The Catholic Church in Southern Africa is readying itself for a possible refugee crisis should violence erupt in Zimbabwe after the elections on Saturday, which analysts predicted would be flawed.
The Refugee Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference, the Catholic Relief Services, the Jesuit Refugee Service and other church charities have been meeting over the past few months to consider the Church,s response to a possible new refugee influx from Zimbabwe.
From Sunday March 16 to Tuesday March 18, a church delegation visited the north of Limpopo Province of South Africa, on the border with Zimbabwe to inspect some facilities which could be used as reception centres in the event of an influx.
The Catholic Healthcare Association (CATHCA) was asked to try to find medical personnel who could be released for three to five days in an emergency.
The International Crisis Group warned in its latest report that a flawed election in Zimbabwe could spark a violent crisis. President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's only ruler since independence 28 years ago, is fighting his keenest challenge as he seeks another term at the age of 84.
On Wednesday, the global human rights organisation, Amnesty International, said that the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly are being unnecessarily restricted ahead of the poll.
"Although opposition parties appear to be enjoying a greater degree of access to previously no go areas, in rural areas compared with previous elections, we continue to receive reports of intimidation, harassment and violence against perceived supporters of opposition candidates with many in rural regions fearful that there will be retribution after the elections, said Simeon Mawanza, Amnesty's Zimbabwe researcher.
Curt JestorNEW YORK - One of the many gifts Pope Benedict will receive when he arrives in New York City next month will be a skateboard designed by a local child.The Archdiocese of New York is holding a contest this spring to see who could design the best "Official Papal Skateboard" for the 80-year-old pontiff.About 70 children entered the competition. A winner has yet to be picked.The idea for the contest came from a youth skateboarding club at St. Elizabeth's Church in Manhattan.
A social networking site for young Catholics is being launched today.
Faithtrip.net will offer religious-themed blogs, videos, music and competitions, complete with discussion forums on everything "from climate change to sexuality".
Its Australian founders say the aim is to establish a 'virtual parish' that will connect the young faithful across the world.
Groups and individuals will be able to have their own pages on the site, although word filters will be employed to weed out inappropriate content.
The site has been produced by Church Resources, the telecommunications arm of the Australian Catholic Church.
It is being launched to coincide with Catholic Schools Week and ahead of World Youth Day in July.
Faithtrip spokeswoman Catherine Smibert said: "It is a one-stop point for all the Catholic communities of the world.
"It has been constructed to support both the individual and community in a high-functioning, safe and trustworthy environment."
The project was started after the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference decided it wanted to harness modern technology to spread the religious message around the world.
To visit the site see: http://www.faithtrip.net/
Something good from the BBC
The yapping continues about the substantial number of former Catholics. Oddly, very few of the yappers seem to have noticed the most likely explanations, in their rush to blame 1. poor catechesis 2. Vatican II 3. bishops 4. priests 5. the vast left-wing conspiracy, for all I know. The blame seems to be placed everywhere, admittedly with some slight justification, except where the lion's share belongs.
The ones who should be bearing the blame are the individual skedaddlers, themselves. Three important points should be kept in mind. First, take a look at the Old Testament. God bent over backwards to give them undeniable evidence of His Presence. What? Twenty million miraculous interventions weren't enough? Yet, they still went "whoring after other gods" at the drop of a hat. It's the same today. You can catechize till the cows come home and surround a substantial portion of the population with saints, beauty, fellowship, free literature, coffee and donuts after Mass, and the Real Presence of the Lord God of Hosts and plenty of them still won't believe. Why? Well, "boredom" ( The American disease ), wounded feelings, unrealistic expectations, and general persnicketiness, for starters. The list is endless.
Second, since the 50's, the social pressure to "worship at the church or synagogue of your choice", as they used to say on television, has pretty much disappeared. The average self-deifying American just doesn't want to be bothered, and to use their favorite phrase "you can't make me." Case closed.
Third, try taking a look at the average
Evangelical/Fundamentalist/pie-in-the-sky-megachurch/prosperity gospel doors they tend to darken and you'll see what may be the main reason. Being a faithful, or even semi-faithful Catholic is hard work. Elsewhere, it's just "me and my best buddy Jesus". All you have to do is watch the dog and pony show every Sunday ( Unless you feel like skipping a week, here and there. ), read your Bible ( Unless you're too busy ), and talk to your best bud ( Good ol' Jesus ), who's more doting and lax in the discipline department than any baby-boomer grandparent. Could the real reason be old fashioned, spoiled brat laziness and willfulness?
At the same time, Holy Thursday is for us an opportunity to ask ourselves again: To what did we say "yes"? What is this "being a priest of Jesus Christ"? Canon II of our missal, which was probably composed in Rome before the end of the second century, describes the essence of the priestly ministry with the words that, in the book of Deuteronomy (18:5,7), described the essence of the Old Testament priesthood: astare coram te et tibi ministrare.
Pope Benedict XVI goes to the heart of the question. What is the essence of the priestly ministry? He answers it with words drawn from the Sacred Liturgy itself: "astare coram te et tibi ministrare" — to stand before Thee and worship in Thy presence. The priest is one who faces God and waits upon Him. The priest is the eyes of the world fixed upon God, and the hands of the world lifted up in worship before Him. The priest lives his priesthood most intensely when standing before the altar.
Standing Before the Lord
Two functions, therefore, define the essence of the ministerial priesthood: in the first place, "standing before the Lord." In the book of Deuteronomy, this should be interpreted in the context of the previous dispensation, according to which the priests did not receive any portion of the Holy Land – they lived by God, and for God. They did not attend to the usual work necessary for sustaining daily life. Their profession was "to stand before the Lord" – looking to Him, living for Him. Thus, all told, the word indicated a life lived in the presence of God, and thus also a ministry in representation of others.
The priest lives by God, and for God. A young disciple of Blessed Abbot Marmion, Dom Pie de Hemptinne, O.S.B., said something similar; reflecting on his own priesthood, the young Benedictine said that would live "by the altar, and for the altar." Pope Benedict XVI emphasizes the mediatorship of the priest. The priest lives in the presence of God as the representative of all his brothers; he serves in the sanctuary on behalf of all who, in some sense, stand behind him.
To Keep the World Open to God
Just as the others cultivated the land, from which the priest also lived, so he kept the world open to God, he had to live with his gaze turned to Him. If these words are now found in the Canon of the Mass immediately after the consecration of the gifts, after the entry of the Lord among the assembly gathered in prayer, then they indicate for us the standing before the Lord who is present; it indicates, that is, the Eucharist as the center of the priestly life.
This is brilliant. The priest is a man who "keeps the world open to God." The priest lives "with his gaze turned to God." Underlying these observations is the Holy Father's desire to see restored the traditional position of the priest during the Eucharistic Prayer. The "closed circle" of "versus populum" celebrations is, I think, directly linked to the current crisis in priestly spirituality. When the priest, standing at the altar, faces the crucifix, he offers his own body to "keep the world open to God." By not looking at the people during the Holy Mysteries, the priest exemplifies for them that, "being risen with Christ," they are called to "lift their thoughts above, where Christ now seats at the right hand of God" (Col 3:1).
One Who Watches
But even here its impact goes further. In the hymn of the liturgy of the hours that, during Lent, introduces the office of readings – the office that the monks used to pray during the hour of the nocturnal vigil before God, and for the sake of men – one of the tasks of Lent is described in the imperative: arctius perstemus in custodia – let us be watchful with greater intensity. In the tradition of Syriac monasticism, the monks were described as "those who stand on their feet"; standing on one's feet was an expression of vigilance. What was here considered as the task of the monks, we can reasonably view as being also an expression of the priestly mission, and as a correct interpretation of the words of Deuteronomy: the priest must be one who watches.
Pope Benedict XVI understands that there is no opposition between the monastic vocation and the priestly one. He goes so far as to say that "what was here considered as the task of monks, we can reasonably view as being also an expression of the priestly mission." "The priest," he says, "must be one who watches." How can we not recall the vigils of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney before the altar of the parish church of Ars, the prolonged adorations of Saint Peter Julian Eymard before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance, and the passion of Saint Gaetano Catanoso (photo above) for keeping watch before the Eucharistic Face of Christ?
Last October 16th, for the feast of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, I had the privilege of being in Paray-le-Monial. While there I encountered a brother priest who shared with me something of his own experience of keeping watch in prayer during the night. This priest found in nocturnal adoration a spiritual refreshment and an intimacy with Christ that he found at no other time. The priest, like the monk, is a watchman, for the sake of the people entrusted to his care.
Standing Upright
He must stand guard before the relentless powers of evil. He must keep the world awake to God. He must be one who stands on his feet: upright in the face of the currents of the time. Upright in the truth. Upright in his commitment to goodness. Standing before the Lord must always be, in its inmost depths, also a lifting up of men to the Lord, who, in turn, lifts all of us up to the Father. And it must be a lifting up of Him, of Christ, of his word, of his truth, of his love. The priest must be upright, unwavering and ready even to suffer outrage for the sake of the Lord, as shown in the Acts of the Apostles: they "[rejoiced] that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name" (5:41).
The Holy Father is lucid when it comes to the reality of spiritual combat with the powers of darkness. I find the suppression of the Short Lesson at the beginning of Compline in the reformed Liturgy of the Hours most unfortunate. It is a text that every priest needs to repeat and hear nightly: "Brethren, be sober, and watch well; the devil, who is your enemy, goes about roaring like a lion, to find his prey, but you, grounded in the faith, must face him boldly" (1 P 5:8-9).
Pope Benedict XVI dares to close the gap between the so called "monastic" and "priestly" spiritualities. The "monastic" dimension of the diocesan priesthood becomes apparent to all who take the Holy Father's teaching to heart. It was, I think, precisely the evacuation of "monastic" values from priestly spirituality that contributed in no small measure to the present crisis in priestly life and in vocations. "Listen, you that have ears, to the message the Spirit has for the churches" (Ap 2:7).
If you haven't yet seen the BBC's programme on this, you have five days to view it. Go here to watch it on the BBC's iplayer. It's compelling. And once again I think the BBC do these things better than anyone! When they do something, they do it well.
.jpg)
The legs and stencils came back for Good Friday. 
The Pope re-introduced the white papal mozetta, dropped by JP II. It is worn only during the Easter Octave, replacing the red one. The raditional red shoes are I understand also replaced by ...errrr, green ones.
has the text.Historical and Liturgical Notes
1. In the twelfth century, the Bishop of Rome, following an ancient tradition, would pause in prayer at the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in the Lateran, nowadays the Shrine of the Holy Stairs, before setting out in procession from Saint John Lateran to Saint Mary Major, where he would chant the Solemn Mass of Easter Morning. The Oratory, still known as the Sancta Sanctorum, was considered one of the most sacred places in Rome. A celebrated relic of the Holy Cross was venerated there and then, as now, the Shrine housed the Acheiropita (not painted by human hands) icon of the Saviour.
2. The icon, probably brought to Rome from the East, was already mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis under the entry for Pope Stephen III (752-757). A full representation of the enthroned Saviour, it was painted on cloth applied to a wooden tablet measuring approximately 1.52 m. by 70 cm. The icon has been frequently restored, most recently in 1995-1996. The only part presently visible is the Face of the Lord painted on a silken cloth superimposed upon the original. The rest of the icon is covered by a sheet of silver.
3. The cult of the icon of the Most Holy Saviour, unlike that of the Veronica veil kept in the Vatican Basilica or other ancient Roman icons, was the only one to become part of the official celebrations of the Roman Liturgy. This is evident from the Liber Politicus (Ordo Romanus XI), a ceremonial book written between 1143-1144, and the Liber Censuum Romanae Ecclesiae (Ordo Romanus XII), compiled about 1192 by Cencius Camerarius, the future Pope Honorius III.
These ceremonial books not only show that a procession with the Acheiropita took place on the night of the Assumption, but also that the icon was venerated during Holy Week.
4. On Easter morning, the Pope, vested in pontificals, entered the Sancta Sanctorum, opened the small silver doors covering the feet of the icon (the doors are still sealed) and kissed the feet three times. He then chanted the versicle: Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro, alleluia, to which the assembly responded: Qui pro nobis pependit in ligno, alleluia. The Cross, which had bee removed on Good Friday, was then placed on the altar for the Pope’s veneration.
After the Pope, the members of the papal entourage venerated the icon and the Cross and then approached the Supreme Pontiff for the kiss of peace. The Pope gave the sign of peace reciting the versicle: Surrexit Dominus vere, to which each person responded: Et apparuit Simoni. Meanwhile the choir chanted a series of antiphons. Following these rites the papal procession was formed along the Via Merulana while the Pope was informed by a notary of the Baptisms which had been celebrated the previous night.
When the Apostolic See moved to Avignon, the rite of the Resurrexit fell into disuse. With the return of the Popes to Rome, the Easter statio was transferred to the Basilica of Saint Peter.
5. The basis and the authentic significance of these ritual sequences can be found in the words of the Gospel of Luke which describe Peter’s amazement at seeing the empty tomb and the testimony of the Eleven that the Lord was truly risen and had appeared to Simon (cf. Lk 24:12,34; Jn 20:3-10). The appearance of the Risen Lord to Peter and to the other witnesses is the theological foundation of the Church’s Easter faith (cf. Acts 1:21-22; 1 Cor 15:3-6).
The Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, likewise meets the Risen Lord in the icon of the Most Holy Saviour and, after the solemn Easter proclamation of the previous night’s Vigil, he becomes on Easter Day the «first» witness to all the Church of the Gospel of the Lord’s Resurrection.
6. As the Church celebrates Easter during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, she rejoices and gives thanks for the two thousand years which have passed since the Incarnation of the Word and for the Redemption accomplished by Christ through his Death and Resurrection (cf. Incarnationis Mysterium, 6) and she is confirmed in her faith in the Risen Lord by the Successor of Peter. The Bishop of Rome, having proclaimed the Lord’s Resurrection at the Easter Vigil, now bears authoritative witness to it Urbi et Orbi, before the City and before the world.
In the spirit of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council, it seemed fitting that the ancient rite of the Pope’s witness before the icon of the Most Holy Saviour should be restored and inserted, with appropriate adaptions, in the introductory rites of the festive liturgy of Easter Day.
Surrexit Dominus vere, alleluiaEt apparuit Simoni, alleluia
+ Piero Marini Titular Bishop of Martirano Master of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff
From John Allen:
Pope Benedict baptised Allam, a Muslim-born convert who is one of Italy's most famous and controversial 
Dom Cuthbert Johnson OSB has retired from the Office of Abbot of Quarr Abbey, situated near Ryde in the Isle of Wight, after leading the community of Benedictine monks for the past 12 years.
Abbot Johnson worked in the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship from 1983 until his election in August 1996. Under his leadership Quarr Abbey has developed in many new ways and has also taken a much more active role in the life of the local community in Fishbourne.
Abbot Johnson said this week: "Quarr Abbey is now ready to pass through a new stage and to enter into a transitional period. After due reflection and prudent counsel the present moment seems an appropriate one in the history of the monastery to provide for new leadership. Therefore, I have decided to retire from the office of Abbot in which it has been my privilege to serve the monastic community of Quarr."
The Abbot, who also served as Chairman of the Fishbourne Parish Council for two years, added: "I now plan to have a sabbatical period in order to pursue my liturgical and monastic studies."
regarding everyone as an expert in liturgy,
extolling spontaneity and creativity to the detriment of approved rites and prayers,
seeking immediate popular applause or enjoyment,
ignoring approved liturgical texts.
He said that liturgical abuses were often due to an ignorance that rejects elements of worship whose deeper meaning is not understood or whose antiquity is not recognized.
Cardinal Arinze clarified the nature of the reforms of Vatican II, saying they must be seen as continuous with the past rather than as a dramatic break. “The Catholic Church is the same before and after Vatican II. It isn’t another Church,” he said.
Some aspects of liturgical rites can be modified according to pastoral needs. “The Church does not live in the Vatican Museum,” the cardinal said. However, he said that incorporating local traditions into the practice of the faith, which is known as inculturation, should be compatible with the Christian message and in communion with the universal Church.
Inculturation, he said, “should make people part of a Church which is universal but also local.”
Cardinal Arinze attacked distortions of inculturation, saying, “It is a caricature of inculturation to understand it as the invention of the fertile imagination of some enthusiastic priest, who concocts an idea on Saturday night and tries it on the innocent congregation the following morning. He may have good will, but good will is not enough.”
The cardinal also condemned individualistic experimentation, saying, “the person who of his own authority adds or subtracts from the laid down liturgical rites is doing harm to the Church.”
Proper inculturation, the cardinal said, required bishops to guide the introduction of new elements into worship. Innovations should take place only after careful consideration, after bishops have set up a multi-disciplinary group of experts to study a cultural element to be included in the liturgy.
The group of experts should then make their recommendation to their bishops’ conference. If both the bishops’ conference and the Holy See approve the innovation, after limited experiment and “due preparation” of the clergy and the people, the new element may be incorporated. “Otherwise it is wild liturgy,” said Cardinal Arinze.
Cardinal Arinze characterized a successful celebration of the Mass as one that “manifests the Catholic faith powerfully, encourages those who have the faith already, shakes up those who are slumbering and those who are at the edge, and makes curious those who are not Catholics at all.”
The Mass must send Catholics home “full of joy, ready to come back again, ready to live it and to share it.”
The cardinal encouraged future priests’ proper formation in liturgy and the ongoing liturgical formation of both clergy and lay people.
spero news
Daily Telegraphy
via Curt Jester
... the Tridentine pax preserved an already centuries-old tradition of ordered administration. In the 1962 Missal the priest kisses the altar near the Host (earlier rubrics have him kissing the Host itself) and then "kisses" the deacon who in turn "kisses" the subdeacon and so on. No one can give the peace who has not received it from someone else, including the priest, who has received it from Christ Himself.
* * * * * * *
The symbolism is both beautiful and clear. All true peace comes from Christ through the ministration of His Church. Grace cascades from the Eucharist through Christ's ministers to His people, forming what one author has called a "chain of love" that both binds and elevates......
the new rubrics do not presuppose a causal relationship between the two. No longer is there expected a hierarchical cascading of peace from the embty tomb that is the high altar; rather, in insctucting the congregation to offer the peace to each other, there is a more or less spontaneous eruption of peace in the pews.
...
Further complicating the new pax is the decision to let its gesture be determined by local custom.[13] In many respects this is not unreasonable, for there are several places that associate public kisses with lewdness.[14] Yet as we have already seen, what became the Roman form of the kiss can hardly be considered lascivious by even the most prudish culture, since not even the cheeks of the participants touch.
In America, the form that quickly came to dominate is the handshake. Again, prima facie this is not an unreasonable choice: as an indication that one is unarmed, the handshake is certainly as sign of peace. Unfortunately, though, it is a better sign of the peace that comes from the city of man rather than from the city of God. Handshaking signifies a truce or deal, the kind of agreement one makes in politics and business. It is not primarily a sign of love or intimacy. Indeed, unlike the kiss and every other sacred gesture, it has undergone no modification that would mark it as distinctive from the "profane" handshakes outside the liturgy, and thus it essentially retains its wordly resonance.
Moreover, a handshake is not a kiss in any form, and hence its liturgical use marks a break not only from a previously unbroken apostolic custom but from the rich cluster of meanings that came with it. It is for these reasons that a more pugnacious commentator than I might be tempted to conclude that regrettably, the current Roman kiss of peace is neither Roman nor a kiss nor about Christian peace.
At Matins/the Office of Readings on Holy Saturday the Church gives us this 'ancient homily', I find it incredibly moving, it is abou...
