PASTORAL VISITS IN ITALY - PAPA RATZINGER FORUM (2024)

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 07:43

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/17/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13518

MASS AT PIAZZA DEL POPOLO, SAVONA

'NO PRESSURE CAN MUZZLE THE CHURCH'

Savona, May 18 (Translated from AGI) - Pius VII's exile to Savona where he was kept by Napoleon Bonaparte under house arrest for three years was evoked by Pope Benedict XVI in his homily at Mass this evening.

After the Mass, the Pope visited the apartment at the Bishop's Palace where his early 19th-century predecessor was held captive, and touched the peepholes through which Napoleon's agents spied on the Pope to make sure he was not in touch with the outside world.

In his homily, delIvered to more than 30,000 faithful at the city's Piazza del Popolo, the Pope praised Pius VII's example of 'calm firmness' in succeeding to communicate with the outside world, even through such ploys as messages hidden in baskets of vegetables. In this way, Pius VI, whose beatification process recently got under way, was able to prevent Napoleon from naming bishops for the Church.

Pius II teaches us, said his present-day successor, "the courage to face the challenges of the world - today, materialism, relativism, secularism - without ever yielding to compromises, and to be ready to pay the price personally in order to remain faithful to the Lord and his church."

It is our duty now, Benedict said, "to keep unaltered through trials and difficulties our confidence in God, knowing that, even if he allows his Church to undergo difficult moments, he will never abandon it."

In his homily, the Pope also recalled the apparition of the Virgin Mary to a peasant man on March 18, 1536, 'at a tragic moment in the history of Savona" [this was the origin of the Savonese devotion to Our Lady of Mercy], and underscored the Marian devotion of Pius VII who, in 1815, came back in pilgrimage to Savona to thank the Madonna of Mercy for protecting him during 'the terrible experience he had to undergo as the Successor of Peter'.

These two events he said, "together convey to the Christian generations of our time a message of hope. They encourage us to have confidence in the instruments of grace that the Lord places at our disposition in every situation."

"Among these means of salvation," he said, "I wish to remind you above all of prayer - personal, familar and communitarian."

The Pope said he has special concern for young families whom he asked "not to be afraid to try, from the first months of marriage, a simple form of domestic prayer, which then becomes graced with children, who easily learn to address themselves spontaneously to the Lord and to Our Mother."

"I call on the parishes and associations," he said, "to give time and space to prayer, because any activity is passtorally sterile if it is not preceded, accompanied by and constantly sustained by prayer."

Benedict XVI also said he is urging the Church in Italy to defend Sunday as a day of rest.

"The Lord's day, he said," is rightfully at the center of the pastoral attention of Italian bishops. Sunday should be rediscovered in its Christian roots, which comes from celebration of the Risen Lord, whom we meet in the Word of God and recognize in the breaking of the Eucharistic bread."

A hundred chalices and patens were used to distirbute Communion during the Mass.

The chalice used by the Holy Father was specially commissioned for the Mass and features three medallions incised at 120-degrees to each other on the outer surface of the cup.

The medallions contain Benedict's profile with the keys of Peter; an eight-point star representing the Madonna of Mercy; and Savona's logo for the Pope's visit with today's date, also incised in the matching apten.

The white vestments of the concelebrants carried a pattern executed by the artist Andrea Ginasso based on the relief on a marble pillar from the Priamar, the oldest known surviving relic from the first Savonese Cathedral.

he Diocese presented the Pope with a set of precious chasubles in all the five liturgical colors.

Picked up from earlier news agency stories:

From the Shrine of the Madonna della Misericordia, which was his first stop in Savona, Benedict XVI proceeded by Popemobile escorted by 4 vehicles towards Piazza del Popolo, where streamers welcoming him were prominent on public buildings.

The city was covered with posters carrying the picture of the Pope.

The Mass at Piazza del Popolo started at 5:45 p.m. At least 30,000 had gathered in the public square and adjoining areas despite the rain.

Two maxiscreens were set up in Piazza del Popolo, two others in nearby Piazza Mameli, and one at the Shrine of the Virgin of Mercy.

The statue of Savona's patroness occupied a prominent place on the altar platform.

Concelebrating the mass with the Pope were 120 priests and some 30 bishops of the region. A choir of 450 sang. Savona's associations for the blind provided Mass librettos in Braille, and a nun translated into sign language the Pope's homily and the public responses to the prayers.

After the Mass - around 7:45 p.m., the Pope was to leave Piazza del Popolo for the Bishop's Palace to make a private visit to the rooms that Pius VII occupied during his three-year house arrest in Savona by Napoleon Bonaparte.

The Pope's near-whistlestop visit to Savona will end with a brief visit to the Cathedral of Savona, and then he was to be driven to the old dock area, where he would take the helicopter to Genoa.

He was expected to land at the square next to the hilltop Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia (Our Lady of the Watch), patron saint of Genoa. He is to spend the night at the shrine's Hospitality House.

The shrine is located in Ceranesi-Campomorone, a few miles west of the the city limits of Genoa.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 07:48

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/18/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13519

A rainbow by the name of Benedict
lights up the grey skies of Liguria
By Giacomo Galeazzi
Translated from

Galeazzi continues in his panegyric mode about Benedict XVI, and, of course, this sudden Benaddiction by a leading MSM Vaticanista is very welcome... but there must be more to it than meets the eye! Also, his account does tend to ramble unpredictably, and the last part reads as though he jumped from one idea to the next without completing the previous one..

SAVONA, May 17 - Grey skies frame the Ligurian trip of Benedict XVI, but everything else has been a rainbow of colors, affection and joyous participation.

Many had wondered what the Church would be like after the cyclonic media presence of John Paul II. The answer is in the happily aware People of God who have welcomed the German Pope here as a wise father, a clear and courageous messenger of the Gospel.

This is the post-Wojtyla era: the Gospel. Just the Gospel. But in the shadow of this Peter, one discovers at every step little miracles of faith and devotion.

Every visit, every encounter, every immersion into a crowd ['bagno di folla', literally, a bath in people, is the Italian term for it] contains a mysterious if often silent treasury of personal stories, very private experiences which are nevertheless emblematic. Individual touches that together define the extraordinary emotional climate spontaneously generated during every papal visit.

At the Principe train station, among thousands of pilgrims, is Ottavio, an ex drug addict in his 40s. He is wearing a yellow poncho, and walks briskly, carrying a book - Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI's JESUS OF NAZARETH.

He agrees to talk only when he understands that we want to ask him about the Pope. He comes from a village in Umbria and bears on his face the prematurely aged signs of a dissipate life.

He weighs his words, and narrates in simple and frank terms how the teaching of Benedict XVI had inspired his conversion, led him out of his drug imprisonment and the end of a self-wounding nightmare. And now, he feels he must follow Benedict wherever he can.

"If I can manage to put together 2000 euros," he says, "I plan to go to Australia for the World Youth Day in Sydney."

And this is just one of the ways that Papa Ratzinger has reached and touched the hearts of persons like Ottavio and millions of faithful around the world.

"With personalities like Benedict XVI," comments biographer Enzo Bianco, who is a Salesian theologian, "what happens is that one starts out intending to pass judgment and ends up judging oneself instead. His intellectual stature and the depth of his analyses provoke active engagement with his thought processes, and one hardly ever comes out ahead in such a confrontation."

As if everything had already been written about the course of a life that seemed at first to be ordinarily extraordinary. The future Pope's infancy in a solid middle-class Bavarian family, with a strict (and anti-Nazi) father and a generously affectionate mother. The tragic experience of Nazism and the Second World War., with the teenage Joseph forced to wear a German uniform. His ordination. His career as a university professor. Then the Second Vatican Council. The friendship and eventual break with Hans Kueng. 1968. Then, Archbishop of Munich, followed by 24 years of service as the right hand of John Paul II. Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith whose old structure as the ex Holy Office he had criticized as a young theologian in Vatican-II.

Finally, that fateful April 19, 2005, when Joseph Alois Ratzinger was elected to the Chair of Peter and inaugurated a new and very much his own personal style of being Pope.

Without losing his habitual simplicity nor, as much as possible, his own private passion for reading and music. And never yielding to any current of thought that happens to be in fashion.

Indeed, Joseph Ratzinger deserves the credit if the Church has clearly distanced itself from the false principle of tolerating everything - "manipulated and unduly going beyond bounds when it extends to saying that the content of all religions and even of a-religious concepts of life may all be placed on the same level, because there exists no objective and universal truth".

Almost as if, he says, God or the Absolute reveals himself under countless names and each one of them is true!

"This false idea of tolerance," he has written, "is linked to the loss and renunciation of the question of truth, which today is considered by many to be an irrelevant issue, or at the most, something secondary."

And thus he brings to light the intellectual weakness of the present culture. If the question of truth is absent, then the essence of religion is no longer different from its 'non-essence', faith might just as well be superstition or the experience of an illusion.

Benedict XVI teaches that without any serious claim to truth, even the appreciation of other religions becomes absurd and contradictory, because there would be no criteria to determine what is positive about a religion, what distinguishes it from negative elements that are the fruit of mere superstition or deception.

Joseph Ratzinger's theological thinking affected his friendships (some of which ended - if in not outright enmities - in bitter doctrinal conflicts) with other leading figures of the German theological world in the 20th century. From Michael Schmaus to Karl Rahner to Hans Kueng.

Ratzinger's conflict with Schmaus belies the journalistic stereotype - a characterization of Ratzinger that has been distorted by cumulative over-simplification - of an ex-progressive Ratzinger who had a change of heart after seeing the ravages resulting from post-Conciliar liberalization of the Church.

From the very beginning - with his post-doctoral dissertation for his Habilitation - Ratzinger's point of contention with his thesis adviser Schmaus revolved about the concept of revelation. [It appears a paragraph was dropped in the printing, because the idea is not further explained.]

Forty years ago, the young professor at Tuebingen published the book Introduction to Christianity, a series of lectures he gave for a summer course in theology.

It was 1968. Since then, the book has been a perennial international best-seller that has been translated to more than 30 languages, including Chinese, Arabic and Russian.

It is considered his first masterpiece and a good 'gateway' to his theological thinking, in which can already be found 'all the guidelines, the decisive questions and the fundamental themes of his eventual Pontificate', in the words of an introduction to a two-day inter-disciplinary conference on the book at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome.

In Liguria, the Pope has reconnected to the roots of his thinking. [Once again, nothing follows to amplify this sentence.]

Personally, I was very moved by the Golden Rose, that the Pope blesses every year on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It is a medieval tradition which dates back to 1049 during the pontificate of Leo IX.

In the course of centuries, the pontifical honor came to be conferred on Catholic kings and princes deemed meritorious in upholding the faith; then it became limited to honoring queens and princesses, as a token of courtly love for the feminine world. The last crowned head to receive it was Grand duch*ess Charlotte of Luxembourg in 1956.

Meanwhile, the Popes have changed the recipients of this papal homage, to the Catholic shrines in various parts of the world.

In the last three Marian shrines he has visited (Loreto, Savona, and now Genoa), Benedict XVI has offered the Golden Rose as a symbol of devotion.

=====================================================================

ON THE OTHER HAND...

Anti-clergy protest
marks Pope trip to Italian north

GENOA, Italy, May 17 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI

Saturday by campaigners angry at the Catholic Church's powerful influence in the country as he flew into northern Italy for a two-day trip.

[What 'sparked a protest'? These groups have been announcing for weeks that they would demonstrate massively against the Pope. The surprise is how few turned out after all the ballyhoo that preceded it.]

Around 1,000 people marched through the industrial outskirts of the city of Genoa, where the Pope made a brief stop, to denounce "daily interference by the Vatican in Italian public debate and daily life."
[Someone should advise these anti-Church fanatics to read the Italian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and to 'publicize' its faith to any and all faiths (or non-faiths). It is journalistic negligence - and an indirect expression of bias against the Church - that newsmen do not automatically mention this guarantee when they report flagrant attempts to violate the Church's freedom of expression.]

Organised by far-left, feminist and gay rights groups, the rally was called in defence of secularism and in protest at a speech Monday in which the Pope lashed out at abortion, legalised in Italy 30 years ago, as an offence before God. [You would think it was the first time the Pope had spoken out against abortion!]

"I have been a feminist since 1963, and I still have to march for the same things as 40 years ago," said Silvana, an elegant woman in her 70s. [Balderdash! Your elegance means nothing in matters of principle, lady!]

It was the second protest to erupt during a visit in Italy by Pope Benedict, after a demonstration by students and faculty at Rome's La Sapienza university caused him to cancel a visit to the prestigious school in January. [How can it be the second protest 'to erupt during a visit' when the Pope cancelled the visit to La Sapienza? It is unforgivable that an itnernational news agency like Agence France-Presse can be so careless about facts - even to the point of contradicting itself in the same sentence!]

The demonstrators were also calling for a review of Italian state funding for the Roman Catholic Church, which they evaluated at nine billion euros (14 billion dollars) per year.

Pope Benedict headed straight from Genoa to the nearby town of Savona, where some 20,000 faithful had rallied to hear him deliver an open-air mass in tribute to the 19th-century Pope, Pius VII. [The Mass was definitely not in tribute to Pius VII, even if he was inevitably mentioned in the homily. It was the obligatory Papal Mass that the Primate of Italy offers at leat once when he visits a diocese.]

Pius VII was [taken from Rome and] put under house arrest in Savona in 1809 after standing up to Napoleon over the annexation of the Papal States, one of the territories that made up Italy before its unification in 1861.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 07:52

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/18/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13521

MASS AT PIAZZA DEL POPOLO, SAVONA

HOMILY AT THE MASS
PIAZZA DEL POPOLO, SAVONA

Here is a translation:

Dear brothers and sisters!

It is a great joy for me to find myself among you and celebrate for you the Eucharist on the solemn feast of the Most Holy Trinity.

I greet affectionately your Bishop, Mons. Vittorio Lupi, whom I thank for the words with which, at the start of this celebration, he presented the diocesan community to me, and even more, for the sentiments of charity and pastoral hope that he expressed.

I also thank the mayor for the cordial greeting which he gave me in the name of the entire city. I greet the civilian authorities, the priests, religious, deacons, and the officials of the various church associations, movements and new communities.

To everyone, I renew my best wishes of grace and peace in Christ.

In this solemnity, the liturgy invites us to praise God not only for the wonders that he has worked, but for what he is: for the beauty and goodness of his being, from which come all his actions. We are invited to contemplate, so to speak, the Heart of God, his most profound reality, which is that of being a Unity in Trinity, the supreme and most profound communion of love and life. And all of Sacred Scripture speaks to us of him.

Rather, it is he himself who speaks to us about himself in the Scriptures, revealing himself as the Creator of the Universe and Lord of history.

Today, we heard a passage from the Book of Exodus in which, in fact, God proclaims his own name - a most exceptional instance! He does it in the presence of Moses, with whom he spoke face to face, as to a friend.

And what was this name of God? Every time it is most moving to hear it: "The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in grace and fidelity" (Ex 34,6).

These are human words, but suggested and almost pronounced by the Holy Spirit. They tell us the truth about God: they were true yesterday, they are true today, and they will be true always. They make us see with the eyes of our mind the face of the Invisible; they tell us the name of the Ineffable. The name is Mercy, Grace, Fidelity.

Dear friends, finding myself here in Savona, how can I not rejoice with you that this name is precisely that with which the Virgin Mary presented herself, when she appeared on March 18 in 1536 to a peasant and son of this land?

Madonna di Misericordia - Our Lady of Mercy - is the title under which she is venerated - and we have had an image of her for some years now, even in the Vatican Gardens.

But Mary was not speaking of herself, she never speaks of herself, always of God, and she did it with the name that is so old and yet always new: mercy, which is synonymous with love, with grace.

Here is all the essence of Christianity, because it is the essence of God himself. God is one, in that he is all and only Love, but precisely because he is Love, he is also openness, welcome, dialog. And in his relationship with us, human sinners, he is mercy, compassion, grace and forgiveness. God has created everything to exist, and he always and only wills life.

For whoever finds himself in danger, he is salvation. We just heard the Gospel of John: "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son so that whoever believes in him will not die but have life eternal" (Jn 3,16).

In this giving of himself by God in the person of the Son, the entire Trinity is at work: the Father who places at our disposition what is most dear to him: the Son who, co-sentient with the Father, strips himself of his glory to give himself to us; the Spirit who comes from the peaceful divine embrace to water the deserts of humanity.

For this work of his mercy, God, disposing himself to take on our flesh, had to have a human Yes, the Yes of a woman who would become the Mother of his Incarnate Word, Jesus, the human face of divine Mercy.

Thus Mary became and will always be the Mother of Mercy, as she made herself known, even here in Savona.

In the course of the Church's history, the Virgin Mary has done nothing but to invite her sons to return to God, to entrust themselves to him in prayer, to knock with confident insistence on the door of his merciful heart. In truth, he does not desire other than to pour into the world the super-abundance of his grace.

'Mercy, not justice', Mary asked - knowing that this would certainly be heard by her son Jesus, but equally aware of the need for conversion in the heart of sinners. That is why she asks for prayer and penitence.

That is why, my visit to Savona, on the day of the Most Holy Trinity, is, above all, a pilgrimage, through Mary, to the springs of faith, hope and love. A pilgrimage that is also a homage and commemoration of my venerated predecessor Pius VIII, whose dramatic experience is indissolubly tied to this city and its Marian shrine.

From a distance of two centuries, I come to renew the expression of acknowledgment by the Holy See and the entire Church for the faith, love and courage with which your citizens sustained the Pope during his forced residence, imposed on him by Napoleon Bonaparte, in this city.

Numerous proofs of that manifestation of solidarity with the Pope shown by the Savonese - even at personal risk - have been conserved. They are episodes which the Savonese today can remember with pride.

As your Bishop rightly observed, that dark page of European history, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has been rich with graces and teaching, even for our day.

It teaches us the courage to face the challenges of the world - materialism, relativism, secularism - without ever giving in to compromises, and makes us willing to pay in person in order to remain faithful to the Lord and his Church.

The example of calm firmness given by Pope Pius VII invites us to keep unaltered through trials our confidence in God, knowing that even if he allows some difficult times for his Church, he will never abandon her.

The experience of the great Pontiff in your land invites us to confide always in the intercession and the maternal assistance of the Most Blessed Mary.

The apparition of the Virgin, at a tragic time in the history of Savona, and the terrible experience that the Successor of Peter faced here, together convey to the Christian generations of our time a message of hope, and encourage us to have confidence in the instruments of Grace that the Lord places at our disposition in every situation.

Among such means of salvation, I wish to remind you above all of prayer - personal, familiar and communitarian prayer. On today's feast of the Trinity, I wish to underline the dimension of praise, of meditation, of adoration.

I think of young families and wish to invite them not to be afraid to try, from the very first years of marriage, a simple style of domestic prayer, with the presence of children later, who learn very easily to address the Lord and Our Lady spontaneously.

I call on the parishes and associations to give time and space for prayer, because activities are pastorally sterile if they are not preceded, accompanied and sustained constantly by prayer.

And what can we say about the Eucharistic celebration, especially Sunday Mass? The Lord's day is rightly at the center of the pastoral attention of Italian bishops: Sunday must be rediscovered in its Christian beginning, having started with celebrating the Risen Lord, encountered in the Word of God and recognized in the breaking of the Eucharistic Bread.

Then, even the Sacrament of Reconciliation asks to be revalued as a fundamental means for spiritual growth and makes us able to face actual challenges with strength and courage. Together with prayer and the Sacraments, other inseparable instruments of growth are works of charity when exercised with sincere faith.

On this aspect of Christian life, I wished to dwell even in the encyclical Deus caritas est. In the modern world, which often makes of beauty and physical efficiency an ideal to pursue in every way, we are called on as Christians to find the face of Jesus Christ, "the most beautiful among the children of men" (Ps 44,3), precisely in suffering and excluded persons. Unfortunately, the maternal and moral emergencies that concern us are numerous.

In this respect, I gladly take this occasion to address a greeting to the detained persons and the personnel of the St. Augustine penitentiary institution of Savona, who for some time have lived in particular discomfort. I also send an equally warm greeting to patients in hospitals, in treatment homes or at home.

I wish to address a special word to you, dear priests, to express my appreciation for your silent work and the committed fidelity with which you carry it out. Dear brothers in Christ, always believe in the effectiveness of your daily priestly service! It is precious in the eyes of God and of the faithful, and its value cannot be quantified in figures and statistics: we will have our reward only in Paradise.

Many of you are of advanced age, like me. This makes me think of that stupendous passage from the prophet Isaiah which says: "Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, they that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint" (Is 40,30-31).

Together with the deacons in the service of the diocese, live in communion with the Bishop and among yourselves, expressing this in active collaboration, reciprocal support, and a shared pastoral coordination.

Continue forward with the courageous and joyous testimony of your service. Go out in search of people as the Lord Jesus did: in visits to families, in contact with the sick, in dialog with young people, making yourself present in every field of work and of life.

To you, dear religious, whom I thank for your presence, I reiterate that the world needs your testimony and your prayer. Live your vocation in daily faithfulness and make of your lives an offering that is pleasing to God: the Church is grateful to you and encourages you to persevere in your service.

I wish to reserve a special warm greeting to you, the youth. Dear friends, place your youth in the service of God and your brothers. To follow Christ always brings with it the courage of going against the current. But it is worth the effort: this is the way of true personal realization and therefore of true happiness.

With Christ, one experiences in fact that "it is better to give than to receive" (Acts 20,35). That is why I encourage you to seriously consider the ideal of saintliness. A noted French writer left us in one of his works a sentence that I wish to pass onto you: "There is only one sadness - that of not being one of the saints" (Leon Bloy, La femme pauvre, II, 27).

Dear young people, dare to commit your lives in courageous choices, not by yourselves, of course, but with the Lord! Give this city the drive and the enthusiasm that do not mortify the expectations of human life but exalt them in participation with the same experience as Christ.

This goes even for older Christians. My wish for all is that faith in the One asnd Triune God may instill in every person and every community the fervor of love and hope, the joy of loving each other as brothers, and to put oneself in the service of others. This is the leaven which makes humanity grow, the light that shines in the world.

May the most Holy Mary, Mother of Mercy, together with your other patron saints, help you to translate into your lives the exhortation of the Apostle that we heard earlier. With great affection, I make his words mine: "Rejoice, mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you." Amen!

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:03

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

RESERVED FOR TRANSLATIONS OF REPORTS IN THE ITALIAN PRESS

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:03

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

RESERVED FOR TRANSLATIONS OF REPORTS IN THE ITALIAN MEDIA.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:05

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/18/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13526

PROGRAM OF THE VISIT TO GENOA

SUNDAY, May 18
09:00 Private visit to the Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia.
- Proceed to the city center.
- Visit to the Giannina Gaslini Pediatric Hospital.
ADDRESS BY THE HOLY FATHER.

11:20 Arrival at Piazza Matteotti for an encounter with young people.
- ANGELUS led by the Holy Father.
MESSAGE BY THE HOLY FATHER.

12:20 Meeting at the Cathedral of San Lorenzo with the canonical chapter of the Cathedral and
members of religious orders.
ADDRESS BY THE HOLY FATHER.

13:30 Lunch at Seminario Maggiore with the bishops of Liguria.

16:30 Eucharistic Concelebration in Piazza della Vittoria.
- HOMILY.

After the Mass, the Pope will proceed to Cristoforo Colombo International Airport
to return to Rome.

Adapted and translated from Vatican Press Office bulletins:

VISIT TO THE SHRINE OF THE MADONNA DELLA GUARDIA

At 9 a.m., the Holy Father made a private visit to the Shrine of the Madonna della Guardia (Our Lady of the Watch), Genoa's patron saint, in Ceranesi-Capomorone outside Genoa, where he spent the night at the Episcopal Residence after arriving from Savona last night.

He was welcomed by the rector, Mons. Marco Granara and his vice-rector, don Pier Luigi Parodi.

After adoraiton of the Blesed Sacrament, the Pope proceeded to pray before the image of the Virgin, after which he offered a Golden Rose
on the altar as a papal homage, a sign of his personal devotion and a reminder of his visit.

The Pope then flew by helicopter to Genoa.

VISIT TO THE GIANNINA GASLINI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, GENOA

The Pope's helcopter landed at 9:40 on the grounds of the Villa Gentile Sports Center and proceeded to the hospital by car.

He first visited Pavilion 16, where he greeted the child patients and their parents. He gave the chaplain, Fr. Aldo Campone, OFM Cap., a papal donation for the hospital patients.

He then proceeded to the square in front of the hospital to address the officials, medical and other hospital personnel, and convalescent children with their parents.

The Pope was introduced by the Mayor of Genoa, Marta Vincenzi*. The hospital commissioner, Prof. Vincenzo Lorenzelli, and a child patient, also delviered welcome remarks.

*[According to Italian press reports, Mayor Vincenzi the day before addressed the small anti-Pope demonstration staged by gays, feminists and various radical movements, to declare that she was in favor of keeping Italy's abortion law as it is.]

MEETING WITH THE YOUTH AT PIAZZA MATTEOTTI

From the children's hospital, the Pope proceeded to Piazza Matteotti for a meeting with some 5000 representatives of Genoese youth organizations.

Before the end of the encounter, he led them in the recital of the Angelus, preceding it with a reflection on his isit to Liguria, in particular to the Marian shrines of Savona and Genoa.

After the Angelus, he said a few words about the international conference on anti-cluster bombs that is taking place in Dublin.

MEETING WITH THE CANONICAL CHAPTER OF THE CATHEDRAL OF SAN LORENZO
AND MEMBERS OF RELIGIOUS ORDERS IN GENOA

From Piazza Matteotti, the Holy Father proceeded to the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, seat of the archdiocese, where he was welcomed by the Auxiliary Bishop of Genoa, Mons. Luigi Ernesto Palletti and the canons of the Cathedral.

Before addressing the assembly of Cathedral priests and members of the religious orders in Genoa, the Holy Father heard welcome remarks from presiding canon of the Cathedral, Mons. Mario Grone, eand the diocesan delegate for religious orders, Fr. Domenico Rossi, OCD.

Befor leaving the Cathedral, the Pope offered prayers at the tomb of the late Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, who was Archbishop of Genoa from 1946-1987. [He died in 1989. According to most accounts, Siri won the early ballotings for Pope in the two Conclaves of 1978, but eventually lost to Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice, and then to Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland. Apparently, Siri's staunch conservatism, which included a strong anti-Soviet stand, militated against his eventual election.]

From the Cathedral, the Pope proceeded to the Archdiocesan Seminario Maggiore named after Pope Benedict XV (who was Genoese), where he greeted the seminarians and then had lunch with the bishops of Liguria.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:19

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/18/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13527

PRAYERS AT THE SHRINE
OF NOSTRA SIGNORA DELLA GUARDIA

The mountaintop shrine of the Madonna della Guardia outside Genoa.

Video-cap panel, courtesy of Caterina.

The day started early for the hundreds of pilgrims who had stayed overnight after greeting the Holy Father the night before. At 6:30, they started lining up to get good places inside the Church for Mass, and hopefully, a glimpse of the Holy Father when he came down to pray before the image of the Virgin.

Originally, the Holy Father was simply supposed to say private prayers at the Shrine. After the Mass, he did come down at 9 a.m. as scheduled to pray at the Shrine.

But after his private prayers, and offering the papal Golden Rose to the Virgin, he also led the congregation in a prayer he had composed for the patron saint of Genoa.

He took the helicopter to the city shortly afterwards for a full day's schedule of events.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:23

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/18/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13528

VISIT TO GASLINI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

THE HOLY FATHER'S ADDRESS
AT THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

Madame Mayor and Mr. Commissioner,
Dear children,
Dear brothers and sisters!

After having prayed at the feet of the Madonna della Guardia in that beautiful shrine which dominates the city from its height [the peak of the 2800-ft Mt. Figogna just outside Genoa], my first meeting in the city is with you, in this place of suffering and hope, which was inaugurated on May 15, 1938, 70 years ago.

I embrace you all, dearest children, who are welcomed and cared for with great concern and love in this hospital, a 'center of excellence' for pediatrics in the service of Genoa, of Italy, and the entire Mediterranean area.

Your spokesman has expressed your sentiments of affection which I reciprocate with all my heart and which I accompany with a special thought for your parents as well.

A heartfelt greeting to Madame Marta Vincenzi, mayor of Genoa, who expressed the welcome of the city. And I greet Prof. Vincenzo Lorenzelli, Special Commissioner for the Giannina Gaslini Institute, who reminded us of the objectives of this hospital and told us of the future developments that have been programmed.

The Gaslini was born in the heart of a generous benefactor, the industrialist and Senator Gerolamo Gaslini, who dedicated this institution to his daughter Giannina who died when she was only 12. It is part of that history of charity which has made Genoa a 'city of Christian charity'.

Even today, faith suggests to so many persons of good will acts of love and concrete support for this Institute, which the Genoese are rightly proud of as a precious patrimony. I thank and encourage everyone to continue.

In particular, I am happy for the new complex, for which the cornerstone was recently laid, and which has found a munificent benefactor.

Even the cordial attention of public officials is a sign of acknowledgment for the social value that the Gaslini represents for the children of the city and beyond. When a common good is meant for everyone, then it deserves the contribution of everyone according to the roles they can play and their respective competences.

And I address you, dear doctors, researchers, paramedical and administrative personnel; you, dear chaplains, volunteers and all who are concerned with spiritual assistance to your young wards and their families.

I know that your concerted commitment makes the Istituto Gaslini an authentic 'sanctuary for life' and a 'sanctuary for the family', where the professionalism of those who work in every sector goes together with loving attention for each patient.

See Also

scf-lsa.info - STUDII ⁛I CERCETRI FILOLOGICE …scf-lsa.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/SCF-LSA-14-2015...deutschen Zeitschrift Der Spiegel (von 2001 bis 2015) verwendet. Die Auswahl - [PDF Document]

The founder's decision that the president of this foundation should be the Archbishop of Genoa shows his intention that the Christian inspiration of this Institute should never be minimized, and that everything it does may always be guided by the values of the Gospel.

In 1931, when he lay the foundation for this structure, Senator Gaslini looked forward to 'the perennial work for good that should always radiate from this Institute'. To radiate goodness through the loving care of sick children is therefore the primary goal of your hospital.

For this, while I thank all its personnel - managerial, administrative and health care workers - for their professionalism and dedication to service, I hope not only that this excellent pediatric institute may continue to develop in technology, in its treatments and in its services, but also that you may keep widening your horizon with a positive global view of the institute's resources, services and needs, in order to create and reinforce a network of solidarity which is so urgent and necessary today.

And to do all this, without giving any less of that supplement of affection that the little patients need as their first and indispensable therapy, so that in this way, the hospital can become more than ever a place of hope.

At the Gaslini, hope takes the form of treatment and care for patients of pediatric age, who are also being served by health care workers in a continuing education program. Indeed, your hospital - as a recognized scientific institute for research and treatment - is distinguished by being monothematic but polyfunctional, covering practically all the fields in pediatric medicine.

Thus, the hope cultivated here has good foundations. Still, in order to face the future more effectively, it is indispensable that this hope be sustained by a higher vision of life, which allows the scientist, the doctor, the health care worker, their assistants and the children's parents themselves to commit all their capacity, without sparing any effort, to obtain the best results that science and technology can offer in terms of disease prevention and treatment.

And here, we must turn our thought to the silent presence of God, who almost imperceptibly accompanies man on his long journey through history. The only true reliable hope is God, who in Jesus Christ and his Gospel, opened wide the dark doors of time to the future.

"I have risen and now, I am always with you," Jesus tells us always, especially in the most difficult moments. "My hand will sustain you. Wherever you may fall, you will fall into my arms. I am there, even at the door of death."

Here at the Gaslini, children are cured. How can we not think how Jesus loved the little children? He wanted them hear him; he held them up to the Apostles as models to follow in their generous and spontaneous faith, in their innocence. He severely admonished them against despising them or scandalizing the little ones.

He was greatly moved by the widow of Nain, a mother who had lost her son, her only son. The evangelist St. Luke writes that the Lord reassured her and said, "Do not cry!" (cfr Lk 7,14). Jesus repeats to whoever is in pain these comforting words: "Do not cry!" He feels one with each of us, and he asks us, if we want to be his disciples, to testify to his love to whoever is in difficulty.

Finally, I address you, dearest children, to repeat to you that the Pope loves you very much. Beside you, I see your families who share with you your moments of anxiety and hope.

Let all of you be sure of this: God never abandons us. Stay with him and you will never lose serenity, not even in the darkest and most complicated times.

I assure you of remembrance in my prayers and I entrust you to the Most Blessed Mary, who as a mother suffered the pain of her divine Son, but now lives with him in glory.

I thank each of you again for this encounter which will remain impressed in my heart. I bless you all with affection.

Video-cap panels, courtesy of Caterina.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:27

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/18/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13529

MEETING WITH THE YOUTH
AND ANGELUS, PIAZZA MATTEOTTI

The Holy Father was flanked by the previous and present Archbishops of Genoa - Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco.

ADDRESS TO THE YOUTH:
'TO BE YOUNG IS TO BE GOOD AND GENEROUS

This is a translation of the unofficial text posted on the site of the Archdiocese of Genoa, as the Vatican has not yet posted this text. I will compare the texts when the Vatican posts the official version and will then make any necessary changes in the translation.

Dearest young people,

You are the youth of Genoa! I embrace you with the heart of Christ.

I thank the two representatives who acted as your 'spokesmen'. And I thank all of you for your warm presence in such numbers, rich with the enthusiasm that should always characterize your spirit, not only in the years of youth, full of expectations and dreams, but always - even when youth will have passed and you are called on to live other seasons of life.

But yes, I also ask you, always be young! But let me remind you that youth - true youth - is not a question of years, of physical vigor, of brilliant form, of efficiency. In fact, it seems that youth should be synonymous to joy, but it is not always so.

There are, unfortunately, those who are young in age but are old within - who lag behind, even if they may not lack for earthly goods - they lack culture, satisfactory work, relationships and possibilities.

The Gospel tells us of that rich young man who met Christ, who lacked nothing - neither health nor possessions nor possibilities. Nevertheless, the young man felt that he was missing something - he had the intuition that he did not have the most important thing, that 'something' which could truly fill the soul. His was a religious question, born in the depths of his heart, speaking from the depths of his heart.

To be young means to have discovered the things that do not pass away with the passing of the years. If a young person discovers the great and true values, then he will never grow old, even if the body follows its own laws.

Stay young in your heart and you will radiate youth, which is to say, goodness. Yes, because goodness escapes the grip of time. That is why we can say that only he who is good and generous is truly young.

I wish you all to remain young, but not as fashion goes. Fashions fizzle out in a heartbeat, they burn out in frenetic pointless succession. But youth - the youth born of goodness - will remain. Indeed, it will be perfect and resplendent in Heaven, with God.

It is beautiful to be young. Today, everyone wants to be young, to remain young, and many masquerade as young people, even if their youth has gone - visibly gone. But why is it beautiful to be young? Why this dream of perennial youth?

I think there are two decisive elements. One is that youth still has all of the future ahead. Everything is the future - the time of hope. And the future is full of promise, although today, it is also full of threats, especially the threat of great emptiness.

That is why many want to stop time, out of fear for a future of emptiness. They would want to consume all at once everything that is 'beautiful' in life - and so they burn out the candle at both ends even if their life has just begun.

It is important to choose the true promises, those that will open up the future, even if it means renouncing certain things. Whoever chooses God will have, even in old age, a future without an end, and will fear no threats ahead.

So choose well - do not destroy your future. And the first choice should be God, who revealed himself in Jesus Christ. In the light of this choice which offers us a reliable companion on our journey, one can find the criteria for the other choices that one must make.

To be young, as I said, means being good and generous. But once again: the true goodness is Jesus, the Jesus you know or that your heart is searching for. He alone is the friend who will never betray. He was faithful up to giving his life on the Cross. Surrender to his love!

As it says on the T-shirts you prepared for this meeting, 'Loosen up" before Christ. Only he can resolve your anxieties and fears, only he can fulfill your expectations. He has given his life for you. Would he ever betray your trust? Could he ever lead you into wrong paths?

His ways are the ways of life, those that lead to pastures for the soul, even if they lead uphill and may be arduous. And it is the life of the spirit that I invite you to cultivate, dear friends.

Jesus has said: "I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing" (Jn 15,5). Jesus does not speak in circles; he is always clear and direct. Everyone can understand him and take a position.

The life of the spirit is an encounter with him, the concrete face of God. It is silent persevering prayer, it is sacramental life, it is the Gospel meditated, it is spiritual company, it is heartfelt belonging to the Church, to your ecclesial community.

How can one love what one does not know? Knowing impels love, and love stimulates knowing. It is that way, too, with Christ. That is why it is necessary to look deeply into the mystery of Jesus, the truth of his thinking which echoes in the Gospel and in the Magisterium of the Church.

Without substantial formation, how will it be possible for you yo give a reason for your faith to your contemporaries who are themselves often full of questions about life, about themselves, about the Christian faith, about the Church?

How will it be possible to answer questions, there where there seems to be only aridity and desert, addiction to pretentious myths, widespread lies, and cliches of thought?

How can one enter into the heart of decisive questions, today debated without reasoned faith nor reason that has been trained to grasp the truth in values, in order to present them with calm rigor to those who do not have the light of faith?

How to be courageous and joyous missionaries who are also culturally equipped to announce to all that Jesus is the supreme reason of your life, and your youth?

At the end of our encounter, I will have the joy of presenting the Gospel to some of you as a sign of this missionary mandate. Go forth, dearest young people, into the circles of life, in your parishes, in the most difficult neighborhoods, on the streets!

Proclaim Christ the Lord, hope of the world. The more man distances himself from God, his source, the more he will lose himself, human coexistence becomes more difficult, and society falls apart.

Be united among yourselves, help each other to live and grow in the faith and in Christian living, in order to be ardent witnesses for the Lord.

Be united but not closed off. Be humble, but not fearful. Be simple, but not naive. Be thoughtful, but not complicated. Enter into dialog with everyone, but remain yourselves.

Be in communion with your pastors: they are ministers of the Gospel, of the Divine Eucharist, of God's forgiveness. They are, for you, parents and friends, companions along the way. You need them and they - all of us - need you.

Each of you, dear young people, if you remain united with Christ and the Church, can achieve great things. That is the wish that I leave with you today.

To those of you who registered to participate in the World Youth Day in Sydney, I say 'Arrivederci' in Sydney, and I extend this to all, because anyone can follow the event, even from here.

I know that in those days, the dioceses in Italy will be organizing community gatherings for that purpose, so that there may truly be a new Pentecost among the young people of the whole world.

I entrust you to the Virgin Mary, model of willingness and humble courage in welcoming the mission of the Lord. Learn from her to make your life a Yes to God! This way, Jesus will come to dwell in you, and you will bring him with joy to everyone.

With my blessing...

A confetti shower for the Pope.

AT THE ANGELUS:
Mary tells us, 'Trust me!'

Dear brothers and sisters!

At the heart of my pastoral visit to Genoa, we have come to the hour of our habitual Sunday appointment for the Angelus, and my thoughts return naturally to the Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia, where I had the chance to pray today.

Your illustrious townmate, Pope Benedict XVI, often went to that mountain oasis as a pilgrim ,and later had a reproduction of the dear image of the Virgin installed in the Vatican Gardens.

As my venerated predecessor John Paul II did on his first apostolic visit to Genoa, I too wanted to start my pastoral visit by paying homage to the heavenly Mother of God, who watches over the city and all its inhabitants from the height of Mt. Figogna.

Tradition tells us that on her first apparition to Benedetto Pareto, he was uneasy because he did not know what to answer to her request to build a church in that place so remote from the city. And Our Lady said, "Trust me! You will not lack for means. With my help, everything will be easy. As long as you keep your will firm."

"Trust me!" Mary repeats this to us today. An old prayer, quite dear to popular tradition, addresses her with these trustful words which we make ours: "Remember, o Blessed Mary, that never was it heard that anyone who had recourse to your grace, implored your help, asked for your protection, has ever been abandoned."

It is with this certainty that we invoke the maternal assistance of Our Lady of the Watch on your diocesan community, its pastors, its consecrated persons, the lay faithful - young people, families, the aged.

We ask her to watch over especially those who are sick and all who suffer, and to make fruitful the missionary initiatives that are underway to bring the Gospel to everyone.

Together let us entrust to Mary the city, with its variegated population, its social, cultural and economic activities, the problems and challenges of our times, and the commitment of all who are cooperating for the common good.

My thoughts extend to all of Liguria, with its constellation of churches and Marian shrines, like a crown between the mountains and the sea.

Together with you, I thank the Lord for the strong and tenacious faith of past generations who, in the course of centuries, have written memorable pages of sainthood and human civilization.

Liguria, and Genoa, in particular, has always been a land open to the Mediterranean and to the whole world. How many missionaries have departed from this port for the Americas and other distant lands! How many people have emigrated from here to other counries, poor in material resources perhaps, but rich in faith and in human and spiritual values that they have since transplanted to their destinations!

Continue, Mary, Star of the Sea, to shine over Genoa, to guide the ways of the Genoese, especially the new generations, so that they may follow, with your help, the correct route along the often tempestuous sea of life.

After the Angelus prayers, the Holy Father had this special message:

I would like now to call attention to an important event that will begin tomorrow in Dublin: the diplomatic conference on cluster bombs, called for the purpose of producing a Convention that will prohibit these lethal ordnances.

I hope that, thanks to the sense of responsibility of all the participants, they may reach agreement on a strong and credible international instrument. It is, indeed, necessary to remedy the errors of the past and avoid that they be repeated in the future.

My prayers accompany the victims of such cluster bombs, and their families, as well as those who are taking part in the Conference, to whom I extend by best wishes for success.

Once more, I greet you young people and all who are present. Thank You. May you have a good Sunday.

Pope calls for ban on cluster bombs
in Angelus message

GENOA, Italy, May 18 (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on governments to adopt an international convention banning the use of cluster munitions, on the eve of a conference on the issue in Dublin.

The Pope spoke during a visit to the northern Italian city of Genoa, ahead of Monday's opening of a 12-day conference aimed at sealing an international treaty banning their use.

"I hope that thanks to the responsibility of all participants we will get a strong and credible international instrument" to ban the weapons, the Pope said during Angelus prayers in one of the city's squares.

"We have to remedy the errors of the past and avoid their repetition in the future," he added.

The Pope prayed for the victims of cluster munitions and for their families, pointing out that some of those directly affected by the weapons would attend the Dublin conference.

But although envoys from around 100 countries will take part in the negotiations, notable absentees include China, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia and the United States: all major producers and stockpilers.

Cluster munitions are among the weapons that pose the gravest dangers to civilians.

Dropped from planes or fired from artillery, they explode in mid-air, randomly scattering bomblets. Countries are seeking a ban due to the risk of civilians being killed or maimed by their indiscriminate, wide area effect.

They also pose a lasting threat to civilians as many bomblets fail to explode on impact.

The Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions, which concludes on May 30, should hammer out a wide-ranging pact that would completely wipe out the use, production and stockpiling of cluster bombs by its signatories.

Following meetings in Lima, Vienna and Wellington, it will thrash out a definitive agreement, to be signed in Oslo on December 2-3. Signatories would then need to ratify it.

The process, started by Norway in February 2007, has taken the same path as the landmark 1997 Ottawa Treaty ban on anti-personnel landmines: going outside the United Nations to avoid vetoes and seal a swift treaty.

On Wednesday, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross urged countries to take a tough stance at the conference.

"Cluster munitions are weapons that never stop killing," said Jakob Kellenberger, ICRC president, in a statement.

"States should now conclude a treaty that will prohibit inaccurate and unreliable cluster munitions, provide for their clearance and ensure assistance to their victims."

Pope encourages conference
on cluster bomb ban

GENOA, Italy, May 18 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Sunday said he hoped a Dublin conference on cluster bombs will outlaw the deadly weapons by agreeing on a strong international convention.

"I hope that, thanks to the responsibility of all the participants, a strong and credible international instrument can be achieved," he said after his noon prayer during a visit to the northwestern Italian city of Genoa.

Representatives of more than 100 nations gather in Dublin on Monday to finalize an anti-cluster munitions treaty.

Cluster munitions open in mid-air and scatter as many as several hundred "bomblets" over wide areas. They often fail to explode, creating virtual mine fields that can kill or injure anyone who comes across them.

The U.N. Development Program says cluster munitions have caused more than 13,000 confirmed injuries and deaths around the world, the vast majority of them in Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon.

The world's top producers, users and stockpilers of cluster bombs -- the United States, Israel, China, Russia, India and Pakistan -- will skip the conference. But diplomats at the United Nations say Washington is encouraging allies to adopt positions that could lead to a watered-down treaty.

In his comments on cluster bombs, made after an address to young people, the Pope said "it is necessary to correct the errors of the past and avoid that they are repeated in the future." He referred to them as "deadly weapons."

The Pope said he was praying for the victims of cluster bombs and their families as well as for the successful outcome of the Dublin meeting.

Video-capture photos from CTV used above,
courtesy of Benevolens.

Pope looks ahead to World Youth Day

GENOA, May 18 (Reuters) - Pope Benedict XVI has told thousands of youths gathered to greet him in the Italian city of Genoa that he'll see them in Australia for World Youth Day.

The Pope was speaking as confetti rained down on a local piazza, following his visit to a nearby hospital, where he comforted sick children and their families.

"Those of you intending to travel to Australia, I will see you again in Sydney," Benedict said.

At Gaslini hospital, which treats sick children from Italy and abroad, the Pope was greeted by a bald nine-year-old Sicilian boy named Pietro, who said he had been at the hospital for three years.

"Sometimes I am tired of staying here at the hospital," Pietro told the pontiff. He did not specify his illness. "In the name of all the children who need to be cured, I would like to thank you for your visit. I know that you love us. I ask that you pray for us so we can quickly get well."

The Pope grasped Pietro's hands, and presented him with a medal.

Benedict offered words of encouragement to the young patients and their parents, saying that "even in moments of trepidation ... God does not abandon us ever ... not even in the darkest and difficult moments."

The 420-bed hospital was founded by Gerolamo Gaslini in 1931 after the death of his 12-year-old daughter.

Benedict later greeted thousands of young people who gathered in central Piazza Matteotti with a warning about false youth, saying that those who adhere to values "don't ever get old, even if the body adheres to the rules of nature."

"I urge you to be young, not to follow fashion. Fashion burns out in the blink of an eye, in a frenetic and dazed pursuit," the pontiff said.

The pope beamed as multicoloured confetti showered down on the piazza.

Benedict was scheduled to celebrate Mass late Sunday afternoon in another Genoa square.

He arrived in northern Liguria Saturday for his first Italian trip of the year, an overnight visit that took him to a Marian sanctuary.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:32

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/18/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13530

ADDRESS TO THE CATHEDRAL PRIESTS
AND MEMBERS OF CONSECRATED ORDERS,
CATHEDRAL OF SAN LORENZO

Eminences,
Dear members of the Cathedral Chapter,
dear men and women of the religious orders:

In this brief but intense pastoral visit to Genoa, I could not miss a stop at your famous Cathedral dedicated to St. Lawrence, which guards the relics of the Precursor of Jesus, St. John the Baptist.

I am glad to meet the canons of this venerated Metropolitan Chapter and the religious men and women who live and work in the Archdiocese.

This temple, surrounded by so many alleys, seems to be a point of confluence and departure in every direction - as if, from the shadows of those narrow alleyways, men want to emerge into the light of their Cathedral - they wish to emerge into the light of God who welcomes everyone, embraces, illumines and refreshes.

I extend a heartfelt greeting to each of you, with a special greeting to Mons. Mario Grone, President of the Cathedral Chapter, and to Fr. Domenico Rossi, diocesan delegate for the orders of consecrated life, both of whom have spoken on your behalf.

In past centuries, the Church of Genoa has known a rich tradition of sainthood and generous service to the faithful, thanks to the work of zealous priests and religious, both active and contemplative.

The names of many saints and blesesd ones come to mind: Antonio Maria Gianelli, Agostino Roscelli, Tommaso Reggio, Francesco Maria da Camporosso, Caterina Fieschi Adorno, Virginia Centurione Bracelli, Paola Frassinetti, Eugenia Ravasco, Maria Repetto, Benedetta Cambiagio Frassinello.

But even today, despite the difficulties that society is undergoing, the evangelizing passion in your community is quite strong. In particular, the common desire has grown to forge ever more fraternal relationships in order to work together in the missionary activity which is being promoted in the whole archdiocese.

In fact, following the guidelines of the Italian bishops conference, you would be in permanent mission status, to testify to the joy of the Gospel and as an explicit invitation for everyone to encounter Jesus Christ. Here I am among you, dear friends, to encourage you in that direction.

In particular, I wish to indicate as an example the apostle Paul, in honor of whom we are about to celebrate a special jubilee, the bimillenary of his birth. Converted to Christ on the road to Damascus, he dedicated himself entirely to the Gospel. For Christ, he faced trials of every kind, and remained faithful to him up to sacrificing his life.

Nearing the end of his earthly pilgrimage, he wrote his faithful disciple Timothy: "I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith" (2 Tim 4,6-7).

Would that each of us, dear brothers and sisters, may be able to say the same thing on the last day of our life! So that this may happen - and it is what the Lord expects of us, his friends - we must cultivate the same missionary spirit that inspired St. Paul through constant spiritual, ascetic and pastoral formation.

It is necessary, above all, that we become 'specialists' in listening to God, and credible examples of saintliness that translates into faithfulness to the Gospel without yielding to the spirit of the world.

In the words of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, zealous Pastor of this Archdiocese for many decades and now buried in this Cathedral, "Religious life revolves around God and disposes everything around God, thus becoming a testimony to God and a call to God" (Letter to all the active and contemplative religious of the Diocese of Genoa, in the Congress "Worship of the Lord", August 15, 1953).

You, dear members of the Canonical Chapter of this Cathedral, in watching over the liturgical actions that are carried out, must remember that everything in us derives vigor from personal and liturgical prayer.

Again, it was Cardinal Siri who emphasized that "the act that is most venerating and most holy, worthy of every consideration and regard, of every honor and distinction that can be given in the Diocese, is the solemn celebration of the Divine Office - and that is what you do... The entire diocese, and in a certain sense, the entire Church, prays through your lips. The debt of the diocesan family of the faithful is absolved in the eyes of God above all with your prayer" (Towards the Congress on "Worship of the Lord". Pastoral letter to the Canons, January 24, 1953).

Dearest brothers and sisters, particularly you, the consecrated persons, I thank you for your presence. It is an ancient but ever new presence, despite the decrease in numbers and in strength. But be confident: our times are not those of God and his providence.

It is necessary to pray and grow in personal and communitarian saintliness. The Lord provides. I ask you never to consider yourself as though in the twilight of life: Christ our light is the perennial dawn.

I ask you to continue in your work, but above all, with your presence. Any less presence from your communities impoverishes you but also Genoa. The poor, the sick, families and children, our parishes - everyone is a precious field for service and of giving, in order to build up the Church and serve your fellowmen.

Above all, I entrust you with the education of children and youth. You know that the educational challenge is most urgent, because without an authentic education, no man can go far. All of you, in different ways, have experience in educating others. We should help parents in their extraordinarily difficult task of educating their own children. We should help the parishes and the various groups. We should carry on, even with great sacrifice, with Catholic schools, a great treasure for the Christian community and a true resource for the nation.

Dear canons and religious, the long spiritual tradition of Genoa counts with six Popes, of which I remember above all Benedict XVI of venerated memory, the Pope of peace. In Humani generis redemptionem, he wrote: "That which makes the human word capable of being useful to the spirit is the grace of God".

Let us never forget: What is common to all of us is that we are called upon to announce together the joy of Christ and the beauty of his Church. This joy and this beauty, which come from the Spirit, are a gift and a sign of the presence of God in our souls.

To be witnesses and heralds of the message of salvation, we cannot count only on our human energies. It is faithfulness to God that stimulates and conforms our faith in him. For this, let us allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit of truth and love.

This is the invitation that I address to each of you, and that I confirm with a special remembrance in my prayers. I entrust you all to the Madonna della Guardia, to St. Lawrence, to St. John the eh Baptist, adn your holy Protectors. With these feelings, I bless you from the heart.

After the meeting, the Pope spent some minutes in prayer at the tomb of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri.

He then proceeded to the Benedict XV Archdiocesan Major Seminary, where he greeted the seminarians and then had lunch with the bishops of Liguria.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:37

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/18/2008 8:27
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13531

MASS AT PIAZZA DELLA VITTORIA, GENOA

HOMILY AT TRINITY SUNDAY MASS
PIAZZA DELLA VITTORIA

Dear brothers and sisters,

At the end of an intense day spent in this, your city, we find ourselves gathered around the altar to celebrate the Eucharist on the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity.

From this central Piazza della Vittoria, that accommodates us for our concerted act of praise and thanksgiving to God with which my pastoral visit closes, I send my most heartfelt greeting to the entire civilian and ecclesial community of Genoa.

I affectionately greet, in the first place, the Archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, whom I thank for the courtesy with which he has received me and for the touching words that he addressed to me at the start of the Holy Mass.

How can I not next greet Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, my Secretary of State, who was once the Pastor of this ancient and noble Church? To him, my deeply felt thanks for his spiritual closeness and his precious collaboration.

I greet the Auxiliary Bishop, Mons. Luigi Ernesto Palletti, the Bishops of Liguria, and the other prelates.

I turn with deferential thought to the civilian authorities, to whom I am grateful for their welcome and for the active support that they gave to the preparation and execution of this, my apostolic pilgrimage.

In particular, I greet Minister Claudio Scaiola in representation of the new government, which these days has fully assumed its functions in the service of the beloved Italian nation.

I then address with sincere acknowledgment the priests, religious men and women, deacons, committed laymen, seminarians and youth. To all of you, dear brothers and sisters, my affectionate greeting. I extend it to all who could not be present, especially the sick, the persons who live alone and all those who find themselves in difficulty.

I entrust to the Lord the city of Genoa and all its inhabitants in this solemn Eucharistic celebration which, as on every Sunday, invites us to participate as a community in a double repast on the Word of Truth and the Bread of Eternal Life.

We heard, in the first Reading (Ex 34,4g-6.8-9), a Biblical text which presents the revelation of the name of God. It is God himself, the Eternal and the Invisible, who proclaims it, passing before Moses in a cloud, on Mount Sinai.

And his name is: "The Lord, merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and full of grace and fidelity". St. John, in the New Testament, summarizes this expression in one word only: "Love" (cfr 1 Jn,8.14). Even today's Gospel attests to it: "God so loved the world that he gave it his only begotten Son" (Jn 3,16).

Therefore this name expresses clearly that the God of the Bible is not a sort of monad closed in on himself and satisfied at his own self-sufficiency, but rather life that wants to communicate itself, openness, relationship.

Words like 'merciful', 'compassionate', 'rich in grace' all speak to us of relationship, in particular of a vital Being who offers himself, who wants to fill up every gap, every lack, who wants to give and forgive, who wants to establish a stable and lasting bond.

Sacred Scripture knows no other God but the God of the Alliance, who created the world to pour out his love on all creatures (cfr Roman Missal, Euch. Prayer IV) and who chose a people to bind to him with a nuptial pact, in order to make it a blessing for all nations, and thus, form of all mankind a great family (cfr Jn 12,1-3; Ex 19,3-6).

This revelation of God is fully spelled out in the New Testament, thanks to the words of Christ. Jesus has shown us the face of God, one in essence and triune in person: God is Love, Father Love - Son Love - Spirit Love. And it is precisely in the name of this God that the Apostle Paul greets the community of Corinth: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God [the Father], and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you" (2 Cor 13,13). It is a greeting that has become, as you know, a liturgical formula.

There is then, in these Readings, a principal content regarding God, and indeed, today's feast invites us to contemplate him, the Lord: it invites us to climb, in a way, 'up the mountain' as Moses did. This may seem at first glance to take us away from the world and its problems, but in fact, one finds that precisely by knowing God closer, one also receives valuable practical instructions for life: a bit like what happened to Moses, who, climbing up Sinai and staying in the presence of the Lord, received the laws incised on tablets of stone, from which the people would draw guidance for moving ahead, not to turn back into slaves but to grow in freedom. Our story depends on the name of God; our path, on the light from his face.

From this reality of God, that he himself made known to us, revealing his 'name', comes a certain image of man: indeed, the exact concept of person. As we know, such a concept was formed in our Western Culture during the heated debate that developed precisely over the truth about God and, in particular, about Jesus Christ.

If God is a dialogical unity, a substance in relationship, the human creature, made in his image and likeness, mirrors such a constitution: he is however called to realize himself fully in dialog, in conversation, in encounter [with God]. In particular, Jesus has revealed to us that man is essentially a 'child', a creature who lives in relation with God the Father.

Man does not realize himself in absolute autonomy, deluding himself that he is God, but on the contrary, by recognizing himself as a child, an open creature, reaching towards God and to his brothers, in whose faces he finds the image of the Father we have in common.

One sees clearly that this concept of God and man is at the basis of a corresponding model of human community, and therefore of society. It is a model that precedes every normative, juridical, and institutional regulation, but I would also say, before all cultural specifications. A model of the human family that crosses all cultures, that we Christians have been accustomed to express since childhood by saying that all men are children of God, and therefore, brothers.

This is a truth that has been from the beginning behind us, and at the same time, always before us, as a model which every social construction reaches for.

It is a concept that is based on the idea of the Trinitarian God, of man as a person, not a mere individual, and of society as community, not mere collectivity.

The Magisterium of the Church that has developed starting from this vision of God and man is very rich indeed. It suffices to go over the most important chapters of the Social Doctrine of the Church, to which my venerated predecessors have brought substantial contributions, particularly in the last 120 years, making themselves authoritative interpreters and guides to social movements of Christian inspiration.

The conciliar constitution Gaudium et spes and the Encyclicals of John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II spell out a complete and detailed design, capable of motivating and orienting the commitment to human promotion and to social and political service by Catholics.

Even my first Encyclical Deus caritas est follows this line: in fact, it re-proposes the exercise of concrete charity on the part of the Church, starting from faith in God Love, incarnated in Jesus Christ.

It comes spontaneously to recall here the National Church Convention in Verona [in October 2006] in which I participated, proposing ample reflection that was fully responded to by the subsequent Pastoral Note of the Italian bishops entitled "Regenerated by living hope", proof of God's great Yes to man. (29.VI.2007).

I am glad to underscore how two fundamental choices, indicated by the bishops at the start of this document, accord with what the Word of God has just suggested to us.

Above all, the choice of 'the primacy of God': the whole life and work of the Church depends on placing God in first place, but not a generic God - rather, the Lord with his name and his face, the God of the Alliance who led his people out of slavery in Egypt, who resurrected Christ from the dead, and wants to lead mankind to freedom in peace and justice.

The other choice was to place the person and the unity of his existence in the center, in the various ways in which he lives it: emotional life, work and holidays, his own fragility, tradition, citizenship.

God the one and triune. and the person in relationships: these are the two references that the Church has the task to offer every human generation as a service to building a free and fraternal society.

The Church certainly does so with its doctrine, but above all, through testimony, which not for nothing is the third fundamental choice by the Italian bishops: personal and communitarian testimony, in which spiritual life, pastoral mission and cultural dimension converge.

In a society caught between globalization and individualism, the Church is called on to offer the testimony of koinonia, communion. This reality does not come 'from below' but is a mystery which has, so to speak, 'its roots in heaven': precisely in the one and triune God.

It is he himself, the eternal dialog of love which communicates itself to us in Jesus Christ, who has entered the fabric of humanity and history in order to lead men to fullness.

Here then is the great synthesis of the Second Vatican Council: the Church, mystery of communion, "is in Christ like a Sacrament, that is, as sign and instrument of intimate union with God and the oneness of the entire human species" (Const. Lumen gentium, 1).

Even here, in this great city, and in its surrounding territory, with its variety of human and social problems, the ecclesial community, today like yesterday, is first of all a sign, poor but true, of God Love, whose name is imprinted in the profound being of every person and in every experience of authentic sociability and solidarity.

After these reflections, dear brothers, I leave you with some specific exhortations. Pay great attention to spiritual and catechistic formation, as a 'substantial' formation, more than ever necessary to live the Christian calling well in today's world.

I say these to adults and the young: cultivate a well-thought faith, capable of dialog in depth with everyone, with our non-Catholic brothers, with non-Christians and with non-believers. Continue your generous sharing with the poor and the weak, according to the original practice of the Church, always drawing inspiration and strength from the Eucharist, perennial spring of charity.

I encourage with special affection the seminarians and the young people committed to the vocational path: do not be afraid, rather, feel the attraction of definite choices, of a serious and demanding formative itinerary. Only the high standard of discipleship can fascinate and bring joy.

I exhort everyone to grow in the missionary dimension, which is co-essential to communion. The Trinity is in fact both unity and mission at the same time: the more intense love is, the stronger is the impulse to pour oneself out, to expand, to communicate.

Church of Genoa, be united in the mission to announce to all the joy of the faith and the beauty of being the Family of God. My thought extends to the entire city, to all Genoese and all who live and work in this territory.

Dear friends, look at the future with confidence and seek to work together, avoiding factionality and favoritism, placing the common good before all special interests.

I wish to conclude with a hope that I take from the wonderful prayer of Moses, which we heard in the first Reading today: May the Lord always walk in your midst and receive you as his own (cfr Ex 34,9).

May this be obtained for you by the intercession of the Most Blessed Mary, whom the Genoese, at home and throughout the world, invoke as the Madonna della Guardia. With her help and that of the patron saints of your beloved city and region, may your faith and your works always be in praise and glory of the Most Holy Trinity.

Following the example of the saints of your land, be a missionary community, listening to God. and in the service of men! Amen.

Yahoo's newsphoto service has been slow to post photos from the Mass....But I have picked up most of the photos captured from CTV by Gregor Kollmorgen at
thenewliturgicalmovement.blogspot.com/
which give a clear idea of the physical layout for the Mass. Those who watched the telecast will remember what a stunning backdrop the formal gardens made for the Mass.

Gregor informs us that the Mass vestments were executed by a Genoese firm used by Cardinal Bagnasco. Interesting use of a modified Gothic-style chasuble (like the Novus Ordo one, but shorter and less copious), with the Holy Father wearing the dalmatic and stole underneath in the traditional manner. The deacons and other Mass servers all wore traditional-style dalmatics.

BULLETIN:
POPE BACK IN ROME
DEO GRATIAS!

ROME, May 18 (AGR) - Benedict XVI is back in Rome after a visit to Liguria that lasted for 28 hours.

The Holy Father and his party arrived at Rome's Ciampino military airport on an Airbus A-319 of Italy's Military Aeronautics Corps from Genoa.

The Pope left Rome at 3:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon for Liguria, northwestern Italy, where he visited the port city of Savona for a few hours, then spent the night at the bishops' residence at the Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia outside Genoa.

He left Genoa after celebrating an afternoon Mass for more than 100,000 people at the city's Piazza della Vittoria.

P.S. I have now posted translations of all the Papal texts during his visit to Savona and Genoa on this thread - in the order in which they wre delivered. I will also re-post them in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES, and in AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS TEXTS.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:42

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/19/2008
benefan
Post: 3121

On Genoa visit,
Pope visits sick children,
warns young people
not to fall prey to passing fads
The Associated Press
Sunday, May 18, 2008

GENOA, Italy: Pope Benedict XVI grasped the hands of a sick boy who asked the pontiff for healing prayers at a pediatric hospital and warned thousands of youths gathered in a Genoa piazza against falling prey to passing fads as he visited the northern port city on Sunday.

At Gaslini hospital, which treats sick children from Italy and abroad, the Pope was greeted by a bald 9-year-old Sicilian boy named Pietro, who said he had been at the hospital for three years.

"Sometimes I am tired of staying here at the hospital," Pietro told the Pontiff. He did not specify his illness. "In the name of all the children who need to be cured, I would like to thank you for your visit. I know that you love us. I ask that you pray for us so we can quickly get well."

The Pope grasped Pietro's hands, and presented him with a medal.

Benedict offered words of encouragement to the young patients and their parents, saying that "even in moments of trepidation ... God does not abandon us ever ... not even in the darkest and difficult moments."

The 420-bed hospital was founded by Gerolamo Gaslini in 1931 after the death of his 12-year-old daughter.

Benedict later greeted thousands of young people who gathered in central Piazza Matteotti with a warning about false youth, saying that those who adhere to values "don't ever get old, even if the body adheres to the rules of nature."

"I urge you to be young, not to follow fashion. Fashion burns out in the blink of an eye, in a frenetic and dazed pursuit," the pontiff said.

The Pope beamed as multicolored confetti showered down on the piazza.

Benedict reminded the young people of his trip to Australia in July for the Catholic Church's World Youth Day celebrations.

Benedict later celebrated an open-air Mass for some 35,000 followers in Piazza della Vittoria. After traveling through the city waving to admirers from his popemobile, he arrived in the square just as a storm let up and sunbeams lit up the square.

He arrived in northern Liguria Saturday for his first Italian trip of the year, an overnight visit that took him to two Marian sanctuaries.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:46

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/19/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13535

I have now posted translations of all the Papal texts during his visit to Savona and Genoa on this thread (this page and preceding page) - in the order in which they were delivered. I will also re-post them in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES, and in AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS TEXTS.

In a little over than 24 hours, the Holy Father has given us a number of papal texts that are as unforgettable as the texts he delivered in the United States, and I cannot say enough what a privilege I find it to translate them into English because it gives me a deeper

appreciation and global comprehension of his words.

His address to the young people was superlative, nad it always amazes me how he always manages to frame his challenge to the youth in a fresh perspective. Indeed, as a homilist and communicator, he himself illustrates what he always likes to say about the truths of the faith: 'ancient but ever new'.

He manages all the time to remind us of these ancient truths in ever-new ways, in both words and gestures. Like a kaleidoscope that uses the same basic bits all the time but always in infinitely new and ever-wondrous ways.

======================================================================

P.S. There is quite a wealth of good news reports, commentary and anecdotes in the Ligurian press about the Pope's visit, which I hope to be able to translate and post eventually in the PAPAL VISITS IN ITALY thread...I will try to translate the excellent or exceptional items ASAP and post them on this thread.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:48

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/19/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13549

L'Osservatore Romano's issue for tomorrow,
5/20/08, carries a full account of the Pope's
pastoral visit to Savona and Genoa, including
the texts of all his addresses, as well as the
remarks of the various prelates and
representatives who paid homage to him at
the start of each event.

The pictures are lifted and enlarged from the
OR's daily online summary of its most important
stories.

Here is the lead article which consists
of two parts - a brief overview of the trip,
and an editorial by Giovanni Maria Vian.

THE POPE IN SAVONA AND GENOA:
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF
PIUS VII AND BENEDICT XV
'The essence of Christianity is love'
Translated from
the 5/20/08 issue of

Confetti shower for the Pope at the meeting with the youth of Genoa.

The primacy of God and the centrality of the person: these are the coordinates for a 'model of the human
family that crosses all civilizations', that precedes all juridical regulations and is based on dialog,
freedom and peace.

In the two days of Benedict XVI's visit to Liguria, he has re-proposed the realism of a design for
'social construction' which, between globalization and individualism, chooses a view of man as a person and
society as an open and fraternal community.

If the Savona stage of the Ligurian trip was under the emblem of remembering Pius VII, the visit
to Genoa was above all in the footsteps of Benedict XV.

The appeal for peace, the attention to the centrality of God, the search for the common good, were
the dominant themes in the discourses delivered by the Pontiff on these two intense days.

The miraculous image of the Madonna of Mercy was on the altar
for the Pope's mass in Savona.

The first stop was Savona, where the Pope entrusted to the Madonna of Mercy the expectations and hopes
of this land. Welcomed by Bishop Vittorio Lupi, he reaffirmed the 'acknowledgment by the Holy See
and the entire Church for the faith, the love and the courage' of the Savonese in their support for Pius VII
while he was a prisoner of Napoleon.

In the Piazza del Popolo of Savona, he embraced the past and future of the diocese ideally, inviting the
faithful to have courage in facing without compromises materialism, relativism and secularism.

Welcomed by Cardinal Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, the Pope began Sunday in Genoa with a prayer before
the Madonna della Guardia.

The Holy Father with a cancer patient at the Gaslini.

From the Marian shrine to the pediatric hospital born in 1937 from the generosity of Gerolamo Gaslini,
who dedicated it to his daughter Giannina who had died when she was only 12.

Then, in Piazza Matteotti, Benedict met the young people of the diocese.

An encounter dense with meaning, during which the Pope pointed out that true youth is not measured
in years or by physical vigor, but by the generosity of heart and the capacity to place Christ at the
center of one's life.

At the end of the encounter, the Pope led the recitation of the Angelus, then launched an appeal
for a complete ban on cluster bombs, the subject of an international diplomatic conference which starts
in Dublin today.

His meeting with the canonical chapter and representatives of orders for consecrated life at the Cathedral
of San Lorenzo was also a homage to the memory of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, who was Archbishop of Genoa
for over 40 years, and to Benedict XV, the Pope of peace.

At the archdiocesan seminary, the Pope met seminarians as well as the bishops of Liguria.

The afternoon Eucharistic concelebration at Genoa's Piazza della Vittoria, before at least 100,000
faithful, was the concluding moment of the visit.

Benedict XVI entrusted to the Church of Genoa the task of offering the testimony of communion that
does not come 'from the bottom' but which has its roots in God's love.

The name of God
and the story of man
Editorial
Translated from
the 5/20/08 issue of

Benedict XVI's visit to the Church of Liguria was exemplary. Exemplary because in its concentration on the essential which is characteristic of this Bishop of Rome, he showed the pastor's face of the Successor of Peter.

In a trip that was brief, but in which he was able to express and demonstrate strongly, on the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the 'essence of Christianity'.

This, the Pope said in Savona, is summarized in the name of God: "Mercy, which is synonymous to love, to grace". And this name, 'so ancient and always new', is not a distant attraction: On the contrary, Benedict XVI reiterated in Genoa, "our history depends on the name of God".

These were not words cast to the wind, but a teaching - drawn from those of Jesus who, precisely, as the Pope pointed out, 'did not speak in circles' (circumlocutions). So the Pope wished to sow this teaching with confidence and friendship in the hearts of those who wish to listen.

As it was, above all, in his encounter with the young people, a true and proper meditation on the meaning of the future and the importance of God, reflections which were not hindered by insistent rain, a metaphor for that which waters 'the aridity of our spirits'.

In this, his most recent trip in the country of which he is the Primate, Benedict XVI wished to visit two cities specially linked to Rome and to its bishops, both cities rooted in devotion to Mary, who 'never speaks of herself, but always of God".

In this interweaving of symbols, wished to highlight the example of two of his great predecessors - Benedict XV and Pius VII - who, each in his own way, confronted the powers of the world.

The first one, Pope of peace during the First World War, and the second, with the courage with which he resisted the Napoleonic tempest, 'a dark page in the history of Europe'. teach us to resist the challenges of this world: materialism, relativism, secularism - without ever yielding to compromises".

Looking at the vital and open transmission of the Christian faith, that is, to tradition, has allowed the Pope to unite the past experiences of the Ligurian Church with relevant historical figures like the two Della Rovere Popes, Sixtus IV and Julius II, as well as examples of Christian testimony such us the saints he recalled at San Lorenzo Cathedral, to present figures, synthesized by the three cardinal archbishops of Genoa who Benedict XVI expressly recalled for their service to their community and to teh universal Church.: From Giuseppe Siri to Tarcisio Bertone, now Secretary of State, to Angelo Bagnasco, who heads the Italian bishops conference.

In the uninterrupted continuity between past and present, the path of the Church looks to the future, sure of the promises of Jesus: "Whoever chooses God will have, even in old age, a future without end and without threats ahead."

For the Christian, to choose God means to take the daily decisions one must make: prayer -'above all, a simple style of domestic prayer'; rediscovering the Christian roots of Sunday, confession, works of charity which see the face of Christ in suffering and excluded persons, the testimony of priests who should go forth 'in search of persons' as the Lord did, a spiritual life that must be cultivated, a formation 'of substance' that is more than ever necessary to mature 'a well-thought faith capable of dialog in depth with everyone' - non-Catholics, non-Christians and non-believers.

These choices of everyday always bring with them 'the courage to go against current' - certain that God, even amid our difficulties and pain, 'never abandons us'.

Such confidence that shines before the world is testimony to the primacy of God and of the presence of his name in the history of man.

=====================================================================

The young people's confetti shower for the Pope.
[Photo from Il Secolo XIX]

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:58

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/20/2008
benefan
Post: 3122

In Genoa, Pope fights
for the soul of Italy
and all of Europe
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
May 19, 2008

GENOA, Italy (CNS) -- At first glance, Pope Benedict XVI's two-day visit to the northern Italian city of Genoa seemed designed to highlight the ascendancy of the region's prelates in his pontificate.

The Pope chose Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the former archbishop of Genoa, as his Secretary of State. He named the new head of the archdiocese, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian bishops' conference. And the archdiocese's liturgist, Msgr. Guido Marini, is now the master of papal liturgical ceremonies at the Vatican.

But for all the local pride it evoked, the Pope's May 17-18 visit had broader implications and a deeper purpose. Despite its strong Catholic traditions, Genoa has become a new front in the Church's battle to maintain its social and political influence.

It's a struggle being played out not only in Italy, but throughout the European continent, where secular culture has drifted away from Christian foundations. Indeed, Church leaders sometimes describe this as a battle for Europe's soul.

In Genoa, these tensions have found an unlikely focus in the figure of Cardinal Bagnasco, a soft-spoken man who has defended church teaching on a number of controversial social issues, including gay marriage and cohabitation.

That prompted criticism and even death threats, and the cardinal now travels under armed escort provided by the state.

Pope Benedict's trip to Genoa and the nearby city of Savona was, therefore, an important opportunity to defend the Church's voice in the moral and ethical affairs of society.

The Pope did so not with theoretical arguments about Church-State relations, but by highlighting the Church's real efforts to help real people.

One of his most moving encounters was his visit May 18 to the Giannina Gaslini Institute in Genoa, the biggest children's hospital in northern Italy. He blessed children in wheelchairs, listened to a 10-year-old cancer patient's eloquent greeting and smiled in appreciation of their gift -- a large portrait of the Pontiff.

The Church does not own or manage the hospital, but it helps fund it and has a permanent voice in its administration. That kind of cooperative arrangement, the Pope said, reflects Genoa's historic reputation as a "city of Christian charity."

The Pope's next event was a meeting with thousands of enthusiastic young people, who stood under pouring rain to cheer him in central Genoa.

The Pope said being young was beautiful, but he warned about a culture that tries to hold on to youth at any cost.

"Today everyone wants to be young and remain young, and they mask themselves as young even if the time of youth is past -- visibly past," he said.

One reason, he said, is that a culture moving away from faith leaves a great emptiness in the hearts of men and women, and many of them want to "stop time" because they fear a meaningless future.

The Pope emphasized that a key demand of the Christian faith is to move the focus from oneself to others and make time for the poor and needy.

The Pope's talk was thought-provoking, but the impact of the encounter went beyond words: For one morning, Genoa's young Catholic activists ruled the city's historic square, and the future of the Church was clearly visible in their faces.

A few minutes later, the Pontiff was immersed in a far older crowd of men and women religious in the city's cathedral, where he underlined their historic service in education and in helping the poor, the sick, families and children.

The Pope said they should not be overly discouraged by the declining numbers of religious. He made a similar point in Savona the day before, saying, "Priestly ministry cannot be measured in numbers and statistics -- the results we will know only in heaven."

The Pope's heartening words were appreciated in a region where priests were once a common presence in factories and other places of social life, but where vocations have dwindled and anti-clerical pressures have grown.

Even as the Pope was arriving in the area, about 1,000 "Lay Pride" demonstrators marched in Genoa to protest what they said was unwarranted clerical and Vatican influence in Italian political life. A few "No Pope" slogans were painted on walls throughout the city.

A more respectful and carefully worded challenge came from Genoa's leftist mayor, Marta Vincenzi, who said the church, like other institutions, should have a "strong and authoritative voice" in political affairs. But she cautioned against a confusion of roles and said it was important not to "transform ethics into an area of political battle."

The mayor quoted two points made by the 20th-century German [Protestant] theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer: that ethics are not something that can be predetermined by principles, and that the proper mission of the lay faithful is to help shape society while respecting the competence and responsibility of others.

Much of the controversy over the Church's role in Italy has focused on questions like abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage, issues that the Pope did not address directly during his visit.

Instead, at a closing Mass in central Genoa, he talked about the concept of God that lies at the foundation of human society. The human being "does not realize himself in an absolute autonomy" but in relation to God, he said, and this relationship gives meaning to the various human institutions.

He said it is this vision of God that inspires the Church's social doctrine and its concrete acts of charity. This is how the Church serves society, he said -- through teaching, but above all through the witness of its faith.

The Pope's words echoed his comments at his opening liturgy the day before in Savona, a seaport on the Ligurian coast, where he cited the Christian duty to perform works of charity.

The Pope appealed on behalf of prisoners in the region, and he also spoke about one famous detainee of the past: Pope Pius VII, who was imprisoned in Savona for three years by Napoleon.

This "obscure page of European history" holds lessons for today, the Pope said.

"It teaches us courage in facing the challenges of the world: materialism, relativism, secularism, without ever giving in to compromise, prepared to pay personally to remain faithful to the Lord and his Church," he said.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 08:59

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

RESERVED FOR SOME TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ITALIAN PAPERS TODAY

======================================================================

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 09:04

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

5/20/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13562

THE BENEDICT EFFECT:
A newsman finds himself
being one of the 'Papaboys'
in Genoa's Piazza Matteotti
By Federico Casabella

Whoever experienced it could never forget it. Whoever was there will always remember just who was standing next to him, the persons you lived it with.

And I am convinced that even the main player in that morning of 'shivers-down-the-spine' will always keep the fascination of that piazza in his mind and heart.

Because thousands of young people who scream in delight, sing, jump about, and look at life with a smile and grin - but with serious intentions - is not an everyday event.

I wasn't going to cover a rock concert nor a much-followed football final. Much less did I think I was going to a dscothequeor a 'rave' party so dear to many young people today.

On Sunday morning, I was a newsman properly dressed in suit and tie to cover a papal event that I was assigned to report for this newspaper. But the moment I arrived in Piazza Matteotti, all protocol just vanished into thin air. And in just a few minutes, I found myself back to being a 'Papaboy' [the Italian term for the legions of young Catholics who have rallied to the Church starting with John Paul II's first World Youth Day events more than two decades ago.]

Because, for a believer, it was impossible

to get involved. Not so much perhaps by the Pope and his words - which were very moving and invite much reflection - but by the serene and joyous faces of those 5000 young people who packed the piazza. And, I assure you, that place was packed, not just with warm bodies, but overflowing with the spirit of these young people.

I arrived early because I wanted to cover this happening in full. The Pope was expected to arrive at 11 a.m., but I was there at 8:30. And already, there were hundreds there - backpacks and raincoats over T-shirts and jeans - along with Scouts in uniform and quite a few religious.

After someone led them in Lauds, what followed was a session of 'disco-church' - singing and dancing and fun even on a Sunday morning, at a time when they would normally still be home, sleeping off their habitual partying of Saturday night.

But here they were, singing Church songs - many of them, those we are accustomed to hear in our own parish churches - but this time in random rhythms: a bit rock, sometimes disco-style, sometimes even rap-like.

In any case, with unbridled enthusiasm. Not for Vasco Rossi or Bruce Springsteen, not for their football heroes, but simply to see and hear Joseph Ratzinger, all of 81 years old. Not an athlete, not a showman, certainly not Big Brother! That is why it was all the more fascinating and indescribably touching.

And the piazza started filling up fast. From Sampierdarena [a suburb in Genoa's industrial zone], a delegation of 200 arrived in a neat parade, having assembled in their parish church and then marched together four kilometers to get here.

And many such similar delegations from all parts of metropolitan Genoa. But neither newspapers or TV ever report on such gatherings, having focused all their attention - beyond measure - in the preceding weeks on the Gay Pride anti-Pope protest, which ended up having just around 300 participants on Saturday [swelled more than double by the media and curious hangers-on during their resounding 'flop' of a protest].

But the young people of 'Sampie' were, of course, like a drop in the ocean. An ocean of scarves, flaglets, streamers which everyone started waving frantically the moment the Popemobile came in sight as it approached the piazza.

It was such an exultant moment that I wanted to take off my tie and jacket and simply join the Papaboys completely, celebrating like they all were. But I did join them fully in spirit, even from my restricted position in the area intended for the media. Notwithstanding my media colleagues, I could not help joining the singing and the clapping and the general merrymaking once the Pope arrived.

I did not realize how infectious the spirit was, even to non-believers. Beside me was a colleague from another newspaper - a non-observant Catholic who has often written against the Church hierarchy, including the Pope. But I was astounded to see him moved to tears by such genuine enthusiasm. Just recalling his reaction brings tears to my own eyes. Such touching moments rarely happen, and they cannot be forgotten.

As touching as the words that the Holy Father addressed to his 'dear young friends', as he spoke of their dreams of a future that seems full of uncertainties, and how to face life and stay young by being good and generous in Christ...

Excuse the presumption, but whoever was there in Piazza Matteotti who had any doubts about going forward to meet life's challenges, must surely have moved at least one step forward ...

One simply had to look at their serene and joyful faces - and draw a contrast with the angry, unhappy and hate-spewing persons who marched the day before in Genoa.

Il Giornale (Genova), 20 maggio 2008

======================================================================

Normally, I would have posted this in POPE-POURRI, but the fact that such a report now appears in the Italian MSM is news in itself. As though the undeniable 'Benedict effect' on the media and the general public in the United States last month was the green light that Italian journalists needed to speak openly and acknowledge the Benedict phenomenon, no longer limiting themselves simply to citing attendance figures at the Vatican.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 09:17

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

POPE-POURRI
5/20/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13550

The sommelier served OJ
to his illustrious guest,
but everyone else enjoyed
the Ligurian wines
By Patrizia Albanese

May 19, 2008

The mountaintop shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia.

"Excuse me for being late."

Before greeting those who were to serve him dinner, the Pope apologized for being late. To general amazement!

True, dinner had been ready as scheduled at 9 p.m., in the third-floor dining room at the bishop's quarters in the Shrine of the Madonna della Guardia. And now it is half an hour later. But everyone knew the Pope had come in late from Savona because of the fog.

A winterlike fog had enveloped the shrine at the peak of Mt. Fignano in a thick shroud that kept the Pope from arriving there by helicopter as planned.

Instead, his helicopter from Savona had to land in the port of Genoa, and from there, he had to take a car from the city to the tortuous road that winds up the the top of the 2200-foot mountain.

The dinner for the Pope - Ligurian dishes, but strictly without garlic, which the Pope does not tolerate - was prepared by the faithful ladies who keep house for Mons. Marco Granata at the Shrine, but was served by a chosen corps of waiters from the area's finest restaurants, and a sommelier par excellence.

The privileged persons who waited on the Pope: Moreno Babbini, owner and sommelier of 'Il genovino'restaurant; Alex Molinari, owner of 'Lord Nelson' pub in Chiavari; Marina Bertolino, maitresse d'hote of the Antica Osteria della Castagna; and Giovanni Losio, son of the owner of Bruxaboschi. Then there were Marco Gardella and Valeria Isola, children of the owners of La Pineta, who were tapped to prepare breakfast for the Pope the next day.

To say that all of them were very emotional about the experience is, of course, expected. But it is absolutely the case, says Moreno Babbini. Who, betraying his metier as a sommelier, had the privilege of pouring orange juice into the only goblet placed before the Holy Fahter.

Who showed his appreciation, saying, "Ah, so you know my weaknesses!"

And that was all he drank, says Alex Molinari, who owns a pub as well as a restaurant.

Supper itself was 'very frugal'.

"It lasted about an hour, and at around 10:30, His Holiness retired for the evening."

Babbini commented, "He liked the raviolini in broth. He tasted the risotto with asparagus. He also tried the cima [a Genoese recipe for veal stuffed with minced veal, spinach, cheese, pistachioes, and onions], but he only ate the stuffing from two slices. He tasted all the desserts, though, and admired the cake sculpture prepared by Poldo."

Eleven others ate with the Pope - Cardinal Bertone seated to his left and Cardinal Bagnasco to his right. And they all appreciated the Ligurian wines, Babbino says, including Vermentino doc of Valpolcevera, Rossese doc of Docleacqua, and Schacchetra from the Cinqueterre.

Moreno Babbini was justly proud: " Mons. Georg, the Pope's secretary, was a great 'customer'. He wanted to know about all the three labels served, and it was clear he appreciated them all. And so did the cardinals!"

He noted that both cardinals were so engrossed in talking to the Pope that 'they were rather slow to eat."

'The atmosphere was most pleasant," the sommelier says. "Everything went very well indeed."

=====================================================================

THE POPE AT THE SHRINE
OF THE VIRGIN OF LA GUARDIA

The following day, hundreds of pilgrims unexpectedly turned up at the Shrine of La Guardia to greet the Pope.

The Pope began his day with private prayers before the image of the Virgin, after which he offered
the papal Golden Rose on her altar in homage and devotion.

He then proceded to the city for a full day of events.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 09:20

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

POPE-POURRI
5/20/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13561

A German shepherd for Italy
By John Thavis

GENOA, Italy, May 18 (CNS) — When Pope Benedict XVI was elected, many Italians figured the German Pope might pay less attention to them than his predecessor.

Pope John Paul II, a Pole, made it a point to reach out pastorally to Italians in Rome and beyond, crisscrossing the country on more than 120 visits [in a quarteer century]. But John Paul was younger, and as the first non-Italian pope in more than 450 years, he had an extra reason to remind Italians of his affection and interest.

Benedict, it turns out, has been no less attentive to his adopted country. Already he’s made pastoral visits to 11 Italian cities, and more are on his calendar.

These are not cameo appearances, either. In Genoa and Savona over the weekend, he presided over seven major events and delivered six talks, spending more than 12 hours with the faithful.

The venues in Genoa were packed, but of course not everyone shows up at the Masses and other encounters. Italians are divided over the role of the church and the voice of the pope in social affairs. I think one reason is that he’s a constant presence in the culture. It’s much different to host the Pope for a five-day visit, as the United States did in April. Italians have him every day.

The Italians who crowded the streets in Genoa seemed to welcome the German Pope as one of their own. For the people I spoke with, his being German was a total non-issue.

The Pope knows Italy, having lived in the country for nearly 30 years. He also knows how to hit the right notes when he travels here, tapping into local history and tradition to make his larger points.

His first stop in Liguria was at the popular 16th-century shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, where he placed the offering of a gilt rose.

Standing near the historic port of Genoa this afternoon, he described the string of coastal churches and Marian sanctuaries positioned like a “crown between the mountains and the sea.”

The Pope commemorated the many missionaries who left Genoa for the New World. But he also recalled the ordinary emigrants, materially poor but rich in faith and spiritual values, which they transplanted to the Americas. In a sense, he recognized that they were missionaries, too.

=====================================================================

Andrea Tornielli posted this picture in a stamp-size format on his blog today -
he was commenting on the Pope's lovely and touching reflections on youth in his
speech to the young people of Genoa -but gave no information except that it was
obviously taken in Genoa. I can't blow it up farther because the original was
so small.

In the preparatory stories I read about the trip to Liguria, I don't remember
seeing one that mentioned his previous trips to the area - and he could not
have failed to visit one of Italy's most important and historic cities all these years.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 09:23

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

POPE-POURRI
5/21/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13564

More stories just now 'discovering' Benedict's appeal to the young (and imagine how much more stunned they would be if they had any idea of the Benaddiction he inspires in the not-so-young! Perhaps it will take them another three years to get it!)

Benedict and his children:
An instant bonding
By ANTONIO GIORGI
Translated from

GENOA - Even before he speaks, the Holy Father communicates to young people with his eyes. At length and intensely. With the indulgent affection of a father, the smile of someone well-pleased with his children.

Joseph Ratzinger's young people are transfixed and enchanted by his smile which is evident in amplified form on the maxi-screens - and they forget about the rain, they sing and cheer, they wave their banners, flags and streamers proudly - representing parishes, associations, movements.

They let loose a rain of confetti to celebrate, but they are not mere bits of colored paper. Each carries a wish, a desire, a prayer intention.

Indeed, it seems as though the spiritual bond between the Pope and these young people is established right away.

"And we had thought he was someone a bit distant," comments someone who is clearly happy to be proven wrong.

4,500 passes had been distributed for this meeting with the Pope at Piazza Matteotti, with a white stage erected in front of the Palazzo Ducale, in the heart of a Genoa which has faced an aging population and empty cribs in the past several years.

But the Pope goes straight to the heart of the matter. "You are the youth of Genoa. And may you always remain young!" were his first words to them.

The piazza erupts in a stupendous ovation, and from that point on, the rapport with the man who is addressing them almost visibly consolidates to perfection.

Their representatives had spoken earlier - Paolo Costa and Simonetta Saveri - telling the Holy Father about the 'mission of the youth to the youth' that has been launched in many parts of the diocese, "so that we may be the first ones to announce the good news of the Risen Lord to our contemporaries".

And the Pope in turn invites them to "be united but not closed off, humble but not fearful, simple but not naive, thoughtful but not complicated" in the task of serving others, working for the betterment of the city and the community.

Even as he reminds them that to be young is to be good and generous following the way of Christ.

And they caught on.

"He tells us how to face the routine of existence with faith and joy," says Lea di Vito.

"He lets us know that on our own, we will get nowhere," says Marco Lanza, a young catechist. "He makes us understand we have a duty to society while keeping clear and firm what we believe as Christians."

Luca Bianchi, who was with a group that had walked all the way to the city center from their suburban parish, said his first reaction was great surprise. At what?

'At his youthfulness! How youthful he looks, and and so is his message. Almost as if he for today, at least, he feels as young as young as we are."

Luca Mazzolini, who is a city councilor though he is only in his early 20s, said, "Today has been a great experience of the Church and for the Church. I am so proud Genoa has responded so well, despite the bad weather."

Yes, observed someone else. "More rains today than yesterday - but look, how many, many more we are compared to those who marched against the Pope yesterday!"

Papa Ratzinger closed the encounter by giving the Gospel to some of the young people as a token of the missionary mandate he had given them, exchanging embraces with them that they will remember all their lives.

And to all he said, "Arrivederci in Sydney", saying that even those would not be there would be able to follow the events even from home.

Avvenire, 20 maggio 2008

Goodbye, protocol!
Benedict hugs, and lets himself be hugged

You would think it had never happened before!

The first one to let herself go, forgetting protocol, was a young girl, called to the stage along with others to greet the Pope before undertaking to be 'missionaries of peace'.

Benedict XVI appeared to say something to her, shook her hand and then handed her a small book (the Gospel). She hesitated an instant, then decided to hug him close, as one would do with a beloved grandfather.

And everyone else in line followed suit. Nor did he draw back at all. He returned all their hugs with obvious warmth. It was clear that anyone who thought John Paul II had a monopoly on easy familiarity with the young knows better now.

Nor did Benedict forget to refer to his beloved predecessor, speaking to the crowd. Who responded with their usual resounding ovation for the Pope who gave them World Youth Day and a rebirth of Christian inspiration.

Afterwards, many recalled the Benedict's closing words, almost like a new set of commandments:

Go forth, dearest young people, into the circles of life, in your parishes, in the most difficult neighborhoods, on the streets!

Proclaim Christ the Lord, hope of the world....

Be united among yourselves, help each other to live and grow in the faith and in Christian living..

Be united but not closed off. Be humble, but not fearful. Be simple, but not naive. Be thoughtful, but not complicated. Enter into dialog with everyone, but remain yourselves.

He left them singing and cheering, still oblivious of the rain....

The item has no byline - but where was the writer during WYD in Cologne, the youth rally in John Paul's own Cracow, Pacaembu Stadium and Facenda Speranca in Brazil, the mega-Agora in Loreto last September, even the small rally in Vienna's St. Stephen Plaza, and then the rally in Yonkers, not to mention all the diocesan gatherings of the youth at St. Peter's Square these past three years?

P.S. It just occurred to me: Was there any special reason why there was

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 09:32

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

THE NEXT FEW POSTS WILL CONTAIN ARTICLES IN ITALIAN WHICH I AM USING AS PLACE-SAVERS UNTIL I CAN TRANSLATE THEM. THE COVERAGE WAS QUITE IMPRESSIVE, BUT I HAD TO LIFT THEM FROM THE LIGURIAN PAPERS BEFORE THEY ARE TAKEN OFFLINE.

WORDS OF HOPE
IN SAVONA AND GENOA
Fabio Zavattaro

“Purtroppo la pioggia mi perseguita in questi giorni, ma prendiamola come segno di benedizione, di fecondità della terra; è un segno dello Spirito Santo che bagna la terra secca delle nostre anime”.
La pioggia, dunque, che nei due giorni del viaggio in Liguria di Benedetto XVI non ha quasi mai smesso di scendere. Scherza il Papa con i giovani, scherza con coloro che la Chiesa saluta come speranza per il mondo.
A quei giovani dice di non pensare alla giovinezza come ad una forma di maquillage: non è l’età anagrafica che conta. Così se sabato a Savona aveva detto che gli anziani possono anche cadere ma è la fede che li sostiene, ai ragazzi che si sono ritrovati in piazza Matteotti, nel centro della città tra Palazzo Ducale e la Curia e la cattedrale di San Lorenzo, Benedetto XVI ricorda che “La giovinezza, quella vera, non è questione di anni, di vigore fisico, di forma smagliante, di efficienza”.
Non è la palestra che rende giovani, anche se sono in molti, afferma il Papa, che vogliono essere giovani, rimanere giovani che si mascherano da giovani anche se il tempo della giovinezza è passato. Ancora, la giovinezza poi non è sinonimo di gioia, aggiunge. “Ci sono, purtroppo, dei giovani di anni, ma che sono vecchi dentro; che si trascinano, pur non mancando di beni terreni: di cultura, di lavoro soddisfacente, di rapporti e possibilità”. Per Benedetto XVI, che ha varcato la soglia dell’ottantunesimo anno di età, “essere giovani significa aver scoperto le cose che non passano col passare veloce degli anni. Se un giovane scopre i valori veri e grandi, allora non invecchia mai, anche se il corpo segue le sue leggi. Resta giovane sempre nel cuore e irradia giovinezza, cioè bontà, perché la bontà sfugge alla presa del tempo”.
Quel tempo che in molti vogliono arrestare proprio per paura del futuro, di un futuro vuoto, “vogliono subito consumare tutte le bellezze della vita”. Solo chi è buono e generoso, afferma il Papa, è veramente giovane: “Vi auguro di essere giovani, non alla moda: le mode si bruciano in un baleno, in una rincorsa frenetica e stordita; la giovinezza invece quella della bontà, resta per sempre. Anzi, sarà perfetta e splendente in Cielo con Dio”.
Con i giovani è il momento centrale della mattinata di domenica del Papa a Genova. Con loro recita l’Angelus e fa un appello perché la conferenza di Dublino sulle munizioni a grappolo sia occasione per “rimediare agli errori del passato ed evitare che si ripetano in futuro”. Occorre, per il Papa, uno “strumento internazionale forte e credibile”, cioè una convenzione che interdica questi micidiali ordigni. Parole che i giovani da sempre impegnati nei campi del volontariato e della pace, hanno accolto con grande attenzione. E d’altra parte proprio al termine del discorso del Papa e prima della recita dell’angelus sono stati lanciati sui ragazzi migliaia di foglietti con i messaggi che proprio i giovani hanno scritto per dire i loro pensieri, le loro attese e speranze per il futuro, certo, un futuro di pace.
Domenica che per il Papa ha avuto inizio nell’Istituto Gaslini “santuario della vita e della famiglia”; l’auspicio è che l’Istituto “continui a svilupparsi nelle tecnologie, nelle cure e nei servizi; ma anche ad allargare sempre più gli orizzonti in quell’ottica di positiva globalizzazione per cui si riconoscono le risorse, i servizi e i bisogni creando e rafforzando una rete di solidarietà oggi tanto urgente e necessaria”. Tutto questo, ha aggiunto, deve essere perseguito “senza mai venir meno a quel supplemento di affetto che dai piccoli degenti è avvertito come la prima e indispensabile terapia. L'Ospedale allora diventerà sempre più luogo di speranza”.
E messaggio di speranza sono anche le parole con le quali saluta l’assemblea nella celebrazione conclusiva in piazza della Vittoria. Dice: in una società tesa tra globalizzazione e individualismo, “la Chiesa è chiamata ad offrire la testimonianza della comunione” realtà che non viene dal basso ma è mistero che ha le radici in cielo. Così chiede una formazione “sostanziosa”, una “fede pensata” capace di dialogare in profondità con tutti, con i non cattolici, i non cristiani, i non credenti. “Portate avanti la vostra generosa condivisione con i poveri, i deboli”. Un pensiero, infine, a Genova e ai genovesi: “Guardate al futuro con fiducia e cercate di costruirlo insieme, evitando faziosità e particolarismi, anteponendo ai pur legittimi interessi particolari il bene comune”.

© Copyright Sir

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 09:40

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

THE NEXT FEW POSTS WILL CONTAIN ARTICLES IN ITALIAN WHICH I AM USING AS PLACE-SAVERS UNTIL I CAN TRANSLATE THEM. THE COVERAGE WAS QUITE IMPRESSIVE, BUT I HAD TO LIFT THEM FROM THE LIGURIAN PAPERS BEFORE THEY ARE TAKEN OFFLINE.

ALL ABOUT THE VISIT TO SAVONA - PART 1

15 maggio 2008
La Vecchia Darsena
tirata a lucido
N. F.
È tirata a lucido la Vecchia Darsena, muri ripuliti, “ciappe” risistemate, chiusini messi a livello e asfalto sconnesso pronto per essere sostituito da un manto nuovo. In piazza Pancaldo, sotto la Torretta, sono stati completati - quasi in sordina probabilmente per via della concitazione - i lavori di restauro ed è nato il nuovo moletto per un rapido approdo Ha acquistato una sua dignità, poi, la statua bronzea dedicata alla gente di mare. Ma non solo il porto è tornato a brillare per le opere di restyling pro-visita papale. Sono state pulite e spazzate le vie cittadine, dal Santuario al centro, passando per piazza Sisto IV e per giungere al Vescovato e da qui in via Paleocapa e via Gramsci. Sono state tolte tutte le scritte dei graffitari dai muri e dai porticati, trattati igienicamente con getti d’acqua a pressione gli arredi urbani. È l’immagine di una città che splende, insomma, quella di Savona, almeno all’interno del perimetro fissato come “isolone” per la missione savonese del Santo Padre. L’opera di abbellimento promossa dal Comune e con il sostegno dell’amministrazione provinciale sarà quasi certamente conclusa entro la nottata di venerdì. Alle luci dell’alba, poche ore prima dell’arrivo del Papa, si dedicherà tempo solo agli ultimi urgenti ritocchi. Così anche in piazza del Popolo dove, seppur in lieve ritardo, si sta completando l’allestimento del palco e della vasta area per l’abbraccio alla folla (si calcolano ventimila presenze in piazza, cinquantamila in città) dell’Eucaristia. Ma torniamo al restyling e alla darsena. Allo Scaletto dove sono all’ormeggio le imbarcazioni da pesca (prossime a lasciare l’approdo per motivi di sicurezza) sono stati rimossi i tipici contenitori, le reti e le altre attrezzature da pesca per far posto ai mezzi e assicurare il passaggio della papamobile. «Ora sì che si può dire che la Vecchia Darsena è tornata al suo antico splendore. Tornata vivibile, insomma, senza alcun disappunto per i pescatori che comunque costituiscono un motivo di pregio e una tradizione. Ma un po’ d’ordine era necessario» ha commentato il presidente dell’amministrazione provinciale, Marco Bertolotto, durante una sua breve ispezione. Il percorso di Benedetto XVI da qui proseguirà sino al piazzale antistante la torre Bofill e il Palacrociere. «Non c’è più un proverbiale capello fuori posto - ha detto Vittorio Rossi , commerciante della zona - Siamo pronti ad accogliere il Papa e la folla». Nel centro a pochi passi dal Vescovato, anche questo sito abbellito con nuovi arredi e nuove aiuole, si coglie un accenno all’effetto sull’immagine che la visita arrecherà. «Credo che sia un evento da cogliere tutti con entusiasmo - è il parere di Piero Francieri del ristorante L’Angolo dei Papi - per il ritorno d’immagine e il richiamo che Savona ora merita».

17 maggio 2008
A Savona, città di Papi cinquantamila fedeli

Natalino Famà
·Savona: tutti i divieti e le restrizioni
·Papa, meteo guastafeste
·La Vecchia Darsena tirata a lucido
·Tutti i treni utili per raggiungere Savona
e Genova durante la visita papale
Attesa con grande emozione e partecipazione, la visita di Benedetto XVI oggi alle 17 alle 21 a Savona è un evento storico. E’ la città dei Papi: per aver dato i natali a Sisto IV e Giulio II. I due pontefici savonesi hanno scritto pagine significative nella storia del Rinascimento e nell’arte: Roma ne conserva uno splendido ricordo: la Cappella Sistina. La storia di Savona, non per nulla è un intrecciarsi di valori laici e spirituali, che nel Santuario di Nostra Signora di Misericordia, nella processione del Venerdì Santo, una delle più belle d’Italia, nelle attività delle numerose confraternite, si estrinsecano.
Tra le attese degli abitanti - almeno per buona parte di essi - c’è la speranza che Papa Ratzinger intenda vivere con la città un momento davvero straordinario, certamente un pomeriggio di grande festa e di celebrazione. Come pure sarà per tutti coloro che raggiungeranno il Ponente in occasione della storica visita: a Savona si attendono circa 50 mila pellegrini. «Non so quanti anni o secoli passeranno prima che si ripeta una grazia così grande» ha sottolineato il vicario generale, monsignor Andrea Giusto.
Le fasi della visita pastorale di Papa Ratzinger si condensano in quattro ore di intense emozioni. Alle 16,45, Benedetto XVI atterrerà in elicottero, probabilmente non più in località Santuario, ma sul piazzale adiacente il Palacrociere. Il meteo molto incerto ha reso assai improbabile l’arrivo nei pressi della casa del beato Botta. Al Santuario comunque il Papa verrà trasferito in auto e sarà ricevuto dalle autorità. Che lo accompagneranno sino alla Basilica Nostra Signora della Misericordia per la preghiera personale nella cripta.
Nell’occasione, Benedetto XVI deporrà sull’altare la “rosa d’oro”, proprio nel luogo dove il suo predecessore Pio VII nel 1815 incoronò l’effigie della Madonna. Si tratta di una prestigiosa onorificenza papale la cui tradizione risale al secolo XI. Sarà custodita al Santuario. Il Pontefice verrà poi trasferito a bordo della papamobile in piazza del Popolo dove alle 17,45 avrà inizio l’Eucaristia in forma solenne, che si concluderà dopo circa due ore. Qui saranno presenti, secondo stime della Curia, circa ventimila fedeli.
Dalla piazza, passando dal centro per via Paleocapa, corso Italia, piazza Sisto IV e via santa Maria Maggiore, Joseph Ratzinger verrà accompagnato in visita agli appartamenti di Pio VII in Vescovato. Poi scenderà in ascensore nella sala capitolare e concluderà la visita in Cattedrale, dove potrà ammirare il coro ligneo restaurato. Alle 20,15, stando al programma di massima stilato, tornerà a bordo della papamobile e in via Paleocapa riceverà un altro abbraccio da parte della folla.
Nella Vecchia Darsena, presso il Palacrociere messo a disposizione da Costa, è previsto un altro incontro con le autorità, e con altri duecento fedeli, persone diversamente abili e malati, per l’ultimo saluto di Savona. Alle 21, sempre in elicottero partirà alla volta di Genova. I fedeli che intendono seguire il papa potranno sostare lungo tutto il percorso che percorrerà dalla Basilica del Santuario a piazza del Popolo e in via Paleocapa, in piazza Mameli, corso Italia e Piazza Sisto IV.
Le altre zone sono vietate. Per assistere alla messa invece , non ci sono più speranze. I pellegrini dell’ultima ora dovranno restare fuori dal perimetro dove si celebra l’Eucaristia. I pass per accedere in piazza del Popolo, circa 20 mila quelli distribuiti, sono andati completamente esauriti.
homepage > savona > La Vecchia Darsena tirata a lucido

«Fede senza
compromessi»
dal nostro inviato Daniele Grillo
·Ventimila fedeli a Savona
Per il Papa è ben più di un bagno di folla e pioggia. È un’occasione per rinnovare la sua storia, per tentare di rinsaldare la gente attorno a sé, ai valori che tenta di difendere e alla propria crisi. Come fece duecento anni fa Pio VII, Papa Benedetto XVI chiede l’abbraccio dei savonesi. «I vostri concittadini sostennero il Papa nella sua residenza coatta, impostagli da Napoleone - spiega Ratzinger in una piazza del Popolo colorata e gremita nonostante il maltempo - quella pagina di storia ci insegna il coraggio nell’affrontare le sfide del mondo». Quelle dell’oggi: «materialismo, relativismo, laicismo». La vicenda di Pio VII, il papa prigioniero, insegna secondo il Papa a «non cedere a compromessi, a pagare di persona pur di rimanere fedeli alla Chiesa».
Da ieri il Papa è in Liguria. Savona non è solo la tappa lampo di un evento che rimane comunque “genovacentrico”. È un lungo e sentito abbraccio, solo affievolito dalla pioggia incerta che rende l’ombrello necessario L’arrivo del Santo Padre tra le 16 e 30 e le 17 sul piazzale davanti alla casa del Beato Botta. Ad accompagnarlo, tra gli altri, l’ex vescovo di Savona Domenico Calcagno, il presidente Cei Angelo Bagnasco e il segretario di Stato Tarcisio Bertone. Ad attenderlo, a pochi passi dal Santuario di Nostra Signora della Misericordia, il ministro Claudio Scajola, il presidente della Provincia di Savona Marco Bertolotto, il sindaco Federico Berruti, il prefetto Nicoletta Frediani. Non c’è tempo per troppi convenevoli, solo per un saluto. Quello - in tedesco - del presidente regionale Claudio Burlando («Ihre Heiligekeit willkommen in Ligurien»), strappa al Papa un sorriso. «Lei parla tedesco», risponde in lingua sassone il Pontefice a Burlando. Poi il Papa sale sulla papamobile e va al santuario della Misericordia. Un quarto d’ora di preghiera, davanti all’altare della cripta sul quale Benedetto XVI lascia poi il dono tanto atteso, l’onorificienza della “rosa d’oro”. I sorrisi delle Carmelitane di clausura in “permesso speciale” per fare omaggio al Papa lo accompagnano fino all’auto che lo porterà in piazza del Popolo. La piazza dei savonesi si è preparata all’arrivo del Papa in maniera quasi impeccabile. Prima dell’arrivo di Ratzinger i cori provano gli accompagnamenti della liturgia, le autorità prendono posto, affluiscono - dicono le stime della Curia - 20 mila savonesi e non. Tradizione in grande spolvero: sull’altare i cristezzanti di Varazze hanno posizionato un bellissimo “cristo” che fa da sfondo alla celebrazione, alla destra del Papa prendono posto i rappresentanti delle confraternite. La piazza si riempie piano piano. Migliaia di “kit del pellegrino” vengono distribuiti, c’è anche qualche ambulante, fuori, che vende bandierine a due euro. I volontari hanno il loro bel daffare a gestire gli ingressi, a un certo punto c’è anche un momento di tensione quando ricevono l’ordine di bloccare momentaneamente l’accesso anche a chi possiede il pass.
Il protocollo è rigido. Il Papa attraversa all’interno della sua auto tutti i viali di questa cattedrale a cielo aperto - assieme a lui padre Georg Genswein , segretario particolare, e il vescovo di Savona-Noli Vittorio Lupi - riceve l’acclamazione della gente, un gran sventolare di bandierine bianche accompagnato da cori e applausi. Monsignor Lupi introduce sull’altare la Grande Messa. Parla della città, dei suoi papi, dei problemi che affliggono una comunità dalla «natalità molto scarsa» e alle prese con le difficoltà delle famiglie. «La sua visita sarà nuova energia per ripartire con rinnovato entusiasmo». Benedetto XVI dedica all’antica fede dei savonesi una lunga e ricca omelia. Dentro c’è la preghiera di rinnovare quell’«esempio di fermezza» di cui sopra, ma anche riflessioni sulle emergenze sociali, sui giovani che invita «ad andare controcorrente», sui «cristiani di età non più verde». C’è tempo anche per un pensiero ai detenuti del vicino carcere di sant’Agostino. Poi la messa finisce, la papamobile non attende che qualche instante e accompagna il Pontefice attraverso via Paleocapa transennata, il percorso più rapido per raggiungere l’Arcivescovado. Qui alcune udienze private, per la maggior parte personale del palazzo del vescovo, poi visita le stanze di Pio VII e svolge una rapida visita alla Cattedrale. L’ultimo saluto alla città in porto. Poi il volo verso la Guardia, verso Genova.

Ventimila per Benedetto XVI
Una rapidissima visita al Santuario di N.S. di Misericordia per ricordare Pio VII, il Papa che per oltre tre anni fu prigioniero di Napoleone; la messa per 20.000 fedeli in città, dove ha esortato i savonesi a essere fieri dei loro antenati; una fugace visita al Palazzo Vescovile, dove il predecessore fu tenuto agli arresti. Benedetto XVI ha scandito così la prima parte della visita di due giorni in Liguria, che da questa sera lo vedrà impegnato a Genova. Alle 16.55, sceso da un elicottero sotto una pioggia fastidiosa, il pontefice ha rotto un incantesimo che durava da 193 anni regalando ai savonesi la soddisfazione di rivedere in città un Papa: mancava dal 10 maggio 1815, quando il re di Sardegna Vittorio Emanuele I accolse al Santuario Pio VII, tenuto prigioniero a Savona per oltre tre anni da Napoleone. Da allore nessun pontefice ha infatti più fatto ritorno nella città che vanta anche la nascita di due papi, Sisto IV e Giulio II. Solo per problemi logistici, nel 1985 saltò all’ultimo infatti la prevista visita di Papa Woytila.
Oggi Benedetto XVI ha detto ai savonesi che devono essere fieri del coraggio con cui i loro concittadini sostennero il Papa nella sua prigionia, a volte anche con rischio personale. «La vicenda vissuta dal grande pontefice nella vostra terra - ha aggiunto il Papa - ci invita a sperare sempre nella intercessione della Madonna». Al Santuario di N.S. di Misericordia, eretto a partire dal 1536 dopo l’apparizione della Madonna al contadino Antonio Botta, il Papa è arrivato da Genova con un volo di una quindicina di minuti. È stato accolto dal ministro Claudio Scajola, dal presidente della Regione Liguria Claudio Burlando, che gli detto «benvenuto santita»` in tedesco, sorprendendo Ratzinger, che gli ha risposto nella stessa lingua chiedendogli dove avesse imparato, dalle autorita´ locali e dal vescovo di Savona, Vittorio Lupi.
Al Santuario il pontefice è rimasto in tutto 15 minuti. Il tempo di salutare dalla papamobile lungo un tragitto di trecento metri una piccola folla, in gran parte di residenti, e di rendere omaggio alla statua della Madonna della Misericordia, nella cripta, dove ha deposto la rosa d’oro, onorificenza vaticana. Benedetto XVI si è raccolto brevemente in preghiera, poi ha incontrato per pochi minuti le suore del monastero di via Nazionale di Savona, uscite in via eccezionale dalla rigida clausura. Sul sagrato battuto dalla pioggia, il pontefice ha salutato i 60 bambini della locale scuola elementare e una trentina di anziani ospiti della casa di riposo e cura, edificata insieme al Santuario per ospitare inizialmente un orfanotrofio.
In piazza del Popolo il Santo Padre ha celebrato la messa all’altare allestito su un palco disegnato da Nicolò Casiddu, docente genovese di architettura che insieme ai suoi laureandi lo ha ideato come un piano inclinato che converge verso l’ imponente crocifisso prestato dalla Confraternita di Varazze. Hanno accompagnato la messa la grande corale diocesana, composta da 415 cantori di 21 corali parrocchiali e da 25 strumentisti, diretta dal maestro Maurizio Fiaschi, di Finale Ligure (Savona), che hanno eseguito tra gli altri l’Ave Maria di Lourdes di Lecot e brani della Missa de Angelis. L’arredo del palco era essenziale, con la sede del Papa - una sedia-tronetto con lo stemma di Pio VII - la croce, la statua della Vergine e una decorazione floreale di 3,60 metri per 6. Il Santo Padre ha utilizzato per la messa un calice del Settecento dell’orafo romano Vincenzo Belli mentre per la Comunione dei fedeli sono stati usati altri cento calici e altrettante patene in ceramica.
Oltre 300 volontari di varie associazioni cattoliche, dagli scout ai centri sportivi, hanno gestito il flusso di oltre 20.000 fedeli, accorsi a Savona da ogni parte del ponente ligure e del basso Piemonte. Il pontefice si è quindi recato in papamobile al palazzo vescovile, salutando una discreta folla assiepata lungo il percorso, e si è fermato per circa mezz’ora nelle sale dove visse Pio VII. Alle 20.20, in perfetto orario rispetto al programma, ha salutato le autoritàlocali alla Darsena in porto ed è poi risalito sull’elicottero che lo ha riportato all’aeroporto di Genova, da dove in auto ha raggiunto il Santuario della Madonna della Guardia, per trascorrervi la notte.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 09:46

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

THE NEXT FEW POSTS WILL CONTAIN ARTICLES IN ITALIAN WHICH I AM USING AS PLACE-SAVERS UNTIL I CAN TRANSLATE THEM. THE COVERAGE WAS QUITE IMPRESSIVE, BUT I HAD TO LIFT THEM FROM THE LIGURIAN PAPERS BEFORE THEY ARE TAKEN OFFLINE.

ALL ABOUT THE VISIT TO SAVONA - PART 2

18 maggio 2008
«Date slancio
a Savona»
Una formidabile spinta, una sferzata di energia e di fiducia nel futuro arrivata da un uomo che parla attraverso ragionamenti complessi e senza mai alzare il tono della voce. Ma ha toccato il cuore di una città che vive una delicatissima fase di trasformazione. È stata una giornata di gesti simbolici - citiamo per tutti: il Papa a Savona, Benedetto XVI 193 anni dopo Pio VII, inginocchiato di nuovo nella cripta del Santuario davanti alla Madonna di Misericordia - e di grandi emozioni. La piazza riempita da ventimila persone. La pioggia che ha continuato a cadere incessante per tutta la durata della celebrazione in piazza del Popolo - iniziata puntualissima, da cerimoniale, alle 17.45 - ma ha reso ancora più raccolto e suggestivo il clima della messa. La commozione di tanta gente, le mani raccolte davanti al viso, mentre il Papa affidava la città e la diocesi alla Vergine, di fronte alla cassa lignea della Madonna di Misericordia con il beato Botta, ai piedi dell’altare, dopo la fine della Messa. Soprattutto, si diceva, una formidabile spinta: papa Ratzinger ha citato la Madonna di Misericordia, l’effigie della Vergine savonese custodita nei Giardini Vaticani, e Pio VII, anche il disagio dei detenuti e del personale del carcere di Sant’Agostino.
Chi pensava ad un’omelia lontana da Savona, o dove Savona fosse solo colore o appendice, sarà rimasto sorpreso: il Papa ha riempito il suo discorso di Savona. E non si è trattato di puri appunti di storia: Benedetto XVI li ha inseriti completamente nel presente. Il papa intellettuale, teologo e filosofo, ha parlato ai Savonesi della loro città senza per questo perdere di vista neanche per un attimo l’universalità del suo messaggio. Ha voluto affidare ai fedeli un impegno ben preciso, riprendendo idealmente - tra l’altro - quanto già era emerso dai saluti iniziali del sindaco Federico Berruti e del vescovo Vittorio Lupi: la sfida a trovare entusiasmo, slancio, per uscire dai momenti di difficoltà - come altre volte Savona ha fatto in passato - per entrare in una dimensione rinnovata e piena di fiducia e di forza. Una grande folla, ma - complice appunto la pioggia - sempre misurata, anche nei ripetuti applausi e incitamenti al vescovo di Roma: “Benedetto, Benedetto!”. Volevano pregare ed ascoltare, soprattutto. Il Papa ha tracciato un parallelo tra la festa della Trinità - che si celebrava ieri - e l’essenza stessa di Dio, «il suo nome», ha detto: amore e misericordia. Una misericordia che proprio a Savona la Vergine - nel 1536, in un momento tragico per la vita della città, caduta sotto il giogo genovese - ha voluto assumere come proprio appellativo e come messaggio universale, da Savona per il mondo. Per questo Benedetto XVI ha detto: «La mia visita a Savona è anzitutto un pellegrinaggio alle sorgenti della fede, della speranza e dell’amore».
Poi lo ha definito anche un «omaggio al mio venerato predecessore Pio VII». Ne ha ricordato il legame indissolubile con Savona, il sostegno che la città - anche con grandi rischi - gli assicurò durante la prigionia e ha parlato della visita come di un «atto di riconoscenza della Santa Sede e di tutta la chiesa per la fede, l’amore e il coraggio con cui i vostri concittadini sostennero il Papa». Ma anche in questo caso - come aveva fatto con la Madonna di Misericordia - ha legato le vicende di Pio VII all’oggi e alla fede della chiesa universale: un insegnamento, ha detto, un esempio «di coraggio nell’affrontare le sfide del mondo senza compromessi». E ancora, ai giovani, ha chiesto di dare «a questa città lo slancio e l’entusiasmo». L’arcivescovo Domenico Calcagno - ieri tra gli illustri accompagnatori “romani” del pontefice - quando occupava la cattedra del beato Ottaviano era stato il più convinto promotore di questa visita. Nei giorni scorsi aveva detto al Secolo XIX: «Quando il Papa si muove, con lui si muovono gli occhi di tutti. E così Savona, grazie a questa giornata, sarà al centro del mondo». Così è stato.

19 maggio 2008
«Mi ricorderò di Savona»
Antonella Granero
«Bella, Savona», ha detto il Santo Padre all’arrivo al Santuario. Il significato profondo dell’evento, la macchina organizzativa, le esperienze personali: il giorno dopo la visita di Benedetto XVI a Savona, 193 anni dopo Pio VII, per il sindaco Federico Berruti, e per tutta la città con lui, è tempo di bilanci: «Un bilancio sicuramente positivo». Racconta il primo cittadino: «Quando l’ho salutato prima della partenza, in porto, gli ho espresso la speranza che si possa ricordare di noi». E il Pontefice ha risposto: «Certo, mi ricorderò molto bene di Savona». Sono stati momenti di commozione, anche per un uomo con la fama di “duro” come il presidente della Port Authority Rino Canavese. Aggiunge il sindaco: «Il Santo Padre si è dedicato davvero a noi, ai Savonesi. La sua omelia in piazza del Popolo è stata ricca e piena di richiami alla città: un discorso molto chiaro, molto secco, molto comprensibile. Una sferzata di energia, un invito al coraggio e allo slancio per una città che vive una complessa fase di trasformazione». Il sindaco ha accolto il Santo Padre al Santuario, lo ha salutato pubblicamente dal palco prima della messa in piazza del Popolo - con un coraggioso discorso che ha tratteggiato la particolarissima convivenza e il fecondo intrecciarsi, nella vita della città, dell’anima orgogliosamente laica e dell’esperienza religiosa - poi lo ha di nuovo accompagnato alla partenza. il messaggio. Spiega Berruti: «Il Pontefice si è dedicato a noi, la sua omelia non è stata un canovaccio nel quale Savona si inseriva per caso». E aggiunge: «Dal punto di vista dell’evento storico, culturale, spirituale, tutti i significati che in qualche modo attendevamo si sono esplicati». l’organizzazione. Lo sforzo organizzativo, per Savona, è stato enorme. Il sindaco sottolinea: «Tutto ha funzionato bene, il comitato coordinato dal Prefetto ha svolto le sue funzioni al meglio. Per quanto riguarda direttamente noi, ovvero la macchina comunale, mi sembra che il banco di prova fosse il più impegnativo possibile. È stato superato. Nei prossimi giorni faremo un’analisi più accurata, ma devo dire che tutto mi sembra aver funzionato». Peccato per la pioggia: «Il tempo non ci ha aiutato, ma questo non era nelle disponibilità di nessuno. Proprio per via della pioggia non c’è stata l’emergenza di auto e pulmann nella cintura esterna alla città e da questo punto di vista l’organizzazione è stata alla fine persino sovradimensionata rispetto alle necessità: meglio così». Berruti ringrazia poi per lo sforzo la “sua” organizzazione: «Intanto l’assessore Di Tullio, al quale va un grande merito, ha lavorato in modo indefesso e senza lasciare nulla al caso. Poi tutta la struttura dei lavori pubblici e qualità urbana, con il dirigente Luca Pesce e i suoi uffici, e quella della polizia municipale, con il comandante Igor Aloi e i suoi uffici. L’Ata ha lavorato intensamente, e non dimentico il ruolo svolto da Acts». Conclude il sindaco: La macchina comunale ha messo in campo capacità e passione, elementi che riscontro ogni volta che c’è un evento straordinario cui far fronte. Questo lo è stato al massimo livello, ma nell’ultimo mese ci sono stati altri momenti impegnativi: dalle elezioni alle “Domeniche insieme”. Un fatto che ci capita sempre più spesso». FIORI DELLA RIVIERA. «Il Papa nel rapporto diretto appare molto meno algido di quanto emerga attraverso tv e giornali. I suoi occhi sono molto amichevoli, ha un’espressione empatica, una predisposizione positiva verso l’interlocutore. Un grande carisma, ma senza superiorità ostentata». Infine le battute scambiate insieme: «Sul palco, il Papa ha apprezzato tantissimo il tappeto floreale, poi gli ho detto: “Ha visto la piazza, Santo Padre, la aspettano tutti”».

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 10:00

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

THE NEXT FEW POSTS WILL CONTAIN ARTICLES IN ITALIAN WHICH I AM USING AS PLACE-SAVERS UNTIL I CAN TRANSLATE THEM. THE COVERAGE WAS QUITE IMPRESSIVE, BUT I HAD TO LIFT THEM FROM THE LIGURIAN PAPERS BEFORE THEY ARE TAKEN OFFLINE.

ALL ABOUT THE VISIT TO GENOA - PART 1

L'abbraccio dei cinquantamila conquista il Papa tedesco
LINK CORRELATI
GUARDA La città blindata
LA POLEMICA Grillini e Luxuria al Papa pride Chi contesta uscirà perdente E i prof protestano con gli studenti "Non volete vederlo? Andate a Busalla"
LEGGI La domenica del Papa a Genova Se sarà pioggia, niente elicottero Una task force di 3.600 uomini I limiti della zona bianca Visita del Papa: ecco il piano segreto Zona bianca, i percorsi alternativi Aperitivo con vista sul Papa La corsa per i pass Blindata la città
L'INTERVISTA Bagnasco: "Il papa chiede alla città di darsi un futuro"
ALTRI CONTENUTI CHE PARLANO DI PAPA
La preghiera dei bimbi del Gaslini "Benedetto, facci tornare a casa" Un Papa sobrio e un sindaco coraggioso La diretta tv si addice a Joseph Tutti i contenuti
ALTRI CONTENUTI CHE PARLANO DI BENEDETTO XVI
La preghiera dei bimbi del Gaslini "Benedetto, facci tornare a casa" Un Papa sobrio e un sindaco coraggioso La diretta tv si addice a Joseph Tutti i contenuti
Il racconto della giornata genovese di Benedetto XVI. Le famiglie sotto la pioggia "sciolgono" Ratzinger
di Nadia Campini e Wanda Valli

Il Papa incoraggia i genovesi: «Guardate al futuro con fiducia e cercato di costruirlo insieme - dice Benedetto XVI nell´omelia in piazza della Vittoria - evitando faziosità e particolarismi, anteponendo ai pur legittimi interessi particolari il bene comune». Sono solo due righe contenute in un discorso lungo e articolato, di alto livello teologico, ma in fondo è proprio in queste poche parole che sta il messaggio più profondo del Pontefice alla comunità ligure, messaggio che riprende anche le esortazioni dell´arcivescovo di Genova. Solo la settimana scorsa, in un´intervista a "Repubblica", il cardinale Angelo Bagnasco aveva invitato la città a unire le sue forze e a «fare squadra» per superare le difficoltà e ieri, sul palco di piazza della Vittoria, ha offerto il suo saluto a Benedetto XVI, ricordandogli che la storia di Genova è ricca di carità e di attenzione ai poveri e ai deboli, generosa «anche quando, come in questo tempi, soffre delle difficoltà inerenti al lavoro, alla casa, al costo della vita».

A ascoltare, in prima fila, davanti all´enorme palco bianco, erano schierati tutti i rappresentanti delle istituzioni locali, e poi il ministro Claudio Scajola, l´ex presidente della Camera Pierferdinando Casini, la senatrice Roberta Pinotti, e il senatore Luigi Grillo, il sindaco Marta Vincenzi, il presidente della Regione Claudio Burlando, il vice Massimiliano Costa, gli assessori G. B. Pittaluga, Paolo Veardo, il presidente della Provincia, Repetto. E si è rivisto, tra gli altri, il marchese Giacomo Cattaneo Adorno, rientrato in Italia da poco grazie all´indulto.

La pioggia, che per quasi tutto il giorno ha seguito la visita del Papa, solo all´inizio della messa grazia i fedeli e permette a papa Benedetto XVI di salutare Genova sotto un raggio di sole. Il Pontefice si allontana, mentre la città riprende a poco a poco i ritmi normali. In via XX Settembre, ancora chiusa alle auto, una ragazza approfitta della strada vuota e dei raggi ritrovati del sole, per fare un giro in bici; intorno si rianima la fontana di piazza De Ferrari, quando Benedetto XVI ha già lasciato Genova e la Liguria, dall´aeroporto. Lo ha salutato, in piazza della Vittoria, una folla di cinquantamila persone, senza distinzione tra immigrati e genovesi, tra malati e sacerdoti, tra giovani e famiglie. È alle famiglie che si presentano a omaggiarlo che il Papa dedica un saluto affettuoso e regala il rosario. Come a due bimbi che si tengono per mano o ai due adolescenti che vengono subito dopo di loro davanti al suo soglio. Per papa Ratzinger che se ne va da Genova, forse sarà questo il ricordo più caro, l´incontro con le famiglie e con i giovani soprattutto.

Lui, così parco di sé e di gesti spontanei, sembra divertito, a fine mattinata in piazza Matteotti, che ha scelto proprio per incontrare i ragazzi; divertito dalla pioggia di grossi coriandoli colorati che viene giù dal cielo. I ragazzi sono contenti, hanno cantato per lui, lo hanno ammirato. Senza riserve, senza badare al carattere. Tornano a casa a piedi sotto l´acqua e si raccontano quel Papa che hanno incontrato, che, per loro, è un punto di riferimento importante. Come per i giovani sacerdoti e le religiose a cui il Pontefice riserva l´incontro nella cattedrale di San Lorenzo a mezzogiorno. Con loro, che hanno scelto la vita spirituale, parla di fede come sa fare un dotto teologo qual è lui.

Poi la colazione con i vescovi della Liguria, con il cardinal Bagnasco e il segretario di Stato, Tarcisio Bertone, ex cardinale arcivescovo della città, che ha mantenuto fede alla sua promessa: «Farò venire il papa a Genova». Due personalità opposte, il Cardinale e il Pontefice: tanto riservato Benedetto XVI quanto cordiale e diplomatico il segretario di Stato, che a Genova si trasformò, perfino, in commentatore di una gara di calcio. La mattina, dopo essere sceso dal santuario della Guardia, che aveva scelto per dormire, papa Benedetto XVI la dedica ai bambini del "Gaslini". Li va a visitare nei reparti di degenza a bordo della papamobile, li saluta nell´atrio, dove ascolta le parole di Pietro, nove anni, siciliano: «Santo Padre, fammi uscire presto, sono un po´ stufo delle cure». Ai «carissimi bambini» il Papa offre il suo bene. A Marta Vincenzi, il sindaco della città che lo saluta con rispetto e orgoglio laico, presta attenzione. Genova lo omaggia con il sole ritrovato, con la compostezza di una città, che non lascia trasparire eccessivi entusiasmi. Ma garantisce rispetto. E civiltà.
(19 maggio 2008)
"Il Papa non punta sull'ideologia
chi contesta uscirà perdente"
Parla Don Marco Granara, rettore della Basilica. In città c´è grande attesa, già chiesti 50.000 pass
di Nadia Campini

«Esiste un filone ideologico di laicismo preconcetto che individua in questo Papa un antagonista, ma la verità è che tra i genovesi c´è molta attesa per questa visita. Dalle parrocchie mi telefonano che hanno già esaurito i pass e non sanno come fare, a San Gottardo ad esempio vanno a sorteggio, altre parrocchie da giorni sono costretti a mandare indietro i fedeli a mani vuote. E su tutta Genova parliamo di oltre 50.000 pass. Quanti saranno a confronto i contestatori?» Monsignor Marco Granara, rettore del santuario della Guardia, è immerso nei preparativi per accogliere papa Benedetto XVI, ma trova comunque il tempo per analizzare il significato più profondo di una visita che i genovesi attendono da 16 anni, l´ultima volta che un Papa venne a Genova.

Allora era Giovanni Paolo II, il Papa amato dalle folle, oggi è papa Ratzinger. Avrà meno seguito?
«A dire il vero la gente sta dimostrando di seguire questo Papa in misura ancora maggiore. Quando parla in piazza San Pietro c´è molta più folla del passato e per tutto l´anno passato, tranne proprio il periodo più freddo, le udienze del mercoledì sono state fatte all´aperto perché nella sala non ci stavano tutti. Abbiamo visto anche l´accoglienza che ha avuto in Turchia, dove lo sconsigliavano di andare, o ancora di più negli Stati Uniti. Evidentemente dalla sua timidezza traspare una grande profondità spirituale che tocca da vicino la gente.»

Cosa si può aspettare allora Genova dalla visita del Papa?
«Innanzi tutto una conferma della fede, è questo il compito affidato da Gesù a Pietro e ai suoi successori, dare un segnale di conferma e di testimonianza di fede. E poi vedremo quello che ci dirà nelle sue ore di permanenza a Genova, i suoi interventi sono stati finora sempre di grande peso e lucidità».

Ma hanno anche suscitato polemiche nel mondo laico.

«Più che dal mondo laico le polemiche vengono da quel filone di laicismo esasperato che sa di riuscire perdente. Questo Papa non si pone sul piano dell´ideologia, ma ragiona sulla linea dell´intelligenza della fede, di una fede che deve fare i conti con la razionalità, anche per il mondo laico è un interlocutore che puoi non condividere, ma di cui devi tenere conto.»

Anche tra i credenti le affermazioni intransigenti sulle questioni civili come divorzio o aborto provocano qualche fastidio. Non si rischia di allontanare la gente dalla chiesa?
«Dobbiamo fare una distinzione molto netta, ci sono i principi, i valori, e la dottrina della chiesa è quella, ed è una dottrina a cui spesso anche la pratica dà ragione. Un esempio? Una ricerca pubblicata anni fa sull´Espresso documentava che negli anni Ottanta, anni nei quali la sessualità libera era ormai un dato acquisito, il 38% delle coppie tra i 40 e i 50 anni, l´età della piena maturità, avevano problemi sul fronte sessualità. Il 38% è un´enormità, qualche domanda me la porrei sul significato di questo dato. E comunque la chiesa sa che gli uomini possono sbagliare ed è vicina a chi sbaglia, compito del sacerdote è indicare la via giusta e aiutare anche chi ha sbagliato a ritrovare la luce della fede. E attenzione, questo non è paternalismo di bassa lega, ma senso di vicinanza e comprensione».

I laici lamentano le ingerenze della chiesa non solo in materia di valori, ma anche di politica, c´è qualche fondamento in questa critica?
«Il Papa e la chiesa danno indicazioni sulla dottrina, e fanno cultura, se poi questa cultura diventa maggioritaria e trova espressione nella legislazione del paese non è il Vaticano o il Papa che l´hanno imposta, sono due piani diversi. E la maggioranza della gente lo capisce bene».

Allora non temete contestazioni al Papa?«Tutto sommato penso che siano fenomeni marginali, la maggioranza aspetta il Papa per ascoltare la sua parola».
(08 maggio 2008)

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 13:48

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

WITH THELAST FEW POSTS, THESE ARE ARTICLES IN ITALIAN WHICH I AM USING AS PLACE-SAVERS UNTIL I CAN TRANSLATE THEM. THE COVERAGE WAS QUITE IMPRESSIVE, BUT I HAD TO LIFT THEM FROM THE LIGURIAN PAPERS BEFORE THEY ARE TAKEN OFFLINE.

THE HOLY FATHER'S DAY IN GENOA - CHRONOLOGY
Presented in reverse order during the day (latest event reported last)

La giornata del Papa
L’arrivo a Roma
Ore 19.50
Il Papa è rientrato a Roma dal viaggio di due giorni in Liguria. L’aereo speciale con cui ha viaggiato il Pontefice, un Airbus A-319 dell’Aeronautica Militare proveniente da Genova è atterrato all’aeroporto militare di Ciampino.
Il Papa ha lasciato Genova
Ore 19.05

Benedetto XVI è partito dall’aeroporto Cristoforo Colombo di Genova, che ha raggiunto in auto al termine della Messa celebrata in piazza della Vittoria, alla quale hanno assistito oltre cinquantamila persone, secondo la stima della Curia. A salutare il Pontefice all’aeroporto erano il ministro delle Attività Produttive Claudio Scajola, l’arcivescovo Angelo Bagnasco, i presidenti della Regione, Claudio Burlando e della Provincia, Alessandro Repetto, il sindaco Marta Vincenzi, il prefetto Anna Maria Cancellieri.

La folla dei fedeli in piazza della Vittoria (Foto Ambrosi)
Il Papa verso l’aeroporto
I fedeli verso le stazioni
Ore 18.30
Conclusa la Santa Messa il Papa ha salutato i fedeli ed è sceso dal palco di piazza della Vittoria. Poi è salito su un’auto diretto verso l’aeroporto Cristoforo Colombo di Genova. In piazza della Vittoria erano presenti moltissimi fedeli: più di 40 mila persone, molte delle quali, circa 15 mila, arrivati in città in treno. “Nelle due principali - si legge in una nota diffusa da Trenitalia- stazioni genovesi, sono impegnati 75 addetti del Gruppo FS per assistere i fedeli, coadiuvati dai volontari della Protezione civile”.
“Venti convogli speciali - continua la nota- in aggiunta ai 78 treni ordinari, per un’offerta complessiva di quasi 50 mila posti, di cui 40 mila seduti. Questa l’offerta di servizio messa in campo dal Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato per accogliere le migliaia di fedeli che hanno seguito da vicino la visita pastorale in Liguria del Santo Padre, Benedetto XVI.
Dopo la messa e prima di lasciare Genova, Benedetto XVI ha avuto un breve colloquio con il ministro delle attività produttive Claudio Scajola. Il Pontefice e il ministro, accompagnato dalla moglie, si sono incontrati all’interno di un locale del liceo Andrea D’Oria, a lato dell’altare, che è servito come sagrestia per la concelebrazione eucaristica. Il Papa e il ministro sono rimasti da soli per una decina di minuti. Nulla è trapelato riguardo al contenuto dei colloqui.
Il Papa ai bambini
Ore 18.10
A parlare a Papa Benedetto XVI a nome di tutti i bambini ricoverati all’Ospedale Gaslini è stato Pietro, di 9 anni, proveniente dalla Sicilia. «Sono contento di vederti da vicino», ha detto il piccolo al Santo Padre. Poi il piccolo ha chiesto: «Prega per noi affinché possiamo tornare presto guariti nelle nostre case».
Il Papa ha abbracciato Pietro ed altri piccoli malati che si avvicinano dalle prime file. A loro ha rivolto l’ultima parte del suo intervento: «Mi rivolgo a voi carissimi bambini per ripetervi che il Papa vi vuole bene. Accanto a voi vedo i vostri familiari che condividono con voi momenti di trepidazione e speranza. Statene certi: Dio non ci abbandona mai. Restate uniti a lui e non perdete mai la serenità,nemmeno nei momenti più bui e complessi». «Vi assicuro il mio ricordo nella preghiera e vi affido a Maria Santissima - ha concluso Papa Ratzinger - che come mamma ha sofferto i dolori del suo Divin Figlio, ma ora vive con lui nella gloria».
La Santa Messa
Ore 17.40
«In una società tesa tra globalizzazione e individualismo la Chiesa è chiamata ad offrire la testimonianza della `koinonia´, della comunione». Lo ha detto il Papa nell’omelia della messa in piazza della Vittoria. Anche per questo Benedetto XVI ha chiesto «agli adulti e ai giovani: coltivate una fede pensata, capace di dialogare in profondità con tutti, con i fratelli non cattolici, con i cristiani e i non credenti. Portate avanti - ha proseguito - la vostra generosa condivisione con i poveri e i deboli, secondo l’originaria prassi della Chiesa...».
Alla «città intera, ai genovesi e a quanti vivono e lavorano in questo territorio» Benedetto XVI ha quindi chiesto : «guardate al futuro con fiducia e cercate di costruirlo insieme, evitando faziosità e particolarismi, anteponendo i pur legittimi interessi particolari al bene comune». Il Papa ha anche insistito sulla «immagine di uomo» che ha il cristiano, fondata sull’«esatto concetto di persona». «È un modello - ha spiegato - che sta prima di ogni regolamentazione normativa, giuridica, istituzionale, ma direi anche prima delle specificazioni culturali. Un modello di famiglia umana trasversale a tutte le civiltà, che noi cristiani siamo soliti esprimere fin da bambini affermando che gli uomini sono tutti figli di Dio e quindi tutti fratelli».

Fedeli davanti al palco in piazza della Vittoria (Foto Fornetti)
Ore 16.50
È iniziata alle 16.50, con il saluto del cardinale Angelo Bagnasco, Arcivescovo di Genova e presidente della Cei, la concelebrazione eucaristica in piazza della Vittoria a Genova presieduta da Benedetto XVI, a conclusione delle due giornate del Papa in Liguria. Ad assistere sono presumibilmente 40mila persone.
«Sono ammirato - ha dichiarato il cardinale nel saluto- dello zelo sacerdotale che si traduce nella operosità fedele alle proprie comunità e ai propri compiti, nonostante a volte il peso degli anni e delle infermità e il numero ridotto dei confratelli». «Come la fede si incarna nella vita - ha aggiunto l’arcivescovo di Genova- così la storia della Chiesa si intreccia con la storia della città: è un rapporto sempre rispettoso e fecondo per il bene di Genova. Basta un accenno a memorie recenti, come l’opera di mediazione e di carità durante l’ultimo conflitto mondiale e l’attenzione puntuale del Cardinale Siri verso il mondo del lavoro».
Bagnasco ha terminato il suo discorso invitando a pregare per la vita umana comunque perché sia sempre accolta e difesa, promossa e amata. «Per questo - ha detto rivolgendosi al Pontefice - vogliamo che la sua visita sia ricordata con un duplice segno a favore della vita nascente o appena nata: il centro diocesiano di aiuto alla vita e una casa di accoglienza tenuta dalle suore di Don Orione».
Poi è iniziata l’omelia per la messa con i saluti del Papa alle autorità religiose e civili. In particolare ha rivolto un saluto al suo segretario di Stato cardinale Tarcisio Bertone, «già pastore di questa antica e nobile chiesa». «A lui ha detto - il mio grazie più sentito per la sua vicinanza spirituale e per la sua preziosa collaborazione». Proseguendo «saluto il ministro Claudio Scajola in rappresentanza del nuovo governo, che proprio in questi giorni ha assunto le sue piene funzioni al servizio dell’amata nazione italiana».
L’arrivo in piazza della Vittoria
Ore 16.30
Si è schiarito il cielo e tra nuvoloni neri ancora minacciosi un raggio di sole ha illuminato alle 16.30 piazza della Vittoria, all’arrivo di Papa Benedetto XVI per la celebrazione euraristica insieme con i vescovi della Liguria. La pioggia ha concesso una tregua proprio all’inizio della celebrazione a cui assiste una folla di migliaia di persone.
Il Pontefice, dopo aver indossato i paramenti sacri nella palestra del liceo D’Oria, è salito alle 16.45 all’altare innalzato ai piedi della china erbosa con le tre caravelle disegnate con i fiori e ha salutato i fedeli. In prima fila ad assistere alla messa ai piedi del palco le autorità cittadine e nazionali, tra le quali il ministro delle Attività Produttive, l’imperiese Claudio Scajola, in rappresentanza del governo, il presidente dell’UDC Pier Ferdinando Casini, il presidente della Regione Liguria Claudio Burlando.
Il pranzo e il riposo
Ore 15

Papa Benedetto XVI è arrivato sulla papamobile al seminario del Righi per il pranzo con i vescovi. Ad attendere il Santo Padre all’ingresso del seminario c’ erano una cinquantina di persone, in gran parte residenti, che hanno sfidato la pioggia per salutarlo. Il pontefice pranza con una quindicina di vescovi - quelli della curia genovese oltre ad alcuni vescovi `emeriti´ liguri - e con diversi laici che hanno curato l’organizzazione della visita a Genova. Dopo un momento di riposo, il Santo Padre si recherà alle 16 in piazza della Vittoria per la celebrazione eucaristica. Il rientro in aereo a Roma è previsto per le 19.
In piazza Vittoria sarà presente anche il dottor Zahoor Ahmad Zargar, presidente della comunità dei musulmani della Liguria, che consegnerà un messaggio al Papa (leggi il documento).

«Genova, ti affido alla Madonna»
Ore 12.44
L’invocazione conclusiva di Papa Benedetto XVI è stata rivolta alla Madonna. «Il mio pensiero - ha detto il Pontefice - ritorna naturalmente al Santuario di Nostra Signora della Guardia, dove questa mattina ho sostato in preghiera. Pellegrino a quell’oasi montana si recò molte volte il Papa Benedetto XV, vostro illustre concittadino, il quale fece collocare una riproduzione della cara effigie della Madonna della Guardia nei Giardini Vaticani. E come fece il mio venerato Predecessore Giovanni Paolo II, nel suo primo pellegrinaggio apostolico a Genova, anch’io ho voluto iniziare la mia visita pastorale con l’omaggio alla celeste Madre di Dio, che dall’alto del monte Figogna veglia sulla città e su tutti i suoi abitanti». A Maria affidiamo insieme l’intera Città, con la sua variegata popolazione, le sue attività culturali, sociali ed economiche; i problemi e le sfide di questi nostri tempi, e l’impegno di quanti cooperano per il bene comune».
18 maggio 2008
«Vergine Maria,
Genova si affida a Te»
Preghiera alla Madonna della Guardia
Vergine Maria, che dall’alto del Tuo Santuario vegli su questo popolo a Te devoto, benedetta sei Tu fra le donne benedetto il frutto del Tuo seno Gesù. Dio ti ha scelta come Madre del figlio Suo incarnato, per il coraggio del Tuo animo Ti ha chiamata ad essere partecipe della Croce sulla quale il Tuo Figlio moriva. Così, per espresso volere di Lui, Tu sei divenuta Madre nostra. Sii sempre Benedetta, o Madre di Dio e degli uomini.
A Te volgiamo il nostro sguardo, a te ricorriamo con fiducia incrollabile, a Te confidiamo le gioie e le pene nostre, della famiglia, della società e della Chiesa. Tu guarda, accogli, e illumina e consiglia ciascuno. Insegnaci ad ascoltare il Tuo Figlio e a fare quello che Egli nel Suo Vangelo ci dice. Per testimoniarLo con la coerenza della vita, restando liberi dalle suggestioni del mondo e aperti sempre alle interiori emozioni dello Spirito. A Te , Santa Vergine della Guardia, la città di Genova rinnova il suo affidamento. Rendi sicuro il nostro cammino e salda la speranza, capace di comprensione e di perdono. Aiutaci ad essere veri discepoli di Cristo, ad amare la Chiesa, ad essere messaggeri lieti del Vangelo, sapendo che la Fede è sorgente di civiltà e di impegno per tutti.

Il pensiero per i religiosi
Ore 12.30

Un pensiero speciale del Papa è andato ai religiosi e alle religiose riunitisi in cattedrale per accogliere il Santo Padre. «Nonostante la diminuzione dei numeri e delle forze» i religiosi devono avere «fiducia» e il Papa li prega di non considerarsi mai come se fossero al «tramonto della vita». «Vi prego - ha detto rivolgendosi loro nella cattedrale di Genova - di continuare nelle vostre opere, ma soprattutto nella vostra presenza: il venir meno delle vostre comunità impoverisce voi, ma anche Genova». All’ingresso della cattedrale papa Ratzinger è stato accolto dal vescovo ausiliare di Genova, Luigi Ernesto Palletti, e dai canonici e dopo un breve momento di adorazione, ha ascoltato il saluto del preside della cattedrale, mons. Mario Grone e del delegato diocesano per la vita consacrata, padre Domenico Rossi.
Ratzinger contro le bombe a grappolo
Ore 12

Nel corso dell’Angelus il Santo Padre ha lanciato un appello contro le bombe a grappolo. Si è augurato uno «strumento internazionale forte e credibile» che in questo campo possa «rimediare agli errori del passato ed evitare che si ripetano in futuro». Benedetto XVI ha anche pregato «per le vittime delle munizioni a grappolo e le loro famiglie» e formulato «i migliori auguri di successo» alla Conferenza diplomatica di Dublino che si apre domani e deve «produrre una Convenzione che interdica questi micidiali ordigni».

Coriandoli colorati in piazza Matteotti (foto Fornetti)
Coriandoli e pioggia
Ore 11.31

Con una coreografia di foglietti colorati si è concluso il discorso del Santo Padre ai giovani. Il Papa si è interrogato sul giovanilismo obbligato delle nostre società: «Oggi - ha detto - tutti vogliono essere giovani e si mascherano da giovani, anche se il tempo della giovinezza è passato, visibilmente passato». Si insegue la giovinezza, spiega Benedetto XVI, perché «nella giovinezza c’è ancora un futuro» e «il futuro è pieno di promesse». «Oggi però - ha detto ancora - per molti è anche pieno di minacce, soprattutto la minaccia di un grande vuoto, perciò molti vogliono arrestare il tempo per paura di un futuro nel vuoto, vogliono subito consumare tutte le bellezze della vita».
Il Papa ai giovani: Ore 11.12

Il Santo Padre sta incontrando i giovani in piazza Matteotti. Dopo il discorso di due rappresentanti della platea, Papa Benedetto XVI parla ai ragazzi. «Nel cuore - ha detto - dobbiamo tutti rimanere giovani». «Purtroppo la pioggia mi perseguita un pò in questi giorni, ma prendiamola come segno di benedizione come segno dello Spirito Santo che bagna la terra secca delle nostre anime». Così il Papa ha esordito davanti ai giovani radunati in piazza Matteotti, nonostante il maltempo e che lo hanno accolto con grande entusiasmo.
Una storia di carità
Ore 10.34

«Con affetto vi benedico tutti». Papa Benedetto XVI conclude con queste parole il suo discorso all’ospedale Gaslini. Momenti di commozione, mentre il Papa accarezza alcuni piccoli degenti.
L’ospedale pediatrico Gaslini ha una «storia di carità» che fa di Genova «una città della carità cristiana». Lo ha ricordato il Papa, visitando il nosocomio genovese, il cui fondatore, ha sottolineato, volle «che l’ispirazione cristiana dell’Istituto» non venisse «mai meno». «Tutti - ha inoltre auspicato Benedetto XVI - siano sempre sorretti dai valori evangelici». Infatti per statuto presidente dell’ospedale è l’arcivescovo della città. Pensando ai bambini malati, Benedetto XVI ha ricordato come Gesù «con parole dure mise in guardia dal disprezzare e scandalizzare i bambini» e li additò «come modelli da seguire nella loro fede spontanea e generosa, nella loro innocenza». Infine parole di incoraggiamento per i piccoli degenti e i familiari: anche nei «momenti di trepidazione e di speranza» ricordate che «Dio non ci abbandona mai, restate uniti a Lui e non perderete mai la serenità, nemmeno nei momenti più bui e complessi».
Al Gaslini il Santo Padre è stato accolto dal commissario Vincenzo Lorenzelli e dal sindaco di Genova Marta Vincenzi. Il sindaco ha parlato di una città «operosa, prudente, generosa nell’impegno solidaristico verso i deboli ed i sofferenti, aperta all’accoglienza e attenta ai principi della giustizia e del bene comune», ma «attraversata dai segni dell’inquietudine contemporanea». Tema, quest’ultimo, che rimanda a Cristo e a scritti che il papa ha fatto anche in qualità di teologo. «Non dandoci come obiettivo l’individuazione del bene assoluto che non spetta alle Istituzioni dello Stato democratico perseguire - ha proseguito il sindaco - operiamo per il bene collettivo, affinché i cittadini possano orientare le loro condotte di vita senza imposizioni o limitazioni improprie. Pensiamo che favorire nuovi spazi di autonomia, libertà e responsabilità personali sia il miglior modo per aiutare la stabilità sociale, condizione quanto mai necessaria allo sviluppo dell’individuo e della collettività». Un’affermazione questa sulla laicità dello Stato e delle sue Istituzioni, che distingue tra il ruolo della Chiesa, che indica il bene assoluto e quello delle Istituzioni, che operano per il bene collettivo sforzandosi di affermare principi ma evitando di caricare di significato etico le scelte politiche.
Ospedale Gaslini
Ore 9.59

Il Santo Padre è giunto in auto all’ospedale Gaslini. Sotto gli ombrelli decine di fedeli lo accolgono. Il Papa, ricevuto dal cappellano del nosocomio e dal cardinale Angelo Bagnasco (arcivescovo di Genova e presidente della Cei) ha accarezzato alcuni bambini che affrontano il dramma della sofferenza.

Il Papa ha deposto una rosa d’oro ai piedi della statua della Vergine
La Rosa d’oro
Ore 9.30

Il Papa ha terminato da poco la sua visita al Santuario Nostra Signora della Guardia. Il Santo Padre ha deposto una rosa d’oro ai piedi della statua della Vergine. Ora si sta dirigendo in auto verso l’ospedale Gaslini dove, a bordo di una vettura scoperta, saluterà i piccoli degenti. I fedeli stanno lentamente defluendo dal Monte Figogna, dopo aver tributato il loro abbraccio al Papa.
Santuario della Guardia
Ore 7.45

È iniziata presto la giornata per i pellegrini che hanno pernottato al santuario della Guardia dopo aver accolto ieri sera Papa Benedetto XVI. Già alle 6.30 si è formata la coda alle porte del Santuario per poter occupare i posti migliori e assistere da più vicino al momento di preghiera del Santo Padre.

I fedeli alla Guardia assieme (foto Pambianchi)
Dopo la messa celebrata da don Piero, il Santo Padre scenderà dai suoi appartamenti, entrerà in chiesa, consegnerà la Rosa d’oro alla Madonna e leggerà una preghiera che lui stesso ha scritto per la Signora del monte Figogna. Ancora in fase di definizione le modalità dello spostamento verso il Gaslini. Viste le condizioni atmosferiche, il Papa potrebbe raggiungere l’aeroporto Cristoforo Colombo in auto, per poi proseguire in elicottero.

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VISITA ALLE STANZE DI PAPA PIO VII NEL VESCOVADO DI SAVONA

Conclusa la Celebrazione Eucaristica in Piazza del Popolo, il Santo Padre Benedetto XVI raggiunge il Vescovado di Savona e visita in forma privata le stanze in cui visse Papa Pio VII, prigioniero di Napoleone, negli anni 1809-1812.

Prima di lasciare il vescovado per raggiungere la Vecchia Darsena del Porto di Savona, il Papa saluta i Membri del Comitato organizzatore della Visita, quindi scende in Cattedrale.

[00767-01.01] [Testo originale: Italiano]

TRASFERIMENTO DA SAVONA AL SANTUARIO DELLA MADONNA DELLA GUARDIA A CERÀNESI-CAMPOMORRONE

Raggiunta in auto la Vecchia Darsena al Porto di Savona, il Papa si congeda dalle autorità che lo avevano accolto all’arrivo e alle 20.15 parte in elicottero alla volta di Genova.

L’arrivo al piazzale sottostante il Santuario della Madonna della Guardia, in località Cerànesi-Campomorrone, è previsto per le ore 20.45. Il Santo Padre è accolto dalle Autorità politiche, civili ed ecclesiastiche, quindi in auto raggiunge l’Episcopio adiacente al Santuario.

VISITA AL SANTUARIO DELLA MADONNA DELLA GUARDIA A GENOVA

Alle ore 9 di questa mattina il Santo Padre Benedetto XVI visita in forma privata il Santuario della Madonna della Guardia a Cerànesi-Campomorrone.

Accolto dal Rettore del Santuario, Mons. Marco Granara e dal Vice-Rettore, don Pier Luigi Parodi, dopo l’adorazione del Santissimo Sacramento, il Papa compie l’atto di venerazione e di preghiera alla Vergine, quindi depone una rosa d’oro sull’altare della Madonna a ricordo della visita.

Al termine, il Santo Padre parte in elicottero alla volta di Genova.

VISITA ALL’OSPEDALE PEDIATRICO "GIANNINA GASLINI" DI GENOVA

L’elicottero con a bordo il Santo Padre atterra alle ore 9.40 nel Centro sportivo del CONI "Villa Gentile". Il Papa raggiunge subito in auto l’Ospedale "Gaslini". Dopo una breve sosta al Padiglione 16, dove saluta i bambini con i loro genitori e consegna al Cappellano, P. Aldo Campone, OFM Cap., il suo dono per i piccoli degenti, il Santo Padre raggiunge il Piazzale all’ingresso dell’ospedale per l’incontro con i dirigenti, il personale medico, gli infermieri, i bambini ricoverati e i loro familiari.

Introdotto dai saluti del Sindaco di Genova, On.le Marta Vincenzi, del Commissario Straordinario, Prof. Vincenzo Lorenzelli e di un piccolo paziente, il Papa pronuncia il discorso che riportiamo di seguito:

LE PAROLE DEL PAPA ALLA RECITA DELL’ANGELUS AL TERMINE DELL’INCONTRO CON I GIOVANI IN PIAZZA MATTEOTTI A GENOVA

PRIMA DELL’ANGELUS

DOPO L’ANGELUS

Prima di concludere l’incontro con i giovani con la consegna di una copia del Vangelo ad alcuni di essi, il Papa guida la recita dell’Angelus. Queste le parole del Santo Padre nell’introdurre la preghiera mariana:

INCONTRO CON IL CAPITOLO DELLA CATTEDRALE E CON LA VITA CONSACRATA NELLA CATTEDRALE DI SAN LORENZO A GENOVA

Lasciata Piazza Matteotti dopo l’incontro con i giovani e la recita dell’Angelus, il Santo Padre raggiunge la Cattedrale di San Lorenzo, accolto al suo arrivo - previsto per le 12.20 - dal Vescovo Ausiliare di Genova, S.E. Mons. Luigi Ernesto Palletti e dai Canonici. In Cattedrale sono presenti il Capitolo e i rappresentanti della vita consacrata.

Dopo il saluto del Preside della Cattedrale, Mons. Mario Grone, e del Delegato diocesano per la Vita Consacrata, P. Domenico Rossi, OCD, il Papa rivolge ai presenti il seguente discorso:

Al termine dell’incontro, il Papa si sofferma in preghiera davanti alla tomba del Cardinale Giuseppe Siri.

Quindi si trasferisce al Seminario Arcivescovile Maggiore "Benedetto XV" dove saluta i Seminaristi e pranza con i Vescovi della Liguria.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 13:53

PASTORAL VISIT TO SAVONA & GENOA, May 17-18, 2008

RESERVED FOR ANY FURTHER ITALIAN MEDIA REPORTS WORTH DOCUMENTING.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00martedì 10 giugno 2008 13:56

THE POPE'S TRIPS IN 2008

NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT
12/26/2007
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 11079

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI will make three pastoral visits in Italy in 2008,
Fr. Federico Lombardi announced today:

May 17-18: Savona and Genoa in Liguria (northwestern Italy)

June 14-15: Santa Maria di Leuca and Brindisi, in Puglia (southeastern Italy)

Sept. 7: Cagliari (capital of the island region of Sardegna)

The Pope will be making three trips abroad next year:

April 15-20: Washington, D.C. and New York

July 17-20: Sydney, Australia, for World Youth Day

Autumn (date still not set): Lourdes, France

Here's a fuller report
translated from

JOY AND GRATITUDE
IN THE ITALIAN DIOCESES
TO BE VISITED

The faithful of Liguria, Puglia and Sardinia have welcomed with joy the news that Pope Benedict XVI will be making pastoral visits to their major cities next year. Alessandro Gisotti reports:

On May 17-18, the Pope will be in Savona and Genoa (Liguria).

Shortly after the Christmas Mass at St. Lawrence Cathedral, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa, announced the good news to his flock .

For the diocese of Savona-Noli, it will be very significant because the last Pope who visited them was Pius VII in 1815.

The Holy Father will be in Brindisi and Santa Maria di Leuca, Puglia, on June 14-15. This will be his second visit to the region since May 2005, when his very first trip outside Rome as Pope was to close the National Eucharistic Congress in Bari.

"It is a true Christmas gift," said the Archbishop of Brindisi, Rocco Talucci, announcing it to his diocese. He invited the faithful "to make the best spiritual preparation for an event that willt ouch the heart of everyone."

And finally, the Pope's pastoral visit to the island-region of Sardinia will be yet another Marian pilgrimage.

The Archbishop of Cagliari, Giuseppe Mani, annnounced to his diocese that the Pope will be in Cagliari, the Sardinian capital, on September 7, feast of Mary's Nativity, for the centenary celebration of the proclamation of the Madonna of Bonaria as the chief Patroness of Sardinia.

With these annoucements, it appears that the Holy Father's travels in 2008 will be limited to six - the three pastoral visits as Primate of Italy, and his trips to the United States, Australia and France.

Here's a late-breaking item from PETRUS:

AND THE FIRST TRIP OF 2009
TO MEXICO CITY?

The possibility was first mentioned in the news a few weeks back, and now, it is taking on almost a certainty.

At the Christmas Mass today in Mexico City's Cathedral, Cardinal Noberto Rivera Carrera told his congregation:

"In the next Christmas season, it is possible that the Pope will be arriving in our country to take part in the World Encounter of Families," scheduled to take place in January 2009.

"Let us celebrate with Mary and Joseph, who offer their baby to us, the Baby who is God, at the start of this millennium and during the time of preparing for the international family encounter, during which we will also probably meet His Holiness Benedict XVI."

The Pope attended the last encounteer in Valencia, Spain, in July 2006.

TERESA BENEDETTA

00mercoledì 11 giugno 2008 04:00

PASTORAL VISIT TO LEUCA AND BRINDISI, June 14-15, 2008

TERESA BENEDETTA

00mercoledì 11 giugno 2008 04:22

PASTORAL VISIT TO LEUCA AND BRINDISI, June 14-15, 2008

NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT
5/22/2008
TERESA BENEDETTA
Post: 13571

I first posted the program for the Leuca-Brindisi visit based on news releases by the two dioceses involved. As the entire program was substantially what the Vatican announced on June 9,I will not re-post it here. However, this was the news item that came with the official release of the program:

The diocese of Brindisi also announced Wednesday that Mons. Guido Marini, Master of Pontifical Liturgical Ceremonies, completed a two-day site visit and review of organizational details on Monday and Tuesday. He was accompanied by two of his staff, Monsignors Enrico Vigano and Pier Enrico Stefanetti.

Posted 6/9/08 in NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT:

The Vatican today (6/9) released the official program for the Holy Father's pastoral visit this weekend. Except for a couple of minor details, it is identical to the programs released last month by the two dioceses involved in the visit, and posted on this thread on 5/22/08. I am re-posting the schedule here for convenience, with the small changes cited.

The Holy Father's next pastoral trip in Italy takes him to the southern extreme
of the Italian peninsula, the 'heel of the boot'- the southeastern coastal region
of Puglia.

Santa Maria di Leuca (bottom of the map above) is part of the port city of
Castrignano del Capo, while Brindisi is a famous port town on the Adriatic,
and the starting point for ferries to Greece. It was the southern terminal
of the ancient Appian Way.

PASTORAL VISIT OF
HIS HOLINESS, BENEDICT XVI,
TO SANTA MARIA DI LEUCA AND BRINDISI
June 14-15, 2008

P R O G R A M

VISIT TO SANTA MARIA DI LEUCA
Saturday, June 14, 2008

ROME

15.00 Depart the Vatican for Ciampino airport.

GALATINA-LEUCA

15.30 Depart Ciampino for Galatina

16.30 Arrival at Fortunato Cesari military airport in Galatina
- Transfer to helicopter for Leuca

16.50 Arrival at Leuca-Punta Ristola -

- Welcome by Mons. Vito de Grisantis, Bishop of Ugento; a representative of the Italian government;
Antonio Zanardi Landi, Italian ambassador to the Holy See; Puglia regional President Nichi Vendola;
Prefect Gianfranco Casilli of Lecce province; President of Lecce province, Giovanni Pellegrino;
the Mayor of Castrignano del Capo, Antonio Ferraro; and the Apostolic Nuncio in Italy, Mons. Giuseppe Bertello.

The Papal motorcade proceeds to the Basilica of Santa Maria di Leuca, along the Cristoforo Colombo
seaside boulevard passing by the tourist port.

17.15 Arrival at the Basilica Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Leuca.
- Prayer by the Holy Father
- Preparation for Holy Mass

17.30 Start of the Eucharistic celebration
- Greeting by Mons. Grisantis, Bishop of Ugento-Santa Maria di Leuca
- HOMILY BY THE HOLY FATHER.

19.15 Depart for Punta Ristola

19.30 Helicopter leaves for Brindisi

VISIT TO BRINDISI
June 14-15, 2008

Saturday, June 14

20.00 Arrival at heliport in via Spalato.
- Welcome by Mons. Rocco Talucci, Archbishop of Brindisi-Ostuni; a representative of the Italian government;
Ambassador Landi; Puglia President Nichi Vendola; Dr. Mario Tafaro, Prefect of Brindisi; Domenico Mennitti,
Mayor of Brindisi; and Dr. Michele Errico, President of Brindisi province.

- The civilian authorities will then precede the papal motorcade to go towards the city center.
- The Holy Father will transfer to a Popemobile to proceed to Piazale Flacco.

20.30 PIAZZALE LENIO FLACCO
- Festive welcome by the youth of the city
- Welcome and encounter with the city faithful.
- Addresses by the Italian government representative and the mayor
- GREETING BY THE HOLY FATHER

21.15 The Holy Father then proceeds to the Bishop's Palace where he will spend the night.

Sunday, June 15

09:15 The Holy Father will meet cloistered nuns in the chapel of the Bishops Palace.

09:30 Leave the Bishop's Palace in the Popemobile for Sant'Apollinare in Brindisi port.

10:00 Eucharistic celebration in Santi'Apollinare.
- HOMILY BY THE HOLY FATHER

12:00 The Holy Father will lead the Angelus.
- REMARKS BY THE HOLY FATEHR.

He then returns to the Bishop's palace.

13:00 Lunch with the bishops of Puglia, followed by a brief rest.

16:30 Greeting to members of the Organizing Committees at the Bishop's palace.

16:45 Visit to the Cathedral of Brindisi
- Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
- Meeting with the priests and seminarians of the diocese.
- ADDRESS BY THE HOLY FATHER.

17:15 Travel by Popemobile to Brindisi-Casale airport.

17:45 Depart for Rome.

ROME
18:45 Arrival at Rome-Ciampino airport.
Travel by helicopter to the Vatican.

The Diocese of Ugento, to which Santa Maria di Leuca belongs, has a YouTube preview of the Pope's itinerary.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXwdpl2g9Hk&eurl=http://www.diocesiugento.org/leuca/i...

TERESA BENEDETTA

00mercoledì 11 giugno 2008 10:43

PASTORAL VISIT TO LEUCA AND BRINDISI, June 14-15, 2008

The trip this weekend will be Pope Benedict XVI's second pastoral visit to the 'heel' of Italy - which is the region of Puglia - since he became Pope. His very first trip outside Rome after the Conclave was on May 29 to close the XXIV National Eucharistic Congress in Bari, Italy.

When I 'reconstructed' a reportage of the Bari event last year for purposes of basic documentation on the Forum [at the start of this thread], I included an overview of Bari, the city, but not of the region. So this sort of makes up for that lack....

ALL ABOUT APULIA (PUGLIA)

Apulia (in Italian, Puglia, pronounced Pool-yah) is the region in southeastern Italy that borders the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south.

Its southern portion known as Salento, a peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises 19,345 sq km, and its population is about 4 million. It is bordered by the regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata to the southwest. It neighbors Greece and Albania, across the Ionian and Adriatic Seas, respectively. The region extends as far north as Monte Gargano, and was the scene of the last stages in the Second Punic War.

Puglia is mostly a plain, but its low coast is relieved by the mountainous Gargano Peninsula in the north, and there are mountains in the north central part of the region.

Apulia is divided into six provinces: form the north, Foggia, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Bari, Taranto, Brindisi and Lecce.

One of the richest regions in Italy for archeological findings, Apulia was settled from the 1st millennium BC by several Illyric and Italic peoples. Later, the Greeks expanded until reaching the area of Taranto and the Salento. In the fifth and fourth centuries BC, the Greek settlement at Taras produced a distinctive style of pottery (Apulian vase painting).

Apulia was an important area for the ancient Romans, who conquered it in the 4th century BC but also suffered a crushing defeat here in the battle of Cannae against Hannibal. However, after the Carthaginians left the region, the Romans captured the ports of Brindisi and Taranto, and established dominion over the region.

During the Imperial age Apulia was a flourishing area for production of grain and oil, becoming the most important exporter to the Eastern provinces.

For several thousand years, Apulia was the target for every Mediterranean power in existence, being successfully invaded by the Greeks, Japygeans, Romans, Byzantium, Normans and Spanish.

It's the region's historical bad luck that it inhabited such a strategically vital point on the Italian peninsula - Puglia is the heel on Italy's boot. He who controlled the promontories of Puglia also controlled the Adriatic and Ionian seas and the passage through to the eastern Mediterranean. Little wonder that it early became one of the centres of Magna Graecia [Greater Greece].

Today of course, its placement over two coasts makes it a tourist's dream. Add to the mile upon mile of shoreline, superb weather, beautiful towns, lovely countryside, and plenty of beaches (not to mention rocky coves and spectacular cliffs), Puglia vacations are becoming ever more popular with Italians and others.

It's not only holidaymakers. Many are now looking to Apulia to buy holiday homes in Italy, and to relocate permanently to Puglia.

There are enticing towns in Puglia. There is the buzzing Baroque city of Lecce which occupies on Italy's southernmost promontory and lively resorts including Vieste and Peschici. Martina Franca is a town with a fascinating Moorish atmosphere yet a very modern buzz, while Bari is an unspoiled old city. In Ostuni you will discover a hilltop town to rival those of Umbria, with Frederick II's 13th century Swabian castles creating a remarkable confection of fairytale medieval Germany in the blazing heat of the Mediterranean.

You could even spend your vacation in a Puglia castle, but the signature building of Apulia (and very popular with holidaymakers) is the trullo. The trulli are remarkable little cone-roofed whitewashed dwellings that mushroom around Alberobello in the region's northern reaches. Reminiscent of north Africa (or perhaps something from Star Wars) these are now protected as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Holiday in Puglia and you'll feast on the healthy, classic Mediterranean diet. Lamb features heavily on the menu, as it does in its fellow southern Italian regions such as Basilicata and Calabria. The Puglian style is to cook it in Greek fashion, flavoured with rosemary on a spit.

These coasts produce most of Italy's fish, with typical dishes including oysters roasted with oil, lemon, garlic and marjoram. Mussel and potato soup and sea bream are other specialities, though much seafood is eaten raw, with prawns, sardines and cuttlefish big ingredients.

Much of the pasta of Italy starts life in Puglian wheatfields, and the region has superb olive oil and a huge harvest of sun-dried tomatoes. On your Italian vacation, you can unwind with with good local red wines such as Castel del Monte Rosso, and whites like Terra d'Otranto and Bianco di Train.

Although the heel of Italy is part of the Mezzogiorno (literally the 'midday', a phrase referring to the baking sunshine in southern Italy), it has a more sophisticated and cosmopolitan feel than Molise or Basilicata. It's a large region and one of the most heavily populated in Italy (with 205 people to every square km).

And with big towns such as Lecce, Bari, Taranto, Brindisi and Foggia, this feels a long way from the wilderness that lies just to the north. You'll find Apulia easy to get to and get around, with good roads including the A14 coastal highway running through it, as well as airports at Foggia, Bari and Brindisi ... many offering budgets flights.

It may be a sizeable region, but with Puglia never more than 30km across, you never find yourself far from the seaside, and that moderates the temperatures. Don't fear the baking heat as, especially in the southernmost heel, the average summer temperature is around 25ºC, rather than the sizzling 30ºC you encounter further inland.

Explore the Gargano Promontory. Head away from the beach and you find the headland clad in ancient woodlands, a mix of oak, beech, ilex and pine. Explore fascinating towns such as the Adriatic seaports of Peschici, Manfredonia and Vieste.

[What this travel-oriented piece does not mention is that the Gargano peninsula is where San Giovanni Rotondo is located, the town where Padre Pio is buried - his remains are now on special exposition. I am familiar with the Gargano area, having spent some time in 1999-2000 in the nearby towns of Termoli and San Severo, looking into hospital practices as part of the joint research plan we were doin with some Italian doctors. And I have been to Foggia (from where one takes the train to Rome), Bari, Lecce and Alberobello for the trulli, but not to Brindisi or Taranto.]

Strike down toward the Tavoliere Plain on your Puglia vacation, and you'll end up at the border with Basilicata. With a very pretty coastal strip of sand dunes and bijou resorts, the mountains of the Capitanata Apennines (the southernmost reach of the chain that runs down the spine of Italy) surge up behind the Adriatic Coast here.

Eighteen kilometers west of Foggia, the charming little town of Lucera was once a thriving Saracen city, wholly populated by the Arabs whom Frederick II drove from Sicily and then resettled.

Explore too the Tremiti Islands. Lying off the Gargano coast, this is where Emperor Charlemagne exiled his father in law 1500 years ago. Friendlier today, these are splendid summer destinations, with unspoiled scenery and clear blue seas, gazing across the Adriatic Sea to Croatia.

Bari lies a little further down this coastline. Most of us know Bari for its airport, for its ferry services to Alabania, Croatia and Greece; perhaps even for its successful football team. But pause before dashing through on your way to your holiday home.

The Byzantine city once had a shady reputation, with a pickpocket-ridden area around the port. But it's now much cleaned up, with waterfront watering holes and trendy restaurants.

Going steadily south, we encounter first Brindisi then Lecce, a delight of Romanesque and Baroque buildings. Cut inland and head to the port of Taranto on the Ionian Coast. Colonised by the Spartans and once the capital of Magna Graecia, this is an identifiably Greek city, though later settled by Romans, by Aragon, by Napoleon and more. In its (lost) bronze of Poseidon it had one of the wonders of the Ancient World.

And you are deep in trulli country. These strange cone-shaped dwellings were being built until the late 1800s and have now become the hip holiday home in Puglia. The locals must be amazed to see these simple structures selling for a small fortune ... but they do offer marvellous protection against the summer sun with their thick, whitewashed walls.

NB: The trulli of Alberobello were proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

On the edges of the trulli area is the pretty town of Martina Franca. With a Moorish flavour and a medieval historic centre, this very civilised town is adorned with later Baroque buildings. [Teresa's note: It is also the site of an opera festival in the summer.]

Santa Maria di Leuca, often simply called Leuca [from the Greek word for white] is a district of the municipality of Castrignano del Capo, in the province of Lecce.

Leuca is famous for its lighthouse, 48 meters high (15 stories high) and located 102 meters (330 feet) above sea level, is one of the most important ones in Italy.

Next to the lighthouse is the large Sanctuary of Santa Maria de Finibus Terrae (Land's End), built in 1720-1755) to commemorate what, according to legend, was St. Peter's passage here during his travel to Italy. It lies on the former site of a Roman temple dedicated to Minerva. The edifice has a fortified structure, and during its existence it sustained several assault by Turk pirates.

In the same site, a Corinthian column was erected in 1939 to celebrate the construction of the Apulian Aqueduct (Acquedotto Pugliese). The basilica is connected to the port through a 184-step staircase.

Punta Meliso promontory is the southeastern extremity of Italy — traditionally considered the lowest point of the geographical "heel" of Italian peninsula, as well as the meeting point of the waters from the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea.

Since October 2006 its territory is part of the Regional Park "Costa Otranto - Santa Maria di Leuca e Bosco di Tricase". Santa Maria di Leuca's littoral is marked by numerous grottoes with Latin and Greek inscriptions. Also famous are the 19th century patrician villas in the area (about 40 in number).

Panel shows, from the top: City seen, approaching inner port in ferry boat; the Aragones castle which just out to sea; the city skyline beyond inner port; and the Swabian Castle.

Brindisi has several traditions about its founding. One of them claims that it was founded by the legendary Diomedes, one of the heroes of the Trojan War, whose storyis told in both Homer's Iliad Virgil's Aeneid.

Brindisi was probably an Illyrian settlement predating the Roman expansion. The Latin name Brundisium, through the Greek Brentesion, is a corruption of a word in the ancient vernacular meaning "deer's head", probably referring to the shape of the natural harbor.

It was conquered by the Romans in the third century BC. After the Punic Wars it became a major center of Roman naval power and maritime trade. It was made a free port by Sulla and suffered from a siege conducted by Caesar in 49 BCE (Bell. Civ. i.) and was again attacked in 42 and 40 BCE. Virgil died here in 19 BC.

Under the Romans, Brundisium - a large city in its day with some 100,000 inhabitants - was an active port, the chief point of embarkation for Greece and the East. It was connected with Rome by the Via Appia and the Via Traiana. It was the southern terminal for those famous Roman roads.

Later Brindisi was conquered by Ostrogoths, and reconquered by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century AD. In 674 it was destroyed by the Lombards, but such a fine natural harbor meant that the city was soon rebuilt. In the 9th century, a Saracen settlement existed in the neighborhood of the city, which had been stormed in 836 by pirates. Again a Byzantine possession, it was captured by the Normans in 1070, and subsequently part of the Kingdom of Naples under its various dynasties. Like other Pugliese ports, Brindisi for a short while was ruled by Venice, but was soon reconquered by Spain.

Brindisi fell to Austrian rule in 1707-1734, and afterwards to the Bourbons. Between September 1943 and February 1944 the city functioned as the temporary capital of Italy.

Left, column marking the Appian terminal; right, Cathedral of San Giovanni.