Benedict XVI celebrates Mass with his ill brother on feast of the Sacred Heart

Rome, Italy, Apr 14, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- A pastor at a church in Rome offered Easter Mass from the roof of the church so nearby parishioners could participate from their balconies and windows during the coronavirus lockdown in Italy.

Making the Ma… […]

Rome, Italy, Aug 3, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA).- Every August, for the feast of the Madonna of the Sea, Italian priest Father Mario Calogiuri takes to the beach of San Foca to bless swimmers and seafarers “between the deckchairs and umbrellas” in a blue swimsuit, according to Italian source La Repubblica.

But this year, he decided to go a more memorable route.

Rather than just a bible or a rosary, Fr. Calogiuri came to the beach with a five-foot statue of the Virgin Mary in tow.

Mary was then hoisted to the top of the slide of a small plastic paddle boat and taken out to sea.  

Two volunteers were needed helped to stabilize the Virgin atop the little plastic vessel, which rocked among small waves as it floated among the swimmers and Father issued blessings via megaphone to a small crowd.

Typically, the feast of the Madonna of the Sea is celebrated in port towns, and is a time for blessing sailors and fishermen, who pray for safety and a profitable year.

In recent years, Fr. Calogiuri has more liberally applied the feast to beachgoers of all kinds.

In 2013, he told Italian news source Urban News that it can be easy to forget about Jesus at the beach, so that’s why he has taken to blessing swimmers and revelers.  

“I want to meet people under the umbrella…in a place where you do not usually think about religion, but you do not have to forget Jesus,” he said.

An Italian priest brought the Virgin Mary to festival beachgoers in a paddle boat https://t.co/JRB3DwbNJx pic.twitter.com/C2ggiCbDCs

— Atlas Obscura (@atlasobscura) August 1, 2017

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Rome, Italy, Dec 5, 2017 / 11:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of Pope Francis’ trip to Chile and Peru, the Archbishop of Lima has said that the Bishop of Rome will encounter a lively faith in the countries, where there are “great expression of popular religiosity.”

Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne spoke to CNA ahead of Pope Francis’ trip to Chile and Peru, which he will make Jan. 15-21, 2018.

The cardinal is visiting Rome, and met with Pope Francis Monday for a conversation that largely focused on the Pope’s upcoming visit to his country.

In his comments to CNA, the cardinal said Latin America, and Peru in particular, maintain a staunchly Christian culture where traditional values on marriage and family issues specifically are widely upheld.

Peru itself is a largely Catholic nation, and while traditional forms of marriage and family life are threatened by the same secular ideologies growing throughout the U.S. and many countries in Europe, the defense of marriage is much stronger.

The country is also traditional when it comes to the abortion issue, with roughly 89 percent of the population defending life, he said.  

Because of this, Cipriani said he believes the Pope’s visit is an opportunity for the world to look at Latin America and learn from their example of faith.

This faith is largely expressed in Peru through various and colorful forms of popular piety such as processions, vigils, and public prayer. Among the biggest of these are the processions on the feasts of Corpus Christi and the Lord of Miracles.

“The popular piety is going to move [Francis] a lot because he is going to see it in all corners” of the country, the cardinal said, explaining that this show of faith is part of the ‘cultural DNA’ in Peru, and will play a big role in the Pope’s visit.

“I think that the Holy Father will meet the population with a great expressions of popular religiosity that will be very near to his heart,” he said.

The visit to Peru, which holds the theme “United by Hope,” will also be key in terms of helping the Peruvian bishops’ conference become more unified, he said, noting the country is composed of a variety of backgrounds, which at times makes it difficult to be on the same page.

“The country is very diverse, geographically, ethnically, so the reality that the bishops have on the coast, in the mountains, or in the jungle is very different,” the cardinal said. With 50 bishops representing these different areas, trying to combine everything into one cohesive conference “isn’t easy.”

In Peru, there are dioceses that have 100,000 inhabitants, while others, such as Lima, have 10 million. Some are areas more advanced in terms of development while in other areas people live “in absolute poverty.”

With all this in mind, Cipriani said he believes the Pope will encourage the Peruvian bishops “to say: ‘in seeking holiness you have to come together in a vision that brings Christ to all’.”

Another key theme of the trip, the cardinal said, will be the role of Peruvian saints, which the Pope brought up in their meeting yesterday, and which he mentioned in a short videomessage he released for the trip in August.

“In a few words he told me that Peru has many saints and great saints, and I think that this is something that moves me and that I hope will be developed in this trip,” the cardinal said.

Among the most well-known Peruvian saints are Rose of Lima, Martin de Porres, and and Toribio de Mogroviejo.

According to Cipriani, the Pope’s favorite is Martin de Porres, who was the son of a Spanish nobleman and a black slave woman. The saint had wanted to enter the Dominican order, but was initially prevented from becoming a brother due to a law at the time that prevented people of mixed race from joining religious orders.

Instead, he lived with the community and did manual work, earning the nickname “the saint of the broom” for his diligence and care in cleaning the friars’ quarters. Eventually, he was permitted to join the order despite the law, and he worked with the sick in the infirmary.

On Martin de Porres, Francis says “he likes him more than anyone because of the broom, because he had to clean many things so that the Church was better,” Cipriani said.

Other big themes for the trip, the cardinal said, will be environmental issues, particularly related to the Amazon region, and the youth.

The highlight will be the Pope’s visit to Puerto Maldonado, an area of the Amazon affected by extreme poverty and which has a wide variety of wildlife. During his visit there, Pope Francis is going to see “a lot of poverty, a lot of (the) force of nature.”

When it comes to the nation’s youth, Cipriani said Francis is going to see a lot of young people “very excited for the coming of the Pope.”

Pope Francis’ visit, he said, is important above all because “the Vicar of Christ is coming … it’s a wonderful occasion in which God blesses the Peruvian people.”

Peru, he said, “needs the presence of a man that sows peace, unity and joy among us, and who strengthens us in the faith. Because of this we are awaiting him with enthusiasm.”

Above all, Peru will greet the Pope with “great joy, with a lot of noise, with the streets full,” he said, adding that the Pope “is going to have a great time.”

Alvaro de Juana contributed to this report.

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