Catholic Fire

Happy Birthday, dear Papa! We are praying for you for special blessings on your birthday. We love you! Image via Esther.

The Holy Father has arrived! The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is in the United States. He arrived at 3: 58PM EST today on his first papal journey to the U.S. He was greeted off the plane by President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and their daughter, Jenna. The Holy Father walked briskly down the stairs (in his red Prada shoes) waving, as he came off the plane and shook hands with President Bush and his family. The Holy Father also greeted Mary Ann Glendon, US ambassador to the Vatican, and other state and church dignitaries. There were 5,000 military families assembled on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force base awaiting his arrival who cheered him as he waved to them. Both the Holy Father and Bush were grinning and seemed delighted to be in one another's company as they walked together. As the Holy Father walked toward his limousine, the young people sang "Happy Birthday". (Tomorrow is his 81st birthday.) He appeared to be both touched and pleased. This is the first time in...

Pope Benedict's general prayer intention is: "That the mentally handicapped may not be marginalized, but respected and lovingly helped to live in a way worthy of their physical and social condition". His mission intention is: "That the institutes of consecrated life, which are so flourishing in mission countries, may rediscover the missionary dimension and, faithful to the radical choice of the evangelical counsels, be generous in bearing witness to and announcing Christ to the ends of the earth."

causa nostrae laetitiae : New Website for Pope Benedict's visit to NY and Washington DC. It's run by the Catholic University of America. Click here . H/T to Leticia.

Pope elevates 23 new cardinals by Nicole Winfield . You can view the video here.

Via CWN : Pope Benedict XVI will visit the US in April 2008, stopping in Washington and New York, the apostolic nuncio to the US has confirmed. Speaking on November 12 to the US bishops, who are gathered in Baltimore this week for their annual meeting, Archbishop Pietro Sambi discussed plans for a papal visit on April 15- 20. "He will not travel much, but will address himself to the whole people of the United States," the nuncio said. The Pope will visit the White House and speak at Catholic University during his stay in Washington. The highlight of the papal visit is expected to be an address to the United Nations on April 18. He will also visit Ground Zero-- the site of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001-- and celebrate Mass at St. Patrick's cathedral. During his trip the Pope is scheduled to preside at two outdoor Masses, held at baseball stadiums in New York and Washington. MORE

Pope Benedict XVI met on July 5 with bishops from the Dominican Republic, who were completing their ad limina visits to the Holy See. The Holy Father said that the people of the Dominican Republic have "a profoundly Christian soul," remarking that the country has a "spirit open and sensitive to the Good News." Still the Church faces challenges, he said, because of secularizing trends and threats to family life. The family, the Pontiff continued, is the place where young people are formed, and must be protected from the moral indifference that arises in "a society so marked by hedonism and religious indifference." He encouraged the bishops to give the greatest possibility support to families, recognizing the threats that they face "especially with the tragedy of divorce and pressures to legalize abortion, as well as the spread of unions not in accordance with the Creator's design for marriage." Source

Photo Source: Annunciations "We didn't talk about just war," Bush said."He was concerned that the society that was evolving would not tolerate the Christian religion. ... He's worrisome about the Christians inside Iraq being mistreated by the Muslim majority." Bush said his meeting with the pope, in which the president stressed his record in fighting AIDS and supporting other humanitarian causes, was a "moving experience." "I was talking to a very smart, loving man," Bush said. Source

Today is Pope Benedict XVI's 8oth birthday. It was certainly a joy meeting him last year. Here we are holding hands before we actually shook hands. I'm in the red sweater. You can only see a little of my sleeve and my hand in the photo. American Papist has his tribute and mentions several links here. A Catholic Mom in Hawaii has a beautiful pictoral tribute up here . Suzanne at Big Blue Wave has an entertaining post here. If you haven't sent the Holy Father a birthday greeting yet, it's not too late. Click here to do so.