News Brief
Benedict XVI to visit Turkey in November
On February 9, the director of the Holy See press office, Joaquin Navarro-Valls announced : “I can confirm that the president of Turkey, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, has invited Benedict XVI to pay an official visit from November 28 to 30, 2006. The pope has accepted the invitation. The details of the visit are being arranged”. The pope will therefore be in Istanbul on November 30, the feast of St. Andrew, patron Saint of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople where he may go at the invitation of Bartholomew I.
Lenten sermons to the Roman Curia
Benedict XVI has entrusted the task of preaching Lenten spiritual exercises to the Roman Curia, to Cardinal Marco Cé, Patriarch Emeritus of Venice, on the theme : “On the road to Easter with Jesus, under the guidance of St. Mark the Evangelist.” The sermons, in Italian, will begin on Sunday March 5, at 6:00 pm and end on the morning of Saturday March 11. They will take place in the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace. The Pope’s private and public audiences will be suspended during this week. The spiritual exercises comprise two meditations in the morning and one in the afternoon, followed by Vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Patriarch Emeritus of Venice, whom the pope knows personally, celebrated his 80th birthday on July 8 last ; he gave up his office on January 5 2002 to make way for Cardinal Angelo Scola.
“Deus Caritas Est” tops best-sellers
Over a million copies of the first encyclical of Benedict XVI have been sold in Italy , the Vatican announced on January 25. At the beginning of February it was in second place in the best-selling books list at the bookshop chain, Feltrinelli, ahead of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K Rowling.
A new door for the City
On February 10, 2006, an opening was made in the North wall of the Pontifical State. According to the Governorship of the Vatican City State, this new access will facilitate the traffic circulation leaving the Vatican at certain times of the day. The inscription “Benedictus XVI P.M. Civitatis Vaticanae officialum commoditati ostium aperiri iussit AD MMVI Pont I” has been placed inside the wall built during the pontificate of Pius IV (1559-1565). The new door has been added to the existing doors : the Saint Ann door in the East wall and the Perugine door of the South wall. The door known as the Petriano, near to the Palace of the Holy Office, is used during pontifical ceremonies or for access to the Audience Hall. Lastly, the Bells Arch at the foot of the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica is reserved for the vehicles of heads of State.
