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ROME (CNS) -- Dissident theologian Father Hans Kung criticized Pope Benedict XVI for his recent opening to discontented Anglicans, charging the pope was "fishing" for the most conservative Christians to the detriment of the larger church. Father Kung said the invitation to traditionalist Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church went against years of ecumenical work on the part of both churches, calling it instead "a nonecumenical piracy of priests." The pope's basic message is: "Traditionalists of all churches, unite under the dome of St. Peter's!" Father Kung wrote in an editorial Oct. 28 in the Rome daily La Repubblica....

A note from a reader in the Czech Republic: I come from the Czech republic and I am quite frustrated that the pope`s visit gets such a negative response in the English blogs – or no response at all… In reality, it was fantastic! There was a lot of symbolism which foreigners do not understand. For example: The first place he went (at his own request), the church of Our Lady of Victory, it is THE church – the symbol of recatholisation of the country. In the year 1620 catholics defeated protestants and this particular church in Praha got...

As observers continue to decipher the meaning of Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, all appear to agree that the passage of note, the passage that may prove historic in its implications, is the one that is already becoming known as the “world political authority” paragraph: In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth....

Does Pope Benedict view the alleged Marian apparitions of Medjugorje differently than Pope John Paul II did? Yes, according to a recent interview featuring E. Michael Jones, a well-known American critic of the alleged apparitions. The interview has appeared in several Serbian journals. In the interview, Jones asserts that when he met with Bishop Pavao Zanic, then-ordinary of the Diocese of Mostar (in which Medjugorje is situated) in 1988, the bishop said Cardinal Ratzinger agreed with him and did not believe the alleged apparitions were authentic. But Pope John Paul II did not respond to Bishop Zanic in the...

"Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the Body and of the Blood of the Lord... For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord" - 1 Corinthians 11:27,28 Pope Benedict to Catholics: Kneel and Receive on the Tongue Only Pope Benedict XVI does not want the faithful receiving Communion in their hand nor does he want them standing to receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. According to Vatican liturgist, Monsignor Guido Marini, the pope is trying to set...

ROME, JULY 27, 2009 (Zenit.org).- I first walked through Bernini's colonnade in May 1984. I was going to the Vatican Library to do research for a dissertation in medieval history. By chance, my topic was very similar to the topic Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, chose for his post-doctoral dissertation, "The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure," and this gave me material for conversation when I met with Ratzinger on several occasions in the 1980s and 1990s. On my very first visit to the Vatican library, I met a young scholar named Paolo Vian, son of the renowned Italian Catholic...

Turin, Italy, Jul 19, 2009 / 10:08 am (CNA).- In the first public outing of his current vacation in Les Combes, Pope Benedict XVI told 9,000 faithful gathered in Italy’s Romano Canavese village, the birthplace of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, not to be discouraged by the current economic crisis or to forget those people who are worse off. Before the recitation of the Angelus prayer, his first public appearance since a minor accident broke his wrist on Thursday night, the Pope thanked the doctors of Aosta. “I have been treated with skill and courtesy,” he said. “Dear...

The letter Benedict XVI wrote in 2007 to the Catholics of China has been gravely misunderstood, says Cardinal Zen. All to the advantage of the communist authorities, and their plan to subjugate the Church. To correct the problem, a new guide document has come from Rome ROME, July 21, 2009 – Two years after the letter addressed by Benedict XVI to Chinese Catholics, Cardinal Joseph Zen Zekiun, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, has sketched an assessment of it, published in mid-July in Chinese and English on the website of his diocese. The assessment is very mixed. Next to positive elements,...

"The Heart of Social Doctrine Remains the Human Person" VATICAN CITY, JULY 17, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unam, gave July 7 at the press conference that marked the release of Benedict XVI's encyclical "Caritas in Veritate." * * * I have been asked to situate the Encyclical "Caritas in Veritate" within the context of the thought and magisterium of Benedict XVI. His first Encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," on the theology of charity, contained indications on social doctrine (nn. 26-29). Now we have a...

Pope Benedict went to hospital on Friday in the northern Italian city of Aosta, near the mountain resort where he is spending a summer vacation, the Italian news agency Ansa reported. Ansa, quoting hospital sources, said the pope walked into the hospital in order to undergo "check-ups". There was no immediate confirmation from the Vatican.

Tomorrow Pope Benedict XVI and President Barack Obama meet for the first time, an affair much anticipated and in some circles frowned upon by American Catholics in the wake of Obama's controversial Notre Dame commencement speech in May. Conservatives in the church denounced Obama's appearance as a nod by the premier Catholic university to a conciliatory politics that heralds the start of a slippery moral slope. In truth, though, Obama's pragmatic approach to divisive policy (his notion that we should acknowledge the good faith underlying opposing viewpoints) and his social-justice agenda reflect the views of American Catholic laity much more...

One point to make for you, though, is paragraph 67 (the controversial one). The Latin (authoritative) version is not online yet. But there is a huge difference between both the Italian and German versions and the English version. The Italian version says: 67. Di fronte all'inarrestabile crescita dell'interdipendenza mondiale, è fortemente sentita, anche in presenza di una recessione altrettanto mondiale, l'urgenza della riforma sia dell'Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite che dell'architettura economica e finanziaria internazionale, affinché si possa dare reale concretezza al concetto di famiglia di Nazioni. Translation: Faced with the unstoppable growth of global interdependence, it is strongly felt, even...

A scientific investigation seems to confirm the theory that St Paul's bones lie under the basilica bearing his name in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI has announced. The bones, long buried in a sarcophagus under St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, have been carbon-dated to the first or second century AD, the Pope said, adding a dramatic flourish to the close of the Pauline year. Standing in front of the sarcophagus, which is under the main altar and was discovered only three years ago, Pope Benedict said he felt moved to be able to make the announcement. The Holy...

# CONFERENZA STAMPA DI MARTEDÌ 7 LUGLIO 2009 Si informano i giornalisti accreditati che martedì 7 luglio 2009, alle ore 11.30, nell’Aula Giovanni Paolo II della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, avrà luogo la Conferenza Stampa di presentazione dell’Enciclica del Santo Padre Benedetto XVI dal titolo: "Caritas in veritate". Interverranno: Em.mo Card. Renato Raffaele Martino, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio della Giustizia e della Pace; Em.mo Card. Paul Josef Cordes, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio "Cor Unum"; S.E. Mons. Giampaolo Crepaldi, Segretario del Pontificio Consiglio della Giustizia e della Pace; Prof. Stefano Zamagni, Professore ordinario di Economia Politica all’Università di Bologna, Consultore...

What exactly is in Benedict XVI’s new encyclical on the economy and labor issues is not yet known. Catholic leftists and progressives, though, are already trembling with excitement. Three glaring errors have already appeared in these heavily panting anticipations. An accurate presentation of real existing capitalism requires at least three modest affirmations: 1) Markets work well only within a system of law, and only according to well-marked-out rules of the game; unregulated markets are a figment of imagination. 2) In actual capitalist practice, the love of creativity, invention, and groundbreaking enterprise are far more powerful than motives of greed. 3)...

An ultraconservative group plans to ordain 13 Roman Catholic priests in Minnesota — even though their elevations likely won't be recognized by the Vatican. The St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, part of the Society of St. Pius X, will host the ordinations of 12 U.S.-based priests and another from France in Winona on Friday. The Vatican says ordinations by the society aren't legitimate, even though Pope Benedict XVI recently lifted the excommunications of its leaders. The society was founded by those opposed to the liberalizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council and especially its outreach to Jews and other religions. The...

Pope Benedict XVI met Tuesday for a second day with Austrian clergy to discuss the bungled appointment of an ultraconservative priest and a sex scandal _ two events that have shaken the country's Catholic church. The talks between the pope and Austrians, led by Vienna archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, were conducted with "brotherly dialogue and a constructive spirit," the Vatican said in a statement. It said Benedict "recalled the urgent need for deepening the faith and complete faithfulness" to the church's doctrine. Austria's Catholic church has been struggling to regain confidence among its members since the 2004 discovery of a...

The former Prime Minister is flying to Italy on Frdiay to stay with Carla Powell whose husband Charles was her foreign policy adviser at Downing Street. Lady Powell, who lives in a villa on the outskirts of Rome, arranged the meeting with Pope Benedict XVI which will take place in the Vatican on Wednesday. The meeting will come more than 30 years after Lady Thatcher first travelled to the Vatican, as Leader of the Opposition, to meet Pope Paul VI. In November 1980 she met Pope John Paul II, the former Polish Cardinal, who agreed to put pressure on the...

The White House disclosed over the weekend that President Barack Obama is to make a weeklong foreign tour in July that will include Russia, Italy and Ghana. However, noticeably missing from the list is the Vatican. It’s been widely thought that Obama would visit Pope Benedict XVI when the president attends the G8 summit in the Italian town of L’Aquila July 8-10. But there was no mention of the Holy Father or the Holy See in the statement, despite the fact that, according to sources in Rome, the president will be staying at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to...

In an action that spoke far louder than words, Pope Benedict yesterday walked out of an interfaith meeting in Jerusalem after the chief Islamic judge of the Palestinian Authority launched into an anti-Israeli diatribe. The pontiff, on his first day in Jerusalem, did not realize at first that Sheikh Taysir al-Tamimi, speaking in Arabic, was condemning the "crimes of the Jewish state" and accusing Israel of having "slaughtered women, children and senior citizens." But as soon as he was told the nature of the sheikh's tirade, he stood and left the meeting, which took place at Notre Dame church, before...

On Thursday morning, Pope Benedict addressed representatives of the Pontifical Biblical Commission following their plenary assembly and said that a correct understanding of Scripture does not come from "the individualistic illusion that biblical texts can be better understood outside the community of believers" but rather rises from the Tradition of the Church. "Inspiration and truth in the Bible," the theme of the Pontifical Biblical Commission’s plenary assembly, is one that touches on a topic that biblical scholars have vigorously debated during the last century. Much of biblical scholarship, Catholic and non-Catholic, has developed into an academic study separated from the...

Heads up: A Vatican cardinal says Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical on globalization and the poor is expected to be released June 29. The ANSA and Apnews agencies have quoted Cardinal Renato Martino, who heads the Vatican's office for justice and peace, as saying the encyclical is expected to be released on the feast of St. Peter and Paul, a major day for the church. Benedict has been working on "Caritas in veritate" (Charity in Truth) since 2007 but recently said he had held back on issuing it so that he could update it to reflect the global economic downturn....

Caroline Kennedy, the Roman Catholic daughter of the assassinated President, has been rejected by the Vatican as the next US ambassador to the Holy See because of her liberal views on abortion, stem-cell research and same-sex marriage, according to Vatican insiders. Andrea Tornielli, the biographer of Pope Benedict XVI, said that at least two other potential ambassadors put forward by President Obama have also been blocked because they did not share the Vatican’s views on “pro-life” issues. A Vatican spokesman said that no candidates had been formally submitted “and therefore it is not true that they have been rejected”. Vatican...

Pope Benedict's repeated gaffes and the Vatican's inability to manage his message in the internet era are threatening to undermine his papacy, Vatican insiders have said. The Holy See is struggling to contain international anger over the Pope's claim on his first official visit to Africa that Aids "cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems". The Pope's remarks about condoms, and a recent furore over his lifting of the 20-year excommunication of a British bishop who has questioned the Holocaust, has left him looking isolated and out of touch, prompting calls for a radical...

Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim leaders on Thursday that true religion rejects violence, and he held up peaceful coexistence between Christianity and Islam in Cameroon as "a beacon to other African nations." In Cameroon's capital, a clapping, swaying crowd of 40,000 faithful from Africa's expanding, vibrant Catholic flock later welcomed him to a football stadium where he celebrated Mass. There, he delivered a message of encouragement for Africa and expressed compassion for the children being forced by paramilitaries to fight in some countries. To these children he said: "God loves you, he has not forgotten you." Child soldiers, often kidnapped,...

After arriving in Cameroon in his first trip to Africa, Benedict XVI talks about the Church’s message which does not offer “new forms of economic or political oppression, but the glorious freedom of the children of God.” He speaks out in defence of life and tackles the AIDS issue, a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money or “distributing condoms,” which “only increases the problem.” Yaoundé (AsiaNews) – “In the face of suffering or violence, poverty or hunger, corruption or abuse of power, a Christian can never remain silent,” said Benedict XVI in a strongly-worded message for Africa and the...

The Society of St. Pius X and Vatican II: Where's the Beef? Christopher A. Ferrara REMNANT COLUMNIST, New Jersey Doctrinal Council?(Posted 03/05/09 www.RemnantNewspaper.com) The letter of February 3, 2009 from the four bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X to Pope Benedict XVI contains a commendable expression of gratitude to the Pope for his “paternal  kindness and for the apostolic courage” he displayed in lifting the excommunications of 1988. It did indeed require apostolic courage for the Pope to make a gesture so clearly opposed to the one thing the world demands of the Pope these days: conformity...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has written a letter to the world's bishops defending his decision to lift the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops and expressing regret that it gave rise to misunderstandings and polemics, according to Italian newspapers. The pope said the controversy over Bishop Richard Williamson's statements denying the extent of the Holocaust was "a misadventure that was for me unforeseeable" and acknowledged that the Vatican should have paid more attention to information easily available on the Internet, the reports said. The pope said he was particularly saddened at the reaction of some Catholics who seemed...

Here, now, is the full text of the Pope's letter regarding the lifting of the SSPX excommunications itself, which has already been published in the most prestigious and reliable German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, in an NLM translation: Dear brethren in the Episcopal ministry! The lifting of the excommunication of the four bishops ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988 without a mandate of the Holy See has led, both within and outside the Catholic Church, for a variety of reasons, to a discussion of such vehemence as we had not experienced for a long time. Many bishops felt at...

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2009 Vatican to receive briefing on Pelosi record prior to papal meeting Pelosi is not denying that she rushed to pass this massive stimulus bill because she had to catch a plane for her europian tour - a tour that includes a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. No doubt she's looking for a quick photo-op with her Pontiff to convince her voters back home that everything is "okay" with her "identity Catholicism". Some people, however, have a different plan in mind...

Reports have surfaced that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a self-avowed "Catholic" adamant abortion supporter, intends to head a delegation to Euope that will meet with Pope Benedict XVI. Today the Drudge Report headlined a report by Rep. John Culberson (R-TX) on Houston's KSEV radio that Pelosi hopes to pass the federal economic stimulus bill in time for her join the group, which reportedly leaves Friday evening. According to Il Tempo, Pelosi will arrive in Rome Sunday afternoon, her first visit to the city since becoming Speaker of the House.  It has not been determined when Ms. Pelosi plans to meet...

In his homily at his inaugural Mass as Pope, Benedict XVI asked Catholics to “Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.” The media firestorm over Benedict’s decision to lift the excommunication of the four bishops consecrated without papal approval in 1988 by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre provides a perfect illustration of how modern wolves attack and what they attack, and thus might be of interest to non-Catholics as well as Catholics. Lefebvre, the former archbishop of Dakar, Senegal, became increasingly disenchanted by the doctrinal confusion that followed in the wake of the Second...

Attacks on Pope Benedict XVI's decision to lift the excommunication of a Holocaust denier escalated Monday, with one theologian calling on him to step down as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Criticism following the pope's January 24 announcement has been particularly cutting in Germany, where denying the Holocaust is a crime punishable with a jail sentence. "If the pope wants to do some good for the Church, he should leave his job," eminent liberal Catholic theologian Hermann Haering told the German daily Tageszeitung. "That would not be a scandal, a bishop has to relinquish his position at 75...

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI sent a personal message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II saying that modern times call for a hastening of the journey toward Christian unity. The Sept. 22 message was hand-delivered to Alexy II by the archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, on an official visit to Moscow at the invitation of the patriarch. The cardinal gave the message to the patriarch in a meeting that lasted a little more than an hour last Thursday. "I have a deep affection for all the Orthodox brethren, and I am particularly close to them in...

Fr Federico Lombardi, S.J., Director of the Holy See Press Office and Vatican Radio, introduced the question-and-answer session.Lucio Brunelli (Italian Television - RAI): Your Holiness, this is your second World Youth Day. The first - let us say - that is entirely your own. What are your feelings as you prepare for it and what is the main message that you want to communicate to the young people? Then, do you think that World Youth Days deeply affect the life of the Church that hosts them? And, lastly, do you think that the formula of these youth meetings on...

AS one would expect of the leader of a billion Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI is a leading theologian, one of the major thinkers of our age.But he is also a sharpshooter - the kind of man who can explain complex ideas in simple ways, and then act decisively. People everywhere welcome his gifts. As a young Catholic studying in a modern university where relativism and other intellectual trends pushed against Christian truth, beauty and goodness- I often found Benedict to be speaking directly to those who wanted to push back. But even non-Catholics have something to learn from him. Benedict regularly describes,...

The intrepid Andrea Tornielli, vaticanista of Il Giornale, and now travelling with His Holiness to World Youth Day, reports on his blog what Pope Benedict said about the Anglicans, whose communion is imploding. My translation and emphases: ---------- Benedict XVI is "near" to the Anglican bishops in prayer, and hopes that they can avoid "new fractures" and schisms, after the contested decision of the Church of England, bulwark of Anglican tradition, to admit women to the episcopate. During the long flight taking him to Sydney, where he will arrive this morning for the 23rd World Youth Day, Papa Ratzinger met...

Christ Our Hope A Look Back at Pope Benedict's 2008 Missionary Journey to the US Michael J. Matt Editor, The Remnant (Posted May 5, 2008 www.RemnantNewspaper.com) When Pope Benedict looks through the window of his papal apartment, over the Piazza San Pedro and out to the world beyond, consider what he sees… Christians and Muslims comprise half the world’s population. Half of that half, however, is suffering an identity crisis so severe that Islam recently replaced Catholicism as the world’s largest religion. The Vatican’s Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, compiler of the Annuario Pontificio, recently confirmed that “For the first time in...

VATICAN CITY, 23 APR 2008 (VIS) - This morning in St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict XVI pronounced a homily following the funeral Mass for the late Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, who died on Saturday 19 April at the age of 72. The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals. The Holy Father traced the biography of the youngest cardinal created by John Paul II in the consistory of 1983, recalling his priestly ordination in 1960, his work as auxiliary bishop of Bogota in the 1970s, as president...

Speaking at the White House, Pope Benedict XVI April 16 embraced America's "quest for freedom...." Benedict explained: "Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience - almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad." April 16 was Pope Benedict's 81st birthday. The White House greeting, carefully scripted by US and Vatican officials, included the Army Chorus' moving rendition of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" -- anthem of an earlier war for freedom which...

One third now more likely to vote and be more active in community and Church. A poll taken immediately following the conclusion of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States shows that it had a powerful impact on public attitudes toward the pope, the Church, and a willingness to live their faith more fully.The nationwide poll of 1,013 adults was commissioned by the Knights of Columbus and conducted by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion between April 22 and April 24, 2008.  Marist conducted a similar poll  prior to the pope’s visit, allowing before-and-after comparisons.Among the highlights of...

Yonkers, NY, Apr 26, 2008 / 03:45 am (CNA).- St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, New York, has received dozens of applications following Pope Benedict’s visit, the New York Daily News reports."It's been like a tsunami, a good tsunami of interest," said Father Luke Sweeney, the Archdiocese of New York's vocations director.  “I've been meeting people all week and have a lot of e-mails I haven't had the chance yet to respond to. It has been incredible.”For the first time in 108 years, the seminary had been preparing for a year with no students.  Only 23 seminarians are expected to...

This month I must reflect on a phone call I received from an old and discerning friend who was extremely upset over the music used at the papal Mass in Washington on April 17, and on a note another friend sent saying, "It was as if the Washington, D.C., crowd were pleasing themselves and not their guest."  I missed the Mass but heard that it included quite a mélange of musical styles. My oldest son, who watched at his grade school, did not like it. Neither did Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, who apparently said on EWTN that the music was...

It's common knowledge that Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, is less than taken, shall we say, with the Catholic Church. (Note, for example, his insistence that Catholics refrain from talking about the Gospel with Jews, an activity that Foxman apparently believes is "proselytizing".) And he's certainly entitled to his opinion, although I think he's a bit cranky about things, as evidenced by his remarks about Pope Benedict's inter-religious meeting in Washington, D.C. last week (as reported by the New Jersey Jewish Standard): Abraham Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, who attended a meeting with the pope at the...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI left New York April 20 after his six-day visit to the United States, Catholics were catching their breath from the whirlwind tour and many were trying to figure out what kind of impact the visit would leave in its wake. The trip -- anticipated since last November -- prompted a fair amount of guesswork about what the pontiff would and wouldn't say. Pope Benedict, not swayed by hearsay, frequently reiterated that the theme of the visit was "Christ Our Hope" and stressed his optimism that the visit would prompt "a time of spiritual...

  (photo by Dr. Geraldine M. Rohling)The Holy Father is greeted by the staffs of the National Shrine, the USCCB, and the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. Monsignor Rossi, Rector of the National Shrine (left), and Archbishop Wuerl of Washington, D.C. (right), pause while the Holy Father admires the Basilica's beautiful mosaic domes.      Archbishop Wuerl and Monsignor Rossi escort the Holy Father on a tour of the Great Upper Church.  The Holy Father stopped to pray at the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and the Oratory of Our Lady of  Altötting.  Both chapels are open to those visiting the National Shrine.  ...

Now that Benedict has come and gone we are in the thick of media analysis of the meaning of it all. Many folk (Rod Dreher is a notable example) were (as I expected) disappointed because the pope didn't "do something" about bishops who have, to say the least, not particularly distinguished themselves in the Scandal. Dreher wanted a "read them the riot act" moment. Others scattered around the secular and mainstream media talked about Benedict "firing" them and so forth. The pope, as you might expect, addressed the bishops and (as you also might expect given his high degree of...

TORONTO, APRIL 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Last week Benedict XVI made his first visit as Pope to the United States of America, and many were concerned about the impact the German Pontiff would have on a rather beleaguered Church. They asked if Benedict XVI would be able to “connect” with people as his predecessor Pope John Paul II had done. After all, Benedict XVI arrived in America at age 80 while John Paul II was a mere 59 when he visited for the first time in 1979. Up until last week many people both within and outside the Church in North...

Papal Telegrams to Various Heads of State On Pope's Return Flight From US Visit ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, APRIL 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of several telegrams Benedict XVI wrote to officials from the countries he flew over during his flight from New York to Rome. The telegrams are addressed to the heads of state of the United States, Canada, Ireland, France and Italy.* * * The Honorable George W. BushPresident of the United States of America - Washington At the conclusion of my visit to the United States and the United Nations Organization I offer heartfelt thanks...

The last few days have been have been amazing for the Church in America. I spent the last few days watching events and reading speeches. With all the hoopla surrounding the papal visit, I wondered if there might be some stories that you and I have missed. After the mass at Yankee stadium, I have spent the last few hours trying catching up. With papal speeches still clinging to my brain, slowly completing the osmosis process, I saw a thread in some of this other news that I might have missed otherwise. Prior to the Pope's election three years ago,...