Papal preacher tries to buck up the troops

For his weekly Lenten meditation today, Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, focused on readings from the Book of Lamentations and the Book of Jeremiah. He said the readings have "particular significance if they are read in reference to the present moment of serious hardship we priests of the Catholic Church are experiencing."

Maybe Cantalamessa was playing to his audience, Pope Benedict XVI and other top Vatican officials, but -- given "the present moment" -- that statement begs the question: What about hardships we non-priests of the Catholic church are experiencing?

Read the full CNS story here, but check this out:

The preacher addressed the pope specifically and reminded him that God told Jeremiah that before his detractors he would make him "a solid wall of brass. Though they fight against you, they shall not prevail. For I am with you to deliver and rescue you."

. . .

"The media's tenacity -- and we have seen it in other cases -- in the long run will bring about the opposite effect that they had hoped for," he added.

That darn media.

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