CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) – With a warm embrace, a helping hand, shared prayer, a long discussion and lunch together, Pope Francis spent several hours with retired Pope Benedict XVI March 23 at the papal summer villa. Pope Francis gave Pope Benedict an icon of Mary and Jesus that the Russian Orthodox delegation to his […]
by Sister Constance Carolyn Veit, l.s.p As Ash Wednesday approached, I was thinking that this was going to be a Lent like most others. And then came the news on Feb. 11! Even as I pondered what a papal resignation signified, my thoughts drifted back to another season of high emotion – Lent 2005. A […]
by Ed Wilkinson About 150 people showed up on Feb. 26 for a Mass of thanksgiving for the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Windsor Terrace. Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto was the main celebrant of the liturgy that was sponsored by the local cluster of parishes. Concelebrants included Msgr. Joseph […]
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Chanting the Litany of the Saints, asking a host of holy men and women to help them, the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel in procession, aware of their enormous responsibility to elect a new pope. Less than half of the 117 cardinals eligible to vote for a successor to Pope Benedict […]
I was in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI three times, twice while he was pope and once before he was chosen to lead the Catholic Church. In 1986, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger came to Manhattan to make a philosophical presentation at a Lutheran church. He was considered a controversial figure because he was the head […]
by Francis X. Rocca VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In one of his last public appearances, Pope Benedict XVI told an overflow crowd in St. Peter’s Square Feb. 24 that his upcoming retirement does not mean he is abandoning the Church, but that he will be serving it in a new way, through prayer and meditation. […]
With great emotion His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his final Sunday prayers in St. Peter’s Square, restating his conscientious conviction that his decision to retire is from the Lord. “If God is asking me to do this, it is precisely so I can continue to serve with the same dedication and love as before […]
You can call him Pope Emeritus or Pontiff Emeritus. He’ll wear the white cassock but not the red shoes. He’ll live out of view of the public in what used to be a cloistered convent. These are some of the things that we know about Benedict XVI’s future as he “retires” from the papacy. There […]
by Francis X. Rocca VATICAN CITY (CNS) — On his last full day as pope, Pope Benedict XVI delivered an unusually personal and emotional farewell address, thanking the faithful around the world for their support and assuring them that he would remain in their service even in retirement. “I will continue to accompany the […]
The New York Times ran a column this past week asking the question about whether or not Benedict XVI will still be infallible when he retires. The answer, of course, is no! Only the reigning pontiff is infallible and only when he makes a definitive statement about faith or morals. In fact, the Holy Father […]
