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The year that was, and here we go again…..
Happy Friday friends, I hope you are keeping Christmas well. When Pope Francis announced at the Angelus this week that pope emeritus Benedict XVI is seriously ill, I was halfway through packing a bag to fly to Rome before my wife reminded me that (i) Benedict might appreciate my prayers more than my preemptive travel plans for his funeral and (ii) we were due that afternoon at some friends’ house for lunch. Following those reminders, I am praying, as we all are, for the Lord to give Benedict serenity and joyful anticipation as he approaches the end of his days on earth. And, whenever the Lord does call the pope emeritus home, JD and I will head to Rome, to chronicle for Pillar readers what will be an historical event. — If you’ve been reading The Pillar for a while, you know that good cove...
Benedict XVI—Priest, Prefect, Pope, Rest In Peace…
VATICAN CITY — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95. The Vatican made the announcement of his death at 10:30 am Rome time on Dec. 31 in a short statement translated into several languages. “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said. “Further information will be provided as soon as possible.” The Vatican added that, from Jan. 2, the body of the pope emeritus will rest in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican “for the faithful to bid farewell.” Bruni later told reporters in a short press briefing that Benedict XVI’s funeral will be celebrated by Pope Francis at 9:30am on Thursday, Jan. 5, in St. Peter’s Square. He als...
Sunday is the Octave Day of Christmas — and the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God…
User’s Guide to the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God Sunday, Jan. 1, is the Octave Day of Christmas, Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Mass readings: Numbers 6:22-27; Psalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21. This feast day, of Jan. 1, is a very complex tapestry, both culturally and liturgically. It is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, but we also recognize the Octave of Christmas, the Circumcision of the Lord and the Holy Name of Jesus. Perhaps we can use the second reading by St. Paul to the Galatians as a way to weave through some of the many details. We can look at it in three parts. The Chronology of Our Celebration The text from St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians says, “When the fullness of time had come …” Most peop...
Church in Mourning Over Benedict XVI: Live Updates From the Vatican…
Updates will be added by Katie Yoder/CNA, Lauretta Brown/Register and CNA and Register staff. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at the age of 95. The Vatican made the announcement of his death at 10:30 am Rome time on Dec. 31 in a short statement translated into several languages. “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” Vatican press office director Matteo Bruni said. “Further information will be provided as soon as possible.” The Vatican added that from Jan. 2, the body of the Pope Emeritus will rest in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican “for the faithful to bid farewell.” Bruni later told reporters in a short press briefing that Benedict XVI’s funeral will be celebrate...
‘Stand Firm in the Faith! Do Not Be Confused!’ — Vatican Releases ‘Spiritual Testament’ of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI…
My spiritual testament When, at this late hour of my life, I look back on the decades I have wandered through, I see first of all how much reason I have to give thanks. Above all, I thank God Himself, the giver of all good gifts, who has given me life and guided me through all kinds of confusion; who has always picked me up when I began to slip, who has always given me anew the light of his countenance. In retrospect, I see and understand that even the dark and arduous stretches of this path were for my salvation and that He guided me well in those very stretches. 31/12/2022 The 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away on Saturday at 9:34 AM in his residence at the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery. I thank my parents, who gave me life in difficult times and prepared a wo...
The death of Benedict XVI marks the passing of a ‘Pope of Ironies’…
Pope Benedict XVI, a gifted intellectual who aspired to be a teaching pope but who saw his papacy sometimes capsized by managerial crises, and who became the first pope to resign in almost 600 years, died Dec. 31 at the age of 95, after his successor, Pope Francis, had announced his final illness to the world the previous Wednesday. Benedict XVI spent his final years in retirement on Vatican grounds, where he remained largely true to a vow delivered when he announced his resignation in 2013 to be “hidden from the world.” The Vatican has announced that Benedict’s body will be placed in St. Peter’s Basilica beginning the morning of Jan. 2 for the faithful to pay their respects. It will mark the first time a public farewell has been staged for an emeritus pope rather than one who died in offi...
Benedict’s funeral will be a singular event in the life of the Catholic Church…
COMMENTARY: The funeral rites follow from the novelty of the Pope Emeritus’ abdication in 2013, which was an utter innovation in the entire history of the Church. The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI brings that rarest of all things — a true novelty for a bi-millennial Church. How to conduct obsequies for a former pope who died in full harmony with his successor? The Holy See has indicated that Benedict will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica for three days, Monday to Wednesday, with the funeral being conducted by Pope Francis on Thursday morning. Benedict will be buried in the crypt of St. Peter’s, likely in the place previously occupied by St. John Paul II. A Funeral Without Precedent The novelty of Benedict’s funeral is that the current Holy Father will be preaching for his predece...
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Dies at 9:34 a.m. Rome Time; Body to Lie in State in Vatican Basilica; Funeral to Take Place Thursday in St. Peter’s Square…
Bruni later told journalists that Benedict XVI received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick on Dec. 28, in the presence of the consecrated women who helped run his household. The Vatican announced Saturday that the funeral Mass of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will take place on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Francis will preside over the funeral, which, in keeping with Benedict’s wishes, “will be carried out under the sign of simplicity,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. Benedict’s death, at the age of 95, was announced in Rome on Dec. 31. His body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica from the morning of Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. In a written statement on the morning of Dec. 31, Bruni said: “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passe...
Video: Boeing 747 at 35,000 feet overtakes a Boeing 737 at 37,000 feet…
[embedded content] This video was shot in 2011 by Captain Sreekumar from the cockpit of a Boeing 777 flying at 33,000 feet over Baghdad, Iraq. Join Our Telegram Group : Salvation & Prosperity
Five (Cautious) Vatican Predictions for 2023…
Listen to this story: ROME – By consensus, the defining global event of 2022 was something many analysts feared but few forecast accurately: Russia’s all-out Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, triggering the most serious armed conflict in Europe since the Second World War. That prognostication failure probably ought to induce a bit of caution about predictions for 2023, since the most dramatic turning points are often the ones we don’t see coming. On the other hand, here’s the great thing about futurology: At the time you utter predictions you can’t possibly be proven wrong, and by the time it is possible to assess your accuracy, most people have forgotten what you said anyway. Predictions are thus like what Bob Dole once said about the vice-presidency: It’s indoor work, and there’s no heavy lif...
Woman Arrested While Praying Silently Outside Abortion Clinic Charged With ‘Intimidation’…
She was charged Dec. 15 with four counts of breaking a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) around the abortion facility. A PSPO is intended to stop antisocial behavior. The terms of the PSPO include prayer under ‘protest,’ which is banned within the ‘buffer zone’ around the clinic. Vaughan-Spruce is accused of “protesting and engaging in an act that is intimidating to service users” for standing still and praying silently inside a buffer zone. At the time of Vaughan-Spruce’s arrest, the abortion facility outside which she was standing was closed. Speaking about her pro-life work, Vaughan-Spruce said, “I have devoted much of my life to supporting women in crisis pregnancies with everything that they need to make an empowered choice for motherhood.” “My faith is a central par...
Does God want you to move to a pro-life state?
Q. My home state of Minnesota is setting itself up to be an abortion destination or safe haven. Taxpayers pay for something like half of the surgical abortions here. What is my family to do when living in a state that promotes opposing views on an issue such as this? On one hand, it seems that we can stay and push back against it by voting, writing our representative, praying, etc. On the other, we can move to a state that is better at supporting our beliefs. What is a good Catholic to do in this situation? — Tony, Minnesota A. This is a question of personal vocation. Does Jesus want me to relocate? That might sound like a spiritually highfalutin question, but it is actually the most basic question a Christian can ask: What is God’s will for my life? I’m not talking about priestly or relig...
