The giant who spoke for St John Paul II
Joaquin Navarro-Valls, St John Paul II’s spokesman for many years, died last week. In a tribute at Crux, John Allen quoted Shakespeare: “Take him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again.”
Navarro had his flaws, Allen said. “For one thing, it was often not entirely clear, when he talked about John Paul, whether he was telling us what actually happened or what he felt should have happened.” He once gave a detailed description of a meeting Pope John Paul had with a Guatemalan human rights activist, “down to the colourful native costume she wore”, without realising that the meeting had actually been cancelled at the last moment.
“However, no one’s perfect, and on the whole, the Navarro-Valls I knew was a giant of a man,” wrote Allen. “He also took a deep personal interest in the people around him – in fact, the very last question he ever asked me in that brief talk we had a couple of weeks ago was about my health.”
John Allen wrote that after his last phone call with Navarro he “hung up in tears, conscious I had just spoken to a dying man”.
“I tried to tell him what he had meant to me, and how much he had helped me when I was just starting out. I’m not sure he took it all in, because by that stage in the conversation he was obviously fatigued … If he didn’t quite get it, let me say it now: I’m probably not here, writing this appreciation or doing anything else in journalism, had it not been for Joaquin Navarro-Valls.”
How Trump warmed Catholic hearts
Kathy Schiffer at the National Catholic Register wrote that “there was much to warm the Catholic heart” in Donald Trump’s speech in Warsaw.
The US president recalled the courage of Bishop Michał Kozal, who died at Dachau. He also remembered St John Paul II’s sermon when the pontiff visited Kraków in 1979. That speech ended with the crowd chanting: “We want God.”
He said: “Their message is as true today as ever. The people of Poland, the people of America, and the people of Europe still cry out: ‘We want God.’ ”
A holy tattoo business that’s lasted 700 years
Adelaide Mena from the Catholic News Agency visited a tattoo parlour in Jerusalem with a 700-year-old history.
It is a long-held custom for Christian pilgrims to complete their pilgrimage to the Holy City with a tattoo.
Although procedures have been updated (sterilised ink is used rather than the old family recipe of soot and wine),the Razzouk Tattoo business uses instruments and designs dating back several hundred years.
Originally from Egypt, the Razzouk family relocated to Jerusalem half a millennium ago. “For the past 500 years, we’ve been tattooing pilgrims in the Holy Land, and it’s been passed down from father to son,” Wassim Razzouk, 43, said.
✣Meanwhile…
✣ A priest in Italy is offering parishioners a glass of prosecco if they come to Mass.
Fr Gianfranco Formenton has already set up a “loyalty card” which he stamps at the end of Mass at San Martino Church in the village of Trignano in Umbria.
“Every Sunday, at the end of Mass, I put a stamp on the card, to certify their attendance. It helps remind us all that faith is a commitment; it doesn’t go on holiday,” he said. Card-holders will receive “an aperitif” of prosecco, while children will be given crisps.
✣ The Church of England has baffled the internet by honouring “Reformation martyrs” Thomas More and John Fisher on its official Twitter account.
✣ The Church of England has baffled the internet by honouring “Reformation martyrs” Thomas More and John Fisher on its official Twitter account.
The tweet, which said “Today we remember Thomas More, scholar, and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Reformation martyrs who died in 1535”, prompted hundreds of incredulous responses and gifs including a despairing Ryan Gosling and a sceptical Britney Spears.
One, from @WeGovern USA, read: “Ummm didn’t y’all chop off their heads?”
Alberto Fernandez, a US diplomat, wrote: “Fell off a bridge? Struck by lightning? How did they die?”
Another user, Charles Lawley, said: “Shout out to the social media intern at the Church of England who just accidentally restarted a 500-year-old sectarian conflict.”
✣The week in quotations
I’m inadequate, I need help, I will listen to everyone Archbishop-elect Mario Delpini of Milan Vatican Insider
Always hold on to the Pope and you will not lose Christ! Cardinal Meisner’s spiritual testament In Caelo et in Terra blog
He is failing badly on his promise Leading article on Pope Francis and clerical abuse New York Times
How can we think that the Council wished to contradict what was in use before? Cardinal RobertSarah on Summorum Pontificum La Nef
✣Statistic of the week
53 The percentage of American Catholics who say abortion should be legal Source: Pew
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