This first photo, taken by Tracey McClure of Vatican Radio, shows a plaque with the names of the Canadian Patrons of the Vatican Museums who helped restore this necropolis.

Eloisa Romani, who works in a new section of the Vatican’s Internet office, took this photo of a splendid fountain and boat outside the Vatican Museums as we were walking (in the rain) to join our friends who had gone on a tour of the Pio-Chrisian Museum. I had never seen this in my years of visiting the Vatican Museums, inside and outside.

One of the news stories I offer below is about a book written and illustrated by a friend of mine, Natalia Tsarkova, one of the most amazing artists I have ever met. She excels in portraits and her subjects come right off the canvas, so much so you feel you could shake their hand – even papal hands! Hopefully the book will be translated into English. Her official website: http://www.nataliatsarkova.net

GERMAN PRESIDENT BRINGS ADVENT COOKIES TO BENEDICT XVI

Pope Benedict Thursday morning welcomed President Joachim Gauck of Germany in a very cordial and relaxed meeting during which they exchanged gifts, including a cane for the Pope for his walks at the summer palace at Castelgandolfo and some special German cookies that are popular during Advent. President Gauck received a tile image of St. Peter's Square and a printed image of the Vatican.

A Vatican communiqué said the discussions focused on the cordial nature of bilateral relations; the Christian view of the person, and the challenges currently posed by globalization and the secularization of society. The two leaders also spoke of the international situation and the current economic crisis, especially in relation to its consequences in Europe, and the contribution that the Catholic Church may offer.

SUMMER PAPAL RESIDENCE INSPIRES A FAIRY TALE

The Vatican Publishing House will present a book by Russian artist Natalia Tsarkova, "Il mistero di un piccolo stagno" ("The mystery of a little pond") on December 11 at the "Augustinianum" Patristic Institute. Msgr. Georg Ganswein, personal secretary to the Holy Father, Professor Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums, Saverio Petrillo, director of the Pontifical Villas at Castelgandolfo, and Fr. Giuseppe Costa S.D.B., director of the Vatican Publishing House, will participate in the presentation.

The author is the official portrait artist to the pontiff, and her book was inspired by a visit to the gardens of the apostolic palace at Castelgandolfo. According to a communique from the Vatican Publishing House, it is "a fairy tale that offers a message of love, faith and hope, especially to children."

"Il mistero del piccolo stagno" is the first work in which Natalia communicates using words as well as images.

LOST IN TRANSLATION? OR ELSEWHERE?

Bob Moynihan of Inside the Vatican magazine, in an email he sent to readers after yesterday’s general audience in the Paul VI Hall, noted that some words said by the Pope in off-the-cuff remarks (which he does brilliantly, I might add) were missing in the officially published version in Italian of the Holy Father’s weekly catechesis.

One phrase in particular was very special and beautiful. I heard the Holy Father say it but did not write it down. Later, as I searched for the precise words to use as the title of my story about the weekly general audience, I could not find the phrase. I presumed I had mis-heard il. And yet, the phrase was so meaningful, I was sure I had heard it correctly.

And so I learn that the Pope DID say it but it was not in the Vatican’s official text. The off-the-cuff sentence in Italian was: “L'obbedienza non è un atto di costrizione, ma un abbandonarsi all'oceano della bontà di Dio.”

Translation: “Obedience is not an act of constraint, but rather abandoning oneself to the ocean of God’s goodness.”

“The ocean of God’s goodness” – that is so beautiful! I remember actually repeating the Italian when I heard it, and telling myself that would make a perfect title for my story on the papal catechesis.

I remember one of the first times that Benedict XVI spoke off-the-cuff in a general audience. It was January 31, 2007. He had dedicated the general audience catechesis that day to, in his words, the “three of the most important companions of St. Paul in his missionary teaching of the Gospel: Barnabas, Silas and Apollos.”

In the column I wrote on that day’s general audience, I wrote: “Benedict XVI noted that there were differences, contrasts, between Paul and Barnabas at the start of the second missionary journey because Barnabas wanted John Mark as a companion, whereas Paul did not, and the two separated.

“Then, briefly putting his prepared speech, he said, in impromptu remarks, ‘Even between saints there are differences, lack of harmony, controversies. I find this very consoling because we see that saints don’t just ‘fall from heaven’. They are like us, with complicated problems. Holiness is not never having made a mistake or sinned. Holiness grows with the capacity for conversion, penitence, the willingness to start over, above all in the capacity for reconciliation and pardon’.”

As we watched the Pope on television, all of us in the press office were taking notes, recording, etc. I remember sitting with Daniela Simpson of AP that day (I was writing, she was recording) and when the Pope said those words, we just looked at each other, and commented, “Didn’t the Holy Father have a remarkable way with words when he ad-libbed!”

Not long afterwards, when the Holy See Press Office official bulletin came out, none of the off-the-cuff remarks could be found. We asked the director, Fr. Lombardi, what to do and he said we had an obligation to report what we saw and heard and had recorded. We also knew that Vatican Television (and anyone subscribing to CTV feed, like EWTN) would have the full story.

We later learned that staff in the Secretariat of State watch the papal audience each week and “clean up” his ad-libbed remarks – sometimes to make them “more grammatically correct,” at other times, to simple “better” or improve on the papal phrasing.

But there are two things wrong with that.

One, how can you “better” or improve on Pope Benedict’s off-the-cuff phrases?

Two, in changing the Pope’s words, you change what he said, you change the truth. In addition, you do an injustice to a brilliant theologian, thinker and speaker.

FOREST IN ISRAEL TO COMMEMORATE CARDINAL MARTINI

The Italian news agency ANSA reported yesterday that a forest in Galilee near Tiberias will forever commemorate Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, one of the most strongly committed religious figures for dialogue between Christians and Jews and for reuniting the Old Testament with the New Testament. The Cardinal died August 31 at the age of 85, His love for the Bible and the Holy Land – the so-called “fifth Gospel” – was legendary.

The man behind the idea is Rav Giuseppe Larasani, former Chief Rabbi of Milan and close friend of the cardinal. The project met with approval immediately, and especially within the Jewish community. Keren Kayemeth Le-Israel (KKL), the National Jewish Fund, has already announced that it has approved and will support the initiative. Jesuits (the order which Martini belonged to) are also enthusiastic about it, as is the Italian Episcopate, through the Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue.

The project will be presented in the coming days at a Milan press conference.

Anyone will be able to fund a tree to plant (each plant corresponds to a 10-dollar donation) – be they private citizens, cultural centers, companies, churches, dioceses, newspapers, Jewish communities, town councils or schools.

SYNOD ON EVANGELIZATION: PROPOSITIONS 24,25

**Proposition 24 : THE SOCIAL TEACHING OF THE CHURCH In order to advance a New Evangelization in society, greater attention should be given to the Church’s social doctrine, understanding that it is a proclamation and witness of faith, an irreplaceable means of education in the faith (cf. Caritas in veritate, 15). This embrace of the Church’s social doctrine should permeate the content of catechesis, Christian education, formation of seminarians and religious, the continuing formation of bishops and priests and most especially the formation of the laity. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church is a precious resource in accomplishing this continuing formation.

**Proposition 25 : URBAN SCENARIOS OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION The Church acknowledges that human cities and the culture they express, as well as the transformations that take place in them, are a privileged place of the New Evangelization. Understanding herself at the service of the salvific plan of God, the Church recognizes that the “Holy City, the New Jerusalem” (cf. Rev 21, 2-4) is in a certain way already present in human realities. Putting in practice an urban pastoral plan, the Church wants to identify and understand those experiences, languages and styles of life, that are typical of urban societies. She intends to render her liturgical celebrations, her experiences of communitarian life, and her exercise of charity, relevant to the urban context, in order to incarnate the Gospel in the life of all citizens. The Church also knows that in many cities one sees the absence of God, in the many attacks on human dignity. Among them: violence related to drug trafficking, corruption of various kinds, and many other crimes. We are convinced that the proclamation of the Gospel can be the basis to restore the dignity of human life in these urban contexts. It is the Gospel of Jesus, who “came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn 10: 10).

Write to Joan at:
joansrome@ewtn.com 

CLICK HERE FOR PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON VISITING THE VATICAN.

View Joan's videos at : www.youtube.com/joansrome