Notisia Katoliko Korsou: zaterdag 26 oktober 2013

zaterdag 26 oktober 2013

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is scheduled to join a rally this evening in St. Peter’s Square, with families gathered in Rome on pilgrimage. Ahead of the celebration, public security officials expect about 200,000 people.

The event will conclude on Sunday with Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica presided over by the Pope. Saturday's rally and Sunday's Mass are part of a weekend Family Pilgrimage to the Tomb of St. Peter, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Family. The theme is “Families, live the joy of the faith”. It comes on the heels of the Council’s three-day Plenary Assembly, which concluded yesterday.

Pilgrims began making their way to St. Peter’s early Saturday morning. By 2:30 p.m., tens of thousands of people from about 70 countries—mostly moms, dads, their children and grandparents—had gathered in the square for a rally ahead of the mass.

Several artists and presenters were slated to reflect on the reality of marriage and family life. Some couples were also to offer witness to both the beauty and the disappointments—from raising children as foster parents to marriage breakdown and separation, and then how they lived these struggles in faith.

The schedule for the family pilgrimage on Sunday morning includes recitation of the Rosary in St. Peter’s Square, followed by mass with the Pope and the Angelus.

Young people were invited to participate in a special way. Children sent Pope Francis drawings of their families, and teens submitted songs they wrote to the organizers. The best drawings and songs were featured at the rally.

Pope Francis has taken the family as one of the central themes of his pontificate. He announced earlier this month that next year’s synod of bishops will focus on this theme.
Report by Laura Ieraci

Pope Francis presents 2013 Ratzinger Prize

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday presented the 2013 Ratzinger Prize to joint recipients: a German lay theologian and an Anglican English Biblical scholar.
In his address, the Pope reflected on the works of Benedict XVI, after whom the award is named. Highlighting the Jesus of Nazareth series, written by Benedict during his pontificate, Pope Francis said his predecessor had given to the Church and to all people a precious gift: his understanding of Jesus, the fruit of years of study, prayer and theological engagement, in a way that is widely accessible.
The recipients of this year’s Ratzinger Prize are: Christian Schaller, professor of dogmatic theology and deputy director of the Pope Benedict XVI Institute of Regensburg, Germany, which is publishing the complete works of Joseph Ratzinger, and Rev Canon Professor Richard Burridge, dean of King's College London and a minister in the Anglican Communion.
Burridge also participated this week in a symposium of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, entitled “The Gospels: History and Christology”, which took place at the Pontifical Lateran University, 24-26 October. The symposium's starting point was the research of Joseph Ratzinger.
Burridge received the honour for his contribution to the historical and theological recognition of the Gospels' inseparable connection to Jesus of Nazareth.
In sharing his reaction to receiving the prize with Vatican Radio's Lydia O'Kane, Burridge explained he was already expecting to be in Rome for another conference when he received the news.
“We got a letter – actually on my birthday in June – from the Apostolic Nuncio, asking me if I would accept the honour. Everybody thought that this was a practical joke from the students, but it was such a joy to discover that, a real surprise, and a terrific honour,” he said.
As the first non-Catholic to receive the award, he said that his receiving the award “says something about the importance of what has been happening over the last two or three decades, not just in Anglican and Roman Catholic dialogue, but internationally in Biblical studies, as we have been working more and more closely together.”