Most Recent Posts
Letter #71: The Choice of a Word
The Choice of a Word “The consecrated woman is a mother: she must be a mother and not an ‘old maid’! Forgive me if I talk like this…” (“La consacrata è madre, deve essere madre e non zitella, scusatemi, parlo un po’ così…”) –Pope Francis, May 8, 2013, speaking to 800 superiors of women’s orders [...]
Letter #70: Giulio Andreotti
On the Death of Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti passed away quietly yesterday in Rome at the age of 94. He was arguably the single most important Italian statesman of the last 60 years. He was a man of brilliant intelligence, profound culture, great learning, and shrewd political pragmatism. He was a Italian Senator for Life. [...]
Letter #69: Mary, and the Deceiver
Francis, Mary, and the Deceiver Pope Francis returned to the Basilica of St. Mary Major this evening for the second time since he became Pope — the first time was at 8 a.m. on March 14, the morning after his election, to pray before an icon of the Virgin known as the Salus Populi Romani [...]
Letter #68: Photo of Two Popes in Prayer
Second Photo of Two Popes A second photo of the “two Popes” from May 2, the day of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI’s return to the Vatican, has emerged. The photo depicts Benedict, 86, with Pope Francis, 76, in prayer in the chapel at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican gardens, where Benedict will now [...]
Letter #67: Benedict’s Return: First Photo of Two Popes
“Here one can work well“ When Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, 86, came back to the Vatican today, expected video of the event was not released. This led some observers to speculate that Benedict might not be in good physical health and that the Vatican did not want to reveal that. But now a photo from [...]
Letter #66: Benedict Returns to Vatican
“Above all in prayer” Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, 86, has returned to Vatican City two months after renouncing the papacy on February 28. So, for the first time in history, two Popes will be living at the same time in the Vatican, one (Benedict) retired, the other (Francis) elected on March 13. Benedict “is happy [...]
Letter #65: Meeting with Peres
Today is the Feast of Pope St. Pius V (1504-1572), the Pope responsible for codifying the Tridentine rite of the Mass in 1570. He also declared St. Thomas Aquinas a Doctor of the Church. In Rome, several important stories are “trending”: 1. Pope Francis to visit Israel? In the Vatican today, Pope Francis met with [...]
Letter #64: Benedict to Return to Vatican City
Benedict to Return to Vatican City Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI is expected to return from Castel Gandolfo to Vatican City in the next few days. The Emeritus Pope — creating a situation unique in the history of the Church where a former Pope and a reigning Bishop of Rome will be both living inside the [...]
Letter #63: Francis Stopped for Divine Mercy
Francis Stopped for Divine Mercy This Sunday evening in Rome, a beautiful, quiet, clear, cool spring evening, the parish priest of the Santo Spirito in Sassia church (the church next to the world headquarters of the Jesuits, 200 yards from the colonnade around St. Peter’s Square, and the church entrusted by Pope John Paul II [...]
Letter #62: Staying in the Domus
March 26, 2013, Tuesday — Staying in the Domus Everyone likes a home they can be comfortable in. And the new Pope is no exception. And he likes the Domus Santa Marta. He’s comfortable there. And so, for the moment, Pope Francis will not move into the grand, majestic Apostolic Palace which overlooks St. Peter’s [...]
Letter #61: “Prepare well”
“Prepare well” “Prepare well – prepare spiritually above all – in your communities, so that our gathering in Rio may be a sign of faith for the whole world.”–Pope Francis, Homily, Palm Sunday Mass, this morning in St. Peter’s Square, to young people planning to go to World Youth Day in Brazil in July Also, [...]
Letter #60: “We are brothers”… in humility
“We are brothers”… in humility “We are brothers.”–Pope Francis to Emeritus Pope Benedict today at Castel Gandolfo The Icon of Mary that Pope Francis Gave as a Gift to Emeritus Pope Benedict Today Was… a Russian Icon The present and former Pope met today, in a moment without precedent. And the words which remain are [...]
