Vatican City, 21
February 2013 (VIS) – This morning Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of
the Holy See Press Office, presented information related to the Holy
Father's calendar and clarified some issues that have been raised in the
past few days.
At 9:00am on
Saturday, 23 February, the Holy Father and the Roman Curia will conclude
their spiritual exercises. Traditionally, the Pope addresses those
present briefly. That same day, at 11:30am, he will meet with the
President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano. On Sunday, 24
February, Benedict XVI will pray the last Angelus of his pontificate
with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square. On Wednesday, 27
February, Benedict XVI's final general audience will take place in St.
Peter's Square in the usual fashion, except for his re-entry to the
Apostolic Palace, the path of which will wind around the square in the
popemobile so that he may greet the many participants who are expected
(to date, over 30,000 people have requested tickets). On 28 February, as
announced in a notice from the Papal Household, he will personally
greet all the cardinals present in Rome, that is, both those who are
resident here and those who have come to the
capitol in recent days. There will be no speech.
Regarding his
departure from the Vatican, shortly before 5:00pm, the Pope will greet
Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., in the San Damaso
Courtyard and, upon reaching the Vatican heliport, will bid farewell to
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals. On arrival at
Castel Gandolfo he will be received by the president and secretary of
the Governorate of Vatican City, the mayor of the town, and other civil
authorities and will appear at the balcony of the Apostolic Palace to
greet the faithful present.
On a different topic, the director of the Holy See Press
Office has stated that the date of the conclave is established by the
congregation of cardinals during the Sede vacante, independently of a
possible Motu Proprio from the Holy Father that could specify some
details of the Apostolic Constitution "Universi Dominici Gregis".Regarding the issue of the Society of St. Pius X, he reaffirmed that the date of 22 February to decide the issue is pure hypothesis and that Benedict XVI has decided to entrust the matter to the next Pope, therefore, a definition of relations with that society should not be expected by the end of this pontificate.
In conclusion, he
confirmed that the Commission of Cardinals (Julian Herranz, Jozef Tomko,
and Salvatore De Giorgi) set up by the Holy Father to prepare a report
on the Holy See has made its results known exclusively to the Pope. The
cardinals will not grant interviews or otherwise comment on the results. (Thanks to VIS:here)
No comments:
Post a Comment