Sunday, February 24, 2013

POPE 16TH LAST SUNDAY BLESSING

KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAME TO THE VATICAN TO WATCH THE POPES LAST SUNDAY BLESSING ON FEB 24,13.TALK ABOUT A SEA OF PEOPLE. WANTING IN ON THE POPES LAST SUNDAY BLESSING.AND TO SEE HIM IN PERSON. BECAUSE HES THE FIRST LIVE POPE TO RESIGN IN 600 PLUS YEARS.THIS WAS THE SECOND LAST SPEECH BY THE POPE.HE WILL DO HIS LAST SPEECH WEDNESDAY EST AROUND 5AM-11AM VATICAN TIME AND THEN THE CARDINALS DISCUSS IF THEY SHOULD CHANGE THE 15 DAY RETREAT TO SAT - MON MARCH 9-11,2013 INSTEAD.TO START THE CONCLAVE FOR THE NEXT POPE.AT 8PM FEB 28,13 THE POPE WILL OFFICIALLY RESIGN.AND THE EXCITMENT WILL BE REDICULAS AS WE AWAIT THE NEXT AND WHAT COULD BE THE FINAL POPE TO LEAD THE VATICAN.

COLLEGE OF CARDINALS
http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/a-z-now.htm 
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/graphics/new_pope/flash_01.htm

Pope gives final Sunday blessing before resigning

By FRANCES D'EMILIO | Associated Press – 2 hrs 6 mins ago FEB 24,13
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI bestowed his final Sunday blessing of his pontificate on a cheering crowd in St. Peter's Square, explaining that his waning years and energy made him better suited to the life of private prayer he soon will spend in a secluded monastery than as leader of the Roman Catholic Church.On Thursday evening, the 85-year-old German-born theologian will become the first pope to have resigned from the papacy in 600 years.Sunday's noon appearance from his studio window overlooking the vast square was his next-to-last appointment with the public of his nearly eight-year papacy. Tens of thousands of faithful and other admirers have already asked the Vatican for a seat in the square for his last general audience Wednesday.Perhaps emotionally buoyed by the warm welcome, thunderous applause and the many banners reading "Grazie" (Thanks) held up in the crowd estimated by police to number 100,000, Benedict looked relaxed and sounded energized, in sharp contrast to his apparent frailty and weariness of recent months.In a strong and clear voice, Benedict told the pilgrims, tourists and Romans in the square that God had called him to dedicate himself "even more to prayer and meditation," which he will do in a monastery being renovated for him on the grounds behind Vatican City's ancient walls."But this doesn't mean abandoning the church," he said, as many in the crowd looked sad at his approaching departure. "On the contrary, if God asks me, this is because I can continue to serve it (the church) with the same dedication and the same love which I have tried to do so until now, but in a way more suitable to my age and to my strength."The phrase "tried to" was the pope's adlibbed addition to his prepared text.Benedict smiled in pleasure at the crowd after an aide parted the white curtain at his window and he gazed at the people packing the square, craning their head for a look at him. Giving greetings in several languages, he gratefully acknowledged what he said was an outpouring of "gratitude, affection and closeness in prayer" since he stunned the church and its 1.2 billion members on Feb. 11 with his decision to renounce his papacy and retreat into a world of contemplation."Prayer is not isolating oneself from the world and its contradictions," Benedict told the crowd. He said he had heard God's call to prayer, "which gives breath to our spiritual life" in a special way "at this moment of my life."Heavy rain had been forecast for Rome, and some drizzle dampened the square earlier in the morning. But when Benedict appeared, to the peal of church bells as the clock struck noon, blue sky crept through the clouds."We thank God for the sun he has given us," the pope said.Even as the cheering continued and shouts of "Long live the pope" went up in Italian and Spanish, the pontiff simply turned away from his window and stepped back down into the apartment, which he will leave Thursday, taking a helicopter to the Vatican summer residence in the hills outside Rome while he waits for the monastery to be ready.A child in the crowd held up a sign on a yellow placard, written in Italian, "You are not alone, I'm with you."No date has yet been set for the start of the conclave of cardinals, who will vote in secret to elect Benedict's successor."Now there will be two popes," said the Rev. Vilmar Pavesi, a Portuguese priest who was among the throngs in the square. "There will be the pope of Rome, the elected pope, and there will be the bishop emeritus of Rome, who will live the life of a monk inside the Vatican walls."One Italian in the crowd seemed to be doing a little campaigning, hoisting a sign which mentioned the names of two Italian cardinals considered by observers to be potential contenders in the selection of the next pontiff.Flags in the crowd represented many nations, with a large number from Brazil.The cardinals in the conclave will have to decide whether it's time to look outside of Europe for a pope. The papacy was considered the realm of Italian prelates for centuries, until a Pole, John Paul II, was elected as pontiff in 1978, to be followed in 2005 by the German-born Benedict.Crucially, Italian prelates have continued to run the behind-the-scenes machinery of the church's governance, and cardinals will likely be deciding what role the Italians might have played in a series of scandals clouding the central bureaucracy, including allegations of corruption and power-grabbing.Benedict has not made any direct comment on details of the scandals.
In one of his last papal tweets, Benedict wrote Sunday in English: "In these momentous days, I ask you to pray for me and for the church, trusting as always in divine providence."___AP reporter Paolo Santalucia contributed to this report.

Canada’s Cardinal Collins departs for Rome Sunday


680News staff






Cardinal Thomas CollinsPhoto courtesy of: archtoronto.org
Cardinal Thomas Collins, the Archbishop of Toronto
TORONTO – Cardinal Thomas Collins, the Archbishop of Toronto, leaves for Rome on Sunday to get ready for the conclave to pick the next pope.Collins and other cardinals will have their last audience with Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday, Feb. 27 — the day before the Pope steps down as the spiritual leader of the world’s one-billion Catholics.Pope Benedict officially resigns from his role effective 8 p.m. on Feb. 28.
Although a firm date hasn’t been set for the conclave to start, it could be called by the Pope earlier than the rumoured March 15 date.

Cardinal gears up for papal election

Bella Jaisinghani, TNN Feb 23, 2013, 01.22AM IST
MUMBAI: Oswald Cardinal Gracias, the archbishop of Bombay, is preparing to leave for the Vatican City to attend the papal conclave that will elect the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.The 117-member elite College of Cardinals will stay under virtual lock and key until it arrives at a decision, and a plume of white smoke shall arise from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel to signal that a new pope has been chosen.
Cardinal Gracias describes the outgoing Benedict XVI, who appointed him to the College of Cardinals in 2007, as a "gentle, soft-spoken, intelligent man who knows many languages and loves research, almost a professor". "He did come under pressure over child abuse allegations but did his best to address the issue," he says.Their final audience takes place on February 28.The date of the papal election is yet to be announced, but the process may be advanced. "Typically, the seat falls vacant after the death of an incumbent and the vote occurs 15 days afterwards. However, since the pope has chosen to resign, my guess is that the election will be advanced to March 10-11. Easter Sunday falls on March 31 and all the cardinals would like to be back in their dioceses by Holy Week," Cardinal Gracias says.During the conclave, the 117 cardinals will be cut off from the world. "No newspapers, telephone, TV or radio. If a decision is not reached within three days, we break for prayer on the fourth day and then resume," Cardinal Gracias says. Once a name is selected, the ballots are burnt and mixed with a chemical to release white smoke by way of announcement.
Lobbying would likely get a candidate disqualified. "Rather than choose by nationality, I will look for a pope who is spiritual, intelligent, compassionate and courageous in worldly matters as well. His is a tough job that invites criticism so he should be thick-skinned," the cardinal says.The incumbent gets to choose his new name, so the cardinals who arrive in Vatican City all harbour a little secret in their hearts. Cardinal Gracias laughs and says he has not thought of a name for himself.

God will help choose next Pope, cardinal stresses

Lima, Peru, Feb 21, 2013 / 12:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani of Lima, Peru, discouraged a spirit of intrigue surrounding the upcoming conclave and said the new Pope will be chosen with God’s help, regardless of nationality.“I think that geography has nothing to do with it,” the cardinal said on Feb. 16. “The right person needs to be sought out with the help of God, regardless of where he is from.” 
Responding to media questions about whether the new Pope should be from Latin America, he explained that “geographical or political considerations are not going to be part of the conclave.”While he said that it is “understandable that there are people who think this way,” he warned that it is not good for the media to promote this understanding or to make bets or create “intrigue.”The action of the Holy Spirit will help the cardinals “to be men who listen to God,” he emphasized. “If not, we serve for nothing.”Expressing faith and acceptance at the news of the Holy Father’s upcoming resignation due to old age and declining strength, he voiced hope that “we cardinals now can respond to God as well, whom we ask to enlighten us to know which way we have to go.”Cardinal Cipriani said that he personally would not like to be Pope.
“I think it’s really tough and requires a lot of preparation,” he observed. “And I think there are others who are better prepared.”He went on to tell reporters that one of the challenges facing the Church is today is that “the world does not believe.”“There is too much self-sufficiency, too much ‘I don’t need God, I’m not interested,’” he said, adding that those in power “have structured society in such a way as to make it very difficult to live humanely, let alone in a Christian way.”“We need to recover the human dimension: the respect for life, the respect for the family and the respect for the truth,” the cardinal continued. “An attitude has set in that is excessively contrary to the human being, despite all the talk about human rights.”Today’s society faces a “crisis of faith” that can only be solved by responding to the personal call to conversion, he said.“The great missionary figures who have kept the Church going are saints.”

Pope, on last Sunday, says following God's wishes

By Philip Pullella | Reuters – 1 hr 43 mins ago FEB 24,13
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict spoke from his window for the last time on Sunday, telling the faithful packed into St. Peter's Square that the first papal abdication in centuries was God's will and insisting he was not "abandoning" the Church.Four days before the 85-year-old's often troubled eight-year rule ends, new talk of scandal hit the cardinals who will choose his successor; one of them, a Scottish archbishop, had to deny a media allegation of misconduct with young priests in the 1980s.With an American cardinal urged not to go to the electoral conclave due to his role in handling sexual abuse cases in the United States, and the Vatican accusing media of running smears to influence the vote, the Church faces a stormy succession.
Benedict, however, defended his shock decision to resign as dictated by his failing health; his address to tens of thousands of well-wishers was met with calls of "Viva il Papa!""The Lord is calling me to climb the mountain, to dedicate myself even more to prayer and meditation," the German-born pontiff said in Italian, his voice strong and carrying clearly."But this does not mean abandoning the Church. Actually, if God asks this of me, it is precisely because I can continue to serve her with the same dedication and the same love I have shown so far," he said, adding that he would be serving the Church "in a way more in keeping with my age and my strengths".As he spoke, two of the some 117 cardinals who are due to enter the conclave to choose his successor as leader of the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics next month were mired in controversy.
Britain's top Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Edinburgh, rejected allegations published in the Observer newspaper that he had been involved in unspecified inappropriate behavior with other priests in the past.The paper said O'Brien, known for his outspoken views against homosexuality, had been reported to the Vatican by three priests and a former priest, who said they had come forward to demand O'Brien resign and not take part in the conclave."Cardinal O'Brien contests these claims and is taking legal advice," a spokesman for the 74-year-old cardinal said.He was the second cardinal to be caught up in controversy over his attendance ahead of the conclave, where 117 "princes of the Church" under 80 will elect a new pope from their ranks.On Saturday, Catholic activists petitioned Cardinal Roger Mahony to recuse himself from the conclave so as not to insult survivors of sexual abuse by priests committed while he was archbishop of Los Angeles.In that post from 1985 until 2011, Mahony worked to send priests known to be abusers out of state to shield them from law enforcement scrutiny in the 1980s, according to church files unsealed under a U.S. court order last month.
SAINTS AND SINNERS
Benedict's papacy was rocked by scandals over the sex abuse of children by priests in Europe and the United States, most of which preceded his time in office but came to light during it.His reign also saw Muslim anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over his rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's business dealings, his butler was convicted of leaking his private papers.
But the minds of those in the crowd in St Peter's Square, some holding banners reading "Thank you Holy Father," were not on scandals, real or potential, but on the Church history unfolding around them."It's bittersweet," said Sarah Ennis, 21, a student from Minnesota who studies in Rome. "Bitter because we love our Pope Benedict and hate to see him go, but sweet because he is going for a good reason and we are excited to see the next pope."Others, however, saw it as a possible harbinger of bad moons for the Church.
"This is an ill wind blowing," said midwife Marina Tacconi."It feels like something ugly could happen. I'm 58 years old, I have seen popes come and go. But never one resign."I don't see it as a good thing."The Sunday address was one of Benedict's last appearances as pontiff before the curtain comes down on a problem-ridden pontificate.On Wednesday, he will hold his last general audience in St. Peter's Square and on Thursday he will meet with cardinals and then fly to the papal summer retreat south of Rome.The papacy will become vacant at 8 p.m. Rome time (1900 GMT) on Thursday, February 28.Cardinals will begin meetings the next day to prepare for a secret conclave in the Sistine Chapel.They have already begun informal consultations by phone and email in the past two weeks since Benedict announced his shock abdication in order to build a profile of the man they think would be best suited to lead the Church through rough seas.
On Monday, the pope is expected to issue slight changes to Church rules governing the conclave so that it could start before March 15, the earliest it can be held under a detailed constitution by his predecessor John Paul.Some cardinals believe a conclave should start sooner than March 15 in order to reduce the time in which the Church will be without a leader at a time of crisis.But some in the Church believe that an early conclave would give an unfair advantage to cardinals already in Rome and working in the Curia, the Vatican's central administration, which has been at the centre of accusations of ineptitude that some say led Benedict to step down.The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope elected by mid-March and then formally installed before Palm Sunday on March 24 so he can preside at Holy Week services leading to Easter.
Benedict and his predecessor, John Paul II, made sure any man awarded a cardinal's red hat was firmly in line with key Catholic doctrine supporting priestly celibacy and Vatican authority and opposing abortion, women priests, gay marriage and other liberal reforms.(Additional reporting by Naomi O'Leary; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

UK cardinal contests 'inappropriate' acts claims

By SYLVIA HUI | Associated Press – 30 mins ago FEB 24,13
LONDON (AP) — The Vatican is looking into allegations of "inappropriate behavior" by Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Britain's most senior Catholic cleric, officials said Sunday. The claims came at a sensitive time, as O'Brien and other cardinals prepare for a conclave to choose the next pope.O'Brien, who heads the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, was taking advice from lawyers after British newspaper The Observer reported that three priests and a former priest have filed complaints to the Vatican alleging that the cardinal approached them in an inappropriate manner.The paper did not cite the names of the priests, but it said their allegations date back to the 1980s."Cardinal O'Brien contests these claims and is taking legal advice," Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Scottish Catholic Church, said. He declined to comment further.A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the complaints had been channeled through the office of the papal nuncio — the Vatican's ambassador — in London. "The pope has been informed, and the question is in his hands," Lombardi said.In the coming weeks, O'Brien, 74, is expected to join a conclave of cardinals at the Vatican to elect the next pontiff, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict announced earlier this month that he will step down on Thursday — the first pope to resign in some 600 years.
O'Brien has not been the only cardinal to become embroiled in negative news as the papal election approaches. Across the Atlantic, thousands of people have signed a petition to keep California Cardinal Roger Mahony from the conclave because of revelations he had shielded sexually abusive priests.Mahony has made it clear he will attend the gathering and that no one can force him to recuse himself.In comments on the papacy made to the BBC on Friday, O'Brien said the next pope would be free to consider changing church policy on issues that were not "basic dogmatic beliefs." He said he believed that the requirement for priestly celibacy is not "of divine origin" and could be reconsidered.O'Brien also said it was time to think seriously about having a pope from outside Europe. He said he would be "open to a pope from anywhere if I thought it was the right man, whether it was Europe or Asia or Africa or wherever."The cardinal is due to retire when he turns 75 in March.

ELIGIBLE PAPAL ELECTORS
http://www.canonlaw.info/ten_conclave.htm

CARDINALS SEEK IDENTIKIT FOR NEXT POPE
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/17/uk-pope-resignation-cardinals-idUKBRE91G08L20130217
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