Would You Believe It...

An incredible thing has happened! The Vatican has finally updated its website. 

Gone is the papyrus background that made reading Church documents if not impossible, then definitely and needlessly, more challenging. We now have a cleaner, clearer, and fresher website.

At the time of writing, there is a message on the front page to say that the website is still in the process of being updated so I imagine the old version will still be present on some pages but hopefully only for a short while.

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In the meantime, thanks to the Vatican's online news service, have been catching up with Pope Leo's speeches and activities of the last few days. I saw the Holy Father's address to the Roman Curia live so I started my catch up from 25th May onwards.

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At 5pm on the 25th, Pope Leo took possession of the basilica of St. John Lateran, the Bishop of Rome's seat. Two things from his address jumped out at me. Firstly, the idea of the Catholic Church as Mater omnium Ecclesiarum, Mother of all the Churches. All the Churches: Catholic and not. What a responsibility that brings! Secondly, I enjoyed the Holy Father's reference to Pope John Paul I:

Let me conclude by adding the words with which Blessed John Paul I, whose joyful and serene face had already earned him the nickname of “the smiling Pope,” greeted his new diocesan family on 23 September 1978.  “Saint Pius X,” he said, “upon entering Venice as patriarch, exclaimed in Saint Mark’s: ‘What would become of me, dear Venetians, if I did not love you?’  I would say something similar to you Romans: I assure you that I love you, that I desire only to enter into your service and to place my own poor abilities, the little I have and am, at the service of all”

It is a lovely quotation and nice to see JPI being mentioned; for understandable reasons he is much overshadowed by his illustrious successor, Pope St. John Paul II the Great.

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From St. John Lateran, Leo returned to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to venerate the icon of St. Mary, Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the Roman People). This, of course, is the icon that Pope Francis visited so often and next to which he is buried. I don't have much to say about the address - it is very short and contains no significant statements - but it is very interesting that Leo seems to be making St. Mary Major his second home in Rome. I wonder if it is purely because out of a devotion to Mary, Salus Populi Romani, or a mix of that and a wish to continue in Francis' footsteps.

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Yesterday, on the 26th, the Pope greeted pilgrims who had come to St. Peter's on a jubilee pilgrimage for peace in Africa. You can read his address here. This time, rather than mention anything that he said, I'd like to mention something personal to me. 

I go to Westminster Cathedral for confessions. One day, I sat down in the seats that look towards the Lady Chapel and looked up at the vaulted ceiling above (I hope that is the right word for it). For some reason, a white shape had been painted over some of the bricks. Was it even paint? I don't know, but the shape looked just like the continent of Africa. Ever since then, whenever I go to the cathedral for my confession, I look up and say a prayer for Africa and her people. Nowadays, I can't see the white paint very easily as netting has been put in place underneath it but the prayer is now a firm part of my spiritual life so that doesn't matter so much.

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Earlier today, 27th, Leo met the Napoli football team. In a short address he congratulated it on winning Serie A. The Holy Father highlighted the importance of team work and the educational aspect of sport. I don't think I have ever heard anyone talk about sport in that latter way before so it has certainly given me something to think about. Leo finished his address in utterly charming fashion by giving the team a message from his Neapolitan cook. As you can imagine, she was delighted by the team's success!

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Pope Leo had an audience with Cardinal Angelo Becciu today. One can only wonder at how that went. Becciu is the cardinal who was convicted of embezzlement at the Vatican a while back. For a brief moment following Pope Francis' death he demanded the right to be part of the conclave. Thankfully, he withdrew his demand pretty quickly.