Ad Maoirem De Gloriam

"Spread Throughout the World the Profound and Joyful Experience of Faith" MADRID, Spain, AUG. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today at the departure ceremony of the Pope's visit to Spain, held at the International Airport of Madrid Barajas. The Holy Father was in the nation's capital to preside at the 26th World Youth Day. * * * Your Majesties, Distinguished National, Autonomous Regional and Local Authorities, Your Eminence the Archbishop of Madrid and President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Your Eminences and Dear Brother Bishops, Dear Friends, The time has come for us to say good-bye. These days spent in Madrid, in the company of so many young people from Spain and from throughout the world, will remain deeply etched in my mind and heart. Your Majesty, the Pope felt at home in Spain! And the young people who were the heart of this World Youth Day found a warm welcome here and in the ...

"The World Needs the Witness of Your Faith, It Surely Needs God" MADRID, Spain, AUG. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the words Benedict XVI delivered today before and during the closing Mass of the 2011 World Youth Day, held at Cuatro Vientos Air Base in Madrid. * * * [Words Before Mass] Dear Young Friends: I have been thinking a lot about you during this time in which we have been separated. I hope you have been able to get some sleep in spite of the weather. I am sure that since dawn you have raised up your eyes more than once, and not only your eyes but above all your hearts, turning this occasion into prayer. God turns all things into good. With this confidence and trusting in the Lord who never abandons us, let us begin our Eucharistic celebration, full of enthusiasm and strong in our faith. * * * [Homily] Dear Young People, In this celebration of the Eucharist we have reached the high point of this World Youth Day. Seeing you he...

MADRID, Spain, AUG. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- A delegation of young Brazilians present at Cuatro Vientos in Madrid erupted with applause at Benedict XVI's official announcement that the next World Youth Day would take place in their country in 2013. The Pope, who would be 86 years old at the next youth day in August 2013, told the delegation in Portuguese: "I hope to be able to meet you in 2 years (...) in Rio de Janeiro." The young Brazilians danced as they listened to the announcement. Expressing his hopes for the occasion, the Holy Father added: "We ask the Lord that already in this moment he help with his strength those who will organize it and smooth the path of the young people of the whole world that they may again join the Pope in this beautiful city of Brazil." The young people of Spain symbolically handed over the World Youth Day Cross to the Brazilians. Commenting on this gesture, the Pontiff entrusted "to all present this great task: bri...

1.5 Million Attend Madrid Youth Day By Inma Álvarez MADRID, Spain, AUG. 21, 2011 (Zenit.org).- You cannot live your faith alone, Benedict XVI told the young people gathered at the Cuatro Veintos Air Base in his homily during the closing Mass of the 26th World Youth Day. The Pope arrived at Cuarto Vientos at 9:15 a.m. in the popemobile and, traveling along the base's main road, circulated among the young people, which he was unable to do Saturday evening for the vigil, due to security concerns. Benedict XVI greeted the 1.5 million young people -- according to figures confirmed by the Spanish National Police -- who had slept all night on the ground. His first remark was: "I thought a lot about you; I hope you were able to get a little sleep." Accompanied by the Spanish royalty, the Pope made his way to the altar to preside at the eucharistic celebration in which the sending of the young people out to evangelize their peers in the world was also celebrated. The P...

Posted on 22 August 2011 by Haggai De Cena This article is posted with permission from WillyJ . For a better understanding, you may also read the first part of this article . — The meat of Senator Miriam Santiago’s RH Sponsorship speech (Parts 2 and 3) rests in claiming that the enactment of the RH bill will enjoy a presumption of constitutionality. According to her since there is no clear constitutional prohibition, the passage of the bill would amount to a “legislative construction” of Article 2 Section 12 which is at the heart of the constitutionality issue. I am not about to argue Senator Santiago’s legal opinion point by point, for that is well beyond my reach. I would just like to point out that at least three legal luminaries do not share her legal constructions, and in fact flatly goes against them. Here are the key passages of Senator Santiago’s sponsorship speech . There are a number of constitutional provisions that underlie the RH bill. But the most salient is what I ...

Pope Benedict XVI met with young religious sisters and later with young university professors on Aug. 19 at the royal site of El Estorial. He emphasized the importance of the sisters' radical consecration and urged the professors to be a source of encouragement for students.   "The Pope spoke about a personal encounter with Christ, and that (encounter) is what fulfills us," said Sr. Ruth Martin, a 38-year-old sister of the recently founded religious community, Ieuso Communio.   "It was a huge privilege, a great joy!" she told EWTN News, amid the cheering and singing of sisters from various communities.   The sisters of Ieuso Communio, as young as 18 years old, caught the attention of those present, because of their denim habits, which symbolize the current day and age.   Pope Benedict told the group of more than 1,000 sisters gathered that the Church needs their "youthful fidelity, rooted and built up in Christ.   "Thank you for your generous...

MADRID, SPAIN, August 18 (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Madrid for World Youth Day 2011, to the delight of a massive throng of young people. Over the next four days, he will meet and pray with over a million young pilgrims. "I come as the Successor of Peter, to confirm them all in the faith, with days of intense pastoral activity, proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life," he said upon his midday arrival at Madrid's Barajas Airport. Pope Benedict was formally welcomed by a King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain along with Cardinal Rouco Varela of Madrid. As military bands played the Spanish and Vatican national anthems, an honor guard composed of Spain's military and, uniquely, a group of schoolboys dressed as mini-Swiss Guards met the Pope. Also there to welcome the pontiff were two thousand enthusiastic young pilgrims waving Spanish and papal flags. King Juan Carlos thanked Pope Benedict for his third visit to Spai...

After praying the Stations of the Cross at World Youth Day on Friday evening, August 19, Pope Benedict XVI told the young participants to "be sure not to pass by on the other side in the face of human suffering, for it is here that God expects you to give of your very best: your capacity for love and compassion."   "Christ's passion urges us to take upon our own shoulders the sufferings of the world," the Pope said, "in the certainty that God is not distant or far removed from man and his troubles."   The meditations for the Stations of the Cross were written by the Little Sisters of the Cross, who work with the poor, and the theme had been helping those who are in need. The Pope encouraged the WYD congregation to reflect on how Christ offered himself for us, and to follow that example of sacrifice for those in need.   Pope Benedict also called attention to the treasures of Spanish religious art that had been used during the Stations of the Cross...

MANILA, Philippines - Around 10,000 to 15,000 Filipino Catholic youths are expected to join the rest of the world in the World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations through an overnight vigil at the Ateneo de Manila University this weekend. The event, to be held at the university grounds from August 20 to 21, will be highlighted by Pope Benedict XVI's message to the youth telecast from Madrid, Spain. It will follow the threefold program of Youth Festival, Catechesis of the Faith and the Liturgy. The overnight youth vigil is organized by the Ateneo, the Campus Ministry of the Archdiocese of Manila, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cubao, Jesuit Communications Foundation Inc., Tanging Yaman Foundation and the Episcopal Commission on Youth - Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). In an article posted on the CBCP news website, Episcopal Commission on Youth chairman and Legazpi bishop Joel Baylon encouraged the youth take part in the local celebrations of the 26th WYD. ...

MADRID, Spain – Filipinos, young and old, were among the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from around the world who waited for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid for the World Youth Day. Groups of Pinoy delegates from various parishes, diocese and organizations in the Philippines and Spain stood among the throngs of pilgrims excited to get a glimpse of the Pope during the motorcade. From the Plaza Independencia, the Pope’s mobile traveled through the Paseo de Recoletos and ended at Plaza de Cibeles. ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau’s Randy Lamsen reported that some Filipinos could not help but cry when the Pope’s mobile passed by. Lamsen added that the experience gave him goosebumps. While waiting for the Pope’s motorcade, the delegates danced and sang to pass the time. Some Pinoys were even seen carrying and waving Philippine flags. Meanwhile, British Filipino singer Cherrie Anderson performed during the Papal welcome in Madrid.  The World Youth Day is an event that is celebr...

MADRID, SPAIN, August 18 (CNA/EWTN News) - Archbishop-designate of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput told thousands of young people gathered in Madrid for World Youth Day that an authentic relationship with Christ isn't based purely on emotions. "Ultimately, it will not be how you feel that will determine how genuine and profound your encounter with Jesus is," he told pilgrims. "Instead, it will be determined by how much you are transformed into Him and how much you burn in the desire to bring Him to others, by announcing the Gospel, by serving the poor and the needy, by defending the unborn, by securing a culture that is not hostile to the growth of Christian families," he said. Archbishop Chaput made his remarks to English-speaking youths at the Madrid Arena - which seats 12,000 people - on Aug. 17 for the "Noche de Alegría" or "Night of Joy." The French lay movement the Emmanuel Community organized the evening's events, which in...

MADRID, SPAIN, August 15 (CNA/EWTN News) - Although Japan's population is only one percent Catholic, two World Youth Day pilgrims from that country are getting a lot of attention for their handmade banner that says "Love from Japan." "A friend of ours stitched it - it is the Virgin Mary, all the way from Japan," said Tetsu Itoh, a World Youth Day social media volunteer who explained the attention-grabbing banner to CNA. The light gray banner depicts the Virgin Mary wearing traditional Asian attire, holding the boy Jesus, with both dressed in light colors. The banner says "Love from Japan" in English and Japanese. Kyoko Kitagawa, another Japanese social media volunteer for World Youth Day, said her friend Abe Mihoko painstakingly stitched the banner onto cloth back home in Japan. "It took 2 months to stitch, and she was not able to come to Madrid because she has a new baby," Kitagawa explained. Itoh and Kitagawa are in Ma...

VATICAN CITY, August 15 (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on Aug. 15, saying that the celebration gives Christians hope of a future united with Christ, both in this life and in heaven. "This feast," he said, "tells us that we too will be with Jesus in the joy of God and invites us to have courage, to believe that the power of the Resurrection of Christ can work in us as well." >From his summer residence at Castel Gandalfo, just south of Rome, the Pope celebrated Mass in the morning on Monday and later led the Angelus prayer at noon. He remarked during his homily that the feast day serves to inspire the faithful to evangelize modern society and helps "make us men and women who every day try to live as resurrected, carrying the light of goodness into the darkness of evil in the world." He also reflected on the daily reading from the Gospel of Luke, where the Blessed Mother...

ROME, ITALY, August 15 (CNA/Europa Press) - The Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro will host the next international celebration of World Youth Day, which will take place in 2013. The announcement was confirmed by Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, who said the date for the event was set a year early in order to avoid logistical conflicts with the World Cup, which Brazil will host in 2014. Traditionally, Pope Benedict would have announced the site of the 2013 World Youth Day while in Madrid this week, however the confirmation was likely made early due to comments by Brazilian officials that the city had been chosen. The governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, and the city's mayor, Eduardo Pase are planning to be in Madrid this week to attend the youth event. Some 14,000 young people from Brazil will also attend World Youth Day 2011.

MADRID, SPAIN, August 15 (CNA/EWTN News) - Madrid is hosting World Youth Day but all of Spain is joining in the celebration. More than 130,000 young people from across the world are in Spain's 65 dioceses, before the international gathering begins on Aug. 16. "The Days in the Dioceses are a great way to prepare for WYD," said program organizer Javier Igea on August 11. The young pilgrims from 137 countries are being offered free accommodation by each diocese in either schools, parishes, sports centers or homes. Each day the pilgrims meet with young local Catholics for prayer and worship at the shrines and religious sites held dear by each region. So while French pilgrims in the north-eastern Diocese of Oviede are making a pilgrimage to the shrine of La Virgen de Covadogna, Italian pilgrims in nearby Galicia are visiting the tomb of the Apostle St. James in Santiago de Compostela. Meanwhile, the city of Avila, famed for its connection to the 16th centu...

CEBU City, August 12, 2011—The Cebu Provincial Board unanimously passed on August 8 a resolution opposing the Reproductive Health (RH) bill pending in Congress after being briefed on the pros and cons of the controversial piece of legislation. The resolution was introduced by Board Member Sergio Restauro, chairman of the Provincial Board (PB) Committee on Health, but co-sponsored by all members on a 16-0 vote. The PB action supported the stand of Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and the nine Cebuano solons who are against the proposed bill. Restauro cited economic, health and legal perspectives in explaining why there is neither wisdom nor legal support for the RH bill. He said the government will be spending billions of pesos throu gh the years in procuring condoms and other contraceptives instead of allocating the money for more essential and suitable projects, such as housing, medicines and education, if such measure were to be enacted into law. A five percent failure rate ...

VATICAN, Aug. 12, 2011 (CNS) -- Protests planned against Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Madrid Aug. 18-21 are "not worrying or surprising" to the Vatican, particularly because "there are hundreds of thousands of young people who will be happy to welcome the pope," the Vatican spokesman said. Groups opposed to government and church spending for the pope's visit have planned a protest Aug. 16, the opening day of World Youth Day. Briefing reporters Aug. 12 about the papal trip, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said, "It seems to me that before every papal trip there are demonstrations by people who have a different opinion and use the occasion to express their problems or concerns .... It's part of life in a democratic country." Father Lombardi also acknowledged the failure of efforts to keep the location of the next World Youth Day secret until Pope Benedict announces it at the final Mass Aug. 21. He told reporters that at the end of the Mas...

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Aug 14, 2011 (CNA/EWTN News).- Christians shouldn’t be afraid to call upon the name of Jesus Christ for help at all stages of their lives, Pope Benedict XVI said in his Sunday Angelus address on Aug. 14. “Dear friends, we too are called to grow in faith, to reach out and to receive freely the gift of God, to trust to Jesus and cry out ‘Give us the faith, help us find our way’,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, 15 miles to the south of Rome. Pope Benedict said that this trust in Christ was personified in today’s Gospel reading in which a pagan Canaanite woman, despite not being Jewish, beseeched Jesus to cure her daughter who was possessed by a demon. God responds to such a faithful cry “not as some faceless and nameless abstract” but as “a person who wants to enter into a relationship of deep love with us,” with that person being Jesus Christ himself. “Faith opens us to know and accept the true identity of Jesu...

VATICAN, Aug. 12, 2011 (CNS) -- While the Catholic Church seeks to help earthlings reach their true home in heaven, too often it treats its younger members as if they were from another planet, a top Vatican official said. "Young people can find themselves in a lot of local churches on the margin of things, with a lot of people who don't speak their language, who treat them as if they just descended from Mars," said Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. For many young Catholics, World Youth Day can be the one church event where they have the time, space and camaraderie they need to start pondering the way God wants them to live their faith in the church and in the world. Added to the simple fact that they're sharing an experience with hundreds of thousands of their peers from around the world, the event provides them with opportunities for liturgical and silent prayer and cate...

Some 4,000 young people with disabilities are expected to participate in World Youth Day Madrid. The Italian National Union of Transportation for the Sick to Lourdes and other international Shrines will be in charge of providing the special services. Speaking to Vatican Radio on July 27, the president of the union, Salvatore Pagliuca, explained that the work volunteers will carry out to help the young people. He said a plan was developed after reviewing the locations in Madrid where meals, medical assistance and rest areas will be offered. Pagliuca said the young people will have assistance at all activities and will be ensured full participation in the event. (CNA) Source: http://cbcpnews.com/?q=nod ​e%2F16443

Sixty children dressed in the uniform of the Swiss Guards will welcome Pope Benedict XVI during World Youth Day this August in Madrid. The director of the group, nicknamed the “Young Swiss Guards,” told Fides news agency that the group was born out of affection for the Pope after John Paul II’s first visit to Spain in 1982. Bl. John Paul II visited the country again in 1993 and 2003, always accompanied by the young Swiss Guards. The group will welcome the Pope at the airport in Barajas, Spain and will greet him there at the end of World Youth Day. Their uniforms took about 5,000 hours of work to create and used more than 450 meters of fabric and 4,200 meters of fabric tape. Unlike their young imitators, the Pontifical Swiss Guards number 110 and are responsible for the Pope’s safety. They guard his home and assist him during important ceremonies celebrated in the Vatican. The guard marked its 505th anniversary in January. On Jan. 22, 1506, 150 Swiss soldiers entered the Vatic...

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Spain in late August, celebrating the youthfulness and vigor of Catholic faith in a country where the Catholic majority often seems to have little or no impact on modern public life. The primary focus on the pope's trip Aug. 18-21 will be on Catholic youths from around the globe participating in World Youth Day.   But Pope Benedict also will meet with Spain's royal family and with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose government has promoted several policies opposed by the church, including relaxing Spain's divorce laws, easing restrictions on abortion, legalizing same-sex marriage and allowing gay couples to adopt.   Welcoming a new Spanish ambassador to the Vatican in April, Pope Benedict expressed concern that in certain sectors of Spanish society, "religion is considered socially insignificant, even troublesome," with the result that faith is marginalized "through defamation, ridicule (a...

The Vatican has announced a plenary indulgence for participants in next week's World Youth Day festivities in Madrid. At the request of Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela of Madrid, Pope Benedict XVI has authorized a plenary indulgence for those who "devoutly participate at some sacred function or pious exercise taking place in Madrid during the 26th World Youth Day," under the usual conditions. (The usual conditions for a plenary indulgence include sacramental confession, a thorough detachment from sin, reception of the Eucharist, and prayer of the intentions of the Pope.) A partial indulgence is also available to all the faithful who during the time of the World Youth Day meeting, "if, at least with a contrite spirit, they will raise their prayers to God the Holy Spirit, so that young people are drawn to charity and given the strength to proclaim the Gospel with their life." The indulgences are announced in a decree released by the Apostolic ...