mingling with New Yorkers.

The Counter-Cultural Pope

"Disquieting Words For the Faithful", by E. J. Donne (Washington Post April 18, 2008):

The most jarring word that Pope Benedict XVI is using during his visit to the United States is "countercultural." The American sense of that term is shaped by the 1960s: free love, drugs, hippies, rock music and rebellion. Needless to say, that's not what Benedict is preaching.

That word is the key to understanding how Benedict's message runs crosswise to conventional liberalism and conservatism. Benedict came to the United States as a quiet but forceful critic of "an increasingly secular and materialistic culture," as he put it during yesterday's Mass. Almost any American who paid attention to his sermon had to be uncomfortable because all of us are shaped by the very forces he was criticizing.

Benedict directly challenged an assumption so many Americans make about religion: that it is a matter of private devotion with few public implications.

Not true, said the pope. "Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted," he told the country's Catholic bishops on Wednesday. "Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel."

That is a demanding and unsettling standard for the right and the left alike. . . .

Ecumenical Service at Saint Joseph Parish, Yorkville

What's Happening Today: Friday, April 18
6:00 p.m. - Ecumenical Prayer Service - Saint Joseph Parish
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

Saint Joseph Parish, 404 E. 87th Street, Yorkville, was founded in 1873 to meet the needs of German immigrants. The parish grew out of a community worshiping in the chapel of Saint Joseph’s Orphanage, established on the Upper East Side.

• 6:00 p.m. Greeting by Cardinal Edward M. Egan and Msgr. John Sullivan, administrator of Saint Joseph Parish. Inside an audience of 250 Protestant and Orthodox leaders and 50 Catholics involved in ecumenical efforts.

Program

• The Pope proceeds to the papal chair, in front of the altar
• Cardinal Egan sits to his right. Already in place is Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, vicar general for the archdiocese, to the Pope’s left
• Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan greets the Pope
• Opening hymn: “Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether,” text by Percy Dearmer; music by Harold Friedell
• Prayer and Scripture reading (Ephesians 4:1-6)
• Address: Pope Benedict XVI
• The Lord’s Prayer
• Final blessing and hymn: “Now Thank We All Our God,” music by Johann Crüger

Coverage

• Catholic News Service:

  Using unusually strong words for an ecumenical prayer service, Pope Benedict XVI said the witness of Christians in the world is weakened not only by their divisions, but also by some communities turning their backs on Christian tradition.

  "Communion with the church in every age," he said, is needed particularly "at the time when the world is losing its bearings and needs a persuasive common witness to the saving power of the Gospel."

  The pope met April 18 with about 250 representatives of U.S. ecumenical organizations and a dozen Christian churches and denominations for evening prayer at St. Joseph's Church in New York.

  He began by praising the ecumenical commitment of U.S. Christians and acknowledging that the agreements found in their theological dialogues have contributed to the theological agreements later forged by the Vatican and its official dialogue partners.

  But Pope Benedict also focused on ways the Christian obligation to share the good news of the Gospel suffers in the modern world.

  "Too often those who are not Christians, as they observe the splintering of Christian communities, are understandably confused about the Gospel message itself," he said.

  But another, growing problem lies in the fact that "fundamental Christian beliefs and practices are sometimes changed within communities by so-called 'prophetic actions' that are based" on a reading of Christianity "not always consonant" with that found in the Bible and in Christian tradition.

  Here is the full text of Benedict's address at the "Ecumenical Encounter", Church of St. Joseph (Yorkville, NY) April 18, 2008. He doesn't mince any words, does he?

  ... My dear friends, the power of the kerygma has lost none of its internal dynamism. Yet we must ask ourselves whether its full force has not been attenuated by a relativistic approach to Christian doctrine similar to that found in secular ideologies, which, in alleging that science alone is "objective", relegate religion entirely to the subjective sphere of individual feeling. Scientific discoveries, and their application through human ingenuity, undoubtedly offer new possibilities for the betterment of humankind. This does not mean, however, that the "knowable" is limited to the empirically verifiable, nor religion restricted to the shifting realm of "personal experience".

  For Christians to accept this faulty line of reasoning would lead to the notion that there is little need to emphasize objective truth in the presentation of the Christian faith, for one need but follow his or her own conscience and choose a community that best suits his or her individual tastes. The result is seen in the continual proliferation of communities which often eschew institutional structures and minimize the importance of doctrinal content for Christian living.

  Even within the ecumenical movement, Christians may be reluctant to assert the role of doctrine for fear that it would only exacerbate rather than heal the wounds of division. Yet a clear, convincing testimony to the salvation wrought for us in Christ Jesus has to be based upon the notion of normative apostolic teaching: a teaching which indeed underlies the inspired word of God and sustains the sacramental life of Christians today.

  Only by "holding fast" to sound teaching (2 Thess 2:15; cf. Rev 2:12-29) will we be able to respond to the challenges that confront us in an evolving world. Only in this way will we give unambiguous testimony to the truth of the Gospel and its moral teaching. This is the message which the world is waiting to hear from us. Like the early Christians, we have a responsibility to give transparent witness to the "reasons for our hope", so that the eyes of all men and women of goodwill may be opened to see that God has shown us his face (cf. 2 Cor 3:12-18) and granted us access to his divine life through Jesus Christ. He alone is our hope! God has revealed his love for all peoples through the mystery of his Son's passion and death, and has called us to proclaim that he is indeed risen, has taken his place at the right hand of the Father, and "will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead" (Nicene Creed).

  May the word of God we have heard this evening inflame our hearts with hope on the path to unity (cf. Lk 24:32). May this prayer service exemplify the centrality of prayer in the ecumenical movement (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, 8); for without it, ecumenical structures, institutions and programs would be deprived of their heart and soul. Let us give thanks to Almighty God for the progress that has been made through the work of his Spirit, as we acknowledge with gratitude the personal sacrifices made by so many present and by those who have gone before us.

  By following in their footsteps, and by placing our trust in God alone, I am confident that - to borrow the words of Father Paul Wattson - we will achieve the "oneness of hope, oneness of faith, and oneness of love" that alone will convince the world that Jesus Christ is the one sent by the Father for the salvation of all.

Pope Benedict XVI shakes hands with a member of the congregation at the Park East Synagogue on April 18, 2008 in New York City. (Getty)

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Park East Synagogue (New York City)

What's Happening Today: Friday, April 18
Visit to Park East Synagogue (en route to Ecumenical Service)
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

On his way to an ecumenical prayer service at St. Joseph's Church in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, Pope Benedict made a 20-minute visit to the Park East Synagogue, where he met with senior Rabbi Arthur Schneier. Catholic News Service reports:

"I have worked for 46 years for religious freedom, human rights and interreligious dialogue from my pulpit," he said in an interview with Catholic News Service in the days leading up to the papal visit.

"Our synagogue has been the scene of interreligious dialogue on many occasions," he said. It has hosted Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow, Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and the chief rabbi of Israel.

Rabbi Schneier also is founder and president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, which he said "concerns itself with the situations involving oppressed Catholics, Jews and people of other religions" ...

"I've seen the consequences of the man's inhumanity to man, and therefore having survived, I have devoted my life to reaching out, to broadening the alliance between believers and developing tolerance and mutual respect between the world's religions," the rabbi said.

Born in Vienna, Austria, Rabbi Schneier was relocated to a ghetto in Budapest, Hungary, in 1938. He escaped the Holocaust and later emigrated to the United States in 1947 and has led the Park East Synagogue congregation since 1962.

Pope Benedict XVI greets the congregation during his visit to the Park East Synagogue,
Friday, April 18, 2008 in New York. (AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)

New York Times' "City Room" has the details of Pope Benedict XVI's synagogue visit (the first ever for any Pope in the United States):

Pope Benedict XVI paid a 22-minute visit to the Park East Synagogue — the first papal trip to a United States synagogue — on Friday afternoon. He presented the synagogue with a replica of a medieval Jewish manuscript from the Vatican library and received three gifts: a seder plate, a Passover haggadah and a box of matzo. The pope offered warm remarks and was showered with praise and music, but in a brief, three-minute address, he did not address the Holocaust, anti-Semitism or historic tensions between Jews and the Catholic Church.

The pope entered the synagogue at 5:16 p.m., as a choir sang a Hebrew liturgical song. Rabbi Arthur Schneier, the leader of the congregation, welcomed the pope, who was seated on a wooden chair to the left of the bimah, the raised platform, where the rabbi spoke from a lectern.

As the choir sang “Sh’ma Yisrael,” a central declaration of faith in Judaism, a synagogue elder drew back a thick blue velvet drape, exposing the Torah scrolls that are stored behind the bimah. Rabbi Schneier told the pope that after Exodus, the Jews “embraced the law that governs the relationship between man and God.”

Rabbi Schneier recalled that he had been invited — but could not attend — the pope’s inauguration in 2005. ...

Pope Benedict XVI and Rabbi Arthur Schneier. April 18, 2008

At 5:29 p.m. [after Rabbi Schneier's remarks], the pope stood, put on his eyeglasses and was presented with a silver seder plate designed by Menahen Ben Ari Berman, a Jerusalem artist. The pope stood behind a lectern in front of the bimah and spoke:

Dear Friends, Shalom! It is with joy that I come here, just a few hours before the celebration of your Pesah, to express my respect and esteem for the Jewish community in New York City. The proximity of this place of worship to my residence gives me the opportunity to greet some of you today. I find it moving to recall that Jesus, as a young boy, heard the words of Scripture and prayed in a place such as this. I thank Rabbi Schneier for his words of welcome and I particularly appreciate your kind gift, the spring flowers and the lovely song that the children sang for me. I know that the Jewish community make a valuable contribution to the life of the city, and I encourage all of you to continue building bridges of friendship with all the many different ethnic and religious groups present in your neighborhood. I assure you most especially of my closeness at this time, as you prepare to celebrate the great deeds of the Almighty, and to sing the praises of Him who has worked such wonders for his people. I would ask those of you who are present to pass on my greetings and good wishes to all the members of the Jewish community. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

He exchanged more gifts with members of the synagogue, presenting them with the replica of a Jewish medieval legal manuscript in the Vatican library circa 1435. In return, he was given a haggadah, or Passover prayer book, and a box of matzo. Then the pope posed for photographs with Rabbi Schneier and other prominent Jews in attendance. ... (Read More)

Coverage

• At synagogue, pope seeks 'bridges of friendship' CNN April 18, 2008.

• Live Footage: Benedict at the Park East Synagogue from Catholic News Agency. April 18, 2008.

• The Jewish People, Joseph Ratzinger and Me, by Fr. James Martin. "A Papal Discussion" New York Times April 18, 2008:

  All of us have our blind spots about other people and other groups. Those blind spots can be overcome best by personal contact, honest dialogue, heartfelt prayer, and the hard work of trying to understand someone different than oneself. I think Benedict is trying very hard to do some of that with Jewish groups, with other Christian denominations and with people of other faiths. And I think he’s succeeding in building bridges, and changing relationships “for the better.”

  As he does so, I’m finding that I’m succeeding in something, too: in feeling real admiration — and even affection — for the pope whose election I once lamented.

• Synagogue Choir Is Set to Serenade Pope, by Sewell Chan. New York Times April 15, 2008.

Music Selections of the NYC Papal Mass

Argent by the Tiber has the full list of music selected by Dr. Jennifer Pascual, Director of Music/ Mass Conductor.

Related

• New York's papal events feature Pope's German classical favorites April 10, 2008.

Addressing the World

Benedict appears before the United Nations General Assembly. April 18, 2008

Pope Benedict's Address to the United Nations

What's Happening Today: Friday, April 18
10:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. - Address to the United Nations
NOTE: This post will be updated as more information becomes available on this topic.

During his scheduled three-hour visit to UN Headquarters, the Pope will also meet with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim and Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, which holds the rotating Security Council presidency this month. The visit will fall on the first anniversary of Mr. Ban’s visit to the Vatican, when the Secretary-General then invited the Pope to come to the UN. It is the fourth papal visit to the UN, following those of Paul VI in 1965 and John Paul II in 1979 and 1995.

Pope Benedict XVI's Address to the U.N. General Assembly (USCCB Papal Visit blog):

The Holy Father began his address in French before switching to English. He noted that the founding principles of the United Nations – the desire for peace, a sense of justice, respect for the dignity of the human person, and cooperation and humanitarian assistance — are just aspirations of the human spirit. The Holy See shares an interest in these principles.

Questions of security, development, reducing inequality, and care of the environment require collective action in good faith for the common good. While scientific and technological advances can be of great help, some can rob the human person and the family of their identity. He called on the international community to act with juridical means when needed to safeguard human rights.

The Holy Father spoke of the critical importance of protecting human rights, noting the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Promoting human rights is the most effective strategy for reducing inequality and increasing security. Human rights are not simply a matter of law, but of justice, based in the natural law written on the human heart.

Once again, the Holy Father spoke of the importance of dialogue between religions as a way of building consensus in service of the common good. He emphasized the importance of freedom of religion in its public as well as its private dimension.

Pope Benedict said that the Catholic Church wishes to offer her proper contribution to international relations, making available her centuries of experience. He concluded his address by greeting the assembly in all the official languages of the United Nations, wishing them peace and prosperity with God’s help.

The assembly responded to his address with a standing ovation.

Courtesy of the New York Times: The text of Pope Benedict XVI’s address to the United Nations General Assembly on April 18, "as supplied by the Vatican and checked against delivery. The remarks were delivered partly in French and partly in English."

Coverage & Commentary

• Carl Olson provides a helpful list of supplementary essays (mostly by the great Fr. James V. Schall), expanding upon the Pope's discussion of human rights grounded in natural law, "valid at all times and for all peoples" in his U.N. address.
• "The pope's impassioned speech on global warming ... that wasn't", by Thomas Peters (American Papist):

  British tabloids and other less-than-reputable news organizations claimed last year, early in the papal visit planning process, that Pope Benedict would use his speech at the United Nations to "deliver a powerful warning over climate change." Now that the speech has been delivered and made available, I went looking for the pope's "centrepiece" to complete the Vatican's "environmental blitz" making it a "moral cause for the Catholic Church." ...

Further Reactions & Commentary on the Washington Mass / Mess

• To all those who protested the music, Vox Nova thinks you're a bunch of sour grapes:

  Of course, for the few hundred grumpy online Catholics full of sour grapes, there is the great multitude of faithful Catholics, who love the Pope, who love the Pope’s coming to America, and have taken in the greatness of such a wonderful event.

  At the mass, one could hear non-Catholic protesters with loudspeakers. They were trying to interrupt the mass. Online, we had Catholic trying to do the same. Since both thought they knew the way of faith greater than the Pope, can someone tell me what separates the two of them?

• "Latin Rite Catholics should be spared from appeals to rank tribalism", says Rich Leonardi (Ten Reasons):

  I'm blessed with an extended family that traces its ancestral roots to at least three continents. The notion that my African-American niece should automatically feel an affinity for Jazz, or my Asian-American sister-in-law ought to perk up over a prayer given in Tagalog, is offensive and condescending. It is no different than a parish worship commission asking me, an Italian-American, if I would like to see a performance of the Tarantella at the next Mass.

• Fr. Rob Johansen (Thrown Back) reigns in some of the more strident protestors (and dispels a few conspiracy theories alog the way):

  Firstly, I was taken aback by the sheer violence and passion of the reaction from the supporters of the Reform of the Reform and Traditional liturgy. I'm not here speaking so much of Shawn Tribe and the people at NLM, nor of Fr. Zuhlsdorf at "What Does the Prayer Really Say?". Their commentary has been measured and quite insightful. No, I am speaking of the many commentors at both sites (Some 300 at NLM alone!). I gathered from many of the comments on the above mentioned sites that people were shocked and surprised by what they saw and heard. I can't see why anyone should have been surprised - the music selected for the Mass was announced almost three weeks ago. I don't get the shock: the organizers of the DC Mass reveled three weeks ago that they intended to present a mish-mash, or, again in Fr. Neuhaus' inimitable words, a "liturgical stew". And that's precisely what they did.

• "Critics vs. the critics of the critics", by the Cranky Conservative:

  I recognized that the music was . . . not good. It didn’t escape my attention. But I am learning as time goes on not to let that sort of thing bother me. We can’t be critics while we’re at Mass. It’s not a performance - it’s Mass. Sure, there are some who seemingly want to make it more of a performance, but those are battles to be fought at other times. Quite frankly I was much more bothered by the idiots shouting into their megaphones about the whore of Babylon than I was by the awkward musical setting of the responsorial psalm. It was much more saddened by the hatred I was hearing outside than the perhaps awkward expressions of love I was hearing inside.

  That said, I can certainly sympathize with the critics, especially those who feel that the musical selections were a complete slap in the face to the Pope. I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt and hope that those who planned the Mass were in no way really trying to “send a message.” We don’t know that the Pope was displeased. I’m sure he knew what to expect. And even though the Pope prefers a more traditional setting - as do I - I’m sure he was and is ecstatic to see so many joy-filled and faithful Catholics joined together. In a world where so much is going wrong, 50,000 people getting together and joining in the Eucharist is an occasion for joy, no matter what might be blaring over the loudspeakers.

  In the long run, liturgy matters. It is not inappropriate to have a discussion about the liturgy and the musical selections and other things which do detract from the full meaning of our liturgy. It’s certainly questionable as to whether multilingual Masses do more to fracture than to unite us. . . .

  I guess this is all a long way of saying that while I was moved and uplifted by the Papal Mass, we can’t ignore the deeper issue of how we celebrate the Holy Eucharist in America. Asking that any discussion be civilized and respectful should go without saying. Sadly, it will probably go without so doing.

Some quick thoughts:

• With regards to how the liturgy ought to be performed and also in terms of the musical selections, we have over a decade of writings from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to draw from, most prominent of which is The Spirit of the Liturgy).
• Certain aspects of the Nationals Park Mass fell far, far short of what the Holy Father probably would have desired (therein lies the motivation for the more reasonable of the complaints).
• As Msgr. Marini indicated last month, while cognisant of what was being done, the Vatican opted to take a "hand's off" approach:

  Early in the planning process for a papal trip, the monsignor said, his office sends the local church a set of guidelines, which is “substantially the same” as the set developed during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.

  “A few small things were modified to reflect the liturgical attitudes of Pope Benedict,” he said; they include a request that a crucifix be placed on the altar for eucharistic celebrations, that concelebrating priests be as close to the altar as possible and that the offertory gifts be limited to the bread, wine and charitable gifts.

  Msgr. Marini said the Vatican did not dictate the choice of music and hymns for the U.S. liturgies.

  One could speculate as to why Marini chose not to assert more control over what was chosen — in such cases, I think it’s best to relenquish top-down control to those properly delegated at the local level. As Henry points out Benedict did indeed "clap his hands" to one of the performances, but I'm not sure one could posit that this is, indeed, what he would have preferred.

  Fr. Neuhaus sums it up:

  When over the years one has been present at papal events beyond numbering, one inevitably develops a measure of critical distance in which even mildly critical comments can clash with the intense piety of many of the Catholic faithful. Anything short of all-Wow!-all-the-time is taken as a sign of insufficient enthusiasm.

Yes, you may PURCHASE "The Official Papal Skateboard"

THE LIMITED EDITION OFFICIAL PAPAL SKATEBOARD ON SALE NOW for a limited time only. I was informed that "proceeds will to benefit inner city retreats and recreation programs."

Fr. Neuhaus on the National's Park Mass

Fr. John Neuhaus remarks on the liturgical music performances during the Washington National Mass:

In the response to our EWTN coverage, we received hundreds of complaints about the over-the-top stretch to be multicultural, along with some complaints by those were offended by our mentioning it. It’s hard to win on this score. And I have to remind myself that even mild criticisms of the way the Holy Father’s visit is being handled are taken amiss by people for whom even the chance to see the pope from a distance is one of the great moments of their lives. When over the years one has been present at papal events beyond numbering, one inevitably develops a measure of critical distance in which even mildly critical comments can clash with the intense piety of many of the Catholic faithful. Anything short of all-Wow!-all-the-time is taken as a sign of insufficient enthusiasm. Raymond Arroyo and I have multiple opportunities to remind one another of this dynamic. . . .

Of course nothing can diminish, never mind negate, the astonishment of the Real Presence of Christ in the Mass, but it must be admitted that the mish-mash of music and liturgical practices putatively representing the “other” of multiculturalism did vigorously compete with the central reality. I offered an observation or two on this in the course of our EWTN coverage, provoking the response that the people in the stadium were obviously enjoying themselves and we mustn’t try to impose our elitist musical and liturgical criteria. Ouch. The point I was making is that Benedict has written very specifically over the years about the distortion of the dynamics of worship when attention is focused on “our wonderful selves” rather than on the glory of God. He has also stressed the importance of renewing commitment to and continuity in the tradition of sacred music, including Gregorian chant, a tradition almost entirely absent from the stadium Mass. So the point of the commentary on that Mass is that it is remarkable that, on matters about which Benedict has been so emphatic, his views were so egregiously ignored or defied.

Admittedly, in his frequent writings on matters liturgical, Benedict has often offered a caveat on the difficulty of doing it right on occasions with huge crowds such as is the case here and will be Sunday at Yankee Stadium, so I expect he is resigned to things getting out of hand and his pastoral disposition is to go along with the more or less inevitable. It is also the case that some of those in Nationals Park said they did not notice the music and other multicultural indulgences that were so prominent in what was televised. Which is probably just as well.

Of course Fr. Neuhaus also addressed Benedict's homily in his post, along with subsequent visitation to CUA and the interfaith service at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. (Read More).