Bloody Sunday: Police to investigate Derry deaths

Bloody Sunday: Police to investigate Derry deaths

 

The Saville Report was heavily critical of the Army and found that soldiers fired the first shot

The police are to launch a murder investigation into the deaths of 13 people shot dead by soldiers in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday in 1972.

The move comes after the PSNI and Public Prosecution Service reviewed the findings of the Saville inquiry, which said none of those killed was armed.
The police investigation is expected to take at least four years and involve a team of 30 detectives.
Police have said no decision has been made as to when it will start.
Chief constable Matt Baggott told the Northern Ireland Policing Board: "It is a matter that I think we should be investigating and will be investigating."
Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris added: "That will be a large investigation obviously and setting aside the resources to properly start that and take that forward is a corporate issue which is under investigation at this time.
"There is not the expertise free and available to undertake an investigation of this size and that is why we are faced with dilemmas around prioritisation.
"The special resources required for this scale of investigation are just not available at this moment to commence an investigation of this scale and length of time."
The Saville Inquiry said the Army had fired the first shots on Bloody Sunday and were to blame for what happened.
It published its report in June 2010, after a 12-year inquiry.
Prime Minister David Cameron issued an apology, describing what happened as "both unjustified and unjustifiable."

"It's a step in the right direction because myself, my family and most of the families want prosecutions”

John Kelly Bloody Sunday victim's brother

Some relatives of victims said they wanted the soldiers responsible to be prosecuted for murder and attempted murder.
The PSNI on Thursday confirmed it is to launch a murder investigation.
John Kelly, whose brother Michael was shot dead on Bloody Sunday, said: "It certainly is good news but it was something we were expecting anyway.
"My view on it at the time was these soldiers should have been arrested straight away and prosecuted on what came out of the Saville report.
"But certainly after hearing what we heard today it's a step in the right direction because myself, my family and most of the families want prosecutions."

British soldiers convicted of murder during the Troubles

During the Troubles four British soldiers were convicted of murder in Northern Ireland.
In 1984, Private Ian Thain was convicted of murdering 22-year-old Thomas Reilly in west Belfast. He served just over two years in prison.
In 1993, Private Lee Clegg was convicted of the murders of teenagers Martin Peake and Karen Reilly - who had been in a stolen car in west Belfast. He was released two years later and in 1999 he was cleared of the charges following a retrial.
Scots Guards Mark Wright and James Fisher were convicted in 1995 of murdering north Belfast man Peter McBride in September 1992. They each served six years of their life sentences.
All four soldiers were subsequently re-admitted into the Army.

Bloody Sunday occurred on 30 January 1972 - a civil rights demonstration through the streets of Derry in the north-west of Northern Ireland ended with the shooting dead of 13 civilians by the British Army.

Fourteen others were wounded.
The Saville Inquiry cost £195m and was the longest-running and most expensive inquiry in British history.
'Whitewash' Lord Saville was appointed in 1998 by then Prime Minister Tony Blair to look into the events of Bloody Sunday.
It followed an earlier official inquiry in 1972, led by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery, which was described as a "whitewash" by the families of the victims and their supporters.
Lord Saville said he had the impression that people in Derry were as upset by the Widgery Report as they have been by the events of the day.
Among the inquiry's findings were:

• No warning had been given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire
• None of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers
• Some of those killed or injured were clearly fleeing or going to help those injured or dying
• None of the casualties was posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting
• Many of the soldiers lied about their actions
• The events of Bloody Sunday were not premeditated
• Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein, was present at the time of the violence and "probably armed with a sub-machine gun" but did not engage in "any activity that provided any of the soldiers with any justification for opening fire"

'God Particle’ discovered: Peter Higgs and the Large Hadron Collider

'God Particle’ discovered: Peter Higgs and the Large Hadron Collider

After more than 30 years of planning, building and testing, the Large Hadron Collider is providing answers that could fundamentally change the way in which we understand the universe.

CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, has revealed its preliminary data analysis today at the site of the collider in Geneva - with the revelation that a new sub-atomic particle consistent with the elusive Higgs boson has been discovered.

Named after its inceptor, Professor Peter Higgs, the boson may provide an answer to the long standing mystery of why objects have mass. As the momentous news was announced this morning Professor Higgs shed tears of joy.

He said in a statement: "I never expected this to happen in my lifetime and shall be asking my family to put some champagne in the fridge."

But how did research undertaken decades ago by a British professor culminate in the announcement of the so called “God particle”?

Building blocks

After completing a degree and masters in physics, Newcastle-born Peter Higgs moved to Edinburgh in 1960 to take up lectureship and continue his research. Four years later he arrived at a breakthrough, proposing the existence of a subatomic particle that could explain how mass works.

Professor Higgs said that the finding did not come to him in a ‘eureka’ moment, but instead it was one that fermented over a period of time.

Professor Peter Higgs' work inspired CERN's £6bn Large Hadron Collider.

“By the summer of 1964 I knew I was on to something,” he told Der Spiegel. “That was perhaps the reason, because my head was full of thoughts, that I forgot the instructions for putting up the tent when we went for a camping trip in the Scottish mountains”.

After returning to the University of Edinburgh, Professor Higgs wrote his seminal paper “Broken Symmetries and the Masses of Gauge Bosons”, published in ‘Physical Review Letters’.   

As it turned out, Professor Higgs was not the only physicist to propose such a theory.

A paper written by Robert Brout and Francois Englert ["Broken Symmetry and the Mass of Gauge Vector Mesons"] and another authored by Gerald Guralnik, C. Richard Hagen and Tom Kibble [“Global Conservation Laws and Massless Particles”] touched upon the same principles - all three theories paving the way for the ambitious work at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.        

Put into practice

Oddly enough, Professor Higgs’ landmark work almost never saw the light of day as it was initially rejected by the editor of ‘Physics Letters’, who failed to see its importance. Higgs tinkered with his exposition and sent the piece to ‘Physical Review Letters’, who published it later that year.

Despite a mass of intrigue surrounding the work of Higgs and his contemporaries, it was not until 1976 that CERN’s Professor John Ellis hinted that the research should be put to the test. What followed was 36 years of conception and construction of the Large Hadron Collider- a £6bn project to find the elusive Higgs boson.

The world's largest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider.

Built beneath the Swiss/French border at Geneva, the mammoth collider extends more than 16.5m in a circular tunnel - a complex system which took a decade to build. Since its initiation in 2008, the collider has encountered a number of technical problems, but physicists captured a hint of the boson’s existence late last year, although more data was needed for confirmation.

In essence the Large Hadron Collider was built to create the ideal conditions to produce evidence of the Higgs boson. The collider contains 1200 magnets cooled to -271C, which accelerate protons to 99.9% of the speed of light. At this speed the protons then ‘collide’, creating thousands of new particles.

Physicists believe that for every billion collisions 10 Higgs bosons are created, although it is a fine art to measure.       

"We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer today.

He pointed out, though, that further work was needed to identify what exactly had been found.

"As a layman I would say we have it, but as a scientist I have to say, 'what do we have?'" Heuer told a press conference.

"We have discovered a boson, and now we have to determine what kind of boson it is."

Finding the Higgs would validate the Standard Model, a theory which identifies the building blocks for matter and the particles that convey fundamental forces.

It is a hugely successful theory but has several gaps, the biggest of which is why some particles have mass but others do not.

Italian soccer star in Medjugorje

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Another Italian soccer star in Medjugorje

(Courtesy of  http://crownofstars.blogspot.co.uk/)

 

Italy‘s national soccer team captain Gianluigi Buffon has made a surprise visit to Medjugorje today, just two days after leading his team in the final of Euro 2012.

After travelling by private jet to Mostar this morning, arriving at mid-day, the legendary Juventus goalkeeper was warmly greeted by other Italian pilgrims at the airport returning home from yesterday’s apparition visit of the Virgin Mary to the seer Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo.

Buffon (pictured) captained the Italian team in the recent Euro 2012 championship when his side was beaten 4-0 by Spain in the Final played at Kiev last Sunday night. He is expected to stay in Medjugorje for two days.

UPDATE: The Croatian newspaper Vecernji list reports that Buffon left Mostar airport accompanied by Medjugorje guide Mike Vasilj.

After a short visit to the church of St James for a quiet prayer, Buffon was welcomed to Medjugorje by Fr Miljenka Šteko and then taken to meet the other Franciscans who pastor the parish. He remained with them for 40 minutes before checking into the Grace Hotel.

Mike Vasilj, also the guide and host for the recent visit of another high-profile Italian football personality Roberto Mancini, told waiting journalists that Buffon wanted to conduct his pilgrimage in privacy before he returns home on Wednesday and would not be giving any interviews.

The 34-year-old goalkeeper has previously visited the shrine and his mother actively supports many of the humanitarian projects associated with Medjugorje.

The picture below shows Buffon arriving with his guide and joined by Fr Miljenka Šteko.

© Vercernji list

Bob Dylan in Berlin : Ich kann auch nett sein

Bob Dylan in Berlin : Ich kann auch nett sein

(Specially for Jbloggs and any other MFL teachers/German speakers)

http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/bob-dylan-in-berlin-ich-kann-auch-nett-sein/6829876.html

Neunter Frühling: Bob Dylan zwei Tage vor seinem Berliner Konzert in England. In Berlin waren Fotografen nicht zugelassen. - Foto: Reuters

Gute Laune, Schmerz und Liebestrauer: Bob Dylans fantastischer Auftritt in der Zitadelle Spandau.

Der kleine Junge hat ein neues Spielzeug bekommen. Und wie das so ist, wenn ein Neuankömmling in das Kinderzimmer eingebaut wird, verschiebt sich die Ordnung, alles richtet sich nach der jüngsten Errungenschaft. Das kann schwierig werden, wenn die alten Sachen plötzlich nicht mehr so viel zählen, sich zurückgesetzt fühlen. Oder große Freude stellt sich ein, denn das missing link ist vom Himmel gefallen, und alle haben großen Spaß.
Nur: In dieser Geschichte ist der Junge 71 Jahre alt, ein faltiger Hänfling mit wuschigem Haar und breitkrempigem Hut, der in seiner 50-jährigen Karriere zigtausend Konzerte vergoldet und versemmelt hat, und bei dem neuen Spielgerät handelt es sich um ein Grand Piano, einen großen schwarzen Flügel.

Und darauf klimpert und klampert, klingelt und jingelt das Männchen herum, dass es eine Lust ist – als wär’s das Rumpelstilzchen, das in einem Batman-Film den Joker gibt. Sieht er nicht auch ein bisschen aus wie Gustav von Aschenbach, also „Tod in Venedig“? Wie ein Mime der Commedia dell’Arte, der zu viel von Brechts Verfremdungseffekt genascht hat?
Und überhaupt: Irgendetwas ist passiert mit Bob Dylan. Er steht auf der Bühne in der Spandauer Zitadelle, das Konzert beginnt mit halbstündiger Verspätung (was sonst nie vorkommt), und nichts mehr erinnert an das Desaster vom vergangenen Herbst, als ein übellauniger, heiserer Hundesänger mit krachender Kapelle im Rücken die Fans aus der 02-World trieb. Aber die Musiker sind immer noch dieselben, man sieht es ja, sie sind es seit vielen Jahren. Allein der Mann mit der Mundharmonika hat eine wundersame Verwandlung durchlaufen. Die Stimme klingt fest, ironisch, zeigt sich sehr modulationsfreudig, die ganze Körpersprache ist wie ausgetauscht. Die Band hat einen guten, leichtgängigen Tag erwischt, man merkt es sogleich.
Dylan beginnt locker mit einem lustigen „Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat“, da hat er noch die Sonnenbrille auf, die ein paar Songs später verschwindet. Von da an grinst er ins Auditorium, bleckt die Zähne, und selbst wenn er an seinem neuen schwarzen Flügel sitzt, dreht er sich immer wieder zum Publikum hin, fasst sich an die Brust oder den Bauchansatz, als wollte er sagen: „Seht her, ich bin es“. Oder „ich bin der Neue“? Oder: „Hab ich nicht irre Lieder geschrieben all die Zeit, und heute will ich euch mal richtig schön was singen, spielen, blasen“. Das böse „It Ain’t Me, Babe“ kehrt sich ins Positive: Ich kann auch nett sein. Mit Wonne artikuliert er „Things Have Changed“.
Stimmt. Was haben sie bloß mit ihm gemacht? Eine neue Liebe? Es soll ein neues Studioalbum unterwegs sein. Der achte oder neunte Frühling? Er kommt so grandios in Fahrt, dass selbst eine durchschnittliche Komposition wie „The Levee’s Gonna Break“ zur fröhlich-apokalyptischen Nummer wird. Und das steigert sich in eine „Desolation Row“ hinein, wo Dylan all seine Stimmlagen durchprobiert, bis zum Refrain im leichtsinnigen Sound eines alten englischen Kinderlieds. Er hat kaum die mysteriösen Worte „or else expecting rain“ ausgesprochen, da fallen die ersten schweren Tropfen. Die zweite Hälfte der zwei Stunden wird nass.
Immer wieder dieses Grinsen. Raum für Interpretation. So also sieht es aus, wenn er sich amüsiert. Aber ist es nicht der pure Sarkasmus („Highway 61 Revisited“), ist es nicht vielmehr Schmerz, Liebestrauer, Gefühlsabwehr? „Love Sick“ gerät zur Hymne schwerer Sehnsuchtsqualen und Flüche, die in dem Geständnis münden: „Just don’t know what to do / I’d give anything to be with you.“ Für „Simple Twist of Fate“, das aus ähnlich hartem Schicksalsholz geschnitzt ist, hat er sich die Gitarre umgehängt. Dylan ist viel unterwegs in diesem verblüffenden Konzert – zwischen Flügel, Gitarren, elektronischem Keyboard. Er steht am Mikrofon, an der Rampe, posierend, Ruhe ausstrahlend, wie ich es in so manchem Auftritt seit 1978, als er das erste Mal nach Deutschland kam, noch nicht erlebt habe.
Sicher, da ist die endlose Routine. Aber sie legt auch den poetischen Glutkern frei, Zeitliches schleift sich ab. „Ballad of a Thin Man“ schrammt an der Genialität dieser existenzialistischen Ode vorbei, „Like a Rolling Stone“ ist o. k., „All Along the Watchtower“ wieder bissiger. Ach ja, und die eingeregneten Fans bekommen auch noch eine Zugabe: „Blowin’ in the Wind“. Es klingt jetzt sehr versöhnlich, war aber nie ein schroffer Protestsong.
Es ist ein seltsamer Gedanke, dass wenige Kilometer von der Zitadelle entfernt Nazi-Verbrecher wie Hess und Speer inhaftiert waren. Hat direkt nicht viel mit Dylan zu tun. Zeigt aber, wie lange er schon Geschichte schreibt, der Sohn jüdischer Auswanderer aus Osteuropa. Bob Dylan, Robert Zimmerman, sein Golem, wer immer am Montagabend in Spandau so triumphal grinste: Er war fantastisch!

Gary U.S. Bonds - Quarter to Three

Gary U.S. Bonds - Quarter to Three


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoopfp5iaKw

Before Bonds recorded this, it was an instrumental by The Church Street Five called "A Night With Daddy G." Bond's manager added lyrics to it and had him record it.

Bond's real name is Gary Anderson. His manager changed it so he could use the line "Buy U.S. Bonds." When this song came out, Gary's stage name was just "U.S. Bonds." Pretty clever, but too many people, including lots of DJs, got it wrong and thought it was the name of a group. So he had to make it Gary (U.S.) Bonds on his next record to eliminate the confusion. (thanks, Selrahc - Mumbai, India)

Bonds sued Chubby Checker in 1962, claiming he stole this for his song "Dancin' Party." It was settled out of court.

This is often covered by Bruce Springsteen, who is a big fan of Bonds. In 1981, Springsteen produced a successful comeback album for Bonds.

Gary U.S. Bonds (born Gary Levone Anderson, June 6, 1939, Jacksonville, Florida)^[1] is an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer. He is also a prolific songwriter.

Contents  [hide]  1 Career 2 Discography[6] 3 Billboard's Hot 100 4 Philanthropy and humanitarianism 5 References 6 External links

Born in Jacksonville, Florida Bonds was living in Norfolk, Virginia, in the 1950s when he began singing publicly in church, and with a group called The Turks.^[1] He joined record producer Frank Guida's small Legrand Records label, and Guida changed Anderson's name to U.S. Bonds in hope that it would be confused with a Public Service Announcement advertising the sale of government bonds and thus get more radio airplay.^[2] His first three singles and first album Dance 'Til Quarter to Three were released under the "U.S. Bonds" name, but people mistook it for the name of a group, so to avoid the confusion subsequent releases, including his second album Twist Up Calypso, were released under the name Gary (U.S.) Bonds; the parentheses were discarded in the 1980s.^[3]
Bonds's first hit was the song "New Orleans" (reached #6), which was followed by "Not Me", a flop for Bonds but later a hit for The Orlons, and then by his only number one hit, "Quarter to Three" in June 1961. "Quarter To Three" sold one million records, earning a gold disc.^[1] Subsequent hits, under his modified name, included "School Is Out" (#5), "Dear Lady Twist" (#9), "School Is In" (#28) and "Twist, Twist, Señora" (#10) in the early 1960s. In a 1963 tour of Europe, he headlined above The Beatles. His hits often featured solos by the saxophonist Gene Barge.^[3]
"Quarter to Three" appears on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.
In the early 1980s, Bonds had a career resurgence with two albums Dedication and On the Line, working off collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and the E Street Band. Later hits included "This Little Girl" (his comeback hit in 1981, which reached #11 on the pop chart and #5 on the mainstream rock chart), "Jolé Blon" and "Out of Work".^[3] Bonds continues to release albums sporadically, and today is a mainstay of the nostalgia concert circuit.
While Bonds is mostly known for achievements within rhythm and blues and rock and roll, he often transcends these genres, e.g. his song "She's All I Got", co-written by Jerry Williams, Jr. (better known as Swamp Dogg), was nominated for the Country Music Association's "Song of the Year" in 1972 when it was a big hit for Johnny Paycheck. He is also an honoree of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. Bonds is an accomplished golfer and often plays celebrity PGA Tour events.
Bonds released an album in 2004 called Back in 20, the title referencing his repeated sporadic pop-ups of popularity (his first hits were in the 1960s, then again in the 1980s, and now another significant album in the early 2000s, each 20-odd years apart). The album features guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny.^[3] Bonds was also inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame on October 15, 2006.
In 2009 he released a new album Let Them Talk and toured the UK as a special guest of Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.^[4] Most recently, in 2010, Bonds contributed duet vocals on the song "Umbrella In My Drink" on Southside Johnny's album Pills and Ammo.^[5]

Studio albums:

• Dance 'til Quarter to Three (1961)
• Twist Up Calypso (1962)
• Dedication (1981)
• On the Line (1982)
• Standing in the Line of Fire (1984)
• Nothing Left to Lose (1996)
• Back in 20 (2004)
• Let Them Talk (2009)

Live albums:

• King Biscuit Flower Hour (Live) (2001)
• Live! (2002)
• From the Front Row... Live! (2003)
• In Concert (2005)

Compilations:

• The Best of Gary U.S. Bonds (60's Material) (1990)
• Take Me Back to New Orleans (60's Singles Compilation) (1994)
• The Best of Gary U.S. Bonds (80's Material) (1996)
• The Very Best of Gary U.S. Bonds: The Original Legrand Masters (60's Material) (1998)
• Certified Soul (Singles from 1968–1970) (2008)

Title	Position	Year
"New Orleans"	#6	1960*
"Quarter to Three"	#1	1961*
"School Is Out"	#5	1961*
"School Is In"	#28	1961*
"Dear Lady Twist"	#9	1961*
"Twist Twist Señora"	#10	1962*
"Seven Day Weekend"	#27	1962*
"Copy Cat"	#92	1962*
"This Little Girl"	#11	1981
"Jolé Blon"	#65	1981
"Out of Work"	#21	1982

^* Produced by Frank Guida. over the past 15 years

Gary is a member of Global Village Champions Foundation. Global Village Champions has provided over 417 million meals over the past 17 years. Gary's was presented with the Global Village Champion of the Decade award in 2009.

Autobiography of a Hunted Priest

New: "Autobiography of a Hunted Priest"

Now available from Ignatius Press:

Autobiography of a Hunted Priest

by John Gerard, S.J. | Foreword by James V. Schall, S.J.

Truth is stranger than fiction. And nowhere in literature is it so apparent as in this classic work, the Autobiography of a Hunted Priest. This autobiography of a Jesuit priest in Elizabethan England is a most remarkable document and John Gerard, its author, a most remarkable priest in a time when to be a Catholic in England courted imprisonment and torture; to be a priest was treason by act of Parliament.
Smuggled into England after his ordination and dumped on a Norfolk beach at night, Fr. Gerard disguised himself as a country gentleman and traveled about the country saying Mass, preaching and ministering to the faithful in secret - always in constant danger. The houses in which he found shelter were frequently raided by "priest hunters"; priest-holes, hide-outs and hair-breadth escapes were part of his daily life. He was finally caught and imprisoned, and later removed to the infamous Tower of London where he was brutally tortured.
The stirring account of his escape, by means of a rope thrown across the moat, is a daring and magnificent climax to a true story which, for sheer narrative power and interest, far exceeds any fiction. Here is an accurate and compelling picture of England when Catholics were denied their freedom to worship and endured vicious persecution and often martyrdom.
But more than the story of a single priest, the Autobiography of a Hunted Priest epitomizes the constant struggle of all human beings through the ages to maintain their freedom. It is a book of courage and of conviction whose message is most timely for our age.

John Gerard, S.J., was a Jesuit missionary priest in Elizabethan England when the Catholic Church was under heavy persecution by the government. The footnotes provided by the translator prove the absolute facts of his account in this book, which is corroborated even by the files of the Elizabethan secret police.
"In my early years in the Society of Jesus, I recall that this book was read at my table... On first listening to it, the book also struck me as describing a persecution of Catholics that could not happen here. One is no longer quite so sure. It may, be a very up-to-date book in its own way."

Pope: healthcare workers can learn from Christ’s miracles

Pope: healthcare workers can learn from Christ’s miracles

 

By David Kerr

Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square April 18

Vatican City, Jul 1, 2012 / 11:50 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Jesus Christ’s miraculous healing of the daughter of Jairus and a woman who suffered from a hemorrhage should inspire healthcare workers to care for the entire person, physical and spiritual, Pope Benedict XVI said July 1.
“In this invaluable service, one must first be professionally competent – it is a primary, fundamental requirement – but this alone is not enough,” said the Pope in his Sunday Angelus address.
“This service, in fact, is first and foremost about human beings who need humanity and heartfelt attention,” he told thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square beneath a baking Roman sun.
The Pope advocated that those who tend to the sick and elderly have a “formation of the heart” in addition to professional training. He described such workers as “reserves of love” who bring “peace and hope to the suffering.”
Pope Benedict reflected upon the Sunday Gospel passage of the day in which St. Matthew records how Christ twice healed not only a physical ailment but also a spiritual malady too.
“Jesus came to heal the human heart and to give salvation, and he asks for faith in him,” Pope Benedict explained.
He focused on the words Jesus used to revive the daughter of Jairus from deathly slumber: “Little girl, I say to you: Get up!”
The Pope recalled that St. Jerome saw these words as “emphasizing the saving power of Jesus.” In effect, the 4-5th century Doctor of the Church viewed Christ as saying, “Little girl, get up through me: not on account of your own merits, but through my grace. Rise, therefore, through me: being cured does not depend on your virtue.”
Similarly, the second episode in which a woman who had suffered a hemorrhage for many years is cured also reveals “how Jesus came to liberate the human being in its totality.”
In fact, the woman’s healing comes in two distinct phases: a physical healing followed by a deeper spiritual healing which, said the Pope, “bestows the grace of God to those who are open to him in faith.”
Both stories, he suggested, are “an invitation for us to overcome a purely horizontal and materialistic view of life.” While we ask God to cure our physical and concrete needs, he said, we should all the more ask for “an ever stronger faith, because the Lord renews our lives; and a firm trust in his love, in his providence that does not abandon us.”
Pope Benedict concluded by leading pilgrims in the recitation of the traditional midday Marian prayer. He asked the Virgin Mary to “accompany our journey of faith and our commitment to practical love” and especially to give her maternal care to “our brothers who live with suffering in body or spirit.”