BENEDICT XVI PRAYS FOR DECEASED POPES

Vatican City, 3 November 2012 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon, as is traditional on All Souls' Day, the Holy Father went down to the Vatican Grottoes to pray privately for the Popes buried there, and for all deceased.

THE POPE SPEAKS OF THE DYNAMISM OF COMMUNION WITH THE SAINTS

Vatican City, 1 November 2012 (VIS) – The Solemnity of All Saints encourages us to reflect “on the dual horizon of humanity, symbolically expressed in the words 'earth' and 'heaven': the earth represents the path of history, while heaven represents eternity, the fullness of life in God”, said the Pope to the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square at midday to pray the Angelus.

“This feast reminds us of the Church in its dual dimension: the Church on its journey through time and the Church  which celebrates an eternal feast, the heavenly Jerusalem. These two dimensions are united by the 'communion of saints', which begins here on earth and is completed in heaven. On earth, the Church represents the beginning of this mystery of communion which unites humanity, a mystery centred entirely upon Jesus Christ: it was He Who introduced this new dynamism into humankind, a movement that brings us towards God, and at the same time towards unity, towards profound peace. ... Being Christian, belonging to the Church, means opening to this communion, just as a seed opens within the earth, dying and germinating, reaching up towards heaven”.

The saints – those proclaimed as such by the Church, but also all those known only to God, whom we also celebrate today – have experienced this dynamism intensely. Christ presented Himself to each one of them in a very personal way, thanks to His Spirit which works through the Word and the Sacraments. Indeed, being united with Christ in the Church, does not nullify personality, but rather opens it out and transforms it through the force of love, giving it an eternal dimension, already here on earth. In essence, it means conforming to the image of the Son of God, fulfilling the plan of God Who created man in His image and likeness. But entering into Christ also opens us to communion with other members of the mystic Body that is the Church, a communion that is perfect in 'heaven' where there is no isolation, competition or separation”.

In the saints we see “the victory of love over egoism and death: we see that following Christ leads to life, to eternal life, and gives meaning to the present, ... filling it with love and hope. Only faith in eternal life can enable us to love history and the present, but without attachment, with the freedom of the pilgrim who loves the earth because his heart belongs to heaven. May the Virgin Mary give us the grace to believe firmly in eternal life and to enter into true communion with our beloved deceased”.

THE SISTINE CHAPEL: A STORY OF LIGHT AND SALVATION

Vatican City, 31 October 2012 (VIS) – This afternoon Benedict XVI presided at the first Vespers of the Solemnity of All Saints in the Sistine Chapel. The ceremony was intended to repeat a gesture of Pope Julius II who, on this day in 1512, inaugurated the chapel following the completion of the ceiling decoration by Michelangelo.

"Why", the Pope asked, "are we recalling this artistic-historical event with a liturgical celebration? Firstly, because the Sistine Chapel is, by its nature, a place of liturgy, the 'Cappella magna' of the Vatican Apostolic Palace. Furthermore, because the works of art that decorate it, especially the cycle of frescoes, find in the liturgy their living environment, the context in which they best express all their beauty, their richness and their fullness of meaning. … In brief, the Sistine Chapel, contemplated in prayer, becomes even more beautiful, more authentic; it is revealed in all its richness”.

Referring to Giorgio Vasari, who defined the Sistine Chapel as the light of art that illuminates the world, the Pope noted that "the light comes not only from the skilful use of colour, or from the movement that animates Michelangelo's masterpiece, but from the idea that permeates the great vault: it is the light of God which illuminates these frescoes, and indeed the entire chapel; … that light whose power conquers chaos and obscurity, bringing light through creation and redemption. The Sistine Chapel narrates this story of light, of liberation, of salvation; it speaks of God's relationship with humanity.

"With Michelangelo's work of genius, our gaze is drawn to the message of the Prophets, to the pagan Sybils awaiting Christ, and finally to the origin of all: 'In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth'. With a unique expressive intensity, the great artist depicted God the Creator, His action, His power, to show that the world is not the product of obscurity, of chance or of the absurd, but that it derives from intelligence, freedom and from a supreme act of love. In that encounter between the hand of God and the hand of Adam, we perceive the contact between heaven and earth; in Adam God enters into a new relationship with His creation, and man is in direct contact with God, is called by Him, and is the image and likeness of God.

"To pray this evening in the Sistine Chapel, enveloped in the history of God's journey with man, admirably represented in the frescoes above and around us, is an invitation to worship", concluded the Holy Father.

AUDIENCES

Vatican City, 5 November 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience:

- Francis C. Okeke, the new ambassador of Nigeria to the Holy See, for the presentation of his Letters of Credence.

- John Anthony Gerard McCarthy, the new ambassador of Australia to the Holy See, for the presentation of his Letters of Credence.

- German Cardona Gutierrez, the new ambassador of Colombia to the Holy See, for the presentation of his Letters of Credence.

- Miguel Humberto Diaz, ambassador of the United States of America, accompanied by his wife, on his farewell visit.

On Friday 2 November the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, Poland.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 5 November 2012 (VIS) The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Carmelo Pellegrino, relator of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, as promoter of the faith of the same dicastery.

On Saturday 3 November it was made public that the Holy Father:

- Appointed Cardinal Franc Rode C.M., prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, as his special envoy to the concluding celebration for the five-hundredth anniversary of the archdiocese of Ljubjuana, Slovenia, which will take place on Sunday 9 December.

- Appointed Msgr. Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”, as almoner of His Holiness, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop elect was born in Trieste, Italy in 1951 and ordained a priest in 1977. He has served as an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 1987 . He succeeds Archbishop Felix del Blanco Prieto, whose resignation from the same office the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Pius Thomas D'Souza, chancellor of the diocese of Bareilly, India, as bishop of the diocese of Ajmer (area 146,681, population 17,595,585, Catholics 9,190, priests 43, religious 423), India. The bishop-elect was born in Mangalore, India in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1982. He studied in India and Rome, and, among other things, has worked as professor of philosophy at St. Joseph's regional seminary in Allahabad. He succeeds Bishop Ignatius Menezes, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.