Below is an excerpt of an article on Catholic News Service about a book “My Brother the Pope”, which recounts the childhood and life of Pope Benedict XVI. The book is based on a series of interviews with Msgr. Geort Ratzinger, the elder brother of the Pope.

“Recounting their rural Bavarian childhood and subsequent lifelong friendship, the elder brother of Pope Benedict XVI offers a privileged look at the personal side of the spiritual leader of 1.3 billion Catholics.

“My Brother the Pope,” scheduled for publication March 1 by Ignatius Press, is based on interviews with Msgr. Georg Ratzinger by German writer Michael Hesemann and was originally published in German last year.

Joseph, the future Pope Benedict, was “very slight and delicate” at birth, Msgr. Ratzinger says, and was “often sick” as an infant, with diphtheria among other ailments. Later on, Joseph’s favorite toys were stuffed animals, and he was particularly attached to a pair of teddy bears.

Msgr. Ratzinger describes family life with their parents and older sister Maria as free of any overt conflict, “since each one settled that himself and with God in personal prayer. We did not talk about such things. … Such problems became a part of our prayer.”

Glimpses of the boys’ destinies came early on. When a cardinal visited their small town in 1931, arriving in a black limousine, 4-year-old Joseph exclaimed, “I’ll be a cardinal someday!” Nevertheless, Msgr. Ratzinger says, his brother was never ambitious, and external honors have been “always unwelcome” to him.

“My brother was somewhat better behaved than I,” Msgr. Ratzinger says, yet he recounts a boyhood prank in which the two tricked a local farmer into losing track of his oxcart.

Recreation of a more edifying sort came when the boys played at being priests, using a toy altar made for them by an uncle.”

From CNS – Carol Glatz, Francis X. Rocca and Cindy Wooden

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Below is an excerpt from an article on Catholic News Agency about a recent pilgrimage of thanksgiving to Rome for former Anglicans from the British Isles.

“Over 100 former Anglicans from the British Isles concluded a pilgrimage to Rome Feb. 24 in thanksgiving for the creation of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

“It has been quite poignant because almost all of the people who are with me were not Catholics until Easter last year,” Monsignor Keith Newton, the head of the U.K. ordinariate told CNA on Feb. 24.

The ordinariate was established last year by Pope Benedict XVI to give Anglicans the possibility of entering into communion with the Catholic Church while still preserving their “distinctive Anglican patrimony.”

“Now they have come to the center of Catholicism, they’ve come to the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul to pray and to give thanks, and I think they’ve been genuinely moved by this, really,” Msgr. Newton said of his fellow pilgrims.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham already has 57 priests and over 1,000 members throughout England, Wales and Scotland. This Easter it will receive another 200 lay people and 20 priests into the Church.”

By David Kerr

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Below is an excerpt of an article in the Belfast Telegraph reporting on a talk given by the Archbishop of Dublin at a talk in the Mater Dei Institute last night, in which he called for the Government to protect schools that are truly Catholic.

“The Government has an obligation to protect schools that are truly Catholic from being stripped of church control, the Archbishop of Dublin has said.

The Most Rev Diarmuid Martin said parents who do not wish to have their children educated within a religious framework have every right. But he insisted that truly Catholic schools must be saved for those who do.

“Ireland needs plurality of provision of schools,” said the Archbishop in a lecture on the reform of the Catholic Church.

“But the rights of those Irish citizens who wish their children to receive Catholic education can only be respected by fostering Catholic schools that are truly Catholic and there is an obligation of the State to foster that possibility also.”

Nearly 90% of state-funded schools are controlled by the Catholic Church, but the Archbishop pointed out that some welcome children of all faiths.”

From the Belfast Telegraph

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Below is an excerpt from a report and interview on Vatican Today which aims to encourage people to follow the Pope on Twitter for Lent.

“Some like to give up a favourite food for Lent. Others choose to follow a bible study course. Or commit to helping those less fortunate than themselves. But in our increasingly secular societies, many young people no longer keep the Lenten season in any special way – that’s why the Pontifical Council for Social Communications has come up with a new idea to focus hearts and minds on the challenges contained in Pope Benedict’s Lenten message for 2012..

Starting on Ash Wednesday, themes from that papal message will be posted on Twitter each day during Lent and over the coming months other papal speeches and documents are likely to be tweeted in a similar way, hoping to attract the media-savvy generation and entice them to find out more…But is it all just another technological gimmick that ‘dumbs down’ the message of the Church? Not at all, says Msgr Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, “many of the key Gospel ideas are readily rendered in just 140 characters

“The idea was very simply to try and use Twitter to share with people the essence of the Pope’s message for Lent, so over the 40 days of Lent to tweet every day one of the ideas of this message…. doing it in a way so that people can re-tweet and already people we know from our meeting with bloggers last year are already re-tweeting…”

From Vatican Today

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Below is an excerpt from a report in the Irish Catholic about the cost of refurbishing Ireland’s Embassy to the Holy See in order to accommodate the Ireland’s Italian Embassy.

“The Government could have to spend as much as €1m refurbishing Ireland’s Embassy to the Holy See (Vatican), according to sources close to the renovation project which is being undertaken by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The Government announced the closure of the embassy last November citing economic reasons based on saving less than half a million for the closure.

A spokesman for the DFA confirmed that ”alterations will be necessary so that the Villa Spada can accommodate the embassy to Rome”.

An inside source close to the discussions has told The Irish Catholic that the DFA is drawing up plans to spend in the region of €1m to move the Embassy of Italy to the historic but protected structure of the Villa Spada that had served as Embassy to the Holy See from 1929 until earlier this year.

However, a senior diplomatic source speculated that the actual cost could be considerably more.

”€1m seems quite a small estimate to me given the fact that we are talking about a 17th Century building,” he said.

This new expenditure comes just a few years after the Government spent €1.4m renovating the Villa Spada.

However, the building will now need another overhaul to make way for the Irish Embassy to Italy.”

By Michael Kelly

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Below is an excerpt of an article in CiNews about the return of the relics of the True Cross to Holycross Abbey, after they were stolen late last year.

“We have our identity back” were the poignant words of the parish priest of Holycross in County Tipperary on Sunday morning last as the relics of the True Cross on which Jesus died, which had been stolen last October, were once again processed through the Abbey.

In his homily, Fr Tom Breen (pictured) told the packed congregation that the relics had been in Holycross for nearly 900 years, and that the second relic of the true cross had been given to the Abbey by Pope Paul VI in 1975 when it was being restored.

He said that when he visited a local school last Christmas and asked a local girl where she was from, she told him she used to be from Holycross but now that the cross is gone, I don’t know what to call home.

“Now we have our parish identity back, “said a delighted Fr Breen.

He thanked everyone who had prayed for the return of the relics and he especially thanked the Archbishop of Cashel & Emly Archbishop Dermot Clifford who, he said, “had never pointed the finger of blame at anybody.”

Fr Breen outlined to the congregation that from now on the relics would be stored in a specially designed alcove in the church.  While they will be visible to the public through the glass in the alcove, they will not be able to touch them.”

By Sean Ryan

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Below is an excerpt from an article in CiNews about a new organisation set up to train a team of lay people to speak about the Catholic faith in the media.

“A new organisation, based on the successful Catholic Voices model founded in Britain in the run-up to Pope Benedict’s visit in 2010, has been formed in Ireland.

Catholic Comment will prepare a team of lay people to speak about the Catholic faith in the media.

The organisation has been established by a group of lay Catholics, including independent Senator Rónán Mullen, former management consultant Catríona Curran, theology student Maura Garrihy and barrister Lorcán Price.  Other founding members include solicitor Declan Moylan, teacher Gene Dalton, university lecturer Dr Gearóid Barry and barrister Maria Steen.

In a statement announcing its establishment, Catholic Comment said it aims to provide authoritative and accurate communicators of the Church’s mission and teaching that will complement the work of Church leaders and assist the media.

According to project co-ordinator, Petra Conroy, the style of communication will be similar to that of Catholic Voices.

“We hope to communicate our values while respecting the goodwill, sincerity and intelligence of others.”

By Sarah MacDonald

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Below is an excerpt from a report on the irishtimes.com website about the new papal nuncio Archbishop Charles John Brown, presenting his papers of credence to President Michael D Higgins yesterday.

“The new papal nuncio, Archbishop Charles John Brown, has pledged to do everything in his power to “solidify and strengthen” as well as “confirm and deepen” the relationship between the Holy See and Ireland.

Presenting his letters of credence to President Michael D Higgins in a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin, Archbishop Brown said Pope Benedict had asked him to convey his personal esteem to the President as well as his “best wishes and sincere affection” for the Irish people.

The conciliatory message from the smiling nuncio came after a period of prolonged tension in the relationship between the two states, culminating in the Government’s decision last November to close the Irish embassy to the Vatican, citing reasons of cost.

“It is an honour, indeed a source of joy, for me to bring you heartfelt greetings from his holiness Pope Benedict XVI,” the nuncio said, reading a prepared statement.

“The holy father has asked me to convey in a particular way his esteem for you as President of this great nation as well as his best wishes and sincere affection for all the people of Ireland.”

By DEAGLÁN de BRÉADÚN, Political Correspondent

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Below is an excerpt from an article in the Catholic Herald about the upcoming Catholic Youth Ministry Flame Congress next month.

“The Catholic Youth Ministry (CYMFed) is hoping to fill out the 11,000 capacity Wembley Arena for the Flame Congress next month.

“The organisers have already sold 7,000 tickets for the event, which will be hosted on March 24 and will link sport and faith before the London Olympic Games this summer.

The event was inspired by the success of the Papal Visit of September 2010, in which large numbers of young people at Westminster Cathedral, Hyde Park and at “the Big Assembly” at Twickenham were active.

There will be ten bishops at the event, as well as Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, and among the speakers will be Sister Catherine Holum, a former Olympic speedskater, Barry and Margaret Mkizen and Paschal Uche, who spoke at the Papal Visit. There will be talks on the themes of “friendship, excellence and respect”, while the music will be composed by Edwin Fawcett, who was heavily involved in the music for the Papal Vigil.”

By Ed West

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Below is an excerpt of an article from CiNews about the announcement of the theme for this years International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.

“The organisers of June’s 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin have announced that it will explore the theme of Communion in Suffering and Healing through a special celebration of the anointing of the sick and a Mass celebrated by Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem on June 15.

The announcement was made in a statement marking World Day of the Sick, on Sunday and IEC2012 General Secretary, Fr Kevin Doran said the Congress would also address the issues of the exclusion and isolation of the sick.  Fr Doran said the healing ministry of Jesus was not just about curing people physically, but also about drawing them back into full participation in the life of the community from which their illness often excluded them.

“Suffering has a way of isolating people.  This is sometimes because of their own physical frailty and sometimes because we who are well, are often unsure of how to respond to suffering,” he commented.

“It is an essential element of the mission of the Church today that we continue to seek ways of keeping people in communion even when they are no longer visible in the community on a daily basis.  This remains a challenge for the Church both on a social and on a pastoral level,” Fr Doran said.

In his Message for the World Day of the Sick, which falls on the Feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope Benedict said he wished to renew his spiritual nearness to all sick people who are in places of care or are looked after in their families.  The Pontiff highlighted the sacraments of healing, particularly the anointing of the sick, which have their natural completion in the Eucharistic communion.  Eucharistic Communion is the focus of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress.”

By Sarah MacDonald

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