Mary teaches respect(CNS - Rome) The statues, paintings and mosaics of Mary found not only in the churches of Rome, but also in its public squares and on street-corner shrines should help the city's visitors and residents treat each other with more respect, Pope Benedict XVI said.
Marking the feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec. 8, Pope Benedict rode in the popemobile from the Vatican to the heart of Rome's tourist and shopping district to pay homage to Mary at a statue erected near the Spanish Steps.
"The mother of God teaches us to open ourselves to the action of God, to see others as he sees them -- starting from the heart. And to look upon them with mercy, with love (and) with infinite tenderness, especially those who are most alone, despised and exploited," the pope said.
Rome, like any big city, is filled with people who are invisible until some scandal lands them on the front page of the newspaper or the television news where they are "exploited to the very end, as long as the news and images attract attention," the pope said.
"It is a perverse mechanism, which unfortunately is hard to resist," he said. "The city first hides people, then exposes them to the public -- without piety, or with false piety."
But within each person, the pope said, there lies a strong desire "to be accepted as a person and considered a sacred reality because every human story is a sacred story and requires the utmost respect."
Pope Benedict said that with so many stories of evil and scandal filling the news, it's easy for people to think those things only happen to others. But the little good or little evil that everyone does has an influence on others and contributes to the overall tenor of society, he said.
"Often we lament the pollution of the air, which in certain parts of the city is impossible to breathe. It's true, the commitment of everyone is necessary to make the city cleaner," he said.
"But there is another kind of pollution, less perceptible to the senses, but just as dangerous. It is the pollution of the spirit; it makes our faces less smiling, darker, and stops us from greeting each other and looking each other in the eyes," Pope Benedict said.
The pope said that on the day dedicated to remembering how Mary was preserved from sin, he wanted to honor the many citizens "who have understood that it is useless to condemn, complain and recriminate, but better to respond to evil with good."
"This changes things; or better, it changes people and, consequently, improves society," he said.
Earlier in the day, the pope recited the Angelus with visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square for the feast, a major public holiday in Italy.
Pope Benedict said all Christians should rejoice in having Mary as their mother.
"Every time we experience our fragility and temptation, we can turn to her and our hearts will receive light and comfort. Even in the midst of the trials of life, in the storms that shake our faith and hope, we remember that we are her children," he said.
"The church itself, even if it is exposed to the negative influences of the world, always finds in her the star which will lead her to follow the route indicated by Christ," he said.
At the end of the Angelus, the pope greeted 85-year-old Polish Cardinal Andrzej Deskur, president of the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate, which promotes academic studies of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and pastoral initiatives in favour of Marian devotion.
The cardinal, seated in a wheelchair, and other members of the academy were in St. Peter's Square for the midday prayer.
Vatican "ashamed " says NuncioThe Pope's Ambassador to Ireland has said the Vatican is ashamed by the devastating findings of a damning inquiry into clerical sex abuse in Dublin.
Papal Nuncio Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza expressed his shock and dismay at the Murphy Report into paedophile priests and church cover-ups in the Archdiocese.
"We feel ashamed about what happened, I feel really I must express again my shock, my dismay," the senior clergyman said.
"I understand the anger of the people and the sufferings of those who have been abused. We totally condemn this."
The Catholic Church has been under severe criticisms after the inquiry revealed Vatican officials refused to deal directly with investigators, suggesting they should use official diplomatic channels.
Archbishop Leanza said: "If there was any mistake from our side, we also apologise for this.
"But certainly there was no intention not to co-operate with, not to give co-operation to the Commission."
The inquiry, based on a sample 46 priests, uncovered a sickening catalogue of paedophilia among clergymen and subsequent cover-ups by the hierarchy.
Several auxiliary bishops were severely criticised
At least two bishops expected to resignFollowing the publication of the report into abuse in the Dublin archdiocese Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick is expected to resign today and may soon be followed by Bishop Eamonn Walsh auxiliary bishop in Dublin.
I am surprised they had not resigned before now.
Others may follow after the Pope meets Cardinal Brady and Archbishop Martin on Friday .
I shall not be surprised if the Bishop of Cloyne, Bishop John Magee resigns in the very near future before the report on abuse in that Diocese is published. More resignations may follow. Bishops who are named include the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin Jim Moriarty, the Bishop of Galway Martin Drennan, and Bishop Ray Field.another auxiliary in Dublin. Msgr John Dolan who was vice chancellor in Dublin from 1980 to 1997, when he became chancellor, is also named.
My comment The church in Ireland should not delay any longer in seeing justice being done, as far as possible. For how much longer will individual prelates cling to "power" and office and damage the church, and souls? The whole matter stinks. It is putrid and diabolical - and that's putting it mildly. The Irish Hierarchy and the Papal Nuncio to Ireland should stop pussy-footing about.The matter is so serious it cannot be solved by applying sticking plasters when serious surgery is required.That may be painful but it gives more hope for a healthy recovery.
