Subject: VISnews 110429
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 78
ENGLISH
FRIDAY, 29 APRIL 2011
SUMMARY:
- Events for the Beatification of John Paul II
- Other Pontifical Acts
- Notice
___________________________________________________________
EVENTS FOR THE BEATIFICATION OF JOHN PAUL II
VATICAN CITY, 29 APR 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office
there was a meeting with journalists to explain and clarify the events
planned for the beatification of the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II.
The speakers were Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director of the Holy See
Press Office; Msgr. Marco Frisina, director of the Office of Liturgical
Celebrations of the Vicariate of Rome; Fr. Walter Insero, director of the
Office of Social Communications of the Vicariate of Rome; and Angleo Scelzo,
undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
Fr. Lombardi explained that this morning, in the Vatican Grottoes, "the
tomb of John Paul II was opened and the case containing the body of the
Venerable Servant of God was extracted".
"As can be recalled, the Pope was buried in three coffins, the first of
wood, which was displayed during the funeral, the second of lead, which is
sealed, and the third, external one, which is also made of wood and was the
one revealed this morning at the moment of the extraction from the tomb. It
is in a good state of preservation, even though showing signs of the passage
of time.
After the procedures to open the tomb, which began first thing in the
morning, the coffin was displayed on a dais at the gravesite until 9:00am,
when Cardinal Angelo Comastri, after a brief prayer, intoned the litanies.
Besides Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Archbishop Giuseppe D'Andrea, and Bishop
Vittorio Lanzani, representing the Basilica and the Chapter of St. Peter,
there were also present Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State;
Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, President of the Governorate of Vatican City
State; Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow, Poland and former
personal secretary to John Paul II; Archbishop Fernando Filoni, substitute
for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State; Cardinal Carlo Maria
Vigano, secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State;
Archbishop Piero Marini, who was Master of Liturgical Celebrations under
John Paul II; Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for
Health Pastoral Care; Sr. Tobiana and the religious of the papal apartments
of John Paul II; Commander Angelo Gugel; the heads of the Corps of the
Gendarmerie of Vatican City State and the Swiss Guard; and other persons.
All together there were several dozen persons including the workers of the
Fabric of St. Peters who carried out their task with great devotion and a
profound spiritual participation.
While singing the litanies during the brief passage, the case was
translated before the tomb of St. Peter in the Vatican Grottoes and was
covered with a wide cloth embroidered in gold.
The Cardinal Secretary of State offered a short final prayer and the
assembly disbanded at 9:15am.
The great stone of the tomb, removed and placed in another part of the
grottoes, is intact and will be moved to Krakow where it will be placed in
the new church dedicated to the Blessed John Paul II.
The coffin, as already announced, will remain in the grottoes until Sunday
morning when it will be translated to the Basilica, before the main altar,
for the homage of the Holy Father and the faithful after the beatification.
In the meantime the Vatican grottoes will be closed to the public.
In all likelihood the permanent placement of the Blessed under the altar
of the Chapel of St. Sebastian will take place in the afternoon of Monday, 2
May, when the Basilica will be closed".
Msgr. Frisina explained that the celebration of the Vigil on 30 April
(from 8:00pm to 11:30pm) at Circo Massimo - which will be open to the public
beginning fom 5:30pm - will be enlivened by the Choir of the Diocese of Rome
and the Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, which he will conduct.
The choir of the Philippine community in Rome and the Gaudium Poloniae Choir
will perform two traditional pieces.
During the first part of the vigil a celebration of memory, recalling the
words and gestures of John Paul II, is planned. "On stage", Msgr. Frisina
said, "there will be a large reproduction of the image of Mary Salus Populi
Romani, patroness of the city of Rome. Through images we will also relive
the last months of the pontificate of John Paul II, which were marked by his
suffering".
Later, testimonials of some of those who worked with the pope will be
given: Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, and the French nun
Marie Simon-Pierre whose miraculous cure opened the path to his
beatification. Likewise, the testimonial of some of the youth of Rome on the
importance of the example and the words of the Blessed on their lives will
be offered. At the end of this second part, Totus Tuus, composed for the
fiftieth anniversary of the priestly ordination of John Paul II (1996), will
be sung.
Msgr. Frisina noted that the second part of the Vigil will begin with a
few words addressed by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, Vicar General of the
Diocese of Rome that "will summarize the spiritual and pastoral character of
the Blessed". Afterward will follow the recitation of the Mysteries of Light
of the Holy Rosary, with a live link with five Marian shrines. Each of the
Mysteries will be tied to a prayer intention of importance to John Paul II:
at the sanctuary of Lagiewniki in Krakow, Poland the intention will be for
the youth; at the sanctuary of Kawekamo, Bugando, Tanzania the intention
will be for the family; at the sanctuary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico
City, Mexico the intention will be for hope and peace among nations; at the
sanctuary of Fatima, the intention will be for the Church. At the
conclusion, Benedict XVI, in a live link from the Vatican, will give the
final prayer and will impart the apostolic blessing to all participating.
Regarding the beatification Mass on 1 May, the Sunday after Easter or
Divine Mercy Sunday, an hour before the service begins - that is, at 9:00am
- there will be an hour of preparation during which the faithful shall pray
together the Devotion of Divine Mercy, which was introduced by St. Mary
Faustina Kowalska and was dear to Blessed John Paul II. The preparation will
conclude with an invocation to the Mercy of God in the world, with the hymn
"Jezu ufam tobie" (Jesus, I trust in you).
Directly following will be Holy Mass, with the readings of the Sunday
after Easter. At the end of the rite of beatification, when the tapestry
depicting the newly Blessed is unveiled, the Hymn of the Blessed will be
sung in Latin. At the end of the Mass, a reliquary of John Paul II will be
brought to the altar for the veneration of all the faithful.
The Mass of Thanksgiving (Monday 2 May, in St. Peter's Square at 10:30am)
will be presided over by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and
will be preceded by an hour of preparation during which we will hear some of
John Paul II's poetry recited by two actors, one Polish and the other
Italian. The Eucharistic celebration will be enlivened by the Choir of the
Diocese of Rome with the participation of the Choir of Warsaw and the
Symphonic Orchestra of the Radio of Katowice, Poland. The texts will be
those from the Mass of the newly Blessed.
For his part, Fr. Watler Insero, director of the Office of Social
Communications of the Vicariate of Rome, clarified a few points regarding
the events connected with the beatification, among which was the "white
night" of prayer that the city of Rome will hold for the first time.
"After the Vigil in Circo Massimo, beginning at 11:30pm", he said, "it
will be possible to continue praying until dawn in eight churches in the
city center that are found on the journey from Circo Massimo to St. Peter's
Basilica: Santa Anastasia, San Bartolomeo all'Isola, Santa Agnese in Agone
(in Piazza Navona, which will be led by a group of Polish youth), San Marco
al Campidoglio, Santissimo Nome di Gesu all'Argentina, Santa Maria in
Vallicella, San Andrea della Valle, and San Giovanni dei Fiorentini".
"The Roman youth, serving as hosts of this evening of faith, will greet
the pilgrims, inviting them to enter the churches and join in the prayers.
During the night, in keeping with the common format adopted by the churches
involved, there will be an alternation of the various following moments
programmed: the reading of and meditation on the Word of God; silence and
Eucharistic adoration; and the reading of some texts that John Paul II
addressed to the youth. There will also be testimonials from some young
persons, songs performed by youth groups, and the recitation of the Rosary
and Divine Mercy Devotion. In these eight churches (...) many priests will
be available to hear confessions.
Fr. Walter Insero also announced that Caritas' soup kitchen for the poor
and service center at Termini Station will be dedicated to Blessed John Paul
II. It is "a sign of love offered by the Diocese of Rome to recall her
beloved bishop and his pastoral concern for the poorest of the poor". He
also noted that the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Vatican
Radio, Vatican Television, and the Office for Social Communications of the
Vicariate of Rome have realized an important project focused on social
networking that is called "Digital Sentinels".
"It is an initiative", he said, "has created groups of faithful, young and
old, who bring the witness and teaching of the newly Blessed to the web,
especially through Facebook and Twitter. The entire initiative is described
at: http://www.pope2you.net/index.php?id?testi61. The great event that the
digital sentinels are organizing, however, will be even more innovative:
through the official Twitter channel (created by the Vatican for the pope's
beatification) http://twitter.com/#!/Pope2YouVatican and Vatican Radio's
Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/#!/vatican.Johnpaul2) it will be
possible to follow the beatification celebrations live. Moreover, at
Pope2You.net it will be possible to stream the events, also through apps for
iPhone and iPad. http://www.vatican.va/video will also be streaming the
events".
"'Digital Sentinels', which was launched this 5 April", Fr. Walter Insero
concluded, "has had an excellent reception and resonance in the
communications world. ... Almost 1000 persons (specialized journalists,
communications experts, ...) will follow our live Twitter feed and more than
3000 persons on Facebook are populating our Sentinel groups ... Also, thanks
to the new Pope2You service, almost 40,000 ecards have been sent with quotes
addressed by John Paul II to the youth".
OP/ VIS
20110429 (1740)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 29 APR 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father appointed Cardinal
Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education as
his special envoy to the celebration of the VI centenary of the dedication
of the Cathedral of Wloclawek, Poland that will take place on 26 June of
this year.
NA VIS
20110429 (45)
NOTICE
VATICAN CITY, 29 APR 2011 (VIS) - The VIS service will be transmitted this
Saturday and Sunday for the occasion of the beatification of John Paul II.
.../ VIS
20110429 (20)
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