Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, and Archbishop Georg Gänswein with the nativity scene on Dec. 8, 2021. / Diocese of Regensburg.
Vatican City, Dec 9, 2021 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
Pope emeritus Benedict XVI received a nativity scene from his homeland of Bavaria on Wednesday.
An association dedicated to maintaining and promoting nativity scenes presented Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, with two cribs. One was for the retired German pope and the other for Pope Francis, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.
The presentation of the nativity scenes took place during a pilgrimage to Rome by members of the Verband Bayerischer Krippenfreunde, led by its president, Msgr. Martin Martlreiter.
The group was joined by Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, a diocese in Bavaria, a federal state in the southeast of Germany known as a Catholic heartland.
Voderholzer met with Benedict XVI on Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, at the Vatican.
Regensberg diocese posted photographs on its Twitter account showing the 94-year-old pope emeritus seated between Voderholzer and Gänswein, who was holding one of the two nativity scenes.
Bischof Rudolf Voderholzer ist gerade in Rom und hat gestern den emeritierten Papst getroffen. Mitgebracht hat er ihm unter anderem eine Krippe. ^jw pic.twitter.com/ZYRzDTPm1U
Benedict XVI was born on April 16, 1927, a Holy Saturday, in the Bavarian village of Marktl am Inn.
Members of the Bavarian association also took part in the annual “100 Nativity Scenes at the Vatican” exhibit, held under a part of Bernini’s famous colonnade, which embraces St. Peter’s Square.
“Thanks to the support of our Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer, we were able to participate in the international nativity exhibition under Bernini’s colonnades this year,” said Martlreiter.
The nativity scenes presented to the pope and pope emeritus were snow-covered.
“This representation naturally has a very special meaning in the countries north of the Alps,” Martlreiter said, referring to Bavaria’s location beyond the 750-mile long mountain range at the top of Italy.
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Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Angelus reflection on Oct. 6, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 6, 2024 / 10:43 am (CNA).
“Be open to the gift of life,” Pope Francis urged married couples in his Sunday Angelus address, in which the pope described a recent encounter with a father of eight children as “a great consolation.”
Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 6, Pope Francis asked couples to reflect on whether their married life is fully open to the gift of children.
“For spouses, it’s essential to be open to the gift of life, to the gift of children. They are the most beautiful fruit of love, the greatest blessing from God, a source of joy and hope for every home and all of society. Have children!” Pope Francis said.
“Dear brothers and sisters, love is demanding, yes, but it is beautiful, and the more we allow ourselves to be involved by it, the more we discover true happiness in it,” he added.
The pope recounted how a member of the Vatican’s Gendarmerie Corps brought his eight children to a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica that the pope presided over on Saturday. Pope Francis described seeing the family as “a great consolation.”
“It was beautiful to see them,” he said. “Please, be open to life, to what God may send you.”
Francis encouraged married Catholics to “ask themselves: How is my love? Is it faithful? Is it generous? Is it creative?”
“How are our families?” Pope Francis added. “Are they open to life, to the gift of children?”
The Catholic Church teaches that all forms of artificial birth control are illicit and forbidden to married couples. This teaching was formalized in 1968 by St. Paul VI, who in his encyclical Humanae Vitae declared that “any action … specifically intended to prevent procreation” was “absolutely excluded” as a lawful means of regulating the number of children in a Catholic marriage.
However, recent data from the federally administered National Survey of Family Growth shows large majorities of Catholics in the United States report using at least one form of artificial contraception — with over 90% having used condoms and more than 60% having used the hormonal birth control pill.
In his Angelus address, the pope offered a reflection on Sunday’s Gospel from the Gospel of Mark in which the Pharisees asked Jesus about whether the law permits divorce.
Pope Francis noted that the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees reminded them of “the demands of love.”
“He reminds them that woman and man were willed by the Creator as equal in dignity and complementary in diversity,” the pope said.
Francis emphasized that the mutual gift of married love is “destined to last not ‘as long as everything goes well’ but forever, accepting each other and living united as ‘one flesh.’”
“Of course, this is not easy,” the pope added. “This requires fidelity, even in difficulties, it requires respect, honesty, simplicity. It requires being open to confrontation … when it is necessary, but also to be always ready to forgive and to be reconciled to the other.”
At the end of his Gospel reflection, Pope Francis asked the Virgin Mary to intercede for Christian spouses, noting the upcoming feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
An appeal for peace in the Holy Land
Pope Francis noted that he will soon go to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray the rosary for peace on the vigil of the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.
“Tomorrow marks one year since the terror attack on the population in Israel, to whom I once again express my closeness. Let us not forget that there are still many hostages in Gaza. I ask for them to be released immediately,” Pope Francis said.
“Since that day, the Middle East has been plunged into a condition marked by increasing suffering, with destructive military actions continuing to strike the Palestinian people. The people are suffering very much in Gaza and in other territories. Most of them are innocent civilians, all of them are people who must receive all necessary humanitarian aid. I call for an immediate cease-fire on all fronts, including Lebanon. Let us pray for the Lebanese, especially for those who live in the south, who are forced to leave their villages,” he added.
Appealing to the international community to stop “the spiral of revenge” and to prevent attacks “like the one recently carried out by Iran,” Pope Francis underlined the right of all nationals to exist in peace and security.
“Let us unite with the power of good against the diabolical plots of war,” the pope said.
Pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square for Pope Francis’ Angelus reflection on Oct. 6, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
21 new cardinals announced
At the end of his Angelus address, Pope Francis surprised the crowd by announcing that he plans to create 21 new cardinals, including the archbishops of Tehran, Tokyo, and Toronto, in a consistory on Dec. 8.
The pope noted that the cardinals-elect reflect “the universality of the Church that continues to announce God’s merciful love to all people.”
“Let us pray for the new cardinals, that in confirming their commitment to Christ, the merciful and faithful high priest, they may assist me in my ministry as the bishop of Rome for the good of the holy people of God.”
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