Posted on 04/17/2008 8:45:09 AM PDT by posterchild
WASHINGTON - Pope Benedict XVI praised America as a land of opportunity and hope Thursday as he celebrated the first public Mass of his U.S. pilgrimage, but he lamented that the nation's promise fell short for Indians and blacks.
But, he said, hope for the future "is very much a part of the American character."
Tens of thousands of worshippers filled Washington Nationals stadium on a clear spring day and cheered Benedict as he arrived in a white popemobile, standing in the back and waving.
A crowd of 46,000 was expected, and the demand for tickets doubled the supply, organizers said.
The pope, wearing scarlet vestments, led the service from an altar erected in centerfield of the recently inaugurated baseball stadium.
"Americans have always been a people of hope," he said. "Your ancestors came to this country with the experience of finding new freedom and opportunity," Benedict said.
"To be sure, this promise was not experienced by all the inhabitants of this land; one thinks of the injustices endured by the native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from Africa as slaves."
He turned for a third day to the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the American church, saying "no words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse."
He called for healing and reconciliation and assistance to the victims.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
What’re you doing here?? GET TO CHURCH!
you mean Nationals stadium? no. sounds to be a real novus ordo free for all over there. Vespers at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception were more my style of liturgy, but there was no going to that.
“Pope Benedict XVI praised America as a land of opportunity and hope....”
Il Papa has a deeper, more complete understanding of the unique historical beneficience of our great country, than either of the America-hating Democrat presidental candidates.
Approaching critical mass!
Amen. Does anyone know if the Pope allowed Pelosi and Kerry to receive the Holy Sacrament?
Quote :To be sure, this promise was not experienced by all the inhabitants of this land; one thinks of the injustices endured by the native American peoples and by those brought here forcibly from Africa as slaves.
And have received BILLIONS of dollars is the misguided attempt to rectify any real or perceived wrongs with money.
am not in viewing range of the Papal Mass right now, but i imagine there are lots of bishops etc. giving communion. not sure he would be the one giving it to them or if he would even know who they were, though i guess nancy was kissing his ring yesterday.
Were Kerry, Pelosi, et al., given communion?
In the Roman Catholic Church things are fairly anonymous because the congregations are so big etc. No one questions anyone going to communion, unless the person is a very public persona who has publicly opposed Catholic doctrine. In the Eastern Orthodox church one doesn’t dare approach the altar without peaking to the priest prievously—and he will question you to see if you are Orthodox, what parish you belong to, when you have been to confession last, have you fasted (from midnight previously) etc etc etc.
I expected you had snagged a ticket to the Mass.
Oh, it was totally a free-for-all, just cram every and all musical style into one great gloppy banal goo. Let the US Bishops show the Pope exactly what is going on here. Perhaps the Pope’s next cleansing will be of the ‘ditties.’ (Let it be so, Lord).
He stopped during the recessional to bless an American soldier.
I cried.
I’m sure it will be on the news one way or the other. Just seems to me since he asked others in their parishes not to administer...then how could he allow this whether he gave it or not? Seems it would put a pin hole in the balloon of faith and trust.
wasn’t quite sure how to go about it and was worried it would be a novus ordo freeforall. xsteen is doing a semester in Rome in the fall and will have a papal audience [she will be at the U of Dallas, Rome campus] and i hope that i might be able to join her for a visit.
guess i will see tonight if i can catch a replay. please tell me there was no interpretive dance going on anywhere there!
sounds very touching, hope i can see this replayed this evening on EWTN or something.
xsbrownie had an orthodontist appt just now. i assume you know the receptionist, Phyllis? well we chat and she is Catholic [a convert, turns out, but she attends st james now] and she said she had reservations about this Pope. i said, oh really, why? and she said, well you know he was a member of the Hitler youth... Luckily, Dr. Feldman came out with xsbrownie at that point to schedule her next appt bc i was about to go off on her....
Lots of kids in Germany were members.
They didn’t have any choice.
i know and she is liberal and buying to the lib mindset which means being kneejerk and not educated, so she truly knows nothing about the Pope and what went on there back then. it is just as well that Feldman’s coming out preempted the rest of our discussion. she knows that she and i are politically diametrically opposed, as well as religion-wise. she loves the happy-slappy AM Cath church, they are always going to be opposed to Pope B16.
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