National Vigil for Life: June 8th

Godless Funerals Thrive in 'Post-Catholic’ Ireland

The Washington Post May 22, 2013:

Patricia Wojnar left a 32-year career in interior design to pursue a degree that wasn’t in demand: a master’s in bereavement studies.
Having seen four family members die early, she wanted to understand how to adapt.
As it turned out, the degree perfectly prepared her to enter one of Ireland’s emerging professions.
Wojnar is now a registered civil celebrant, presiding over funerals and weddings for people who refuse to associate with Ireland’s scandal-tarred Roman Catholic Church. She’s not alone; many newly minted civil celebrants are starting their own businesses as part of Ireland’s “post-Catholic” economy.
Although many observers have noted the impact of secularization and child abuse scandals on church membership and finances, only now are the Irish seeing the cultural and socioeconomic reverberations. These include a class of people willing to observe life’s most significant milestones outside the church.
“People only get one opportunity to get a funeral right,” Wojnar said. “I help them prepare a service which honors the bereaved without being constrained by the convention of religion.”
Irish funeral directors estimate that 10 percent of the nearly 30,000 funerals conducted annually are nonreligious. Government data show that about 30 percent of the 21,000 weddings annually are outside any church, up from 5 percent two decades ago.
The growth has come amid a backdrop of church decline. The number of people who call themselves Catholics is at an all-time low. Seminaries have grown barren. And as the government scales back church control of schools, fewer children may be exposed to Catholic rites of passage.
Wojnar takes an occasional interior design assignment to supplement the $500 for each ceremony. But some among the few dozen civil celebrants in Ireland have turned full time.
Brian Whiteside, the director of ceremonies for the Humanist Association of Ireland, led more than 100 weddings, funerals or naming ceremonies in 2012.
“We’re busier than we ever thought we would be,” Whiteside said. “I thought I would do this as a sideline, but it’s taken over my life.”
Humanists — who believe in ethical values and a sense of compassion — have been at the forefront of performing nonreligious ceremonies. Whiteside said he and his 10 fellow Humanist-sanctioned celebrants have seen consistent growth, topping off at 78 funerals and 200 weddings in 2012.
Deirdre Lonergan is among those who chose a nonreligious wedding because she felt disillusioned with the church. But she needed two ceremonies to marry Eoghan Murphy.
The couple had a government-sanctioned ceremony in a small, unadorned government office without rings, vows, music or a priest. Three days later, they had a ceremony at a hotel with friends, a civil celebrant and all the normal regalia.
The dual ceremonies were needed because Ireland requires someone from the government’s Register of Solemnizers to perform an “official” marriage. Of the 5,600 people on the government’s roster, 4,300 are Catholic clergy.
Until last December, only religious leaders or government workers could become registered. Whiteside performed his first official wedding this spring, meaning couples such as Lonergan and Murphy now have a secular option that allows them to avoid the drab government ceremony altogether.
Funeral directors, chaplains, government registers and singers are among those who have signed up to become nonreligious celebrants. Hotels have hosted wedding fairs to showcase themselves as possible secular locales, and a few funeral directors have also recognized that customer preferences are changing.
Massey’s, a Dublin funeral home, spent $200,000 last year to open the first venue designed specifically to host civil funerals. Another Dublin funeral home, Legacy, launched a first-of-its-kind service last May that allows people to book funerals entirely online.
These entrepreneurs see themselves replacing the shrinking pool of priests. By one estimate, the number of Irish parish priests will drop from 2,000 today to a few hundred by 2042. If they want to bury a loved one without a lengthy wait for a priest, Wojnar said many families may soon have to choose a civil celebrant.
Compared to a church service, civil celebrations are more likely to include poems, pop music and personal messages. Wojnar has led ceremonies where families played songs by Bob Dylan or the Rolling Stones. She’s even performed a funeral for an animal lover with dogs and cats in the room.
The church is still debating its response to the cultural shifts. Some priests have relaxed church protocols to allow similar personalization, but at least one leader prefers that people who lack a commitment to Catholicism stay away.
“I don’t want a church which people use at particular moments or use as a comfort zone,” said Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
Meanwhile, leaders on the religious right in Ireland say the move toward liberalization will come to an end, and religious institutions will once again thrive.
“It will eventually dawn on people that our dominant philosophy of individualism at all costs is doing no good,” said David Quinn, who runs the Iona Institute, a conservative think tank.
Yet even if religion rebounds under pressure to reform, Wojnar said her new profession is here to stay.
“People who respect, even practice a religion, will and do choose the civil option for many reasons,” she said. “I see this as a profession in growth despite what happens on the religious map.”

1 and 1 and 1 are One – A Mediation on the Feast of the Holy Trinity

See http://blog.adw.org/2013/05/1-and-1-and-1-are-one-a-mediation-on-the-feast-of-the-holy-trinity/

Thousands flood Paris to protest same-sex marriage

See http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/26/18509104-thousands-flood-paris-to-protest-same-sex-marriage?lite

Man kills himself inside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22614994

A 78-year-old man has killed himself inside the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris in the French capital, police say, causing its evacuation.

The man pulled out a shot-gun and shot himself through the mouth beside the main altar shortly after 16:00 (14:00 GMT).
He has been named as Dominique Venner, an award-winning far-right historian.
Mr Venner had recently been involved in the campaign against the government's decision to legalise gay marriage.
On Saturday, President Francois Hollande signed the bill into law.
'Acts must follow words' Police said Mr Venner had made no statement before killing himself, although a note was found next to his body. They did not disclose its contents.

Dominique Venner's latest blog entry condemned the government's decision to legalise gay marriage

Earlier on Tuesday, he had written on his blog a damning critique of the same-sex marriage bill.
"New spectacular and symbolic actions are needed to wake up the sleep walkers and shake the anaesthetised consciousness," he wrote.
"We are entering a time when acts must follow words."
Mr Venner is also a former member of the Secret Army Organisation (OAS), which opposed Algerian independence in the early 1960s and tried to assassinate Charles De Gaulle.
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says Notre-Dame is the most visited landmark in France, attracting more than 13 million visitors each year, but security is relatively relaxed.
It would not be difficult to conceal a weapon in a shoulder bag, he says.

The cathedral is celebrating its 850th year, and at the time of Mr Venner's death, it would have been busy, our correspondent adds.

Police said the evacuation began immediately, that there were no further problems, and that the cathedral for the moment remained closed.
"It's unfortunate, it's dramatic, it's shocking," the rector of Notre-Dame, Monsignor Patrick Jacquin, told the Associated Press news agency.
This was the first suicide in decades at the cathedral, he said. A few people had jumped to their deaths from Notre-Dame's twin towers, but no-one was thought to have killed themselves at the altar before, he added.
"We will pray for this man, as for so many others at their end."
Last Thursday, a 50-year-old man with a history of mental problems killed himself with a sawn-off shotgun in front of a dozen children at a private Catholic school next to the Eiffel Tower.

10 Reasons Why It's Hard to Become Catholic

See http://www.taylormarshall.com/2013/05/10-reasons-why-its-hard-to-become.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+taylormarshall+%28Dr.+Taylor+Marshall+|+Canterbury+Tales%29

Boston cardinal to boycott graduation over honors to Irish official

Boston, Mass., May 10, 2013 (CNA).

Cardinal Séan O'Malley announced that he would not attend the commencement of Boston College due to an honorary degree Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny will receive at graduation.
According to a May 10 statement from the cardinal, “Mr. Kenny is aggressively promoting abortion legislation” in Ireland.

“Because the Gospel of Life is the centerpiece of the Church’s social doctrine and because we consider abortion a crime against humanity,” Cardinal O’Malley explained, “the Catholic Bishops of the United States have asked that Catholic institutions not honor government officials or politicians who promote abortion with their laws and policies.”

“Since the university has not withdrawn the invitation and because the Taoiseach (prime minister) has not seen fit to decline, I shall not attend the graduation,” the cardinal added.

In addition to serving as the Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal O’Malley also serves as the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

On April 25, Boston College, a Catholic Jesuit university in Boston, announced that it would host Kenny as its commencement speaker and award the Irish Prime Minister an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at its May 20 graduation ceremony. On May 9, the college reaffirmed its commitment to having Kenny as its speaker following condemnation from various pro-life groups within the Boston area and across the country.

Traditionally, the archbishop of Boston delivers a closing benediction during the commencement ceremony.

Kenny and his party has been advancing legislation that would legalize abortion when the mother’s life is in danger – including when the mother threatens suicide.

Abortion is currently illegal in Ireland, and both Kenny and his party, Fine Gael, had previously promised not to advance abortion legislation. Kenny has hinted that pro-life members of parliament who vote against the legislation may be expelled from the party.

Kenny has claimed to reporters that the legislation “ restates the general prohibition on abortion in Ireland,” and merely places into law an earlier Irish Supreme Court ruling that permitted abortion in such cases. However, critics note that the lack of a gestational age limit means that abortion would be available on-demand to any woman in Ireland who raises the threat of suicide.

As currently proposed, the law also lacks conscience protections for doctors, nurses, and other health care workers, and would force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions.

Irish bishops have criticized the legislation in a May 3 statement, calling it “a dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law.” They also note that the legislation, if approved, would “make the direct and intentional killing of unborn children lawful.”

Cardinal O’Malley has also criticized the legislation, saying in a May 10  interview with the Catholic Herald that abortion “is the taking of an innocent human life” and that “everyone should resist” it.

The cardinal noted that while Ireland has had the “good fortune” to “have been opposed to abortion despite the great pressure that they have come under from secularizing forces,” he hopes “that Ireland will continue to stand up against the pressures” to advance abortion within the country.

“Pressure to legislate for abortion is a dehumanizing force in our world,” Cardinal O’Malley added.

In his May 10 statement, the cardinal said he was “sure that the invitation was made in good faith, long before” Kenny’s legislative actions “Came to the attention of the leadership of Boston College.”

Boston College Spokesman Jack Dunn said to the Boston Globe on May 10 that the school “invited Prime Minister Kenny a year ago” and chose him “in light of our long-standing connection with Ireland and our desire to recognize and celebrate our heritage.” Dunn also said that the decision to invite Kenny is “independent” of the proposed legislation.

The cardinal offered his “ardent hope that Boston College will work to redress the confusion, disappointment and harm caused by not adhering to the Bishops' directives,” and resolve the situation.

Adding that while he will not be able to give the final benediction, “I assure the graduates that they are in my prayers on this important day in their lives, and I pray that their studies will prepare them to be heralds of the Church’s Social Gospel and ‘men and women for others,’ especially for the most vulnerable in our midst.”

A New Blasphemous Play: “The Testament of Mary”

America Needs Fatima Blog May 2013:

A narrow-minded, vulgar, egoistic and even idolatrous woman — this is how Irish author Colm Tóibín presents the Blessed Virgin Mary in his novel (now making its debut on the stage) titled ""The Testament of Mary"." [1]
His blasphemous play is being presented at the Walter Kerr Theatre, a Broadway theater, starting Tuesday, March 26, 2013, at 8:00pm. [ANF did an online protest against this book to publishers Simon and Schuster on 14-Jan., 2013. We sent 15,493 protest messages to them. Now, along with the American TFP and TFP Student Action, we are doing an on-site protest and reparation against this play at the Kerr Theater on 26-March. There is no possibility of doing an online protest against this play because Kerr Theater’s only contact is through a third-party provider’s “box office” phone number. We ask you to join us in prayer and reparation.]
"The Testament of Mary" is the latest in a wave of blasphemies that has been building for years. It is noteworthy that besides being written by an avowed homosexual, at the Walter Kerr Theatre "The Testament of Mary" is being performed and directed by open lesbians, namely, Irish actress Fiona Shaw and Deborah Warner.[2]
Distorting the Image of Mary
Although a former Catholic seminarian, the Irish writer gives free rein to his imagination when expressing his contempt for the Gospels, Christian tradition, and Mary Most Holy.
His truth-twisting goal seems to be well summarized on the book’s flap: “Tobin’s tour de force of imagination...our image of Mary will be forever transformed.”[3]
The play is a monologue in which the actress recites a so-called “testament of Mary,” and, while using “soft”  language, voices the wildest aberrations against the Catholic Faith.
With an interior act of reparation, we present below some examples of these aberrations so that our readers can gauge how far impiety can go.
Contrary to what Christian tradition affirms, Tóibín suggests that Mary was not taken care of in a filial manner by Saint John the Evangelist in Ephesus, but instead was “kept” there by two extortionists who pressured her to provide false testimony they could use to compose the Gospels. Among other things, they urged her to affirm the divinity of Jesus Christ, but she refused, since“She does not agree that her son is the Son of God.”[4]
Mary is portrayed as a skeptic who did not follow her own Son: “I am not one of his followers.”[5] And, she deemed His disciples, “a group of misfits.” Not one of them “was normal.”[6]
For Tóibín, the Mother of God was secretly a pagan worshiper of the hunting goddess Artemis (the Greek equivalent of the Roman goddess Diana): “I bought from one of the silversmiths a small statue of the goddess who lifted my spirits.”[7]
The Redemption “Was not Worth It”
At the wedding of Cana, the Irish writer would have us believe that she did not ask her Son to perform a miracle, and that she did not believe in the marvelous transformation of water into wine. While everyone else rejoiced at the miracle, “I did not cheer.”[8] 
At the hour of Crucifixion — Tóibín continues — she fled: “It was my own safety I thought of, it was to protect myself.”[9] She did not cradle her Son in her arms when He was lowered from the Cross, nor did she ascertain how He was buried.[10]
When the disciples say that the Gospels will change the world, this counterfeit Mary disdainfully quips:“‘The world?’ I asked. ‘All of it?’”[11]
In face of the affirmation that her Son “was the Son of God” and that “he was sent by his father to redeem the world,” Tóibín’s Mary “rage[s] against them,” stating: “I will say that it was not worth it. It was not worth it.”[12]
Rejecting Christ, Worshipping a Goddess
The novel ends with the Blessed Virgin idolatrously invoking the pagan goddess Artemis: “I speak to her in whispers, the great goddess Artemis… I tell her how much I long now to sleep in the dry earth, to go to dust peacefully with my eyes shut in a place near here where there are trees.”[13]
The Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a pagan! Evidently, in its perversity, blasphemy respects no limits. No Catholic can remain indifferent to such offenses.
An Injustice Against Benefactors
One of the most shocking acts a person can do is to challenge, ridicule or slander his own father or mother. For the most elementary justice commands us to honor and manifest gratitude and respect for those who gave us life, supported and guided us when we were weak and defenseless.
To act in the opposite manner is to show a hardening of heart and a spirit of revolt that subverts the nature of feelings and the order of things. In short, it is a sin, a grievous sin.
Filial piety is inscribed in human nature by natural law and is a duty sanctioned by Divine Law in the Fourth Commandment.
This is why even those who are prone to excuse other people’s faults are indignant at moral or physical violence perpetrated against parents. From ancient times, parricides and matricides received especially harsh punishment.
Gravity of the Sin of Blasphemy
Now then, if to dishonor one’s natural parents is so serious and gravely unjust, what to say of those who turn against the Creator Himself, to whom they owe their existence even more than to their parents?
If every sin shows contempt for God’s law (a contempt that is more or less pronounced depending on the seriousness of the matter and the person’s intent), when it comes to blasphemy contempt is displayed not against the law, but against God Himself. It is displayed directly, when one vilifies His Holy Name or actions. It is displayed indirectly, when it targets His saints, religion, and sacred things.
Blasphemy is considered the gravest of sins because it directly counters man’s very end, which is to love God.[14]
Gravity of Blaspheming Our Lady
Our Lady is called our Mother in the Litany of Loreto, for she is the Universal Mediatrix with her Divine Son. A second reason is because she is the Mother of the Redeemer, Who gave us the life of grace.
Therefore, the offense to our Mother in the supernatural order is especially grave and iniquitous, and the Most Holy Trinity is particularly offended when she is blasphemed.
Heretical Blasphemy
The gravity of the sin of blasphemy is greater when it expresses heresy, by denying the truths revealed by God and taught by the Magisterium of the Church.
In denying the divinity of Christ, His Resurrection, and the veracity of the Gospels, "The Testament of Mary" is not only blasphemous but heretical. It presents a caricature of the Blessed Virgin Mary and implicitly denies all of the dogmas the Church has defined in her regard.
In light of the above, "The Testament of Mary" deserves the most vehement and indignant repudiation from the faithful and The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property—TFP and its America Needs Fatimacampaign enjoin their fellow Catholics and all God-fearing Americans to reject it — legally and peacefully — offering their prayers and heartfelt public reparation for the offense it gives to Almighty God, Mary Most Holy, and the Catholic Church.
 Reparation Prayer for Blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin Mary
 Notes

1. Colm Tóibín, "The Testament of Mary" (New York: Scribner, 2012). All of the quotes in this article are from this edition of the novel. [back to text]
 2. Cf. Susanna Rustin, “A life in books: Colm Tóibín,” The Guardian, Oct. 25, 2010,http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/oct/25/colm-toibin-brooklyn-family-interview, accessed Mar. 20, 2013; John Preston, “Costa Book Awards: Colm Toibin interview,” The Telegraph, Jan. 25, 2010,http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/books-life/7074090/Costa-Book-Awards-Colm-Toibin-interview.html, accessed Mar. 20, 2013; Tim Teeman, “Fiona Shaw: ‘I Have Enormous Sadness in Me,’”The Times, Dec. 10, 2009,http://www.consortentertainment.com/news-details.aspx?newsID=21295 accessed Mar. 20, 2013; Liz Hoggard, “Power lesbians: The female celebs who are out and proud,” Evening Standard, Aug. 24, 2009,http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/power-lesbians-the-female-celebs-who-are-out-and-proud-6717981.html, accessed Mar. 20, 2013; “The IoS Pink List 2010,” The Independent, Aug. 1, 2010,http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-iiosi-pink-list-2010-2040472.htm, accessed Mar. 20, 2013; Fiona Shaw, “What’s harder than telling your parents that you’re gay? Telling your children.” The Independent, Apr. 24, 2012,http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/whats-harder-than-telling-your-parents-that-youre-gay-telling-your-children-7670484.html, accessed Mar. 20, 2013. [back to text]
 3. Tóibín, book flap. [back to text]
 4. Ibid. [back to text]
 5. Ibid., 44. [back to text]
 6. Ibid., 6. [back to text]
 7. Ibid., 10. [back to text]
 8. Ibid., 38. [back to text]
 9. Ibid., 65. [back to text]
 10. Cf. Ibid., 79. [back to text]
 11. Ibid., 77. [back to text]
 12. Ibid., 80. [back to text]
 13. Ibid., 80. [back to text]
 14. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, qq. 13-14. [back to text]

Irish Bishops: Abortion Bill 'would make intentional killing of unborn children lawful'

See  http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/bishops-abortion-bill-would-make-intentional-killing-of-unborn-children-lawful-593273.html

Famous Scientists Who Believed in God

See http://refreshingnews99.blogspot.in/2013/05/famous-scientists-who-believed-in-god.html

How Do You Approach to Receive the King of the Universe?

Les Femmes April 26, 2013:

In 2010 Pope Benedict explained why those who received Communion from him personally must kneel and receive on the tongue:

The idea behind my current practice of having people kneel to receive Communion on the tongue was to send a signal and to underscore the Real Presence with an exclamation point. One very important reason is that there is a great danger of superficiality precisely in the kinds of mass events we hold at St. Peter’s, both in the Basilica and in the Square. I have heard of people who, after receiving Communion, stick the Host in their wallet to take home as a kind of souvenir. In this context, where people think that everyone is just automatically supposed to receive Communion — everyone else is going up, so I will, too — I wanted to send a clear signal. I wanted it to be clear: Something quite special is going on here! He is here, the One before whom we fall on our knees! Pay attention! This is not just some social ritual in which we can take part if we want to. 

  I once read a quote from a non-Catholic who said if he believed what Catholics say they believe about the Real Presence, he would crawl up to receive Communion on his hands and knees. Does my disposition show this kind of belief and respect for the risen Lord who comes to me in Holy Communion?
Oh, how I wish we would return to using the altar rail and kneel for Communion. It not only shows respect for Jesus in the Eucharist, but is the great equalizer where college presidents kneel side by side with their students, where company presidents and CEOs kneel next to their employees, where presidents kneel beside secretaries and clerks, etc. There is no favored place at the table when one approaches the Communion rail. How I wish its use would return. I think our pope emeritus would approve as well.

Why Do Priests Wear Black?

Aggie Catholics April 26, 2013:

Q - Why do priests wear black and not some other color?
A - Thanks for the question. There are several good reasons why priests wear black.
Reason #1 - "Clerics" are a kind of uniform for clergy.  As in certain secular professions a uniform can help easily identify someone.  Priests want to be easily identified as clergy, not so they stand out in a crowd and gather attention for their own sake, but because they should be a sign of Jesus to the world.
In the early Church there was no specific clothing for the ordained clergy.  But, by the 500s many clergy began to wear long tunics that reached from neck to feet for two reasons - first it was warm, second it was a sign of modesty, because it was simple, not ornate, clothing.  This is the beginning of the tradition of the cassock - seen on the right.
By the middle ages, canon law proscribed clerical garb to be worn and started to regulate it.  It even had penalties for those who did not.  There are no longer any penalties associated with not wearing clerical garb.
Thus, clerical clothing has developed down through the ages to today.  Canon law presently states:

Clerics are to wear suitable ecclesiastical garb according to the norms issued by the conference of bishops and according to legitimate local customs - Canon 284.

Here is what the USCCB says in a "complimentary legislation" on Canon Law about it:

In liturgical rites, clerics shall wear the vesture prescribed in the proper liturgical books. Outside liturgical functions, a black suit and Roman collar are the usual attire for priests. The use of the cassock is at the discretion of the cleric.

In the case of religious clerics, the determinations of their proper institutes or societies are to be observed with regard to wearing the religious habit.

So, in ordinary situations, a priest should wear clerics.  But, it is not required at all times.
Reason #2 - Clerics symbolizes something, as do most practices in our Church.
The black represents a priest dying to self as well as simplicity/poverty.  Every time he puts on his clerics, he should remember that he does not belong to himself, but his bride, the Church.  It also symbolizes simplicity and giving up the comforts, honors, and privileges of the world.
The white Roman collar you see priests wearing symbolizes obedience to God and the Church.  This comes from the tradition of a slave having a ring put around their necks and priests choose to give their lives to Christ as his "slaves".  It also represents the marriage "ring" of being we to the Church.  The white also symbolizes the resurrection of Christ.
In other countries, especially in hot/tropical ones, you will find that the colors might be reversed and white might be the color of preference.  It makes sense in hot climates not to make someone wear black all the time.  Also, other colors for Monsignors, Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals, and the Pope help others recognize their positions in the Church.  They also each have a meaning behind them.

Pope Francis welcomes Benedict back to Vatican

Vatican City, May 2, 2013 (CNA/EWTN News).

Benedict XVI has returned to the Vatican after moving to the papal summer household outside of Rome to not interfere with the papal election.

“He is now pleased to return to the Vatican, where he intends to devote himself, as he announced on Feb. 11, to the service of the Church in prayer,” said a Vatican statement released on May 2.

The former Pope was picked up by helicopter at 4:30 p.m. from the grounds of Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence that is located on the edge of a volcanic crater lake, about 15 miles southeast of Rome.

He had been living in the house for two months as a temporary arrangement since he resigned on February 28.

“The former Pope is happy to return to the Vatican because that is the normal situation for him,” said Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See’s press office.

“He will live a normal life, I believe that he can walk and also receive visitors and so on, but that depends on him and how he wants to live his life,” Fr. Lombardi told Vatican Radio.

Benedict XVI arrived at around 4:45 p.m. at the Vatican’s heliport and was greeted by Vatican staff and authorities including Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State.

Also in attendance were Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the President of the Vatican City State Governorate; Archbishop Angelo Becciu, deputy of the Secretariat of State; Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, who is the State Secretariat’s chief of relations with States; and Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, the secretary for the Vatican City State government.

From the heliport, Benedict XVI took a car to his permanent home, the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where Pope Francis met him.

After their greeting, the two walked into the chapel of the monastery for a short moment of prayer.

The monastery is located within the Vatican gardens and is a 10-minute walk from the Saint Martha residence where Pope Francis lives.

Renovations to the monastery, which began in Nov. 2012, were recently completed and involved replacing old windows, fixing a problem with humidity in the basement and making repairs to a rooftop terrace.

“It is small but has been well prepared,” Fr. Lombardi commented.

“There is, for example, a study room and a small library and there is also a room for when his brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, comes to visit,” he said.

The monastery also includes a chapel and a choir room.

Benedict XVI will live alongside five other people, including his secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, and the four Memores Domini who lived with him at the Pontifical Household throughout his pontificate.

The Memores Domini are members of a lay association whose members practice obedience, poverty and chastity, and live in a climate of silence and common prayer.

As for the former pontiff’s health, Fr. Lombardi said he is healthy and there is no reason for any “special concern.”

“He is not a young man, he is old and strength slowly goes backwards, but there is no specific illness,” said the Vatican spokesman.

Pope Francis to canonise 800 Italians slain during historic siege

From http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/04/30/pope-francis-to-canonise-800-italians-slain-during-historic-siege/

Pope Francis is preparing to canonise an estimated 800 Italian laymen killed by Ottoman soldiers in the 15th century. The canonisation service will be on May 12 in St Peter’s Square and it will be the first carried out by the Pontiff since he was elected in early March.
The killing of the martyrs by Ottoman troops, who launched a weeks-long siege of Otranto, a small port town at the most eastern tip of southern Italy, took place in 1480.
When Otranto residents refused to surrender to the Ottoman army, the soldiers were ordered to massacre all males over the age of 15. Many were ordered to convert to Islam or die, but Blessed Antonio Primaldo, a tailor, spoke on the prisoners’ behalf. “We believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, and for Jesus Christ we are ready to die,” he said, according to Blessed John Paul II, who visited Otranto in 1980 for the 500th anniversary of the martyrs’ deaths.
Primaldo inspired all the other townspeople to take courage, the late Pope said, and to say: “We will all die for Jesus Christ; we willingly die so as to not renounce his holy faith.” There were not “deluded” or “outdated,” Blessed John Paul continued, but “authentic, strong, decisive, consistent men” who loved their city, their families and their faith.
The skulls and other relics of the martyrs currently adorn the walls around the altar of Otranto Cathedral as a memorial to their sacrifice. According to the archdiocese’s website, popular tradition holds that when the soldiers beheaded Primaldo, his body remained standing even as the combatants tried to push him over. Legend has it that the decapitated man stood until the very last prisoner was killed, at which point Primaldo’s body collapsed next to his dead comrades.
In 1771, the Church recognised the validity of the local veneration of Primaldo and his companions and allowed them to be called Blessed. In 2007, retired Pope Benedict XVI formally recognised their martyrdom and, in 2012, he recognised a miracle attributed to their intercession. Martyrs do not need a miracle attributed to their intercession in order to be beatified. However, miracles must be recognised by the Vatican in order for them to become saints.
The miracle involved the late-Poor Clare Sister Francesca Levote. She was suffering from a serious form of cancer but was healed after a pilgrimage to pray before the martyrs’ relics in Otranto in 1980, a few months before Pope John Paul’s visit in October. She died in February 2012 at the age of 85.
In a letter published in December 2012, Archbishop Donato Negro of Otranto said that the martydom of the townnsfolk must represent a “purification of the memory of the Catholic Church and a rooting out of every possible lingering resentment, rancor, resentful policies, every eventual temptation toward hatred and violence, and every presumptuous attitude of religious superiority, religious arrogance, moral and cultural pride.”
Remembering Christian martyrs is an occasion to examine one’s own life and make sure it corresponds with the Gospel call to love and forgive, he added.