Posted on 02/11/2013 4:00:57 PM PST by Alex Murphy
Pope Benedict XVI's resignation came like a bolt from the blue overnight.
And the weather around the Vatican was eerily appropriate, with lightning striking St Peter's Basilica, one of the holiest Catholic sites, on the same day that Pope Benedict announced he would be stepping down.
Global news agency Agence France-Presse published an image of lightning striking the basilica's dome, which it said was taken "on the day the Pope" announced his resignation.
AFP said the striking image was captured by photographer Filippo Monteforte, who works for Italian national news and photo agency ANSA.
Monteforte's website shows that he has photographed the Pope extensively for for more than a decade. He is also listed as a AFP photographer, with a portfolio of his work on the news agency's website.
The image was doing the rounds on social media overnight, with some people questioning its authenticity.
Fairfax Media photographer Nick Moir said the image looked genuine.
"It's probably not that rare for St Peter's to get hit," he said.
"The bolt is hitting a lightning rod to the side of the cross, it seems."
Although Moir said there was no way to verify when the photograph was taken.
Pope Benedict's resignation is the first by a pontiff for almost 600 years, and his decision stunned the Roman Catholic church.
In an address read out in Latin letter to his Catholic brethren,the 85-year-old said his advanced age and the pace of change in the modern world had left him unable to “adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me”.
He will step down as head of the Catholic church on February 28.
The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said he had made up his mind nearly a year ago after trips to Mexico and Cuba tired him out.
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His 89-year-old brother, Georg Ratzinger, said: "Age is weighing on him. My brother would like more rest at this age."
Once he stands down, Benedict will be taken to Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer retreat near Rome, and will subsequently live in a cloistered monastery.
Previous Popes have stayed in the role until their death, despite physical and mental decay, in the belief that their prayer and suffering as they approach the end are a part of their role.
The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII in 1415, to help resolve a dispute between the three people who claimed to be the Pope.
I read elsewhere Italian bookmakers are are laying odds on possible successors. I’d bet you’d get fantastic odds on that bet.
next up, peter the roman...
Ushering in the last days of Babylon.
Pope Charles?
Cardinal Dolan was interviewed in the studio at ABC by Diane Sawyer during the Monday night live broadcast of the ABC Evening News.
Sawyer showed the Cardinal this photo of the lightning strike at St. Peter’s. The Cardinal chuckled and said, “There’s going to be some over-cooked pasta!”
It reminds me of something I read about an Asian country, like Burma or Cambodia, where they have a no-fly zone over certain temples. It is considered that there is a direct link between the temple and heaven and they don’t want people plowing through it. I wonder if they got that idea from seeing lightning hit the top of the temple.
So this picture looks to me like a visual reminder of the link between Heaven and the Church.
Okay....why is the surface of the dome and the roofs of neighboring buildings not lighter from the brightness of the lightning? It isn’t any brighter than in this pic, which doesn’t have any lightning:
Let’s see....thunderstorm, plus tall building with metal cross on the top....equals....shocking scene!
Ha! He’s what my mother would call “a real Father What-a-waste!” Not that I feel that way, mind you...
ZOT!!!
OH that is too much!! The Viking Kitty strikes at the Basilica!
You're absolutely right. Because it was HILARIOUS!
Matt.28.3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
Luke.17.24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
Rev.4.5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God,
Rev.8.5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
Rev.11.19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
Rev.16.18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake.
My husband and I want Chaput for the next pope.
So this picture looks to me like a visual reminder of the link between Heaven and the Church.
I'm not sure, but I think planes are not allowed to fly over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem because the holiness of the place goes "all the way up." That may be why the airport is at Tel-'Aviv instead of Jerusalem.
cool!
Luke 10:18 And I saw satan falling from heaven as lightning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZL0Z2nV3cU
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