Catholic Fire

My heart aches from missing the later part of the Holy Father's visit due to family emergencies as well as the breakdown of my computer -- which didn't work at all for the later part of the visit and then has worked off and on this week for only short spurts of time. I managed to catch glimpses of him on EWTN during this time, but it just wasn't enough for me. Thankfully, I found this concise, well-written, and very enlightening editorial from the National Catholic Register to fill me in on what I missed, to interpret the events for me, and to point out the significance of his visit. Most importantly --this editorial helps me to understand who Pope Benedict really is and what he wants me to do to build the kingdom of Christ in the world. The World Meets Benedict As we launched Pope2008.com, our blogsite covering the papal events; as we put together stories for the Register; as we planned features for our sister publication, Faith & Family magazine, as our own Circle Pre...

While enroute to the US, the Holy Father spoke Pope Benedict XVI took the opportunity to respond to the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Here is what he had to say via CNA: "It is a great suffering for the Church in the United States and for the Church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict said. "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children." "I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the pope said. Benedict XVI also said he was determined to prevent pedophiles from becoming priests in the Roman Catholic Church. "We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said in English. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound." Pedophilia is "absolutely incompatible...

A special new website - www.papaltrip.org - offers complete information about Pope Benedict XVI's trip to the United States from April 15 to April 20, as well as extensive biographical information about the pope, and about the history of the relationship between the popes of the 19th and 20th centuries and the United States. In addition, the Knights of Columbus is sponsoring a special television program previewing the pope's visit, "A Journey of Hope," on Sunday, April 13, 2008. It will be broadcast on CBS television stations in New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles. It will also be carried on the Fox Business Channel at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time , and on EWTN and various regional Catholic cable programs and channels. A complete listing of broadcast times, channels and stations will be posted at www.papaltrip.org and www.kofc.org . Panelists on the program include Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, Cardinal John Foley, Professor David Schindler, Professor He...

Included in Pope Bededict's visit will be a speech made to the United Nations on April 18, a mass on April 19 at St Patrick's Cathedral and a larger outdoor Mass at Yankee Stadium on April 20, sources say.