Pope Benedict meets Maltese abuse victims

Pope Benedict XVI today met eight of the victims of abuse for twenty minutes after the Papal Mass in Floriana at the chapel at the Nunicature in Rabat where he is staying. After silent prayer, the Holy Father met with the alleged victims of clerical abuse individually. The bishops of Malta and Gozo were also present. The Vatican’s Spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said that the atmosphere was intense but serene.

Benedetto

Rain in Floriana

The square at the Granaries looks relatively empty considering the Papal Mass is set to begin in an hour. It is raining which may be part of the reason that it’s empty. Still people are here under umbrellas with their papal flags and their Maltese flags.

Valletta update

Malta diary: Awaiting Pope Benedict

Last year Lady Gaga – a pop singer with a penchant for outrageous outfits and bizarre expressions – drew some 40,000 people to the Granaries in Floriana, a town outside Valetta. This year, Pope Benedict – on his first Papal visit since reports of clerical child abuse began to surface in January – is expected to draw only 30,000 people in Europe’s most Catholic country.

“People do not love God, because they do not know God”

Malta’s most recent saint — canonised under Benedict XVI in 2007 and beatified by JPII in May 2001 — is Saint George Preca who “anticipated the Second Vatican Council by 60 years” by founding a society to teach lay people about doctrine and Scripture. His remains lie in the chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Hamrun under a wax effigy made at Madame Tussaud’s in London.

More local colour

Welcome Benedict flags.

Valletta

Here in Malta they are busy setting up for the Pope’s upcoming visit. This looks like it’s being set up for the Papal Mass on Sunday.

Light relief: 12 Sweetest Pope Pictures

The Twelve “Evilest Pope Pictures” is the one of the most shared memes on Buzzfeed at the moment, bearing out ED Kain’s theory that the Holy Father “has aged in such a way as to make him look less the cuddly grandpa and more the evil villain; he bears an uncanny resemblance to Emperor Palpatine”.

Pictures can really change the way we read stories. Personally I’ve never thought of B16 as particularly creepy looking–I’ve always had him in the cute, cuddly, but slightly shy and diffident grandpa category, a bit embarrassed by all the attention that has suddenly been lavished on him. In the spirit of light relief, we’ve compiled a few of the sweetest pictures of Pope Benedict for the 12 Sweetest Pope Pictures meme.

Vatican, Bishops of England and Wales distances themselves from Cardinal Bertone’s comments,

The Vatican has distanced itself from the Secretary of State Cardinal Tarciscio Bertone’s comments yesterday.

The Associated Press reported that the Italian Cardinal told journalists: “Many psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that there is no relation between celibacy and pedophilia. But many others have demonstrated, I have been told recently, that there is a relation between homosexuality and pedophilia. That is true. That is the problem.”