Aid Group Invites Prayer for Pope on Sunday (feast of the Chair of St. Peter)

ZNA ^ | February 20, 2009

[NYer]

KOENIGSTEIN, Germany, FEB. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Noting that this Sunday is the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, the charity group Aid to the Church in Need is inviting believers to a day of prayer for the Pope.

In a statement today signed by the president of Aid to the Church in Need, Father Joaquín Alliende, the international charity pointed to attacks against Benedict XVI. It noted a "resurgence of the unsavory and aggressive attitudes that many thought belonged to the past."

Though the statement makes no mention of specific issues, it alludes to the turmoil surrounding Lefebvrite Bishop Richard Williamson and an interview in which the prelate denied the gassing of the Jews during the Holocaust.

That interview aired at about the same time as the bishop, along with three other Society of St. Pius X prelates, had their 20-year excommunication lifted, in the framework of Benedict XVI's continuing efforts to heal the schism with the society. Despite repeated reiteration of the Vatican's respect for the Jews and the Pontiff's motives in lifting the excommunication to seek Church unity, the issue was still seen by some as an affront to Jewish-Catholic relations.

Aid to the Church in Need contended that the "dignity of the papacy and the person of Benedict XVI himself have been crudely insulted." They noted manipulation of facts and an "unworthy dealing with the truth."

This, they said, "does grave damage to the dialogue between civil society and the great religions."

However, the statement continued: "In the midst of these strident attacks, the historical personality of Benedict XVI emerges untouched, as a figure who incarnates rationality, lucid wisdom and courteous kindness. That is why many young people find in him a living image of the Good Shepherd."

"For next Sunday we are inviting all those who believe in a God of truth and love to join us in a day of special prayer," the statement concluded. "Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may enlighten and strengthen Pope Benedict XVI as a prophetic witness of the Gospel of Jesus and a guide for a humanity that longs for peace."

[NYer]

Prayer ping!

[big'ol_freeper]

Amen

[Salvation]

Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle

Chair of Saint Peter, Apostle
Feast Day
February 22nd

This feast brings to mind the mission of teacher and pastor conferred by Christ on Peter, and continued in an unbroken line down to the present Pope. We celebrate the unity of the Church, founded upon the Apostle, and renew our assent to the magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, extended both to truths which are solemnly defined "ex cathedra" and to all the acts of the ordinary magisterium.

Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003

Collect:
All-powerful Father,
You have built Your Church
on the rock of Saint Peter's confession of faith.
May nothing divide or weaken
our unity in faith and love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

First Reading: 1 Peter 5:1-4
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is to be revealed. Tend the flock of God that is your charge, not by constraint but willingly, not for shameful gain but eagerly, not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain the unfading crown of glory.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 16:13-19
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

---

Related Link on Vatican Website:

BENEDICT XVI, GENERAL AUDIENCE, Wednesday, 22 February 2006, "On this rock I will build my Church'