Posted on 03/23/2010 1:55:21 PM PDT by NYer
Under an all-but-full moon on the opening evening of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, tens of thousands of Romans poured into St Peter's Square in a torchlight procession. Called to the window of his study by the multitude, John XXIII, the man Italians called "the good pope" (a term that speaks volumes about their view of the previous 260), delivered one of the great speeches of an eloquent decade. Its emotional high point came when he told the crowd: "Returning home, you'll find the children. Give your children a caress and say: 'This is the caress of the pope.'"
Forty-three years later, on the night Benedict XVI was elected, a text message hurtled between mobiles as the crowds dispersed from that same square. "Returning home, you'll find the children", it read. "Give them a belt round the ear and say: 'That's a belt round the ear from the pope.'"
In the five years since, it has become clear that the daunting reputation the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger brought into office as "God's rottweiler" was, in many respects, misleading. A man less likely to cuff a child would be hard to imagine – although, as the latest and biggest scandal to rock his papacy has revealed, his choirmaster brother was not above cuffing choristers.
On Saturday, Benedict tried to put the lid on that scandal with a letter to the Catholics of Ireland apologising for the "sinful and criminal" abuses of children whose disclosure has rocked the Irish church to its foundations and helped bring down a Dublin government. Using language rarely heard from popes, whose utterances on some issues are held by Catholics to be infallible, he said he was "truly sorry" for what had happened over a period of decades.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
:) He’s a sweetheart!
The grandfather we all wish we had.
Absolutely. :)
But then he wouldn’t be Pope :-)
Not in this century ;-).
Yeah you are right
Be need glass of wine and Cuban cigar
Good idea about the cigar! I was thinking pork roast, black beans, fried plantains ...
I’d love to hang out with the guy for a week. I’ve read his books, probably the smartest guy on the planet.
How about being both a reactionary and a prophet?
He is also an excellent teacher. I really believe that Pope Benedict XVI will one day be a doctor of the Catholic Church.
You speak the truth. And the modern world hates the Catholic Church because of the staunch and unmoving views she holds!
I thought the same things. But looks can be deceiving.
He outdoes Obortion O in his daily and sometimes more than daily speeches. And I bet he doesn’t work from a teleprompter either! LOL!
He is so knowledgeable.
It is very important that you take with full faith the evidence presented by the secular media since we can always depend on its objectivity.
Pray the Rosary for Peace!
Pray for the Pope to Consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
http://fatimaondemand.org/en/index.php/special-productions/heavens-key-to-peace
You nailed it. :)
Agree. He has to be very close to Jesus to produce such beautiful words.
Satan is definitely on the prowl.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.