Popes Benedict

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Alice's Apr 19 post (message 18832) opens by saying " There are no

mistakes! R[atzinger], to give him credit, will sum up the end of the

Age in an absolutely clear way. "

I thought some of you might be interested in this relatively brief

and succinct paragraph from Mason University's History News

Network:

" The Previous Pope Benedict: The last pope who chose the name

Benedict was an Italian noble who canonized Joan of Arc and spent

much of his papacy trying unsuccessfully to end World War I, which

had pitted Europe's Catholics against one another. Born Giacomo

della Chiesa in Genoa, Italy, Pope Benedict XV served as pontiff from

1914 to 1922, the second shortest length of time for a pope in the

20th Century. He was elected in early September, less than two

months after the outbreak of the war - chosen in part, because he was

a trained diplomat who was neutral on the war. Almost immediately,

Benedict XV appealed to the warring sides to make peace. He pushed

for a Christmas Day truce in 1914 that was initially agreed to by

Germany, but rejected ty the Allies. His constant calls for ending

the war became so unpopular on both sides that a 1915 agreement

between Italy and other Allies contained a secret provision to ignore

papal peace efforts. "

For me, there were here quite a few images and themes suggestive of

possible parallels -- auguries? -- for the now beginning reign of

Pope Benedict XVI. And how's about -- in the spirit of concord as

opposed to discord, we now refer to him by that name? And _pray_ --

not only for things to go the way we'd like them to but that each of

us can remember to try to align with and express the spirit of what

we would wish to see and be a part of the becoming of! [i believe in

ending sentences with prepositions. :-)]

marte