Monday, February 11, 2008

Pope and Roman Curia go on annual retreat

The Pope starts his annual retreat today at the Vatican.

He will be joined by those who assist him in governing the Church (the Roman Curia) at the "Redemptoris Mater" Chapel of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.

This year's exercises, directed by Cardinal Albert Vanhoye S.J., are on the theme, “Let us welcome Christ, our High Priest. 'Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession'".

Using the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola as a guide for the retreat, Cardinal Albert Vanhoye S.J., the former secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, will direct the retreatants.

Pope Benedict and his fellow prelates begin their Lenten retreat at 6 p.m. this evening (Sunday 10th February) with the celebration of Vespers, the first meditation, adoration and a Eucharistic blessing.

For the next six days, the group will follow a daily routine based off of the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, culminating in Vespers, adoration and a Eucharistic blessing at 5:45 p.m. every day.

The spiritual exercises will come to an end next Saturday, February 16, with the celebration of Lauds and a closing meditation at 9 a.m.

During the retreat all audiences will be cancelled, including the weekly general audience of Wednesday, February 13.

Meanwhile by the end of this month, people will be able to receive a daily text of a quote from Pope John Paul II.

A new service, offering a quotation and a picture of the late pontiff, has been set up by Vodafone and Joaquin Navarro Valls, who worked for 16 years as John Paul II's spokesman. The quotations, which cost 24c for a simple message or 34c with a photograph of John Paul, will be available at the end of the month.

Mr Navarro Valls, who now works as a commentator on the Vatican, said that the strength of John Paul II's message would encourage worshippers in their every-day lives.

"John Paul II had a great human message about Christian values to communicate to the world, and quite simply, this is what produced this phenomenon and the fascination that the public feels for him," he said.

John Paul II was a fan of technology and used a mobile phone to send inspirational messages.
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