Pope Benedict XVI wearing brilliant red shoes arrives to attend a Inter-religious Gathering at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center on April 17, 2008 in Washington, DC. / TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / … […]
Pope Francis’ Angelus message on Jan. 1, 2023, marked the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. An estimated 40,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the event. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 08:31 am (CNA).
Let Mary, the Mother of God, be your guide in the New Year, Pope Francis said on Sunday, the first day of 2023.
In his Angelus address before a crowd of an estimated 40,000 people in St. Peter’s Square Jan. 1, the pope said: “As we contemplate Mary in the stable where Jesus was born, let us ask ourselves: What languages does the Holy Virgin use to speak to us? How does Mary speak?”
“What can we learn from her for this year that is dawning?” he added. “We can say: Virgin Mary, teach us what we should do this year.”
The pope’s message preceding the Angelus prayer was delivered on the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Pope Francis also celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica earlier in the day to mark the feast day.
At the beginning of his Angelus message, Pope Francis remembered his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who died on Dec. 31 at the age of 95.
Echoing his words at Mass Sunday, he invited Catholics to invoke the Virgin Mary’s intercession for Benedict. “Let us all join together, with one heart and one soul, in thanking God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church,” he said.
His Angelus reflection focused on the “language of Mary,” specifically her tenderness and care for the Baby Jesus.
The Gospel of Luke describes the shepherds’ encounter with the Holy Family, and how they saw the infant Jesus “lying in the manger.”
“This verb ‘to lay’ means to carefully place, and tells us that the language proper to Mary is maternal: She tenderly takes care — this is the language of Mary — to tenderly take care of the Child. This is Mary’s greatness,” he said.
He described a noisy scene: the angels celebrating Christ’s birth and the shepherds running to meet Jesus with everyone loudly praising God.
Instead, “Mary does not speak,” Francis said, “she does not steal the show — we like to steal the show! On the contrary, she puts the Child in the center, she lovingly takes care of him.”
The pope recalled a line of poetry from the Italian writer Alda Merini, which says that Mary “even knew how to be solemnly mute, […] because she did not want to lose sight of her God.”
All mothers do the same, he said: “After having carried the gift of a mysterious prodigy in her womb for nine months, mothers constantly put their babies at the center of their attention: They feed them, they hold them in their arms, they tenderly lay them down in the crib.”
The Mother of God’s language is “a language of a mother,” he added.
Mary, Pope Francis said, “reminds us that, if we truly want the New Year to be good, if we want to reconstruct hope, we need to abandon the language, those actions and those choices inspired by egoism, and learn the language of love, which is to take care.”
He continued: “This is the commitment: to take care of our lives, of our time, of our souls; to take care of creation and the environment we live in; and even more, to take care of our neighbor, of those whom the Lord has placed alongside us, as well as our brothers and sisters who are in need and who call for our attention and our compassion.”
The Vatican has released photographs of the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on Dec. 31, 2022, at age 95. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 05:28 am (CNA).
The Vatican on Sunday shared the first photos of Pope Emeritus Be… […]
Pope Francis offers Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in St. Peter’s Basilica on January 1, 2022. / © Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 04:00 am (CNA).
Jan. 1 marks more than the start of a new year — it is also the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the World Day of Peace.
The two celebrations are connected because, as St. Paul VI wrote in 1974, Mary is the Queen of Peace.
“In the revised ordering of the Christmas period it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the restored Solemnity of Mary the holy Mother of God,” he wrote in his encyclical Marialis Cultus. “This celebration, placed on January 1 in conformity with the ancient indication of the liturgy of the City of Rome, is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation.”
He added: “It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (cf. Lk. 2:14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace.
“It is for this reason that, in the happy concurrence of the Octave of Christmas and the first day of the year, we have instituted the World Day of Peace.”
The solemnity of Mary as the Mother of God concludes the octave of Christmas, or the eight days following Christ’s birth. While her title as “Mother of God” dates back to the 3rd or 4th century, the Greek term “Theotokos” (“The God-bearer”) first became Catholic doctrine at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
This year, the solemnity — a holy day of obligation — falls on a Sunday.
At the same time, the Catholic Church also recognizes Jan. 1 as the World Day of Peace, a tradition first celebrated by St. Paul VI in 1968.
“We address Ourself to all men of good will to exhort them to celebrate ‘The Day of Peace,’ throughout the world, on the first day of the year, January 1, 1968,” he declared at the time. “It is Our desire that then, every year, this commemoration be repeated as a hope and as a promise, at the beginning of the calendar which measures and outlines the path of human life in time, that Peace with its just and beneficent equilibrium may dominate the development of events to come.”
This day, he stressed, not only belongs to Catholics but also to all people of peace.
“It would hope to have the adherence of all the true friends of Peace, as if it were their own initiative, to be expressed in a free manner, congenial to the particular character of those who are aware of how beautiful and how important is the harmony of all voices in the world for the exaltation of this primary good, which is Peace, in the varied concert of modern humanity,” he said.
This celebration, he added, does not detract from the Solemnity of Mary.
“Such an observance must not change the liturgical calendar, which reserves New Year’s Day for veneration of the divine motherhood of Mary and the most holy Name of Jesus,” he urged, “indeed, those holy and loving religious remembrances must shed their light of goodness, wisdom and hope upon the prayer for, the meditation upon, and the fostering of the great and yearned-for gift of Peace, of which the world has so much need.”
Pope Francis presided over the first papal Mass of the new year on Jan. 1, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. / Alan Köppschall/EWTN Vatican
Vatican City, Jan 1, 2023 / 03:17 am (CNA).
At the first papal Mass of 2023, thousands of Catholics gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica prayed for the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on New Year’s Eve at the age of 95.
In the prayers of the faithful on Jan. 1, the congregation prayed: “Remember Lord, the deceased Pope Emeritus Benedict. May the chief Shepherd, who always lives to intercede for us, welcome him kindly into the kingdom of light and peace.”
On New Year’s Day, Pope Francis entrusted the soul of the late Benedict XVI to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“Today we entrust to our Blessed Mother our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI that she may accompany him in his passage from this world to God,” Francis said.
The Catholic Church begins each new year with the Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God, a title confirmed at the First Council of Ephesus in 431.
Pope Francis, who turned 85 last month, arrived at St. Peter’s Basilica in a wheelchair. He sat in a white chair in front of the congregation for the Mass.
In his homily for the Marian solemnity, Pope Francis encouraged everyone to see the new year as an opportunity to do good by sharing God’s love with “the people next door, the people who live in the same building, the people we meet each day on the street.”
“At the beginning of this year, among all the other things that we would like to do and experience, let us devote some time to seeing, to opening our eyes and to keeping them open before what really matters: God and our brothers and sisters,” he said.
The pope urged Catholics to imitate the shepherds in Bethlehem by “setting out in haste” to serve others.
“Today, at the beginning of the year, rather than standing around, thinking and hoping that things will change, we should instead ask ourselves: ‘This year, where do I want to go? Who is it that I can help? So many people, in the Church and in society, are waiting for the good that you and you alone can do, they are waiting for your help,” Francis said.
“Today, amid the lethargy that dulls our senses, the indifference that paralyzes our hearts, and the temptation to waste time glued to a keyboard in front of a computer screen, the shepherds are summoning us to set out and get involved in our world, to dirty our hands and to do some good.”
Like the shepherds, Christians should also prioritize time in the new year to contemplate “the Christ Child resting in his mother’s arms,” the pope added.
He asked, “How many times, in our busy lives, do we fail to stop, even for a moment, to be close to the Lord and to hear his word, to say a prayer, to adore and praise him?”
On Jan. 1, the Catholic Church also celebrates the World Day of Peace, a tradition established by Pope Paul VI and confirmed by Pope John Paul II.
At the Mass, Pope Francis entrusted victims of war to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He prayed for all those “passing these holidays in darkness and cold, in poverty and fear, immersed in violence and indifference.”
“For all those who have no peace, let us invoke Mary, the woman who brought into the world the Prince of Peace,” he said.
Archbishop Gänswein and Pope emeritus Benedict XVI. / EWTN/Paul Badde, Mazur/www.thepapalvisit.org.uk
Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 02:30 am (CNA).
Archbishop Georg Gänswein has known Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in an official capacity since bein… […]
Bishops of England, Scotland, and Wales line up to kiss Pope Benedict XVI’s ring at Oscott College in Birmingham, central England, on Sept. 19, 2010, where he later addressed bishops. / Photo by MATT CARDY/AFP via Getty Images
CNA Newsroom, Dec 31, 2022 / 14:55 pm (CNA).
The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales led tributes to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, hailing him as one of the great theologians of the 20th century.
In a statement released Dec. 31, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said: “I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Benedict. He will be remembered as one of the great theologians of the 20th century.
“I remember with particular affection the remarkable papal visit to these lands in 2010. We saw his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind, and the openness of his welcome to everybody that he met.
“He was through and through a gentleman, through and through a scholar, through and through a pastor, through and through a man of God — close to the Lord and always his humble servant.
“Pope Benedict is very much in my heart and in my prayers. I give thanks to God for his ministry and leadership.”
Pope Benedict XVI famously visited the U.K. in 2010, where he celebrated Mass at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow; led a prayer vigil for young people at Hyde Park, London; and ended his visit with the beatification of John Henry Newman at Cofton Park, Birmingham.
The president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, Bishop Hugh Gilbert, described the late pope emeritus as a “shy and scholarly man” in a statement released Dec. 31.
Bishop Gilbert said: “With the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict, we lose one of the leading Catholic figures of the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of our own.
“By nature, a shy and scholarly man and by profession a priest-theologian, he found himself drawn ever more into public life as archbishop of Munich, as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, and finally as pope, the first German since the end of the Second World War to attain world pre-eminence.
“He once wrote: ‘My basic intention has been to expose the real core of the faith underneath the encrustations, and to give this core its true power and dynamism. This has been the constant direction of my life.’ His full stature will surely emerge increasingly. May he rest in peace.”
The U.K. prime minister and King Charles III also added their voices to the tributes paid to the late pope emeritus.
Following the announcement of his death, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted: “I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He was a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was an historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country.”
I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
He was a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was an historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country.
My thoughts are with Catholic people in the UK and around the world today.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) December 31, 2022
Meanwhile, King Charles sent a message of condolence to Pope Francis, which read: “Your Holiness, I received the news of the death of your predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, with deep sadness.
The King has sent a message of condolence to Pope Francis following the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) December 31, 2022
“I remember with fondness my meeting with His Holiness during my visit to the Vatican in 2009.
“His visit to the U.K. in 2010 was important in strengthening the relations between the Holy See and the U.K.
“I also recall his constant efforts to promote peace and goodwill to all people, and to strengthen the relationship between the global Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.”
The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales will now celebrate Requiem Masses for the repose of the soul of the late pope emeritus in their respective cathedrals.
U.S. President Joe Biden / Credit: White House – Public Domain
Washington D.C., Dec 31, 2022 / 14:25 pm (CNA).
President Joe Biden paid tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday, calling him “a renowned theologian” and “an ins… […]
Pope Benedict XVI / EWTN Media
Rome Newsroom, Dec 31, 2022 / 13:54 pm (CNA).
The Vatican published Benedict XVI’s spiritual testament on Saturday night in which the late pope underlined “the reasonableness of faith.”“What I said before to my co… […]
Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA praised Servant of God Vincent Capodanno at a memorial Mass marking the 55th anniversary of the death of the heroic chaplain Sept. 6, 2022. / Courtesy of Archdiocese fo… […]
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