Just eight months after being unveiled, a controversial statue of Pope John Paul II in Rome is receiving a major makeover.

The 16-foot statue stands just outside the city’s main railway station but, since last May, it has been met by harsh criticism by locals and art experts alike.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, criticized it for bearing “little resemblance” to the image of the late pope and described the head as “excessively spherical.” Federico Mollicone, president of Rome’s city council culture commission, called the statue “a permanent and sacrilegious mud stain” on the memory of John Paul II.

More than eight out of 10 people who responded to a poll by the newspaper Il Messaggero said they didn’t like the statue, and Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno was forced by the criticism to form an “experts’ commission” to evaluate its fate.

Now, scaffolding has surrounded the statue, and in the coming weeks it will get a new head, the pope’s cape will be modified and the sculpture will be placed on a higher pedestal. Its outer layer of paint will be restored after rain and smog turned the bronze green, and new lighting will be set up around it.

Last May, sculptor Oliviero Rainaldi responded to criticism saying the foundry didn’t adequately execute his design.

The statue is hollow inside, leading many to compare it to “a sentry box.” Rainaldi said the design was meant to showcase the late pope’s desire to welcome humanity.

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Christopher Hitchens will be remembered as many things: an acerbic essayist, connoisseur of Scotch and cigarettes and roguish writer whose forceful pen was fueled by an imposing intellect.

Yet his impact on American life, which will be felt long after his death at age 62 on Thursday (Dec. 15), is likely to be the unabashed atheism he championed throughout his life, and the public voice he gave to growing numbers of unbelievers.

Even his foes — whose prayers he simultaneously welcomed and rejected as he battled esophageal cancer — say his acid-tongued arguments against God sharpened their own.

“As an atheist who challenged America’s deeply held religious convictions, he will continue to serve as a thorn in the side of those who believe that religion requires no rational defense,” Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a friend and frequent sparring partner, wrote in a tribute for The Forward, a national Jewish newspaper.

Hitchens had long been a foe of organized religion and its leading lights; when the late Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa in 2003, Hitchens dismissed her as a “fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.” He called the late Jerry Falwell an “ugly little charlatan,” saying “it’s a pity there isn’t a hell for him to go to.”

Throughout his career, Hitchens rejected religious faith as “evil nonsense,” and a “real danger” to civilized society. “I regard it as an enemy,” he said in 2008, “and a real deadly one.”

The self-described anti-theist channeled his unbelief into a direct and eloquent challenge of religion, especially the large and small actions carried out in God’s name.

“Christopher Hitchens changed the discussion about religion and nonbelief by championing public criticism of theology,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association.

The murderous religious extremism behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks crystalized Hitchens’ fears about religion. In the years after 9/11, he and other public atheists shot to the top of best-sellers lists with titles like his 2007 manifesto, “God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”

Together with Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, Hitchens was hailed as one of the “Four Horsemen.” In a tweet after Hitchens’ death, Dawkins heralded his friend as a “valiant fighter against all tyrants, including God.”

Still, Hitchens’ take-no-prisoners style was not universally embraced within atheist circles. Hitchens could be as militant and fundamentalist as those he criticized, his atheist allies said, and did little to help the movement’s public perception.

“Now, they’re very good atheists and very dedicated people who do not believe in God,” Paul Kurtz, founder of the Council for Secular Humanism, told NPR in 2009. “But you have this aggressive and militant phase of atheism, and that does more damage than good.”

When Hitchens announced his terminal cancer last year, some foes hoped it would prompt a deathbed conversion of sorts. Hitchens said he was grateful that people would care enough to pray for him, but swiftly rejected the idea that death could or should make him a believer.

“I have resented the idea that it should be assumed, now that you may be terrified, or depressed, that now would be the time to throw out values you have had for a lifetime,” he said. “Repulsive. Wholly contemptible.”

In life, Hitchens swam against the tides of religious belief that shape so much of modern life. In death — an irony that would delight and disturb his contrarian soul — believers are using the loss of the most articulate voice of unbelief in a generation to argue, once again, for belief.

“The point about Christopher Hitchens is not that he died of unbelief,” tweeted R. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, “but that his unbelief is all that matters now. Unspeakably sad.”

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Pope Benedict XVI confirmed today that he will travel to Cuba and Mexico next year.

“Supported by divine Providence, I have the intention to make an apostolic trip to Mexico and Cuba before Easter,” he said at the end of his homily during a special Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the independence of Latin American countries.

According to reports in South American news outlets, the visit will occur March 23-29.

The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the trip would coincide with the 400th anniversary of the image of the Virgin of Charity, the patroness of Cuba.

Lombardi had also warned that the pope would not travel to Mexico City as the city’s high altitude made it an “inadvisable” destination for the 84-year-old pope.

Benedict said he hoped his trip would contribute to the construction of a society “rooted in the development of the common good, the triumph of love and the spread of justice.”

After a historic visit by the late Pope John Paul II in 1998, relations between the Vatican and Cuba’s communist regime have improved in recent years. This year church officials helped secure the release of 115 political prisoners who left Cuba to go into exile in Spain.

The Vatican ambassador to Cuba, Monsignor Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a key figure in Vatican dialogue with the Castro regime, was promoted last May to the No. 2 position in the Vatican’s Secretariate of State.

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A Catholic nun who worked with lepers is on the verge of becoming Hawaii’s second canonized saint, after Vatican officials attributed a second miracle to her intercession.

Mother Marianne Cope, a German-born Franciscan nun who spent 30 years caring for lepers on the island of Molokai, died of natural causes in 1918. She succeeded St. Damien de Veuster, a Belgian priest known as “Father Damien,” who died of leprosy in 1889. Damien, who was canonized in 2009, is considered the patron saint of Hawaii and of HIV/AIDS patients.

Pope John Paul II declared Marianne “Blessed” in 2004, after recognizing as miraculous the 1993 cure of a teenage cancer patient in Syracuse, N.Y., who was dying of organ failure until a Franciscan nun prayed for Marianne’s intercession. A second miracle, occurring after beatification, is required for canonization.

On Tuesday (Dec. 6), the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, based in Syracuse, announced that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints had recognized another healing as both medically “inexplicable” and due to Marianne’s intercession.

The canonization still requires the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, expected sometime next year, and the sisters say they will not reveal the details of the miracle until then.

“For little Hawaii, with our population and we’ve come up with two saints,” Sister Joan of Arc Souza of Honolulu told the local KHON2 television station. “This is spectacular.”

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The mother of a boy from Chicago filed recently a case against the Vatican for the alleged role it played in the cover up of sexual abuse committed by a priest on her son.

The case was filed within weeks of a landmark decision in Oregon which ruled that the Vatican should yield documents and testify under oath regarding its supervisory responsibility over a priest who was shown to have a long-term pattern of sexually abusive behavior toward children, the AFP said.

Jeffrey Anderson, lawyer for the mother of the boy, said his client filed the case against the Vatican because she was frustrated by its failure to shield children from known child abuse by clergy, the AFP reported.

Anderson said, “The reason we have to do this is because Daniel McCormack [a former Roman Catholic priest who molested the woman’s son] is just one of many offenders who’ve been allowed to offend in secret. Until there is change at the top, children remain at risk,” according to AFP.

Anderson said he has enough evidence to show that Pope Benedict XVI and recently-beatified Pope John Paul II played a role in enabling McCormack to abuse many children over a period of years, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Anderson said, “This case is not really about what Daniel McCormack did as much as it is about those at the top allowing him to do it,” including Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago, according Chicago Tribune.

Without merit

Atty. Jeffrey Lena, who represents the Vatican in cases regarding clergy sex abuse, told the AFP, “This case is without any merit. The complaint rehashes the same tired theories already rejected by US courts. The plaintiff already received payment from the Archdiocese of Chicago and released all further claims. And, importantly, the Holy See had no factual involvement in this matter whatsoever.”

The U.S. has a Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act which provides certain protections for sovereign nations, including the Vatican, from being charged in a U.S. court. Anderson will have to prove the Vatican is an exception by showing evidence that it had a direct responsibility in the abuse.

Anderson claimed that he has enough proof to show that the Vatican, with protocols and its hierarchy, enabled McCormack to continue to abuse children as a priest, Chicago Tribune said.

Background

McCormack was arrested in 2005 on complaints of sexual abuse of several boys. However, he was allowed to still work at a Catholic school, after which more boys issued complaints of sexual abuse, the AFP said.

In July 2007 McCormack pleaded guilty to the abuse of five boys. The following year, the Archdiocese of Chicago reached a settlement of $1.6 million with the families of the boys (including the mother who is now suing the Vatican), the AFP said.

Anderson said the new lawsuit does not negate the settlement, but it may exert pressure on the Chicago archdiocese to release records as was agreed upon in the 2008 settlement and which, until now, has not been done, Chicago Tribune said.

The archdiocese was angered that Anderson would say they are stalling. In a statement it said, “We are surprised that Mr. Anderson is making an accusation like this because the Archdiocese is engaged in an ongoing mediation process with him that includes provisions about how to resolve disputes over the production of documents.”

The statement added, “Mr. Anderson has not invoked any of the processes required under these agreements for the resolution of disputes. Instead, he has made accusations in a press conference and in a lawsuit against the Holy See,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

Anderson said his client decided to file the case after an Oregon court decision was reached which ordered the Vatican to open all records regarding a Servite Order priest, Chicago Tribune said.

Legal precedence

Anderson, who is also involved in the Oregon case, said this is an impetus to go after the Vatican with the McCormack case, too. He said, “We have some legal precedence and some authority that really does make me believe we can do this,” the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Oregon court is trying to determine whether the Vatican can be viewed as an employer of abusive priests, and therefore, liable in clergy sex abuse cases. In previous lawsuits the Vatican has argued successfully that it wields spiritual control over clergy, but temporal control falls under the purview of local dioceses, the AFP said.

While winning the suit may appear to be a long shot, Bruce Boyer of Civitas Child Law Clinic, Loyola University, said filing the case in itself is significant. He told Chicago Tribune, “It’s difficult to fund litigation that the profession may look at as quixotic, [but there] is an important secondary goal which is to try to change the culture in which the church operates.”

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While some 300,000 are expected to show up for the beatification of Pope John Paul II this coming Sunday, questions still remain as to whether or not he deserves it.

A small but growing lobby is questioning why the beatification comes so soon, six years after his 2005 death, without the usual five year observation period before the process for beatification is supposed to be initiated, The Guardian said.

Questions are also being raised about the late pontiff’s being beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, who has long revered John Paul. This will be the first time a pope beatifies his immediate predecessor in what may be “the swiftest ascension toward sainthood on record,” The New York Times said.

Catholic historian Michael Walsh compared the act to “deifying one’s ancestors, The Guardian reported. Jesuit priest Father James Martin said, “Years from now people may be saying, why the rush?”

Achievements

True, the late pope was a staunch fighter against totalitarianism, helped to bring down communism, and lent courage to Poland in defying the Soviet Union, The New York Times said.

True, after communism’s collapse, John Paul presciently critiqued capitalism’s hunger for profit at any cost saying, “The excessive hoarding of riches by some denies them to the majority, and thus the very wealth that is accumulated generates poverty,” The New York Times reported.

And true, he was inspiring in the way he forgave his assailant after a failed assassination attempt, The Guardian said.

But his record regarding clergy sex abuse is still appalling. The fact remains that the scandal was kept under wraps throughout his 26-year papacy, and its global prevalence which emerged afterwards shocked people all around the world, The Guardian said.

Maureen Dowd wrote in The New York Times, “John Paul forfeited his right to beatification when he failed to establish a legal standard to remove pedophiles from the priesthood, and simply turned away for many years. How can you be a saint if you fail to
protect innocent children?”

Support for powerful supporter

Most vivid was the late pontiff’s unflinching support for Mexican priest Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the powerful Legion of Christ, who fathered at least six children and was formally accused of pedophilia after rumors and reports abounded since the 1970s.

John Paul turned a blind eye despite nine separate accusations from people who said they were abused by Degollado when they were children, The New York Times said.

The Legion of Christ gave hefty donations to the Vatican. It, along with Opus Dei was also allied with John Paul against progressive theologians and Jesuits, The New York Times said.

New sex scandal

Meanwhile a new scandal has been uncovered in Ireland, where a government report examines whether clergy sex abuse had been disregarded by Bishop John Magee of Cloyne, then former private secretary of John Paul, The Guardian said.

Miracle healing

A miracle is required before someone can qualify for beatification, and a second miracle is required for someone to be raised to sainthood. Out of hundreds of miracle cures that were said to be due to John Paul II, the Vatican chose one, The Guardian said.

This is the miracle of a French nun who said she recovered overnight from Parkinson’s disease, The Guardian said. Experts say canonization may ensue within two or three years.

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On World Youth Day, which is slated to be held this August in Spain, some 300,000 Manga-styled biographies of Pope Benedict XVI will be handed out for free.

The Manga comic book is entitled Habemus Papam! a Latin phrase that is used when the election of a new pope is announced. There will be editions in Spanish and English, and copies will be distributed in hotels, churches, bus stops and other sites, AFP said.

It is not uncommon for Manga-form biographies to be made of leaders and famous personalities. A number of Japanese celebrities have their own Manga biography, as do the 14^th Dalai Lama, Harry Houdini and Che Guevara.

The comic book will be published by Jonathan Lin, founder and owner of the California firm, Manga Hero. According to Comic Book Resources, the pope’s Manga, at 300,000 copies, puts it on equal footing as Twilight: The Manga.

Lin said he chose the Manga format for the pope’s biography because it is entertaining as well as cutting edge in form, making it more appealing to a wider range of age groups, AFP reported.

Lin said, “We want to use Manga as a tool to show the youth and the world that the Church is not afraid of modernity and evolving culture. It is not afraid to use, in this case, new and compelling forms of media to meet young people where they are,” according to CNA.

Lin added, “We hope the Manga acts as a fun platform for people to learn more about the Holy Father and realize that the Church is relevant, visible, and active in modern culture. We want as many people as possible to read the Manga,” according to the World Youth Day website.

The comic biography will depict the Pope’s life as a cardinal who was then working under Pope John Paul II, up to his own election as pope in 2005, CNA said.

It will also talk of Benedict’s travels to other celebrations of World Youth Day in the past, and show the range of proposals that he made to help the youth to find meaning in their own lives, Rome Reports said.

Lin observed, “The story also shows how he grows into his role as pope,” CNA reported.

The drawings on the Manga of the pope will be the workmanship of Sean Lam from Singapore. The story is written by Gabrielle Gniewek, a graduate of John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego, CNA said.

Over one million people are expected to attend World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, which will be held from Aug. 16-21. This will be the third time that Benedict has visited that country, according to the AFP.

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The May 1 pending beatification of the late Pope John Paul II has raised a few eyebrows among some Catholics.

The lay Catholic group, The International Movement We Are Church issued a press release recently decrying the late pontiff’s beatification due to his poor handling of clergy sex abuse, which under his 27-year watch, was suppressed and in this way, they say, enabled, according to their statement.

After the pontiff’s death clergy sexual abuse was shown to be global and more prevalent than was believed. Ministry Values mentioned John Paul’s favor of Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the late founder of the Legionaries of Christ who was a serial abuser and may who fathered at least one child, among many others.

Barbara Dorris, St. Louis outreach director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the beatification is like “rubbing more salt into these wounds” of victims of clergy sex abuse, Politics Daily said.

Dorris told Politics Daily, “There’s a reason we usually move slowly in honoring public figures. Often, some of their unsavory actions and inactions surface years later. That’s slowly happening with Pope John Paul II. When we honor those who ignor or conceal wrongdoing, we essentially condone wrongdoing.”

Ministry Values also said it is not yet known what John Paul knew regarding how the Vatican Bank handled the 1982 collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano, and the scandal linked to it.

IMWAC also questioned in their press release John Paul’s quelling of the Liberation Theology movement, suppresseing the issue of gender equality, and failure to condone use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS (Pope Benedict XVI said in such instance, it’s a moral choice), USA Today reported.

IMWAC said, “beatification and ultimately sainthood should not be measured by whether a ‘miracle’ can be attributed to a particular person, but rather, whether someone’s life truly embodies the values of Christ who sought, not power, but the wellbeing of God’s people,” ABC News Radio reported.

A Roman Catholic qualifies for beatification if a miracle is clearly attributed to intervention by the deceased. A second miracle makes one eligible for canonization or sainthood, Politics Daily said.

Vatican medical experts and theologians affirmed that Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun, was healed of Parkinson’s disease, the same sickness that John Paul had, after she prayed for his intercession on June 3, 2005, (he died in April 2005), the AP said.

Blood relic

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the longtime aide of John Paul II, told UPI a vial of blood from the late pope will be his relic when he’s beatified. The tradition of keeping relics stems from the Middle Ages.

The vial of blood was given to Dziwisz when the pope underwent several medical tests before a tracheotomy. It will be kept in a crystal and remain on an altar at the John Paul II Institute in Krakow, UPI said.

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For the first time since 1970 the Vatican has published a new Roman Missal—the book that is used by Catholics every Sunday for mass–with major revisions in its translation.

The Roman Missal, Third Edition also has prayers and guidelines on how to celebrate Sunday Mass. It was approved by the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Congregation for Divine Worship, according to the Third Edition Roman Missal website.

The original Missale Romanum in Latin was issued by Pope Paul VI in 1970. In 1973 an English translation was issued, prompted by the Second Vatican Council of 1962, which ordered that mass be said in a parish’s local language, CNN said.

Minor revisions were added in 1975 and in 2000 by Pope John Paul II including prayers for new saints, added prefaces to Communion prayers, added masses for specific needs and intentions, and updated instructions on celebrating the mass, the website said.

The Third Edition’s updated translation is expected to lend deeper meaning to the mass. It will be used on November 27, 2011 to coincide with the First Sunday of Advent, the website reported.

Benedictine Father Jeremy Driscoll of Mount Angel Abbey was an adviser to an important committee of English-speaking bishops that was convened by the Vatican, the Catholic Sentinel reported.

Driscoll told a group of priests in Oregon that the old Missal lacked the “inner voice” of the Latin version. With the new translation Driscoll factored in context, time, place where it was written, emotion, tone and pertinent vocabulary with multiple meanings, the Catholic Sentinel said.

Driscoll also said that in translating the missal they noted that the liturgy is mysterious and divine, yet with a concrete manifestation, particularly the trinity and communion, according to Catholic Sentinel.

Driscoll said while the old missal, for example, calls Jesus God’s “son” or “only son,” the Latin version is more adequately translated as “only begotten son,” lending emphasis to the fact that Jesus is “consubstantial with the Father,” the Catholic Sentinel said.

In terms of tone, Driscoll compared the Easter preface of the former, which says, “The joy of the resurrection renews the whole world while the choirs of heaven sing forever to your glory,” which pales to the new translation, the Catholic Sentinel reported.

The new preface captures the original Latin version’s exuberance, namely, “Therefore, overcome with paschal joy, every land, every people exults in your praise. And even the heavenly powers with the angelic hosts, sing together the unending hymn of your glory,” the Catholic Sentinel said.

Driscoll said the longer sentences will require that the priests be more knowledgeable of the text and say it correctly. Churchgoers will also have to be more attentive, according to the Catholic Sentinel.

According to CNN it is hoped that in the long term, the new translation will make churchgoers more appreciative and aware of the mysteries in the Liturgy. The website said the translation is important because what is prayed is directly linked to the substance of one’s faith, CNN said.

Sources:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/03/catholic-church-to-introduce-new-wording-for-sunday-mass/

http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=29&ArticleID=13115

http://www.usccb.org/romanmissal/index.shtml

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Just days before Pope Benedict XVI will arrive in Britain, thousands of tickets for open-air papal events are still unsold.

Jack Valero, spokesman of the Opus Dei in Britain complained that the British are more knowledgeable about Hollywood actor Paul Newman than they are about Cardinal John Henry Newman, a former Anglican who converted to Catholicism and who will be beatified during the pope’s four-day visit, The Telegraph said.

So far, only £6.2 m ($9.65 m) has been raised out of an estimated cost of £10 m ($15.5 m) for the religious aspect of the pope’s visit. Even worse, taxpayers will foot the bill of some £12 m ($18.5 m) for state-related events including a reception hosted by the Queen and stringent security requirements for the pope, The Telegraph reported.

Valero still insists the pope’s visit is a “great coup” that will lend prestige to the British government. He had earlier predicted that the cities where the pope will visit, namely London, Glasgow, Birmingham and Edinburgh would gain huge revenue with the large crowds that would come, according to The Telegraph.

The pope will start off by visiting Scotland on Thursday where he will be welcomed by the Queen and senior politicians at Holyroodhouse Palace, The Telegraph said.

This will be followed by an open-air Mass at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. However, because of the number of unsold tickets, the capacity was lowered down to just 80,000, ITN said. In 1982, Pope John Paul II appeared there to a crowd of 300,000, The Telegraph reported.

On Saturday, tickets are believed to have approximated capacity for a prayer vigil at Hyde Park, London. But the highlight of the visit, the Sunday beatification of Cardinal Newman in Cofton Park, Birmingham is estimated to reach only 50,000, or half of what had been planned, according to The Telegraph.

Dioceses in England and Wales have not given hopeful reports, ITN said. It may be because of the price of £25 ($38.57) per ticket. An added difficulty is that the beatification service requires riding on coaches scheduled to leave parishes before dawn, The Telegraph said.

This would mean that people would have to leave their homes as early as 2 a.m. so that they can get a seat to the venue. Officials speculate that the inconvenience, rather than the cost of tickets, is why the beatification may have a poor attendance, ITN reported.

Valero said Cardinal Newman, a Victorian theologian, should be highlighted for his legacy and his story of conversion to inspire Britons and unify the Church of England and Roman Catholicism, The Telegraph said.

Valero noted that Newman was an Anglican for 44 years, and a Catholic for 45. He died at the age of 89. “He is very popular with everyone – Anglicans, Catholics, even gays like him because they say he was homosexual,” Valero told The Telegraph

Newman’s sexuality was a great subject of speculation. He shared a dwelling with lifelong friend Father Ambrose St. John, and when he died in 1890, he was buried alongside St. John near Birmingham, The Telegraph reported.

Valero said Newman kept his vow of celibacy. “[But] we don’t know what went on in his mind and heart but the fact that he had close friendships with men does not imply that he was homosexually inclined,” Valero told The Telegraph.

Last year, Anglican traditionalists who were disenchanted with Canterbury over the issue of female clergy were embraced by the Vatican, who welcomed them to their fold. Valero told The Telegraph, “I don’t think it’s going to be an issue in this trip. It’s not as if the Pope is coming over to claim his people and park his tanks in the gardens of Lambeth Palace.”

While acknowledging that Britain is now a largely secular nation, Valero suggested that tens of thousands will line the streets to see Benedict in his Popemobile rather than attend some of the events, The Telegraph said.

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