Posted on 05/05/2010 10:48:55 AM PDT by markomalley
"Fatima is a particularly significant place for this Pope," said Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi on Tuesday, noting that it was also a destination for two former Popes. The Holy Father has a thorough knowledge of the history of the Marian sanctuary, he added.
Fr. Lombardi held a press conference at the Vatican to prepare the media for the Pope's next trip out of the Vatican. He will be visiting Portugal from May 11-14.
The spokesman referred to the Pope's stop in Fatima on May 13 as the highlight and "heart" of the upcoming four-day trip to Portugal, according to Vatican Radio. But, he pointed out, Benedict XVI will not be the first Pope to visit the Marian shrine.
Two other Pontiffs have been to Fatima. In 1967, the sanctuary hosted Paul VI, and John Paul II visited in 1982, 1991 and 2000, at which time the visionaries Jacinta and Francesco were beatified.
The Portuguese shrine is not unfamiliar to Pope Benedict, since as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger extensively studied the message of Fatima. Fr. Lombardi said on Tuesday that the Pope has been involved with history of the Marian sanctuary in a "very deep, personal way."
It was him, for example, who was called upon to give a theological perspective when the third secret of Fatima was made public in 2000.
The Vatican spokesman said that the Holy Father will also deliver an intense message during his Fatima visit. Upon his arrival at the sanctuary on May 12, he will remember John Paul II and the 29th anniversary of the assassination attempt that nearly took his life on May 13, 1981.
This visit marks the Holy Father's 15th Apostolic Journey abroad in his five years and is his first to Portugal as Pope.
During today's general audience, the Holy Father greeted the people of Portugal in their language, telling them that he will be there this coming weekend at the invitation of the president of the nation and the episcopal conference.
He said he was "happy to be able to visit the 'land of Holy Mary'" on the 10th anniversary of the beatification of the shepherd children.
According to Portuguese press reports, local police are planning for a cumulative total of 450,000 people at the celebrations in Lisbon, Fatima and Portugal during the four-day visit.
Some find "open" RF thread debate distasteful and some find closed ("caucus") RF threads distasteful.
A poster who objects to one or the other should IGNORE them altogether. It's not a flame and you are not a moth ... or a slug.
>>Christians are not saved by evangelizing, but they are asked to do so by their King<<
My King told me to spread the Good News of our Salvation.
How He died on a cross for us.
My King didn’t tell me to make fun of others, to bully or belittle people.
Your caps-lock key is stuck.
>>The Word never intended for anyone to even come up with the idea that Christ’s mother was to be elevated above Christ.<<
Who does?
It's so interesting. Clearly you think that describes the Catholic Church. So my question is this:
A lot of us Catholics, including the 30+ adults who came into full communion in my parish this past Easter, don't see any such thing when they look at the Catholic Church.
So, when we read descriptions like this, our first conclusion, and it's a hard one to shake, is that the writer has no idea what he's talking about.
I'm guessing this kind of stuff maybe impresses readers who already agree with you. But it makes me want to dismiss anything you say. When somebody seems very wrong about something I know about, it's hard for me to believe him when he talks about something I might not know about.
Thanks for your wise post.
As Sacred Scripture so well says it: “Come, let us reason together”.
The following mental scenario has SO often occurred to me:
If we were all not hiding behind our screen names but were facing each other one-on-one, we surely would be more careful in how we talk to each other, and how we presented our point of view (unless, of course, we are the Fred Phelps of the Christian world). That is, if we had some modicum of respect not only for the other, but for ourself as well.
If we were in the same place face-to-face with each other, and there were three or more of us, we might even be MORE careful how we presented our Christian life and ways for others to see (that is, unless we were hell-bent on forming cliques and taking on the appearance of pack mentality)
But if all of us, whether one-on-one, or in small groups, were to be seated together, with the Lord Himself watching and listening, we all might be very careful about our attitudes, our words and our fidelity to His commandments to “do unto others” and “whatsoever you do unto your brother, you do unto Me” and for accounting for every word that comes out of our mouths.
My mother often cautioned me with the following, (in a perfect Celtic “burr”)
There so much good in the worst of us
and so much bad in the best of us
that it ill begets any of us
to talk about the rest of us”
I think this is where your well-expressed thoughts in this post can be read over and over again to our great advantage.
“I would just like NOT to see the same old junk on every freaking open thread.”
You and me both. I completely and utterly agree. I am tired of seeing arrogant, ignorant, sin-filled, fallen idolatry and blasphemies from those who follow Rome.
They are always creating these threads that do nothing but kick God in the stomach with their unbelievable, incredible, outrageous idolatry and blasphemy. Then they have the utter gall to claim that they are “the one true church” and know God better than anybody else, and that those who are not with them are damned.
It is hard for a Christian to read such falsehoods without speaking out. We fear that people may fall into Satan’s Roman trap.
Perfect. That's just the kind of thing I was posting about. I never said anything about elevating Mary ABOVE or even to the same level as, Christ. What nonsense!
You obviously haven’t figured out that the foundation of anti-Catholicism on FR is to start with a false premise and then say, “See, it’s true,” when Catholics cannot disprove a negative.
>>All I know is, it’s FR policy to let the open threads be cesspools.<<
Four people I have recruited to FR won’t come back because of it.
Thanks, MD.
Wow, that pegged it.
Then go away.
Do you think you prevent people from becoming Catholics by your posts?
>>You and me both. I completely and utterly agree. I am tired of seeing arrogant, ignorant, sin-filled, fallen idolatry and blasphemies from those who follow Rome.<<
Well that’s not me.
I follow the Vatican.
Glad you cleared that up. I think the Italians are going to be pretty offended when they see what you think about them.
They are always creating these threads that do nothing but kick God in the stomach with their unbelievable, incredible, outrageous idolatry and blasphemy. Then they have the utter gall to claim that they are “the one true church” and know God better than anybody else, and that those who are not with them are damned.
I assume you think that Catholics should be banned from FR altogether?
In your tagline you have a link to a website, is it your website or are you just promoting it? I only ask because what I may write about Don Koenig will be tempered on whether or not he is a FReeper.
Agreed. There have been some VERY particular issues that I have seen come up dozens of times in entirely unrelated threads because the poster(s) refuses to let it go.
I guess the RM can’t do anything about that. We cannot expect him/her to help. We are going to have to make important threads CAUCUS to stop the baiting. It’s infuriating to have to lock the Church doors, but there is no other way to keep the shouting bigots out.
I'm not so sure about this. Per the RM's description, the "Open threads are a town square. Antagonism though not encouraged, should be expected. Posters may argue for or against beliefs of any kind. They may tear down other’s beliefs. They may ridicule."
Yet many of the Catholic-topic threads degenerate into a "riot" quickly, beginning with a "mob leader" commenting in and pinging a sizable mob of the "usual suspects" to populate the threads with the same garbage (it was post 4 in this thread) - time after time after time - far from what one might expect from a real "town square".
Were this to happen in the "real world" town square... riot police would have been called in long ago to deal with the shouting bigots.
I admit... I have no additional solutions unless the RM is willing to tighten the definition of the "Open threads"
For now boycotting the Catholic-topic open threads and making liberal use of the Caucus and Ecumenic designations may be the best measure.
Here’s what you need to realize, when the bigots say “Rome” or “the Pope” or “Catholic” (and keep in mind that this MUST be said with a long O and the end needs sound like “lick”), they are saying it the exact same way that the left says “Bush” or “Cheney” or “Halliburton” and they probably spit on the floor as they are saying it.
Perhaps we could just learn the old Internet rule: DNFTT
Sorry, but I refuse to be put in the Etherspace version of the Warsaw Ghetto.
All the while I believe that we are to defend our beliefs with words and attitudes that follow the counsels of the Lord Jesus, I also realize that we still are obliged to defend our faith when it’s being attacked.
But there also comes a time when we admit—not defeat—but futility, and walk away because it is the only intelligent recourse. Otherwise, we run the risk of becoming just like what we ourselves do not like in others.
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