Vatican City, Jan 8, 2010 / (CNA).-
Security official Salvatore Festa, who coordinates activity between the Italian police who serve at the Vatican and Holy See officials, guaranteed Pope Benedict's security, as new measures have been taken following the Christmas Eve incident in which the Pope was pulled to the ground by a disturbed woman.
In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, Festa recalled that during the Christmas Eve Mass, measures were immediately taken to protect the Pontiff when the young Swiss woman, Susana Maiolo lunged at the Holy Father.
Festa noted that Vatican official Domenico Giani reacted immediately to the situation.
Speaking later about the special training provided to those who protect the Holy Father, Festa explained that the first thing the security guards are taught “has to do with guaranteeing the Pope's security without keeping him from fulfilling his mission to the people.”
“You cannot keep the Pope from approaching the railings to greet or bless those who seek or call out to him. For this reason, his closest agents receive a specific kind of training.”
These members of the security team periodically receive updated training sessions to learn new safety techniques, Festa explained, thus ensuring that the Pope is provided the best protection possible.
In response to a question about persons who wish to harm Pope Benedict XVI, Festa explained that a second tier of undercover security agents are specially trained to spot dangerous people...in order to intervene rapidly under any circumstances.”
Festa also noted that security agents who control the entrances into St. Peter’s Square and operate the metal detectors “receive special instruction on how to identify every object that is scanned, even if the most sophisticated techniques are used to camouflage it.” He added that so far, no weapons have been found among those in attendance.
vrijdag 8 januari 2010
Security official guarantees Pope's safety
Injured French cardinal to be released from hospital
Rome, Italy, Jan 7, 2010 /(CNA).-
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray will soon be released from the hospital after being admitted on Christmas Eve for a broken leg. The prelate was injured in a fall caused by Vatican security as they attempted to impede a disturbed woman from approaching Pope Benedict XVI as he processed in to St. Peter's Basilica to celebrate Mass.
According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, the cardinal is recovering and will be sent home by January 10.
Etchegaray underwent surgery for a complete arthroprosthesis of the right hip on Dec. 27 at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome to repair a fractured femoral neck, reported Fr. Federico Lombardi in a statement from the Vatican Press Office on that day.
As for the 25-year old Susanna Maiolo, the Swiss woman that jumped a barrier to allegedly embrace the Pontiff, she is still being held in the Angelluci psychiatric hospital in a small city near Rome.
True faith in Christ requires real humility, Benedict XVI teaches
Vatican City, Jan 6, 2010 / (CNA).-
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Mass of the Epiphany this morning at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, accompanied by hundreds of clergy and thousands of the faithful. In his homily, the Holy Father called for authentic humility to “start walking the road” indicated by "the star" of the Lord.
On the feast of the Epiphany, the church celebrates the arrival of the Magi to the nativity. These Eastern Kings, said the Pope, came from a distant land to give homage while those who were in nearby Bethlehem and Jerusalem neglected the signs and remained ignorant of the savior's birth.
We run the same risk today "even though the few in Bethlehem have become many, the believers in Jesus Christ always seem to be few,” the Holy Father cautioned.
"Many have seen the star, but only a few have understood the message."
Despite possessing the knowledge to see and find the Lord, many are impeded by "too much confidence in themselves, the pretext of perfectly knowing the reality..." he added.
The presumption of forming a definitive judgment on the workings of the world, continued the Pontiff, closes a person's heart and makes it "insensitive to the novelty of God." This trust in self rather than in God makes many think it impossible that He could be great enough to reduce himself to our size and to be approachable, he explained.
"What is lacking is authentic humility to know how to submit to that which is great with authentic courage, which leads us to believe in that which is truly great, even if it is manifested in a defenseless Child," the Pope stated.
The answer, he said, is that we must have the "evangelical capacity to be children at heart ... and to allow ourselves to start walking on the road indicated by the star, the way of God."
The Pontiff added that "The Lord ... has the power to render us capable of seeing and of saving us. So, we want to ask Him to give us a wise and innocent heart, one that permits us to see the star and his mercy, to start walking on his road (and) to find him and be inundated by the great light and the true joy that he brings to this world."
St. Peter's Basilica now safer for Pope following Christmas security breach
Vatican City, Jan 5, 2010 /(CNA).-
Changes have been made at St. Peter's Basilica after a security breach on Christmas Eve that left the Pope on the floor and a cardinal hospitalized. A meeting was held between heads of security and the Vatican Secretary of State in the days following the incident and at least one visible measure has been taken to prevent similar disturbances in the future.
According to Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale, the obvious modification is a widening of the aisle in which the Pontiff, concelebrants and accompanying servers process to the altar. Barriers that before separated Pope Benedict from attendees by a couple of steps have been moved farther outwards to expand the procession space.
While the number of guards will remain the same, reported Tornielli, the extra yard or so on each side will create more space for them to maneuver, thus reducing the risk of an event similar to that of Midnight Mass on Dec. 24 in which a mentally unstable woman was able to reach the Pope as she was being blocked by Vatican security chief Domenico Giani.
In the rush to protect the Pope, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray was bumped to the ground by security staff at which time he suffered a broken femur.
With the new layout, such outcomes will be less likely.
The Pope will still be free to approach those present at basilica celebrations for blessings and greetings, but now he will cover a little extra distance in the name of safety.
Thus far, no official description has been made by the Vatican of any other changes to security procedures within the Vatican and there is no word of how many fewer seats will be available for liturgical celebrations due to the expansion of the central aisle.
Benedict XVI tells youth not to fear a religious vocation
Vatican City, (CNA).-
On the last day of 2009, Pope Benedict XVI led first vespers at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica. In addition to singing the Te Deum hymn, he exhorted young people to have the courage to pursue their vocation.
The Te Deum is sung in thanksgiving to the Lord in the Catholic churches of the world on December 31 of each year. In his remarks, the Holy Father noted that this is a time to "put the various events of our lives – major and minor…under the sign of salvation and accept the call God makes to guide us toward a goal beyond time itself: eternity."
"We are called to say with our voices, hearts and lives our ‘thanks’ to God for the gift of his son, …for family, for community, the church and the world," he continued.
Pope Benedict gave special thanks for those who live and work within the Diocese of Rome, of which he is bishop. He praised efforts within the city to follow in the footsteps of Christ and encouraged further participation of the faithful "to be able to offer a valid contribution to the edification of the Church."
In the message, Benedict XVI put special emphasis on the importance of reaching youth with God’s Word. "Rome needs priests that are courageous announcers of the Gospel and, at the same time, reveal the merciful face of the Father."
The Pontiff invited young people "to not be afraid to respond to the complete gift of their own existence to the call that the Lord makes to them to pursue the way of priesthood or the consecrated life."
The Holy Father also recommended a return to the "lectio divina," the reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer, because "the Word, believed, announced and lived pushes us to solidarity and sharing."
Pope Benedict XVI concluded his message by expressing his wish that the 25th anniversary of World Youth Day, to be celebrated on March 25, 2010, be a day of "reflection and invocation to obtain from the Lord the gift of numerous vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life."
