Now, as I was writing this, a friend brought me the morning paper, "il Giornale" –it is a secular paper (maybe this is something incomprehensible to us Americans, this difference between secularism and religiosity, and what it means with regard to the press since we do things quite differently in the States). Anyway, this is another paper which gives quite a lot of space to the Pope and it even has a tiny "Saint of the Day" column (instead of horoscopes!). And so as I usually do I went straight to the Saint of the Day–well, after looking at the pages and pages of photos and articles on what is about to happen here in half an hour's time in St. Peter's square. And low and behold, the "Saint" of the Day is a big surprise, and this translation is for Goral!:

"Our Lady of Rome"

On January 20th, 1842 the Virgin appeared to Alphonse-Marie Ratisbonne and it was an event that created a big sensation. The person in question was a lawyer from Strasbourg, son of a well-known Jewish banker. He was engaged to a woman of the same religion as he, but personally he believed in nothing. His brother Theodore instead had become a Catholic priest who prayed, together with a group of friends, for the conversion of Alphonse: that day (20 Jan.) they had convinced him to keep a Miraculous Medal in his pocket on a dare, and he went along with the game. He was waiting in the church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte for a Baron, an acquaintance of his, when in the church it grew dark save for a side altar. Upon that altar he saw the Blessed Virgin appear as She is seen on the Miraculous Medal. He fell upon his knees and could not raise his head. Afterwards he was not able to say for how long he had remained thus. When he came out of the church, he was fully converted to Catholicism. It is said that he had been given to understand in a flash all the truths of the Christian religion. Ten days later he was baptised in the same church, and before the year was out he entered the Jesuit Order, where in 1848 he was ordained a priest. [...] .

Rino Cammilleri"

best wishes to you all and now we shall soon be united by the Angelus and by the Father we all have in common! (to say nothing of our good Lord and Father in heaven, but He knows I mean him too!)

My disgust is not with him or other sinners like me but with the overall landscape in once Christian Europe which has a Baptismal certificate in safe keeping while living as a practical atheist.

Fr. Euteneuer makes this statement in todays pro-life article: "They are worse than false prophets; they are frauds who perpetuate the notion that we can adopt the values of the devil while still serving God. Vote pro-life, not pro-some-life."

We can apply this statement to Western Europe which is entering the dark ages. All the while the non-judgementalism of the interested and the disinterested is paving their way.

Spare me the threadbare charity which says that I need to read a statement like "though he professes atheism, the Baptismal certificate still means everything to him." and not see the insanity in it.

The Holy Spirit will act regardless of my interpretation but my interpretation is still sound.

God Bless,

Rygel XVI 

Maybe it is the kind of grace that goes by the name of nostalgia/but "I'm not willing to pay the price of discipleship".

This scenario makes me think of divorced couples spending Christmas dinner together "for the sake of the kids" and then going back to their respective lovers.

God works in mysterious ways, however.  Perhaps this event will rejuvenate the passion of some Italians for the Pope and Mother Church.  Sometimes you only realize the splendor of a sunset as it fades. This could be a sunrise…… One can only hope, for the specter of Italy as a mothballed museum  reminds me of Jesus'  words to the women of Jerusalem, "Don't weep over me, weep for yourselves."

If by that you mean that there is a spark still there then I'll go along with it reluctantly. Didn't the Pharisees have the same spark? 

 Madeline

Unless the pope was blown up or tripped over Britney Spears, the DriveByMedia didn't even acknowledge it. 

Madeline 

The following statement of the article says it all about the convoluted a twisted logic that free thinkers subscribe to: "Vittorio Feltri, declared today that he would suspend his atheism for a day, however much it might cost him, and go to St. Peter's with his Baptismal certificate in hand–to show that though he professes atheism, the Baptismal certificate still means everything to him."

Hypocrites! You will disintegrate with that piece of paper, and then what???