Yet again, gang, the First Word is going around... and if you're not already in on it, well, it's not too late to jump in.

(Lest anybody slipped through the cracks, please drop a line -- assembling the list on top of everything else is bound to make for at least some flubs.)

That said, away we go... again.

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Ironman RIP

Having been in hospice these last several weeks, the Premier See has announced the death of Archbishop William Borders at 96.

The 12th successor of John Carroll at the helm of the Baltimore church, which he led from 1974-89, the Indiana-born, Louisiana-bred prelate -- a particular favorite of the local crowd -- slipped away peacefully at 10.03 this morning.

A Bronze Star-winning Army chaplain during World War II, Borders kept a hard-charging pace even into recent months, and his grit through the years won frequent comparisons to Charm City's other Ironman -- Orioles' legend Cal Ripken, holder of baseball's record for consecutive games played (2,632). Before his promotion to the nation's mother-church, Borders was ordained the founding bishop of Orlando in 1968 -- a circumstance that, given the new diocese's boast of Cape Canaveral within its bounds, led the new prelate to dub himself the "Bishop of the Moon." (The Orlando church's best-known attraction -- Walt Disney World -- opened in 1971.)

Funeral plans remain pending, but it is known that Borders wished to be interred at the "New Cathedral" of Mary our Queen. More as it comes in.

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Five Years Ago Today...

...remember where you were?

“Dear Brothers and Sisters,

After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.

The fact that the Lord knows how to work and act even with inadequate instruments consoles me, so above all I entrust myself to your prayers.

In the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help, let us move forward. The Lord will help us and Mary, his Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you.”

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Gloria, Gloria, Gloria....

...if you don't know, don't even try assuming.

...and those of you who do know, well, 'nuff said.

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In Grief, Poland Returns to Wawel

A week after a Russian plane crash killed Polish President Lech Kacyzinski, his wife and much of the country's leadership -- 96 people in all -- the official period of mourning ended today with the burial of the conservative leader and his wife in the hallowed spot reserved for the nation's most cherished heroes.

At the close of a second funeral Mass in Krakow and a cortege down the ancient capital's "Royal Route," the late president and his first lady were laid to rest in the crypt of the city's Wawel Cathedral -- a privilege once exclusive to Poland's kings and queens, but since extended to a handful of luminaries of the nation's struggle for independence and subsequent figures of monumental stature.

Given the polarization Lech Kaczynski's Law and Justice party inspired prior to his death at 60, controversy has ensued over the choice of his burial-site. That said, the venue's unique status in Polish life and beyond has been amplified further over recent decades by the link between the Wawel crypt and the country's most beloved product of all: the late Pope John Paul II, whose self-admitted "very special bond" with Wawel Cathedral dated to his boyhood, and of which he wrote in his later years that the 12th century temple "encompasses the whole of Polish history."

In just one facet of his legend that would become inexorably wedded to the narrative of Polish nationalism, Karol Wojtyla celebrated his first Mass in the Wawel crypt on the day after his 1946 ordination, receiving his episcopal ordination and claiming the archbishop's throne in the church atop it over the following two decades, serving as the cathedral's pastor and protector until his 1978 election to the papacy.

Such was the Polish Pope's -- and, indeed, his homeland's -- tie with the place that, on his 2005 death, a surge of chatter suggested (or insisted) that Wojtyla's heart would be brought home to rest at the sacred site. But the speculation quickly proved unfounded, or unheeded.

While Pope Benedict appointed the dean of the College of Cardinals Angelo Sodano as his personal legate to the weekend memorials, wire reports said John Paul's Secretary of State was prevented from attending due to the Icelandic ash clouds which've grounded most European air traffic over the last week.

In Sodano's stead, today's rites were led by Krakow's Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz -- the late pontiff's all-powerful secretary and closest confidant of four decades -- and yesterday's by Warsaw's Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz. (Closer to home, meanwhile, in the Stateside heart of Polonia -- Chicago, home to over a million Poles of birth or descent -- a memorial Mass is being celebrated tonight in Holy Name Cathedral, with Cardinal Francis George slated to preside in choir as his Polski-fluent auxiliary, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, celebrates and preaches.)

Though the aforementioned first Burial Mass for Lech and Maria Kaczynski was celebrated yesterday in the modern capital's St John's Cathedral, a liturgy in suffrage for all 96 casualties of the Katyn crash -- among them, two bishops and four priests -- was likewise held (above) in Warsaw's Pidulski Square... the same spot where, bearing a different name 30 years ago, the Polish Pope offered one of his pontificate's most significant messages:

Today, here in Victory Square, in the capital of Poland, I am asking with all of you, through the great Eucharistic prayer, that Christ will not cease to be for us an open book of life for the future, for our Polish future.

We are before the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In the ancient and contemporary history of Poland this tomb has a special basis, a special reason for its existence. In how many places in our native land has that soldier fallen! In how many places in Europe and the world has he cried with his death that there can be no just Europe without the independence of Poland marked on its map! On how many battlefields has that solider given witness to the rights of man, indelibly inscribed in the inviolable rights of the people, by falling for "our freedom and yours"!

"Where are their tombs, O Poland? Where are they not! You know better than anyone—and God knows it in heaven."

The history of the motherland written through the tomb of an Unknown Soldier!

I wish to kneel before this tomb to venerate every seed that falls into the earth and dies and thus bears fruit. It may be the seed of the blood of a soldier shed on the battlefield, or the sacrifice of martyrdom in concentration camps or in prisons. It may be the seed of hard daily toil, with the sweat of one's brow, in the fields, the workshop, the mine, the foundries and the factories. It may be the seed of the love of parents who do not refuse to give life to a new human being and undertake the whole of the task of bringing him up. It may be the seed of creative work in the universities, the higher institutes, the libraries and the places where the national culture is built. It may be the seed of prayer, of service of the sick, the suffering, the abandoned—"all that of which Poland is made".

All that in the hands of the Mother of God—at the foot of the cross on Calvary and in the Upper Room of Pentecost!

All that—the history of the motherland shaped for a thousand years by the succession of the generations (among them the present generation and the coming generation) and by each son and daughter of the motherland, even if they are anonymous and unknown like the Soldier before whose tomb we are now.

All that—including the history of the peoples that have lived with us and among us, such as those who died in their hundreds of thousands within the walls of the Warsaw ghetto.

All that I embrace in thought and in my heart during this Eucharist and I include it in this unique most holy Sacrifice of Christ, on Victory Square.

And I cry — I, a son of Polish soil and, now, I, John Paul the Pope — I cry from all the depths of this Millennium, I cry on this vigil of Pentecost:

Send down your Spirit!
Send down your Spirit!
And renew the face of the earth.
Of this earth!

Amen.

PHOTO: Getty(1-3); Reuters(2)

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On the Waterfront, "On the Outskirts"

It might've eluded every other summary of this day, but prior to his afternoon speech to Malta's young people, the Catholic Herald's Anna Arco reports that B16 was asked some rather exceptional questions by representatives of the massive group that turned out alongside the isle's coast, to which the papal address was crafted as an answer.

The exchange began with one young man whose powerfully-worded question spoke for no shortage of folks not just in Malta, but well beyond in these days:

I wish to speak on behalf of those young people who, like me feel they are on the outskirts of the Church. We are the ones who do not fit comfortably into stereo-typed roles. This is due to various factors among them: either because we have experienced substance abuse; or because we are experiencing the misfortune of broken or dysfunctional families; or because we are of a different sexual orientation; among us are also our immigrant brothers and sisters, all of us in some way or another have encountered experiences that have estranged us from the Church. Other Catholics put us all in one basket. For them we are those “who claim to believe yet do not live up to the commitment of faith.” To us, faith is a confusing reality and this causes us great suffering. We feel that not even the Church herself recognizes our worth. One of our deepest wounds stems from the fact that although the political forces are prepared to realize our desire for integration, the Church community still considers us to be a problem. It seems almost as if we are less readily accepted and treated with dignity by the Christian community than we are by all other members of society. We understand that our way of life puts the Church in an ambiguous position, yet we feel that we should be treated with more compassion – without being judged and with more love.

We are made to feel that we are living in error. This lack of comprehension on the part of other Christians causes us to entertain grave doubts, not only with regards to community life, but also regarding our personal relationship with God. How can we believe that God accepts us unconditionally when his own people reject us?

Your Holiness, we wish to tell you that on a personal level – and some of us, even in our respective communities – are persevering to find ways in which we may remain united in Jesus, who we consider to be our salvation.

However, it is not that easy for us to proclaim God as our Father, a God who responds to all those who love him without prejudice. It is a contradiction in terms when we bless God’s Holy Name, whilst those around us make us feel that we are worth nothing to him.

We feel emarginated, almost as if we had not been invited to the banquet. God has called to him all those who are in the squares and in the towns, those who are on the wayside and in the country side, however we feel he has bypassed our streets. Your Holiness, please tell us what exactly is Jesus’ call for us. We wish you to show to us and the rest of the Church just how valid is our faith, and whether our prayers are also heard. We too wish to give our contribution to the Catholic community.

Your Holiness, what must we do?

Again, here's the answer... questions fulltext to come.

...meanwhile, in his words of welcome at the start of this morning's Mass -- during which, according to one witness, a "tired" and "frail"-looking Benedict fell asleep at one point -- Malta's Archbishop Paul Cremona outlined the church's contemporary challenge in these words:

[T]oday we are searching especially for a new evangelisation. Society has changed and it is a challenge for the Catholic Church to examine itself, and its methods of evangelization. We know that now the Church considers itself as a believing Community in the larger Maltese population. It has a mission of love in the name of Christ to witness to its faith and the values inherent in this faith especially those centering around the sanctity of life from the moment of conception; the dignity of every person and the fundamental importance of a stable family based on marriage.

We know that in the light of these changing conditions we cannot just cling to the model of the Church to which we have been accustomed for decades. We have to return to the Church as it unfolds in the Acts of the Apostles: a Church which centres around the listening to and the sharing of the Word and the Eucharist; a Church which thrives on the personal experience of Christ; a Church in which its members are not fazed by persecution but continues to give witness in love to the teachings of the Lord; a Church which passed from the humiliation of having let down the Lord at the moment of his Crucifixion to the humility of the preaching the Word relying on the strength of the Holy Spirit, rather than on the strength of its members; a Church humble enough to recognize the failures and sins in its members but strong enough to count on the presence of the Holy Spirit; a Church which does not seek privileges, but merely strives just to deliver the Good News of the Lord.

As speaking truth to Papa goes, it's pretty unique, potent stuff.

PHOTOS: Getty(1); AP(2)

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"God Rejects No One. And The Church Rejects No One."

B16's road-talks to young people invariably tend to make for some of his most powerful and poignant texts... and just now, in meeting with the youth of Malta, no exception:

Saint Paul, as a young man, had an experience that changed him for ever. As you know, he was once an enemy of the Church, and did all he could to destroy it. While he was travelling to Damascus, intending to hunt down any Christians he could find there, the Lord appeared to him in a vision. A blinding light shone around him and he heard a voice saying, “Why do you persecute me? … I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:4-5). Paul was completely overcome by this encounter with the Lord, and his whole life was transformed. He became a disciple, and went on to be a great apostle and missionary. Here in Malta, you have particular reason to give thanks for Paul’s missionary labours, which spread the Gospel throughout the Mediterranean.

Every personal encounter with Jesus is an overwhelming experience of love. Previously, as Paul himself admits, he had “persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Gal 1:13). But the hatred and anger expressed in those words was completely swept away by the power of Christ’s love. For the rest of his life, Paul had a burning desire to carry the news of that love to the ends of the earth.

Maybe some of you will say to me, Saint Paul is often severe in his writings. How can I say that he was spreading a message of love? My answer is this. God loves every one of us with a depth and intensity that we can hardly begin to imagine. And he knows us intimately, he knows all our strengths and all our faults. Because he loves us so much, he wants to purify us of our faults and build up our virtues so that we can have life in abundance. When he challenges us because something in our lives is displeasing to him, he is not rejecting us, but he is asking us to change and become more perfect. That is what he asked of Saint Paul on the road to Damascus. God rejects no one. And the Church rejects no one. Yet in his great love, God challenges all of us to change and to become more perfect.

Saint John tells us that perfect love casts out fear (cf. 1 Jn 4:18). And so I say to all of you, “Do not be afraid!” How many times we hear those words in the Scriptures! They are addressed by the angel to Mary at the Annunciation, by Jesus to Peter when calling him to be a disciple, and by the angel to Paul on the eve of his shipwreck. To all of you who wish to follow Christ, as married couples, as parents, as priests, as religious, as lay faithful bringing the message of the Gospel to the world, I say, do not be afraid! You may well encounter opposition to the Gospel message. Today’s culture, like every culture, promotes ideas and values that are sometimes at variance with those lived and preached by our Lord Jesus Christ. Often they are presented with great persuasive power, reinforced by the media and by social pressure from groups hostile to the Christian faith. It is easy, when we are young and impressionable, to be swayed by our peers to accept ideas and values that we know are not what the Lord truly wants for us. That is why I say to you: do not be afraid, but rejoice in his love for you; trust him, answer his call to discipleship, and find nourishment and spiritual healing in the sacraments of the Church.

Here in Malta, you live in a society that is steeped in Christian faith and values. You should be proud that your country both defends the unborn and promotes stable family life by saying no to abortion and divorce. I urge you to maintain this courageous witness to the sanctity of life and the centrality of marriage and family life for a healthy society. In Malta and Gozo, families know how to value and care for their elderly and infirm members, and they welcome children as gifts from God. Other nations can learn from your Christian example. In the context of European society, Gospel values are once again becoming counter-cultural, just as they were at the time of Saint Paul.

In this Year for Priests, I ask you to be open to the possibility that the Lord may be calling some of you to give yourselves totally to the service of his people in the priesthood or the consecrated life. Your country has given many fine priests and religious to the Church. Be inspired by their example, and recognize the profound joy that comes from dedicating one’s life to spreading the message of God’s love for all people, without exception.

I have spoken already of the need to care for the very young, and for the elderly and infirm. Yet a Christian is called to bring the healing message of the Gospel to everyone. God loves every single person in this world, indeed he loves everyone who has ever lived throughout the history of the world. In the death and Resurrection of Jesus, which is made present whenever we celebrate the Mass, he offers life in abundance to all those people. As Christians we are called to manifest God’s all-inclusive love. So we should seek out the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized; we should have a special care for those who are in distress, those suffering from depression or anxiety; we should care for the disabled, and do all we can to promote their dignity and quality of life; we should be attentive to the needs of immigrants and asylum seekers in our midst; we should extend the hand of friendship to members of all faiths and none. That is the noble vocation of love and service that we have all received. Let it inspire you to dedicate your lives to following Christ.

PHOTO: AP

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"Tears in His Eyes," Pope Meets Victims

And so, again, it happened: Pope Benedict met with victims of clergy sex-abuse this afternoon, Malta time, in a 35-minute encounter described by the Vatican spokesman as "intense, yet serene."

With the pontiff said to have had "tears in his eyes" during the encounter -- the third such meeting of his pontificate -- Benedict pledged that the church would do "all in its power" to protect the young, and seek justice and healing for those who've been abused.

One of the eight survivors told reporters afterward that he had "made peace with the church" as a result of the session, held (per usual) in the chapel of the island's Nunciature. Another said he "admire[d] the Pope for his courage in meeting us. He was embarrassed by the failings of others."

Claiming abuse by four priests in an orphanage in their boyhoods, the men said previously that they would've been ejected from the home if they resisted.

While the Pope made no direct reference to the recent waves of revelations in his homily this morning at an open-air Mass in the island's Floriana neighborhood, the text did include the following passage:

Our first reading at Mass today is one that I know you love to hear, the account of Paul’s shipwreck on the coast of Malta, and his warm reception by the people of these islands. Notice how the crew of the ship, in order to survive, were forced to throw overboard the cargo, the ship’s tackle, even the wheat which was their only sustenance. Paul urged them to place their trust in God alone, while the ship was tossed to and fro upon the waves. We too must place our trust in him alone. It is tempting to think that today’s advanced technology can answer all our needs and save us from all the perils and dangers that beset us. But it is not so. At every moment of our lives we depend entirely on God, in whom we live and move and have our being. Only he can protect us from harm, only he can guide us through the storms of life, only he can bring us to a safe haven, as he did for Paul and his companions adrift off the coast of Malta. They did as Paul urged them to do, and so it was “that they all escaped safely to the land” (Acts 27:44).

More than any of the cargo we might carry with us – in terms of our human accomplishments, our possessions, our technology – it is our relationship with the Lord that provides the key to our happiness and our human fulfilment. And he calls us to a relationship of love. Notice the question that he put three times to Peter on the shore of the lake: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” On the basis of Peter’s affirmative response, Jesus assigns him a task – the task of feeding his flock. Here we see the basis of all pastoral ministry in the Church. It is our love for the Lord that must inform every aspect of our preaching and teaching, our celebration of the sacraments, and our care for the people of God. It is our love for the Lord that moves us to love those whom he loves, and to accept gladly the task of communicating his love to those we serve. During our Lord’s Passion, Peter denied him three times. Now, after the Resurrection, Jesus invites him three times to avow his love, in this way offering him healing and forgiveness and at the same time entrusting him with his mission. The miraculous catch of fish underlined the apostles’ dependence on God for the success of their earthly projects. The dialogue between Peter and Jesus underlined the need for divine mercy in order to heal their spiritual wounds, the wounds of sin. In every area of our lives we need the help of God’s grace. With him, we can do all things: without him we can do nothing.

After an encounter with Malta's young -- an invariable feature of Benedict's visits -- the pontiff will depart for Rome.

PHOTO: Reuters

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On the Road, the Storms Follow

The Pope might be getting an "ecstatic welcome" on (98% Catholic) Malta... but the specter of the crisis is never far beneath the surface, the NCR's John Allen relays, summarizing the developments just from today:

• In Italy, an essay in the official newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference described a Nazi smear campaign against the Catholic church based on reports of pedophile priests which was orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels in 1937, hinting that criticism voiced on the same theme in recent weeks bears striking parallels;
• In Spain, a defiant Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos, now 81 [sic -- he's 80] and retired, insisted that he had the approval of Pope John Paul II when he sent a letter to a French bishop in 2001 applauding him for not reporting an abuser priest to the police;
• In Germany, a report in the Der Spiegel newsmagazine, citing anonymous sources, claims that an official in the Archdiocese of Munich who claimed that he, not then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had allowed an abuser priest back into ministry, is now saying that he felt pressure to take the blame and thus to “take the pope out of the firing line.”

As if the trio wasn't enough, the months-long shockwaves of revelations across Europe have touched the pontiff's weekend stop, with the Malta curia revealing last month that some 45 cases of abuse had been reported to it over the last decade, half of which were deemed as lacking credibility.

The island's top prelate, Archbishop Paul Cremona, met with a group of victims early this week, and while Vatican officials are said to be formally keeping a "noncommittal" line on a papal meeting with Maltese survivors, that the possibility hasn't been rejected outright indicates the likelihood of such a session tomorrow before the Pope departs for Rome.

The "noncommittal" tack was similarly the case before Benedict's unprecedented meetings with victims in Washington and Sydney, both in 2008, and each kept unannounced until after the fact out of respect for the sensitivity of the moment, and to avoid any chance of a "media spectacle."

Still, amid widespread public perception of the Holy See's "bad job" in handling the crisis, on the eve of his fifth anniversary on Peter's chair, the pontiff's approval ratings on these shores have taken a significant hit.

PHOTOS: Getty(1); AP(2)

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"Why Malta?"

Breaking with the usual custom for his overseas trips, today's papal flight to heavily-Catholic Malta for B16's weekend visit did not feature the usual in-air press conference... which is traditionally the lone reason news organizations jockey (and shell out) for the overpriced seats in the press cabin of the Volo Papale.

Instead, having "reflected" on the standard written questions submitted by the VAMP pool of reporters trailing him, the Pope offered the following statement... parsing encouraged:

Dear friends, good evening! Let us hope we have a good journey, without this dark cloud that is hanging over part of Europe.

So why this trip to Malta? The reasons are manifold.

The first is St. Paul. The Pauline Year of the universal Church is over, but Malta is celebrating 1950 years since the shipwreck and this is my opportunity to once again bring to light the great figure of the Apostle to the Gentiles, with his important message even [for] today. I think we can summarize the essence of his journey with the words with which he himself summarised it at the end of the letter to the Galatians: Faith working through love.

These are the important things today: faith, the relationship with God, which then turns into love. But I also think that the reason for the shipwreck speaks for us. Malta’s fortune to have faith was born from the wreck; so we can think the same, that life’s shipwrecks can be part of God’s plan for us and they may also be useful for new beginnings in our lives.

The second reason: I am glad to live in the midst of lively church, which the Church in Malta is. Even today it is fruitful in vocations, full of faith in the midst of our time, responding to the challenges of our time. I know that Malta loves Christ and loves his Church which is his body and knows that, even if this body is wounded by our sins, God loves this church and its gospel is the true force that purifies and heals.

Third point: Malta is the point where the currents of refugees from Africa arrive and knock at Europe’s door. This is a great problem of our time, and, of course, can not be resolved by the island of Malta. We must all respond to this challenge, work so that everyone can, live a dignified life in their homeland and on the other hand do everything possible so that these refugees find here, where they arrive, that they find a decent living space. A response to a great challenge of our time: Malta reminds us of these problems and also reminds us that their faith is the force that gives charity, and thus also the imagination to respond well to these challenges. Thank you.

For more, this PopeTrip's first two discourses have dropped: the pontiff's Opening Address at Luqa Airport in the capital, Valletta, and an evening talk at the Grotto (top left) where the shipwrecked Paul holed up for some three months.

Meanwhile, on a side-note, in the run-up to the brief visit -- the 14th foreign trek of Benedict's five-year reign -- the island's lead prelate, the Dominican Archbishop Paul Cremona, aimed to spread the word among the young in an unusual way, having gone "barhopping" to plug the PopeTrip last Saturday night.

Established as Malta's state religion, some 98 percent of the island's 420,000 residents identify as Catholic.

PHOTO: Reuters

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Let Him Eat Cake

Amid the most seismic crisis his five-year pontificate's faced, today sees B16's 83rd birthday... and a group of American pilgrims brought him a treat.

After welcoming members of the Philadelphia-based Papal Foundation for their annual Roman pilgrimage, the pontiff was given a cake as the visitors sang "Happy Birthday" in English, according to the AP. (At Benedict's right is the Foundation's President, Bishop Michael Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston.)

Established in 1988, the Papal Foundation underwrites charitable works entrusted to the Holy See as a means of extending the Pope's support.

This second week of Easter is invariably a big one for Americans in Rome -- beyond the Foundation pilgrimage, last night saw another of the city's major Stateside events of each year: the Rector's Dinner at the Pontifical North American College, its 20th edition now in the books.

A high-point of the Urb's annual social calendar for expats and Curialists alike, this year's dinner honored the Hill's best-known former chief as he observed his first anniversary as archbishop of New York.

As previously noted, Monday will see the fifth anniversary of Joseph Ratzinger's election as the 265th Roman pontiff. In the meanwhile, Benedict will depart Rome tomorrow for a two-day trip to Malta -- his 14th overseas jaunt as Pope.

SVILUPPO: As someone asked "What kind of cake?" B16 was given, CNS reports that the pontiff was presented with a "fresh strawberry and kiwi custard" goodie.

PHOTO: AP

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Article 7, 101

Lest any doubts remain that the church -- at least, on these shores -- can handle allegations firmly, fairly, swiftly and with transparency and healing paramount, the following video of a presser yesterday in Knoxville might make for very useful watching:


Already one of the most effective diocesan-media shops in the country, just further proof that the folks in Volunteer Country sure know how to run the news, good and bad alike.

Elsewhere, Wisconsin's Superior diocese -- once a player in the Murphy debacle -- has won editorial plaudits for "doing the right thing" in its handling of cases, while the "swift and public" action taken by the Denver archdiocese after a report there was highlighted by the AP... leaving one local columnist to ask "Is there any other institution or employer that would act this decisively on the basis of a single, uncorroborated accusation dating back decades?"

Of course, the story has had a pronounced flip-side in concerns voiced through the years over the US' norms treatment of due process and the rights of the accused -- the central aspect that held up the particular law's Vatican confirmation for several months after its June passage by the bishops. In that light, the days of Dallas are likely numbered given last month's emergence that the Holy See will soon release universally-binding "supervisory norms" on handling cases -- the fulfillment of a process reportedly undertaken from the early days of this pontificate.

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For French Kudos, Castrillón Gets Curbed

In but the latest notable Roman development on the abuse front, late last night the Holy See underscored B16's record on the handling of cases at the expense of one of his pontificate's lead allies on other matters.

In a September 2001 letter relayed by the French journal Golias, Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillón Hoyos -- then head of the Congregation for the Clergy -- "congratulate[d]" a French bishop "for not denouncing a priest to the civil administration."

As translated by Reuters, Castrillon (shown above before a 2008 Mass in London) told Bishop Pierre Pican that "You have acted well and I am pleased to have a colleague in the episcopate who, in the eyes of history and of all other bishops in the world, preferred prison to denouncing his son and priest."

According to the wire, Pican had received a suspended three-month jail sentence for failing to report the accused cleric to the authorities. A Salesian of Don Bosco who served as bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux since 1988, the prelate's resignation was accepted last 12 March, not even two weeks after he reached the retirement age of 75.

In a rapid late-night response, the lead Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, said that the letter " is confirmation of the timeliness" of the arrangement made earlier that year for the "unified treatment of cases of sexual abuse of minors on the part of members of the clergy under the competence of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, guaranteeing them a rigorous and coherent oversight."

Prior to the May 2001 rerouting of abuse cases to the CDF -- then headed, of course, by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- Rome's handling of allegations of clerical misconduct would have fallen within the competence of Castrillon's dicastery.

Previously a diocesan bishop in his native country, the Colombian prelate served as head of the Vatican office overseeing the global church's half-million priests and deacons from 1996 until 2006; he was made a cardinal in 1998. But it was in his secondary post as president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei -- a post he held from 2000 until last summer -- that Castrillón arguably attained even greater prominence as a lead lieutenant guiding two hot-button items especially close to Benedict's heart: the church's ongoing reconciliation efforts with the traditionalist Society of St Pius X, and the enhanced availability of the 1962 Missal, whose "liberation" the cardinal championed in first advocating, then handling the implementation of Summorum Pontificum, the pontiff's 2007 motu proprio granting a "universal indult" for celebrations of the pre-Conciliar use.

Now 80, Castrillón is scheduled to celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form next Saturday in Washington to honor the fifth anniversary of B16's inauguration as Pope.

The emergence of the 2001 letter isn't the cardinal's first brush with controversy over his comments on abuse in the church.

As he presented John Paul II's 2002 Holy Thursday letter to priests -- which, in an unprecedented papal reference to the scandals amid their US outbreak, spoke of the "mysterium iniquitatis" ("the mystery of evil") -- Castrillón observed that the predominant questioning on the crisis from English-speaking media provided "an x-ray of the problem."

While the line evinced a fairly common thought in the Vatican halls at the time -- one that, in some quarters, survived even until recent weeks -- it's just one of the many lines on the matter you won't hear there anymore.

Earlier in the week, the Vatican rolled out an extensive compilation of the papal and Curial response on sex abuse given over recent years years, its centerpiece a new "introductory guide" to the CDF's process for handling credible allegations.

Though the congregation's note that "civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed" garnered headlines, the Holy See had backed the policy since at least late 2002, when it approved the US bishops' "Dallas norms" for handling cases, which included the provision to comply "with all applicable civil laws."

Widely viewed as the driving force behind the Stateside church's Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, in a Vatican Radio interview this week, the USCCB president as the 2002 storm broke -- now Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta -- said that the now-Pope "was, without a doubt, the most supportive voice at the table, and always seemed to possess the greatest comprehension of the seriousness and the significance of reacting and responding with a strong action."

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"This Pain is Grace, Because It Is Renewal": Off-the-Cuff, the Pope Speaks

In an extemporaneous homily delivered at a Mass this morning for the Pontifical Biblical Commission, B16 made his first comments on the sex-abuse tempest that's shaken the global church over recent weeks.

The fulltext of pontiff's off-the-cuff reflection to the Vatican's top body of Scripture scholars still to emerge, two early briefs have appeared....

First, from Vatican Radio:

[T]he Holy Father said that in modern times we have seen theorized an idea of man according to which human being would be, “free, autonomous, and nothing else.”

This supposed freedom from everything, including freedom from the duty of obedience to God, “Is a lie,” said Pope Benedict, a falsehood regarding the basic structure of human being – about the way women and men are made to be, “because,” he continued, “human being does not exist on its own, nor does it exist for itself.”

The Pope said it is a political and practical falsehood, as well, because cooperation and sharing of freedoms is a necessary part of social life – and if God does not exist – if He is not a point of reference really accessible to human being, then only prevailing opinion remains and it becomes the final arbiter of all things.

Citing the Nazi and Communist regimes of the 20th century as examples, Pope Benedict said such dictatorships can never accept the notion of a God who is above ideological power – and he also stressed that in the present, there are subtle forms of dictatorship like that of a radical conformism, which can lead to subtle and not-so subtle aggression toward the Church.

The Holy Father also stressed that for Christians, true obedience to God depends on our truly knowing Him, and he warned against the danger of using “obedience to God” as a pretext for following our own desires.

“We have,” he said, “a certain fear of speaking about eternal life.”

“We talk of things that are useful to the world,” continued Pope Benedict, “we show that Christianity can help make the world a better place, but we do not dare say that the end of the world and the goal of Christianity is eternal life – and that the criteria of life in this world come from the goal – this we dare not say.”

We must rather have the courage, the joy, the great hope that there is eternal life, that eternal life is real life and that from this real life comes the light that illuminates this world as well.

The Pope noted that, when we look at things this way, penitence is a grace – even though of late we have sought to avoid this word, too.

Now, under the attacks of the world, which speak to us of our sins, we see that to be able to do penance is a grace – and we see how necessary it is to do penance, that is, to recognize what is wrong in our lives: to recognize one’s sin, to open oneself to forgiveness, to prepare for pardon, to allow oneself to be transformed.

The pain of penance, the pain of purification and transformation – this pain is grace, because it is renewal – it is the work of the Divine Mercy.

Pope Benedict concluded his homily with a prayer that our lives might become true life, eternal life, love and truth.

...and a first-post and full report from Catholic News Service:

Recognizing the sins of priests who have sexually abused children, performing penance and asking for forgiveness, the Catholic Church trusts that God will purify and transform the church, Pope Benedict XVI said.

"I must say that we Christians, even in recent times, have often avoided the word 'penance,' which seemed too harsh to us. Now, under the attacks of the world that speaks to us of our sins, we see that being able to do penance is a grace," the pope said April 15 in a homily during a Mass with members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.

For the record, this morning's comment came two years to the day after Benedict made his first-ever statement on the scandals during a press conference aboard the Papal Plane to Washington for his six-day US tour -- a week which, alongside numerous references to the Stateside church's crisis, included an unprecedented meeting with victim-survivors.

The pontiff marks his 83rd birthday tomorrow, and Monday sees the fifth anniversary of his election to Peter's chair.

PHOTO: Getty

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As previously noted, with the Appointment of the Century now in the books -- and on the heels of a Holy Week spent in the throes of The Crisis, at that -- your narrator's taking a much-needed (and hopefully merited) breather, at least for the next few.

Suffice it to say, after the most intense, prolific, sleep-deprived fortnight these pages have had over five years, the scribe's tapped out, both of words and energy alike. That'll change after a bit of recharge, of course, but for now, hope you can understand.

More once the bedroom's clean, the back-office pile gets handled, the briefings are taken and the many thank-yous, belatedly sent... in the meanwhile, though, your prayers, please, gang, and know how much you're always in mind and heart on this side of the shop.

Buona domenica and God love you lot forever... and especially as the Octave winds to a close, a Blessed Easter still to one and all....

Remember, it's still the Season -- no less than six weeks remain 'til Pentecost.

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Quote of the Day

“The resurrection of Jesus Christ has changed human history. It enters history... as an explosion of light, light which illuminates the darkness, light which allows us to see reality as it is, light which enables us to discern the good from what is evil. Darkness already begins to be dispelled even when only one single flicker of light appears. Even one single flicker of light can be the beginning of hope within any darkness.

We remember in our prayers this evening all those for whom darkness seems impossible to overcome, for whom darkness seems unbearable and without hope. We remember those for whom the darkness of their past still haunts them. We remember those whose torment and anxiety tears away at their will to live....

As a Christian community we are called to be light in the world. We are called to be with those for whom darkness is excruciating and who see no future, no hope. Woe to a Church which hides and destroys light in people’s hearts. Woe to a Church which prevents the light of Christ from appearing as it should.

Resurrection means that death has been definitively conquered. Jesus Christ entered into his passion and death freely out of love for us. His death was the ultimate expression of his giving of himself. Christ’s death lovingly opens the door which leads to resurrection and new life. It is love that transforms death definitively. That explosion of light which is the Resurrection tells us and reminds us even in the darkest days that there is always a future beyond darkness....

In our days there is so much scrutiny and examination of the Church. There are exposés of the failings of the Church; there is questioning of the role of the Church in society in the past and in whatever our future may be. The role of the Church is being examined under a microscope and from every possible direction. The spotlight of media and public opinion is focused on the failures and the betrayals of Church leaders and a damaging culture which has grown up in the Church.

I am not criticising the media for that. That is their job. In doing their job some will feel the media have been unfriendly to the Church, even unfair; others will welcome and recognise valid criticism, from whatever angle it comes, even if it comes from people patently unfavourable to the Church. We have to remember that the truth will set the Church free, even if the truth is hard to digest.

Identifying the failures of the Church may, however, be the easier task. There will be some who will hope that such exposure will mortally would an organization which they consider has gone irreparably astray. But what of those who love the Church? How do we overcome our disgust and shame for the sins of Christians?

The sins of the Church can well be exposed by the spotlight of the media; but the Church will be converted, renewed and reformed only when it allows the light of Christ to inspire it and guide it. It is the light of Christ which will show the real significance of the darkness that has slipped into our lives.

The light of Christ will expose the sins of Christians but the light of Christ does not abandon us naked and alone in the exposure of our shame and sin. The light of Christ heals, it leads; there is no way we can switch off or dim that part of the light that exposes the sad realities of the past; there is no way we should switch off or dim the light that can open the path to a new future. No generation is too sophisticated not to need the light of Christ; no generation is too sophisticated not to be able to comprehend that light and what it can bring to society....

The tomb signifies a place of death. The Resurrection brings new light. The spirit gathers us as children of the light, prepared with all our weaknesses to ensure that the message of Jesus Christ is not just transmitted abstractly to the next generation, but that the next generation will be a generation inspired by the light of Christ.

The message of the Resurrection comes to us at a moment of darkness. The message of the Resurrection comes to as a message of hope that the darkness will not prevail.

Christ is truly risen. Let us go out into life filled with joyful hope.”

--Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland
Homily at the Easter Vigil
3 April 2010

PHOTOS: Getty(1-2); Loggiarazzi(3)

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"A Heroic 'Yes'"

In his first public intervention since his Tuesday unveiling as the next shepherd of the nation's largest local church, Don Jose de Los Ángeles has penned an op-ed reflection for tomorrow's editions of the San Antonio Express-News.

At the close of this "epic," historic week for the Stateside church, to the Man of the Hour goes the last word:

The story of redemption began with a heroic “Yes” by a young girl named Mary, when, in the spirit of humility and obedience, she said to the angel's message announcing that she would be the mother of Jesus: “May it be done unto me according to your word.” And then when the purpose of her “Yes” was about to be fulfilled, on the night before Jesus was to be crucified, the ultimate act of humility and obedience came in the form of a prayer: “... not my will but yours be done.”

I write this column to wish you all a “Happy Easter.” I know that the Easter candy is already marked down to half price, and in San Antonio our minds are turning toward Fiesta, but for us Catholics the greeting “Happy Easter” is a tradition that continues for the 50 days of the Easter season. In our churches you will continue to hear “Alleluia” and “Glory to God.”

During this Easter season, and throughout our lives, we are called to the same humble obedience and sacrificial love that come with the cross. Certainly, most of us will never be called to obey to the extremes of the many martyrs who have faithfully said “Yes” before us. But we are called to listen for God's voice in our lives, discern his will and fulfill the mission he has given us.

This past week, the Holy Father announced that I was being asked to leave the Archdiocese of San Antonio and take on new and challenging responsibilities as Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. That appointment means that upon the retirement of Cardinal Roger Mahony next year, I will become their Archbishop. This was a personal test of my willingness to follow the will of God and in humble obedience say “Yes.”

Tuesday, during the press conference announcing my appointment, I reflected on my feelings of profound gratitude to the Holy Father, my excitement in serving the people of Los Angeles and my sadness in leaving San Antonio. I thank the Express-News for giving me the opportunity to say these words directly to you: "The people of San Antonio have a special goodness and grace that will always keep you close to me in my heart. In your patience and generosity, you taught me how to be a bishop. I will never forget you, and I will never stop thanking God for the privilege of having served you."

God willing, there will be time between now and my departure in late May to reflect on the specific memories, accomplishments and challenges that we have shared in the past five years, but for now I ask that you keep me in your prayers so that I will remain faithful to the “Yes” the Holy Spirit strengthened me to say, when God called me to serve his people in this new and challenging way.

As one friend of Gomez's from the archbishop's early days in Texas summed up the reaction of many on Tuesday and through the days since, "I couldn't be happier that it's José."

Then he paused... and, in a reference to the sky-high expectations and sea of challenges the coadjutor'll inherit, added, "I just couldn't feel more sorry for José."

Indeed, gang, keep the guy in your prayers.

PHOTO: San Antonio Express-News File

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